Taconing retains OPBF belt in slugfest vs Fajardo

MANILA, Philippines – World-rated boxer Jonathan Taconing kept the Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) junior flyweight championship around his waist by defeating compatriot Jomar Fajardo on Saturday, September 12 at the Elorde Sports Complex in Parañaque City.

Taconing, who is currently ranked the no.1 contender for the WBC junior flyweight crown held by Pedro Guevara and rated no. 10 by The Ring magazine at 108 pounds, won via tenth-round technical unanimous decision with the scores of 98-91, 97-91 and 97-91.

Referee Virgilio Garcia halted the action at the 2:55 mark of round ten when Taconing suffered gruesome gashes above both eyes following an unintentional clash of heads with Fajardo.

Prior to the stoppage, both men were exchanging heavy leathers in close-quartered battle, where Taconing frequently landed his left cross to the temple and uppercut to the chin but were not enough to put down Fajardo.

The 28-year-old southpaw from Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte was able to set the pace from the opening salvo, using his left to bring swelling around Fajardo’s eyes in the early rounds before sending him reeling to the ropes in round two with his power-punching.

Taconing stepped on the gas pedal in the fourth frame, where he flaunted his speed, tagging Fajardo with a thunderous left uppercut to the jaw and a solid right hook to the head.

However, Fajardo punctuated the round with 3 straight right uppercuts inside the last 10 seconds.

In the fifth round, the first collision of heads occurred when the two fighters were trading wild shots and Fajardo closed the distance by bobbing and weaving, creating a nasty cut above both eyes of Taconing and prompting the referee to deduct two points from Fajardo.

With Taconing bothered by the blood dripping into his eyes in the sixth, Fajardo capitalized on the opportunity and rocked his foe with a straight right and a left uppercut.

Taconing shifted back the momentum on his side in rounds 7 and 8, where Fajardo was on wobbly legs, courtesy of his stinging left hands.

The 5-foot-3 pugilist known as “Lightning” dropped Fajardo along the ropes in the dying seconds of the ninth round with a left cross, but the referee ruled it a slip.

Taconing was in the process of unleashing compact shots in the tenth round when he and Fajardo accidentally banged heads again, worsening the cuts of Taconing.

A technical decision in favor of Taconing was soon declared after the ringside physician advised that he was incapable of continuing the match.

With the victory, Taconing improves his professional record to 22-2-1 (18 knockouts) and successfully defended his OPBF belt for the second time.

On the other hand, Fajardo downgrades his prizefighting standing to 14-9-2 (7 KOs) and is now 0-5-1 in his last 6 outings.

Elorde Brothers KO Indonesians

The Johnny Elorde-promoted fight card also featured the grandchildren of legendary boxer and longest reigning junior lightweight champion, Gabriel “Flash” Elorde.

Juan Miguel Elorde (19-1 10 KOs) made quick work of late replacement Arnold Mau (2-6) by thwarting his Indonesian counterpart with a left hook to the body and head in the first round.

Meanwhile, Juan Martin Elorde (18-1-1, 8 KOs) topped another Indonesian visitor by plunging Yakobus Heluka (8-13, 1 KO) to the canvas 4 times in 3 different rounds before finishing him off with a left uppercut in the sixth.

Mandaluyong’s Tiger City Boxing Gym also fielded two of its boxers as Daffy Dempo (3-4, 2 KOs) outpointed Japanese pugilist Kenta Ide (2-2-1, 1 KO) in a 138-pound catchweight contest, while Robin Dingcong (1-3-1) scored a third-round stoppage of Jaime Escanaries (0-1) in a four-round bantamweight showdown. – Rappler.com