Saturday boxing in Gensan: Basadre falls, fails again

Edwin G. Espejo

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Saturday boxing in Gensan: Basadre falls, fails again
The stoppage in their first fight came too soon. The stoppage in the rematch may have come too late.

GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines – The first time, the referee’s stoppage was a tad too early and a controversial one at that.

The rematch, however, was clean and may have come a little bit late. 

Nevertheless, it was one of the best matchups and most anticipated in recent memory since the renaissance of boxing began in General Santos City 5 years ago.

Local boy Daryl Basadre failed to avenge his controversial stoppage loss to Cebu’s Kenny Demecillo, succumbing more to exhaustion after failing to follow up a second round knockdown of his opponent. 

Basadre fell into the ropes in the eighth round after he was chased by Demecillo all over the ring in a matchup that lived up to its pre-fight billing. 

It was toe-to-toe affair, each delivering and receiving hard powerful punches from corner to corner, from post to post and from bell to bell. 

When it was all over, Demecillo slumped to his knees before sitting into the canvas in equal exhaustion. It was a huge sigh of relief. He knew it was also a matter of time before he too would have given up.

But validating his controversial first win was all Demecillo came for in a rematch with Basadre, who looked primed and pumped up in the opening rounds. 

Basadre was pinpoint, accurate and showed lots of power in the opening rounds 

In the second round, he caught Demecillo with an uppercut coming in dropping the Cebuano slugger to the heat of his pants.

Daryl Basadre sits on the canvas after being dropped by Kenny Demecillo. Photo by Edwin Espejo/Rappler

Demecillo beat the count but Basadre was all over him throughout the round. 

The gusty kid from Cebu however survived the onslaught and, instead of backing out, pressed even harder. 

The two looked like they left defense in their locker rooms and were swinging for the fences the moment the first bell of the fight sounded.  

In the fifth round and onward, Demecillo’s persistence and sacrifice began to pay off as Basadre showed signs of fading after spending much energy in the second round.

Basadre tried to box after catching heavy punches from Demecillo and was making a good account of his shift in style until he got caught in the ropes in the seventh round and was almost knocked down when the two exchange flurries as the bell sounded. 

Both boxers went to their corners clearly gasping for air. 

The end for Basadre came 2:45 in the eighth round. It was a decisive and uncontested TKO loss.

In their first fight, Basadre also knocked down Demecillo but was declared loser via TKO when the referee Ramuel Ovalo abruptly waved off the fight after he fell backwards coming off the ropes where he was cornered by his nemesis. 

The controversial ending brought the two again in a rematch on Saturday.  

The outcome was clean as it was entertaining but many thought the stoppage came a little bit late. 

Basadre was helped to a chair after several minutes lying flat on the ring. He was later rushed to the hospital on a waiting ambulance. 

He was cleared of danger at a hospital later. 

In a sport that has produced many recognizable names in Philippine boxing, many would-be world champions showed their wares Saturday in the standing room only atrium of Gaisano Mall of Gensan. 

Sixteen-year old Vinz Paras showed why he is the hottest prospect in his city today by stopping and outgunning Saddam Barambangan in the 4th round of their 6-round scheduled opening bout of the evening. 

Paras showed a lot of class despite fighting professionally for only the third time in his young professional career.

Baramabangan’s corner waved the white flag and refused to go out of the corner for the fourth round.

It was the third KO victory of Paras in as many professional fights since turning pro in July last year.

Paras’ KO victory set off the tone of the evenings’ exciting boing card as 7 of the 9 other matches ended in stoppage affairs. 

Jenny Boy Boca of Sanman Promotion KOed Michael Padayag 35 seconds into the second round while stablemate Reymart Gaballo TKOed Frejun dela Cruz in the first round.

Sanman boxers continued their winning ways with Raymund Tabugon scoring 2 knockdowns to stop Jong Sabellina in the first canto and Mike Angelou Plania making short work out of Roland Magluyan of Zamboanga also in the first round. 

Journeyman Philip Parcon, former Philippine flyweight champion, tried to comic his way into the fight with Markquil Salvania before quitting in the 6th round for a TKO loss.

Riman Metuda, also of Sanman like Salvania, stopped Jason Tinampay in the fifth round.

The two fights that went the distance were the 8-round split decision victory of Joy Formentara against local by Engelbert Moralde and the 10-round unanimous win of Sanman’s John Vincent Moralde over tough Jerry Castroverde to avenge his younger brother’s loss. 

The boxing card billed as Brawl at the Mall was promoted by JC Mannagquil and Dexter Tan’s Sanman Promotions. – Rappler.com

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