Gaballo aims for Moloney crown after 32-second disposal of Thai

MANILA, Philippines – Reymart Gaballo took only 32 seconds to demolish Thai Phai Pharob on Tuesday night, February 13. He will have to wait much longer to get another crack at the world crown, however.

Showing devastating power, Gaballo unloaded a left-right-left combination to the body that decked the veteran challenger right in the first round to retain the World Boxing Organization (WBO) Oriental bantamweight crown at the Midas Hotel and Casino in Pasay City.

Gaballo’s fearsome performance will surely send alarm bells to the camp of WBO bantamweight champion Jason Moloney of Australia.

Being the top-ranked contender in the 118-pound division, Gaballo is likely to be given the chance to atone for his failed title bid against Nonito Donaire for the World Boxing Council (WBC) bantamweight belt in 2021.

That was the lone blot on Gaballo’s record which now stands at 27-1 with 22 knockouts. The 40-year-old Pharob dropped to 35-4 with 22 knockouts.

JC Manangquil, who promotes Gaballo, has said before that Sanman Promotions which he heads and MP (Manny Pacquiao) Promotions led by Sean Gibbons would be pursuing a fight with Moloney as soon as possible.

That’s why, Gaballo, also ranked No. 5 by the International Boxing Federation (IBF), will only have a brief rest before returning to training under the watch of Nonito Donaire Sr., who also prepared him for the Pharob fight.

The nine-fight card was an undertaking of Sanman with support from MP Promotions, Viva Promotions, and Knucklehead Boxing.

In the chief support, unbeaten KJ Cataraja shrugged off a one-year layoff to beat Jun Blazo via unanimous decision in an eight-rounder. 

Cataraja raised his win streak to 17 with 13 knockouts while Blazo tumbled to 16-9-3 with 12 knockouts. – Rappler.com