Tepora, Araneta fights end in ‘disappointing’ mismatches

CEBU CITY, Philippines – The much hyped ‘Who’s Next 4 Pro Boxing Series’ show held at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino Saturday night, March 18, resulted in a dud after the two featured bouts ended in under two minutes of the first round.

Jack Tepora (20-0, 15 knockouts) retained his WBO Oriental junior featherweight title after knocking out his Indonesian opponent, Yon Armed (14-8, 6 KOs), at 1:16 of the first round on a single left cross to the body.

Prior to Tepora’s successful defense of his belt, Christian Araneta (14-0, 12 KOs) won the WBO Oriental junior flyweight title with a knockout over another Indonesian boxer, Demsi Manufoe (11-7, 8 KOs), in the 1:41 mark of the first round.

The two Indonesian boxers were clearly out of their league.

Pio Paulo Castillo, president of the Omega Pro Sports International, said he was very disappointed with the outcome of the two main events.

“Of course approbahan jud sa WBO kay limpyo man ila record. It is just a matter of selecting lang jud siguro the next opponent (Of course the WBO will approve because their records are clean. It is just a matter of selecting their next opponent),” said Castillo. (READ: Boxing fans deserve better than mismatches)

Castillo reasoned that one cannot predict what would happen in a fight but admits that the opponents’ capabilities were far from that of Tepora’s and Araneta’s. Both Manufoe and Armed had been knocked out early each time they fought outside of Indonesia, while Manufoe’s record showed he has never beaten a fighter who had won a pro bout. 

“Ang calibre gyud layo ra gyud for sure ako moangkon jud ko, a very, very disappointing outcome sa kontra despite the hype, mao ra diay to ila ikapakita.” (The caliber is certainly not at par, for sure that I will admit. A very, very disappointing outcome of the foes, despite the hype, that was all that they had to show.)

Jack Tepora knocks out Yon Armed in the first round on a body shot. Tepora is now 20-0 (15 KOs) #boxing #phboxing pic.twitter.com/A8m8oFZ28g

— Ryan Songalia (@ryansongalia) March 18, 2017

“The only control that you have jud is mokuha jud ka ug fighter nga naay resume jud, which is mao na atoang paningkamotan on the next fight jud.”

(The only control that you have is to get opponents who really have a resume and that is what we will try to do for the next fight.) 

Castillo says they are learning from their mistakes, and he feels it may be time to look outside of Asia for opponents, or perhaps fight higher quality of competition in the Philippines.

“Top fights na imo i-assemble dugay jud na siya matibo-ok, you have to contact different types of people, and I believe this fight, kung wa lang ni labot katong performance nila, I think [Tepora and Araneta are] still ready for fighters coming from high ranking, fighters with heavy resume jud ba,” said Castillo.

(Assembling a top fight will take time to form, you have to contact different types of people, and I believe this fight, excluding their performance tonight, I think [Tepora and Araneta are] still ready for fighters coming from high ranking, fighters who really have the heavy resume.)

Before Tepora’s fight, they were aiming to put him back in action in 3 months, but with the way he won last night, Castillo said that perhaps Tepora can fight again in two months.

Tepora preferred to look at the bright side, saying it’s better to win than lose.

Araneta freely admitted it was a mismatch but that he would fight whomever his manager chooses for him. He says he’s grateful to be given a chance to fight for the WBO Oriental title, which could earn him a top 15 ranking with the organization.

“Ang akong ku-an nga hinaut sa sunod nakong duwa ang akong kontra maayo pud para maku-an ko, ma challenge ug mo training pud ko ug tarong para sa akong defense.” (I am hoping that my next opponent will be good so I will be challenged and I will be training harder for my defense.)

Castillo said that, outside of the lack of competitiveness, the event’s organization was a success.

“So for the next few fights daghan kaayo ta ug mausab, I mean this is the first Waterfront ‘Who’s Next’ has been in and Omega Pro Sports has been in so we’re gonna list down all the negatives nga amoang nahimo, we’re gonna strategize and execute the next one.”

(So for the next few fights we will have a lot of changes, I mean this is the first Waterfront ‘Who’s Next’ has been in and Omega Pro Sports has been in so we’re gonna list down all the negatives that we committed, we’re gonna strategize and execute the next one.)

Asked if the boxing fans were shortchanged by the turnout of events, Castillo said “like what I have said awhile ago, even myself I am not happy with the outcome of that particular bout, with the particular event, it run smoothly for sure, but with those two bouts from the matchmaker, I don’t need someone else to tell me that. It was really not good especially with the hype that they themselves created.”

“But it’s not the end, there’s still a lot of ‘Who’s Next’ to come, makapasalig ko mas maayo jud ang atoang sunod jud, that is a promise jud, that is a promise.”

(But it’s not the end, there’s still a lot of ‘Who’s Next’ to come. I assure you that the next will be better, that is a promise.)

As to the number of spectators, Castillo said they lost count because there were a lot of walk-ins.

“Good turnout, di lang jud maayo ang katong bout jud, self explanatory, there’s nothing to hide, mao jud to siya jud, di nato ilaron atong kaugalingon.”

(Good turnout, the last bouts were just not that good, self explanatory, there’s nothing to hide. That was just it, let’s not lie to ourselves.)

The fights will be aired on GMA at a later date. – Rappler.com