Abaniel defeats Chairin in homecoming, clearing path for Macau title fight

MANILA, Philippines – Gretchen Abaniel didn’t realize her opponent was a southpaw until they met at center-ring. The ring veteran had to make some adjustments on the fly but she emerged victorious, shutting out Thailand’s Chamaporn Chairin over 6 rounds on Saturday, September 30, at the Elorde Sports Complex in Parañaque City, Philippines.

Abaniel (18-8, 6 knockouts) won by the scores of 60-54 on all 3 scorecards over Chairin (5-2, 1 KO) in her first fight in her home country since 2014, and her first fight of any kind since July 2016.

There were some curveballs along the way, like Chairin forgetting for a brief moment that it wasn’t a Muay Thai match and feigning a leg kick, and Abaniel having to hold her bangs back behind her guard in the sixth round because her hair came undone. Abaniel’s physical strength and more accurate punching cleared her path to victory, but she was not completely happy with her performance.

“We had a game plan and we expected that she is orthodox. Then it turns out that she is a southpaw, so it was hard to get my timing,” Abaniel said in Filipino.

“Based on what I saw today, there’s ring rust,” said trainer Tony del Vecchio. “It’s been a long time since Gretchen has been in the ring.”

 

Abaniel, who is now based out of Sydney, Australia, didn’t get a day off to rest as she got in a workout at Team Insider Boxing Gym in Makati City on Sunday, October 1, and will travel to Palawan to visit her parents. The whole time she’ll be maintaining her conditioning as she will likely be back in the ring for a big fight on October 28, the target date for her fight against IBF minimumweight champion Zong Ju Cai in Macau.

Cai (9-1, 1 KO), also a southpaw, won their first fight in 2015 by decision. Abaniel, a bronze medalist at the 2005 Women’s World Amateur Boxing Championships in Russia, is riding a 3-fight winning streak, beginning with a split-decision victory in Germany over previously unbeaten Oezlem Sahin in November 2015, which earned her the Global Boxing Union and the vacant Women’s International Boxing Federation minimumweight titles.

Abaniel-Chairin was not the only women’s fight slated for the card, which was promoted by Gabriel “Bebot” Elorde Jr. Gretel de Paz (4-1, 2 KOs) of Naval, Biliran won the inaugural Games and Amusements Board (GAB) female bantamweight title, outpointing Christine Latube (1-12-2) of Roxas, Palawan, now fighting out of Baguio City. Two judges had it a 60-54 shutout for De Paz while the third found two rounds to give to Latube and scored the fight 58-56 for De Paz.

It was only the fifth women’s fight ever sanctioned for a national pro title in the Philippines, according to Boxrec, and the first over 112 pounds.

Eranio Semillano (15-7-3, 5 KOs) won the vacant GAB super flyweight title with a majority decision win over Macrea Gandionco (12-5-3, 7 KOs). Gandionco was hampered by a bad cut over his left eye from the third round of the 12-round fight, and the southpaw Semillano targeted it with precision with his shorter, more accurate blows.

In a 10-round battle for the WBC Asian Boxing Council flyweight title, Cris Alfante (13-6-1, 5 KOs) emerged victorious over Reymark Taday (8-3, 4 KOs) by the scores of 96-93 on two cards and 97-92 on the third.

Taday lost an automatic point due to an accidental headbutt which opened a cut on Alfante, but the cut was never a factor as the longer Alfante picked his punches from distance and cruised to victory. Taday, who fights out of the Olivetti Boxing Gym in Biñan, Laguna, moved up in weight and took the fight on short notice after original opponent Ardin Diale was not granted a license in time due to a lack of a sufficient CT scan on file.

Diale was one of dozens of fighters whose CT scans were deemed fakes following an investigation.

In the main event, Allan Vallespin (11-1, 8 KOs) won a unanimous decision over Cristian Abila by the scores of 116-112 on two cards and 118-110 on the third. Vallespin had won his first 8 fights by knockout but failed to score a knockout for the fourth fight in a row, landing clean right hands on the wirey, awkward Abila (16-22-5, 5 KOs) but never coming close to a knockout win. The victory puts the GAB super featherweight title around Vallespin’s waist and is his second straight since being stopped by Masaru Sueyoshi in 3 rounds in February this year. 

– Rappler.com