Laurente thumps Indonesian foe; Elorde brothers triumph

Nissi Icasiano

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

Dennis Laurente, Juan Miguel Elorde and Juan Martin Elorde all registered wins over Indonesian opponents on Friday night in Parañaque City

ANOTHER DAY AT THE OFFICE. Dennis Laurente (second from left) poses with his opponent Elly Pangaribuan (L), plus promoter Johnny Elorde (3rd) and Dr. Nasser Cruz of the Games and Amusements Board. Photo by Mikael Ona

MANILA, Philippines – Veteran boxer Dennis Laurente successfully defended the WBC-affiliated Asian Boxing Council (ABCO) light middleweight title by stopping Elly Pangaribuan on Friday night, August 22 at the Flash Grand Ballroom of the Elorde Sports Complex in Parañaque City, Philippines.

Laurente (48-5-5, 29 knockouts) made quick work of the Indonesian pugilist as the 5-foot-8 southpaw thwarted Pangaribuan with a right hook-left uppercut connection to the body in the second round.

After an appealing first round for Laurente, who forced a rough exchange early on, the 37-year-old native of Butuan City, Agusan del Norte stood toe-to-toe with Pangaribuan in round two, where he had the complete leverage in the close-quartered trades by opening his opponent’s guard and uncorking vindicating blows to the abdomen.

Courtesy of his steady stream of heavy bombs to the body, Laurente eventually harvested the fruits of his labor as he sent Pangaribuan (3-4, 1 KO) to the canvas with an unguarded right hook-left uppercut combination.

Pangaribuan was reeling in pain when he dropped to the floor, prompting referee Virgilio Garcia to wave it off at the 2:59 mark after the Indonesian boxer was unable to beat the count of ten.

With the victory over Pangaribuan, Laurente extends his knockout streak to five while defending his belt for the second time since capturing the vacant belt against Manopnoi Singmanasak in August 2013.

One of the country’s few world-rated boxers who has not yet received an opportunity to vie for a world title despite his respectable résumé, Laurente affirmed that he still desires to contend for the sport’s top prize.

“I know that I’m 37 years old and I’ve been fighting since 1994. Yes, I still dream to fight for a world title. That is why I’m still here. Every boxer wants to be a world champion,” Laurente tells Rappler.

Laurente, who moved up in weight for the third time in his boxing career when he faced Singmanasak in a 154-pound contest, stressed that he is comfortable fighting as a light middleweight.

“The power is still there. Nothing has changed. If a title fight is available in this division, I will definitely grab that opportunity,” he said.

Along with Laurente’s triumph, Juan Martin and Juan Miguel Elorde, the grandchildren of legendary boxer and longest reigning junior lightweight champion Gabriel “Flash” Elorde, topped their Indonesian counterparts.

Juan Miguel “Mig” Elorde (16-1-1, 8 KOs) defeated Paulus Baransano (0-4) by fifth-round technical knockout in their scheduled ten-round featherweight tussle.

Despite Baransano’s gutsy effort in landing crisp counters to negate the length advantage of his Filipino foe in the first two periods, Elorde found his groove in the third round, where he clobbered an uppercut to score a knockdown.

Elorde wrote the final sentence in the fifth frame as he hammered a double hook to the body, compelling in-ring official Virgilio Garcia to halt the action at 2:19 of round five.

On the other hand, Juan Miguel’s older brother Juan Martin “Bai” Elorde (16-1-1, 7 KOs) won via technical decision over Juniston Simbolon (7-12-1, 3 KOs) with the scores of 60-52, 60-52 and 59-53.

The 29-year-old Elorde suffered a nasty cut above his left eye following a clash of heads with Simbolon, prompting referee Silvestre “Ver” Abainza to step in at 2:56 of the sixth round.

A technical decision in favor of Elorde was soon declared after the ringside physician advised that the Pinoy southpaw was incapable of continuing the bout due to the gory gash.

Elorde was able to slump Simbolon to the mat with a well-timed right hook in the second round before being tackled and getting hit by two intentional shots on the ground, which coerced the ref to deduct a point from the Indonesian boxer.

In the succeeding rounds, Elorde continued tearing his adversary’s defense by heaving his dangerous left hand that had Simbolon reeling inside the squared-circle.

By the time Simbolon tried to close the distance for a body shot in round six, Elorde moved in as well that caused the collision of heads.

Elorde, the reigning WBO Asia Pacific super featherweight champion, was in a similar situation six months ago when he locked horns with Chaiyong Sithsaithong, but unlike his meeting with Simbolon, the aforementioned bout resulted in a technical draw. – Rappler.com


Related stories

Add a comment

Sort by

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

Summarize this article with AI

How does this make you feel?

Loading
Download the Rappler App!