Boxing: Tubieron tops Doliguez by technical majority decision

MANILA, Philippines – Dennis Tubieron scored a minor upset over highly-touted featherweight prospect Jun Doliguez in the headliner of Saved By The Bell Promotions’ boxing card on Friday night, September 27 at the Mandaluyong City Gymnasium.

The 24-year-old Tubieron had his hand raised in victory via technical majority decision with the scores of 47-47, 47-46 and 47-46 after Doliguez suffered a deep cut on his forehead following a clash of heads, prompting referee Sammy Bernabe Sr. to halt the contest at the end of round five.

The ringside physician advised the third man in the ring that Doliguez was incapable of continuing the match due to the gory gash that was aggravated by three head collisions. 

“We didn’t object the referee’s decision to stop the fight because the cut was really deep. It has to be stitched,” said Roy Doliguez, cousin of Jun Doliguez.

Doliguez was in the driver’s seat in the fifth round when the bout was stopped by the referee as he tried to rally back from a blinding knockdown in the opening salvo.

Tubieron dropped Doliguez to the mat with a well-timed counter right hook as the latter forced a rough exchange early on with his precisely-sound foe, causing the 23-year-old native of Malungon, Sarangani to get careless.

As Doliguez desperately came out swinging in the second and third rounds, Tubieron relied on his counter right hook to wobble his surging opponent and danced away from the perilous straight left hand.

Doliguez shifted his gears in the fourth frame, where he dictated the tempo by consistently throwing his signature left fist and coerced the exchange in the center of the squared-circle.

The action was temporarily paused when the first accidental head butt happened as Doliguez closed the distance to fire away with bombs on Tubieron’s body.

In the fifth round, Doliguez continued tearing his adversary’s defense by heaving his dangerous left that had Tubieron reeling inside the ring.

Tubieron managed to weather the storm as he scored numerous pocket shots and started to throw his counter right hook that gave him success in the earlier rounds.

Moments after, the second clash of heads occurred when Tubieron and Doliguez engaged in a back-and-forth trade.

As he appeared to be bothered by the bloody wound, Doliguez opted to continue the tussle and urgently hurled wild shots at Tubieron with the desire to conclude the round on a positive note.

Tubieron attempted to return the favor with a right jab-left straight connection, but by the time he ducked in, he fortuitously smacked the backside of his head on Doliguez’s horrific cut, leading to the stoppage.

Despite the premature ending of the 126-pound scuffle, Tubieron was awarded with a technical majority decision that sees the 5-foot-6 pugilist known as “The Scorpion” extending his winning streak to three outings since losing to Valentine Borg via technical knockout in December 2013.

“I’m happy with this victory. It means a lot to me; especially Jun Doliguez is one of the up-and-coming fighters in the Philippines,” said Tubieron, who improves to 19-3-1 with 8 KOs.

On the other hand, Doliguez tastes his second setback of his prizefighting career and downgrades his record to 19-2-2 with 14 KOs. – Rappler.com