By Ronnie Nathanielsz

FIGHTERS from the Braveheart boxing gym of North Cotabato Vice Gov. Manny Piñol stole the show from World Boxing Organization bantamweight champion Gerry Peñalosa, who headlined the “Battle of the Bantamweights” before a big crowd at the Cebu Coliseum Saturday night.

The telecast over Studio 23 of ABS-CBN and which was also beamed around the world by the global network of The Filipino Channel began with bantamweight Glenn Porras pulverizing Thai fighter Daothon Sissuey, who was announced as having a record of 10-5 with 2 knockouts, although boxrec.com had no record of his fights.

A solid left hook by Porras dropped the taller Thai early in the opening round and after a series of vicious body shots, the Filipino nailed him with a left to the jaw to register a TKO at 2:26 of the very first round without a sweat.

Sissuey was badly hurt and had to be attended to by the ringside doctors and given oxygen before he recovered after a couple of minutes. With the win, Porras improved to 21-3 with 15 knockouts.

Another Piñol protégé, undefeated Jundy “Pretty Boy” Maraon, who entered the ring with a record 12-0-1 with 9 knockouts, won the WBO Asia Pacific bantamweight championship with an impressive third-round TKO over tough Jason Egera (11-2, 5 KOs), the defending champion.

Egera suffered a cut below the right eyebrow in the opening round where Maraon also hurt the champion with a hard left.

In Round 3, Maraon faked with a right straight and caught Egera with a perfectly timed thunderous left hook that sent the champion crashing to the canvas flat on his face.

Doctors rushed to the aid of the stricken fighter, gave him oxygen and attached a neck brace since he appeared to hit the canvas head first. The ring physicians attended to the fallen champion for several minutes with a look of concern on their faces before he was carried out of the ring on a stretcher. The time was 1:36 of the third round.

Rolando “Smooth Operator” Magbanua won the WBO Oriental bantamweight interim championship with a superb display of controled, relentless aggression against Mexico’s Jose Angel Cota, whose record on boxrec.com was reported as 8 wins with 3 defeats but was announced as having a record of 19 wins with only 3 defeats.