by Nick Giongco
World-ranked lightweight Romero Duno and interim WBA bantamweight champion Reymart Gaballo easily scored fast and furious wins over their respective rivals Saturday at the Midas Hotel and Casino.
A protege of JC Mananquil’s Sanman Promotions in partnership with Oscar DeLa Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions (GBP), Duno flattened the grossly overmatched Kuldeep Dhanda of India with a huge overhand right to the jaw in the second round.
Referee Ferdie Estrella didn’t even bother to finish the count as Dhanda lay motionless on the floor and medical personnel jumped into the ring to check on the fallen fighter’s condition.
For precautionary measures, Dhanda had to be brought to a nearby hospital but was later released.
The win formalized Duno’s inclusion on De La Hoya’s massive card set May 4 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
With the victory, Duno, supported by sportsman Mikee Romero’s 1-Pacman Partylist, improved to 19-1 with 15 KOs.
The equally heavy-handed Gaballo also hardly broke out a sweat with a second-round demolition of Japanese Yuya Nakamura.
A right to the head and a left hook to the body pulled the plug on Nakamura’s upset bid in the slambang show staged by ESPN5 which is holding another slugfest on Feb. 16 at the SM North Skydome featuring Dave Penalosa, who comes from the fighting Penalosa clan.
