TAGBILARAN CITY,—Vitor Virgel summoned all the strength and grit he could muster to pull off hard-earned seventh-round knockout win over a game Tae Sun Kim of South Korea in the main event of “Kumong Bol-anon 14” on Friday night, March 8, at the packed Saulog Gym here.
The 26-year-old Virgel displayed a valiant effort as he defied tremendous odds by surviving a second-round knockdown on his way to snatching the World Boxing Organization (WBO) Oriental super featherweight title.
Virgel looked headed to an easy win when he dropped Kim with a combination early in the second round. Kim showed he was from over as he answered with a flurry of punches and cornered Vitor right in front of his corner.
Kim delivered a solid right hook that squarely landed on Vitor’s chin. Vitor wobbled after taking the hit and was pinned on the ropes by the visiting opponent. Smelling blood, Kim unleashed a flurry of punches as a dazed Vitor nearly fell out of the ring.
As Kim continued to pummel Vitor, lawyer referee Danrex Tapdasan stepped in and gave Vitor a mandatory 10-count.
Glassy-eyed and struggling to maintain his balance, Vitor barely beat the referee’s count. Kim was ready to deliver the killer blows after Vitor’s beat Tapdasan’s count but luckily for the hometown bet, the bell sounded, signaling the end of the eventful second round.
Vitor weathered the storm and appeared to have gained a second win. The succeeding round featured torrid exchanges but with only 49 seconds left in the seventh round, Vitor came up with a perfect set-up, throwing a left jab followed by a well-timed right straight that sent Kim crashing to the canvas.
The hit was so solid that Kim failed to stand up before the referee count ended, giving Vitor the gutsy comeback win.
“The valuable lesson I learned in this fight is that I have to be patient. He hit me with some solid punches and I thought I felt I could take his power. So in the second round, I engaged him and he caught me with a good shot. I was very groggy at the time but I just told myself that I will not give up. I was not ready to lose in front of my fellow Boholanos,” said Vitor, who improved to 22W-3L, 15KOs.
Kim went home with his second career loss with 11 victories, two draws with eight knockout victories.
PMI Boxing Promotions chief Atty. Floriezyl Podot admitted that the specter of Vitor losing the fight already crossed his mind when his stalwart was peppered with torrid blows in the second round.
“I thought that was it. But I’ve seen Vitor come back from knockdowns. Even in practice or in actual fights, he doesn’t get easily discouraged when taking solid hits. He really has a big fighting heart,” said Podot.
Podot said the fight was a big test for Vitor as PMI looks to give the valiant fighter another shot at a world title.
“It was a great matchup. Vitor really found a worthy opponent that tested him. He got knocked down and luckily he was saved by the bell,” said Podot.
In the co-main event, Remart Tagacanao of Carcar City, Cebu pocketed the WBA Asia super flyweight belt by nailing a sixth-round KO win over Hamson Lamandau of Indonesia.
Tagacanao of Villamor Boxing Gym improved to 8W-0L, 7KOs while Lamandau fell to 12W-6L-1D, 9KOs.
Also winning in the main supporting bout was Tagacanao’s stablemate Christian Balunan, who chalked up a third-round knockout victory over Clyde Azarcon.
Balunan stayed undefeated after 10 fights spiked by six KO wins. Azarcon of Davao del Norte slipped to 17W-10L-1D, 6KOs.(Calvin D. Cordova)
