Fredirex Rodriguez KOs Vincent Palicte in Mandaluyong

MANDALUYONG CITY - Underdog Fredirex Rodriguez scored the biggest win of his career Thursday night, upsetting one-time prospect Vincent Palicte by fifth round knockout, to win the World Boxing Organization Asia Pacific bantamweight title at the Mandaluyong Gym in Mandaluyong City. The time of the stoppage was 2:59. Rodriguez (9-2-1, 7 knockouts) of Bukidnon brought the fight to a dramatic conclusion near the end of the fifth stanza with one right cross, as an exhausted Palicte (14-4-1, 7 KOs) of Bago City threw his own right to stave off the assault. Referee Danrex Tapdasan reached the count of ten as Palicte struggled to his knees. Palicte would remain in the ring on his stool for ten minutes, appearing more dejected than concussed. Rodriguez, who had lost two of his last three bouts heading in, earned a top 15 slot in the WBO rankings at 118 pounds and is now eligible for a world title opportunity. Palicte had won two straight since a disappointing loss to John Mark Apolinario in 2010 and tuberculosis took him out of action for 2011. "Words cannot describe how happy I am," said Rodriguez. "In the beginning he was very difficult but I started hitting his body and I could see he was becoming weak." The fight was a rough encounter as Rodriguez used headlocks and forearms to gain the advantage early. Palicte, a 2005 member of the national amateur team, worked to counter the aggression of Rodriguez. By the fourth round, Rodriguez began to find the target with short right crosses over Palicte's jab, as well as body shots. Midway through the fifth, Palicte grappled with Rodriguez and dragged both to the floor out of exhaustion. Rodriguez rose and came out firing, leading to the end of the bout. "I'm just sad, feeling depressed," said Palicte, who suffers his second loss by knockout. "I was caught with a punch I didn't expect and I couldn't get up." It wasn't all bad for the Palicte clan, however. Earlier in the night, Vincent's younger brother Aston Palicte raised his unbeaten record to 10-0 (8 KOs) with a 0:59 second knockout of Mark Joseph Costa (4-6-2, 1 KOs). The younger Palicte scored two quick knockdowns before the fight was brought to a halt. Also that night, super flyweight Jerwin Ancajas (14-1, 6 KOs) of Panabo City, Davao del Norte rebounded from his first career defeat, beating John Paul Bautista (10-7-1, 4 KOs) of Bulacan into submission, forcing him to remain in the corner following the third round. Ancajas, 20, sustained his first career defeat to Mark Anthony Geraldo in March and had taken time off to work on his skills. The improvement showed as Ancajas fought a more disciplined fight, landing 1-2 combinations from the southpaw stance at will while avoiding the incoming counters. Ancajas opened up a cut over Bautista's right eye in the second round with a left cross. Junior welterweight Adones Cabalquinto (13-0, 8 KOs) of Talaingod, Davao del Norte defeated Jaypee Ignacio (8-14-2, 2 KOs) of Quezon City by ten-round unanimous decision. The scores were 98-92 on two cards, and 96-94 on the third. Cabalquinto has served as sparring partner for former junior welterweight champion Amir Khan as well as lightweight champion Michael Katsidis. The event, which was the maiden promotion of Joven Sports, will be televised this Sunday on the GMA News 11 program "All Sports", beginning at 9:30 a.m. GMA newscaster Chino Trinidad and top-rated minimumweight contender Denver Cuello will provide commentary. - AMD, GMA News Ryan Songalia is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) and contributes to GMA News. He is also a member of The Ring ratings panel and can be reached at ryan@ryansongalia.com . An archive of his work can be found at www.ryansongalia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @RyanSongalia. You can vote for Songalia in the Outstanding Filipino Americans of NY Awards media/publishing category by clicking on this photo and liking it via Facebook: http://bit.ly/VOTE4RYAN