Mancio KOs Villegas to win Philippine junior flyweight title

PARANAQUE CITY - It wasn't always pretty, but Jerson Mancio got the job done, stopping a game but outgunned Robel Villegas at 2:02 of the fifth round at the Flash Grand Ballroom of the Elorde Sports Complex in Paranaque City to win the vacant Philippine junior flyweight title.

Mancio (17-3-3, 8 knockouts) of Cebu City was anything but the "Smooth Operator" suggested by his monicker, often bulling in with power shots without setting them up behind a jab. Still, Villegas (9-7, 3 KOs), a southpaw, was often overwhelmed by his opponent's superior physicality.

After both men took timeouts to recover from low blows in round three, Mancio came on strong, dropping Villegas with a left hook high on the head. Villegas survived the round by evading Mancio's wild rushes, but Mancio adjusted in round five and dropped him again on a hard right cross. Villegas rebounded, but was defenseless against Mancio's follow-up onslaught.

Mancio, 25, has now won four straight since losing back-to-back fights in 2011-2012 in Japan, including a fourth-round knockout at the hands of WBA World minimumweight titleholder Ryo Miyazaki. Mancio is promoted by Cebu-based outfit ALA Promotions.

In the night's co-featured bout, female boxer Jessebelle Pagaduan (5-0, 3 KOs) won a competitive but clear majority decision over Lady Love Sampiton (0-2) in a rematch of a fight last year, which Pagaduan won by first round technical knockout. The scores were 57-57 even, 59-55 and 58-56.

The bout was billed as being for the Philippine women's minimumweight title, but the belt remained vacant when Pagaduan weighed in a pound over the limit at 106 pounds.

The 28-year-old Pagaduan's superior strength and experience were clear from the opening moments, as the Baguio City-resident backed Sampiton up and bullied her to the ropes. Pagaduan worked effectively to the body with both hands but was unable to wear down her opponent for a second time.

Bantamweight Bryan Macamay (7-1-2, 5 KOs) of Taguig City rebounded from his first career defeat with a tougher than expected split decision over Menard Zaragosa (5-12, 3 KOs). Two judges scored the fight 59-55 for each opponent, while a third had it 58-56 for Macamay. Macamay, 21, struggled to get his rhythm going against the unorthodox Zaragosa, who frequently resorted to low blows.

Macamay was fighting for the first time since last July, when he was stopped in seven rounds by Alfred Deano, who had failed to make the 118 pound weight limit.

Light flyweight prospect Cris Alfante (8-1, 2 KOs) of Paranaque City scored a rare stoppage victory against overmatched Ricky Oyan (4-17-2, 2 KOs), dropping Oyan with a right hook to the body at the 1:30 mark of the fourth round. Alfante already owned a four-round decision win over Oyan in 2010.

Also, super flyweight Richard Roa (11-7-2, 3 KOs) stopped Samuel Apuya (7-15-1, 4 KOs) at 0:26 of round two, while Ronnele Ferreras (11-5-2, 4 KOs) had to settle for a technical draw with Roque Lauro (7-13-4, 2 KOs) after an accidental headbutt. Both Ferreras and Roa are promoted by Anson Tiu Co's Shape-Up Boxing Promotions. - 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 here. Follow him on Twitter too.