JK Elorde survives late scare, wins by unanimous decision

JK Elorde, grandson of the late boxing hall of famer Gabriel "Flash" Elorde maintained his undefeated professional record after defeating Jeffrey Garcia by unanimous decision over four rounds in the opening undercard of Pinoy Pride 25 at the Mall of Asia Arena, Saturday.

A battle of southpaws, Elorde started the fight with quick jabs, then immediately landed a hard right hook on top after. Garcia went throwing too, punishing Elorde for keeping his guard low.

Garcia started swinging with looping lefts in round two but Elorde kept him at bay with stiff jabs and movement. Elorde dropped Garcia with a looping left of his own after dodging a right jab, before pouring it on until the round ended, wobbling Garcia a few more times.

Elorde knocked Garcia down yet again using the same punch in the opening seconds of round three. Elorde kept his calm this time around, boxing and moving until the bell.

Elorde stuck with his jabs and lead right hook in round four. Garcia landed a hard left hand in the last minute of the round, followed with hard shots to the body which wobbled and hurt Elorde. Elorde got on his bike and retreated until the round ended.

"It was a bad performance," said Elorde. "I was surprised to find out that I'm fighting a southpaw. I've learned about that just today. We trained and prepared for a right-handed fighter all along."

Elorde improved his record to 4-0, 3KOs while Garcia dropped to 0-1 in his professional debut. - RAF, GMA News