Filipino boxers Jaro, Fareñas fall, but hold their heads up high in Japan

Sonny Boy Jaro and Michael Fareñas both knew what they needed to do. They were in foreign soil to battle for world titles. Jaro was out to defend his WBC flyweight title while Fareñas out to capture the WBA super featherweight crown. They knew winning decisions would be tough, so they both went to Japan wanting to score knockouts. The two bouts ended differently but the same bitter result fell on both fighters: they came home to the Philippines without world titles. Defeated but unbowed Japan’s Toshiyuki Igarashi grabbed Jaro’s WBC flyweight title with a split decision victory. Two of the judges scored it 116-112 and 115-113 for the Japanese challenger while one scored it 116-112 for Jaro. Jaro now sports a record of 34 wins, 11 defeats, and five draws. At the age of 30, Jaro still has some good years in front of him and it will be easier for him to get world title opportunities now that he is a former world champion. The key for Jaro's success is good match-making. The pint-sized fighter from Aljoe Jaro’s stable packs a strong punch but he will always have a difficult time against longer and more technically gifted fighters. He stands a better chance fighting guys like WBO flyweight champion Brian Viloria or WBA flyweight titlist Hernan Marquez over boxers such as Igarashi and IBF flyweight champion Moruthi Mthalane. A lot of people are wondering why Jaro’s first title defense was held on foreign soil. Sadly, this all boils down to money. It’s quite expensive to stage a world title fight here and promoters find it hard to turn a profit as sponsors are harder to come by. Instead of staging the fight here and going through all the troubles of setting up the event and looking for advertisers with the huge risk of losing money, it’s much easier for promoters to look for fights abroad where their fighter will be paid handsomely. Fareñas on the other hand is disappointed, not because he did not win the title, but because he wasn’t able to show the fruits of his preparation. His promoter and manager, the respected Gerry Peñalosa, knows exactly how hard his ward trained. Although two of the judges scored the first two rounds for the defending WBA super featherweight champion while the third judge had it split, Fareñas felt like he was dictating the tempo of the fight until an unfortunate clash of heads that resulted in a cut. Peñalosa said it was a painful pill to swallow, but he still saw a silver lining in what happened. He said that at least everyone now knows that Fareñas is really a world-class fighter. The 28-year-old Fareñas will have another shot at a world title soon. If it were up to Peñalosa, an immediate rematch would be the priority. Although the two fighters fell short, they displayed just how tough Filipino fighters are. The trip to Japan might have been unsuccessful but this is definitely not the end for Jaro and Fareñas. -- OMG/AMD, GMA News