Apolinar KOs Ramonal in 10th, takes OPBF super bantam belt
Pete Apolinar (middle) poses with his team from Omega Boxing Gym after winning a 10th round knockout against Jhunriel Ramonal. | Omega Boxing Gym photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Omega Boxing Gym’s Pete “Thunder” Apolinar knocked out Jhunriel Ramonal in the 10th round of their Oriental Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) super bantamweight title showdown on Saturday, April 2, 2022 at the Flash Grand Ballroom in Elorde Sports Complex in Parañaque City.
The 26-year-old pride of San Pablo, Laguna clinched the OPBF super bantamweight title after knocking out Ramonal at the 1:47 mark of the 10th round.
With the victory, Apolinar improved his record to 16 wins with 10 knockouts along with two defeats. It was also an impressive performance for him in his return to the super bantamweight from the featherweight division.
Most importantly, Apolinar redeemed himself from his eighth round technical knockout loss to Korean Jong Seon Kang last November for the WBO Oriental featherweight title in Daejeon, Korea.
Meanwhile, the 32-year-old Ramonal dropped his record to 17-10-6 (win-loss-draw) with 10 knockouts.
Despite the loss, Ramonal proved that he was no pushover against his more seasoned foe. Ramonal, who is also from Laguna, pressured Apolinar from the first to the ensuing rounds.
He kept moving forward throwing several combinations tagging Apolinar in several instances.
However, Apolinar displayed excellent defense, either blocking or dodging most of Ramonal’s punches.
He also retaliated with accurate counter punches that landed perfectly to its targets.
Ramonal kept moving forward and managed to pin Apolinar against the ropes numerous times, but the latter blocked most of the punches thrown.
Apolinar kept his composure and remained patient throughout the fight, avoiding Ramonal who kept charging in.
In the 10th round, both boxers already showed signs of exhaustion, started to engage in a toe-to-toe battle.
It was until Apolinar cornered Ramonal against the ropes and launched combinations. Apolinar staggered Ramonal with a vicious left hook and followed it up with a one-two combo that decked the latter to the canvas, and who failed to beat the referee’s count.
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