Tomjune Mangubat recovering during his knockout loss to Masonori Rikiishii. | Screen grab from the live stream
CEBU CITY, Philippines—Omega Boxing Gym’s Tomjune “Wardog” Mangubat suffered a stunning knockout defeat in the hands of Masanori Rikiishi during their Oriental Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) super featherweight bout on Sunday evening, August 14, 2022, at the EDION Arena in Osaka, Japan.
The 24-year-old Mangubat was knocked out cold in the fourth round roughly six months after his last knockout defeat against Olympian Charly Suarez for the WBA Asia super featherweight title in Manila.
With the defeat, Mangubat dropped to 15-4-1 (win-loss-draw).
Meanwhile, the 28-year-old Rikiishi improved to 12-1-0. This was his seventh knockout victory. More importantly, he successfully defended his OPBF title.
During the bout, Mangubat looked fine in the first two rounds. He came out the more aggressive boxer between the two of them on the ring.
Mangubat kept moving forward while throwing combinations, while Rikiishi cautiously sized up Mangubat.
Both boxers mixed it a couple of times in the middle of the ring with Mangubat landing the cleaner shots to the head and body. Rikiishi also landed power punches, including a right overhand before the bell rang.
In the second round, Rikiishi started to bank on his efficient counter punches that distracted Mangubat, who kept moving forward.
In the following round, Rikiishi’s combinations started to penetrate Mangubat’s defense, while the latter tried to counter them. Rikiishi cornered Mangubat against the ropes and they went on a furious exchange that got the crowd excited.
In the fourth round, Rikiishi moved back to avoid Mangubat, who remained aggressive.
Mangubat looked fine during the round until he got hit with Rikiishi’s powerful left uppercut. The punch landed directly to Mangubat’s chin, knocking him out cold.
Mangubat came crashing down to the canvas, forcing the referee to stop the bout immediately instead of doing the mandatory ten-count.
/bmjo
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