Takei, Japan champ, KOs Baldonado in 3rd round, keeps OPBF super bantam belt
Ronnie Baldonado still fells the effects of getting knocked out by Japanese Yoshiki Takei in the 3rd round of their non-title bout in the undercard of Naoya Inoue-Stephen Fulton unification bout in Japan. | Screen grab from the live stream
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Yoshiki Takei has added Ronnie “Lindol” Baldonado as his second Filipino victim inside the ring after scoring a third round knockout on Tuesday, July 25, 2023, in the undercard of Naoya Inoue-Stephen Fulton world title unification bout at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.
The 27-year-old Takei, who is also the reigning Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) super bantamweight champion remained undefeated with a perfect seven wins with seven knockouts in his budding boxing career.
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Fifth defeat
Meanwhile, Baldonado of North Cotabato absorbed his fifth defeat with 16 wins, nine knockouts, and one draw.
Takei landed a left hook to the body, while pinning Baldonado against the ropes in the third round.
It took a few seconds for Baldonado to feel and absorb the pain from the body shot before he crashed to the canvas grimacing.
Baldonado tried to get back on his feet, but he was clearly hurt from the body shot and ultimately failed to beat the referee’s count at the 2:05 mark of the third round.
Before the knockout, Baldonado had his own good moments, especially in the second round when he landed a right straight while feinting a jab that rocked Takei.
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Takei controlled the bout
However, it was already clear from the first round that Takei controlled the phase of the bout by landing clean shots to the head and body while pinning Baldonado against the ropes.
Takei already targeted Baldonado’s body in the previous rounds. Takei again, unleashed another left hook in the third round which resulted to his impressive knockout victory.
Before his knockout win against Baldonado, Takei also defeated another Filipino, Pete Apolinar last August 2022 for the OPBF super bantamweight title via a fifth round TKO.
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