Saludar TKO’s Diaz, reclaims ABF title in Naga City
Vic Saludar (left) and Francis Jay Diaz (right) strike a pose during the official weigh-in for their ABF minimumweight title bout. | By Glendale Rosal
CEBU CITY, Philippines –Vic “Vicious” Saludar reclaimed the Asian Boxing Federation (ABF) minimumweight title by knocking out Francis Jay Diaz in the main event of the “Rumble in Naga II” fight card at the Enan Chiong Activity Center in Naga City, south Cebu on Saturday evening.
The 33-year-old Saludar, who first won the ABF minimumweight title in 2019 at the same venue against Mike Kinaadman, displayed lopsided performance in the ring against the hapless Diaz.
Saludar finished off Diaz with an easy sixth round technical knockout, improving his record to 24 wins with 14 knockouts, and six defeats.
Diaz stretched his losing streak to seven fights. In total, Diaz had eight losses with eight wins, one draw, and one knockout in his resume.
Saludar, the former World Boxing Organization (WBO) and World Boxing Association (WBA) world minimumweight champion, asserted dominance throughout the fight.
He scored a knockdown in the first few seconds of the opening round by landing a left hook to Diaz’s head, sending the latter down into the canvas.
That knockdown forced Diaz to defend himself throughout their short-lived bout.
In the sixth round, Saludar tried to bait Diaz by putting down his guard and leaning his head towards to force the former to engage in a toe-to-toe battle, to no avail.
Instead, Diaz remained cautious throughout the round with Saludar hitting him with power punches.
Saludar saw a gap in Diaz’s defense, snuck a quick right uppercut that wobbled the latter’s legs. He followed it up with another right hook that downed Diaz face first on the canvas.
Diaz managed to get back on his feet, only to get pounded by Saludar’s hooks and uppercuts, forcing referee Rey Caitom to stop the bout.
Saludar stretched his winning streak to three fights after his sixth round TKO victory against Diaz.
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