John Paul Gabunilas (right) and Kanamu Sakama (left) gamely pose for a photo together after their battle in the Inoue-Tapales undercard in Tokyo, Japan. | Photo from Arquisola’s Facebook page.
TAGBILARAN CITY, Philippines — ARQ Sports top honcho Jason Arquisola lifted the spirit of his prized boxer, John Paul “Angas ng Cebu” Gabunilas, right after his loss to Kanamu Sakama in the undercard of the Inoue-Tapales world title unification bout at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan on Tuesday, December 26.
Arquisola, the owner of ARQ Sports and promoter of Gabunilas, penned a heartwarming Facebook post on Tuesday stating that the defeat was another experience to learn from to become better and stronger.
Gabunilas lost via a controversial fifth round technical knockout against Sakama after the referee Japanese referee Koji Tanaka jumped in between the two boxers.
Tanaka embraced Gabunilas, prompting the fight’s stoppage at the 2:35 mark of the fifth round.
Gabunilas was in utter shock for the stoppage knowing he was still reeling from his August 15 first round TKO loss to Miel Fajardo in Lapu-Lapu City for the OPBF light flyweight title.
Amidst the morale-crushing back-to-back defeats, Arquisola tried to cheer up his boxer.
“I can proudly say that Gabunilas can still hold his head up high for giving his best, and that’s what matters most to us here in ARQ Boxing,” said Arquisola in his Facebook post.
“One thing we can take away from this, is that we need to fall sometimes in life. And that’s okay, because at the end of the day, it’s another learning experience for our boxers to become better and stronger someday. To Johnpaul, you have nothing to be ashamed of. You gave the unbeaten Japanese one hell of a fight. It’s just the referee stopped the bout in the middle of what was an apparent heated exchange and that’s beyond our control.”
Gabunilas absorbed his third loss in 13 bouts. He has 10 wins with seven knockouts, while Sakama remained unbeaten in nine bouts with eight knockouts.
Arquisola ended his message by saying, “Don’t lose heart. Take your frustrations constructively and eventually as a ladder to success.”
Gabunilas along with his trainers Eldo Cortes and Roger Justine Potot are traveling from Tokyo to Cebu as of this writing.
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