Jhack Tepora got his hands wrapped by Coach Lucas ‘Ting’ Ariosa in his comeback fight in Mexico. | Photo from Viva Promotions
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Former interim world champion Jhack “El Kapitan” Tepora put on a masterful comeback performance by scoring a first technical round knockout against Mexican David Banda Leal on April 19 (April 20 Manila Time) at the Auditorio Municipal in Tijuana, Mexico.
The Cebuano Tepora, who is now based in Las Vegas, Nevada, ended his two-year hiatus in boxing after reuniting with his former promoter and manager Sean Gibbons of the MP Promotions.
He didn’t disappoint and made easy work against the unheralded Mexican.
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Tepora, the former banner boxer of the Omega Boxing Gym, only threw roughly five punches to knock out Leal in less than a minute in the opening round of their scheduled 8-rounder bout.
He knocked out Leal by landing a sneaky left hook. Leal landed face first on the canvas and wasn’t able to stand back on his feet again.
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Tepora now has 24 wins with 18 knockouts and one defeat, while Leal absorbed his 12th loss with three wins and two defeats.
Ugly turn
To recall, Tepora became the World Boxing Association (WBA) interim world featherweight champion in 2018 by beating Edivaldo Ortega of Mexico by a ninth round TKO in the undercard of Manny Pacquiao-Lucas Matthysse world title duel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
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However, Tepora’s blooming career in boxing took an ugly turn when he lost via a first round knockout against Colombian Oscar Escandon in his debut fight in the United States in 2019.
After that, Tepora went home to Cebu and hasn’t fought until 2022 against countryman Richard Betos which he knocked out in the second round in General Santos City.
With the victory, Tepora can revive his career and his goal of becoming a world champion.