Kit Ceron Garces (second from left) after the fight. | Contributed photo
CEBU, Philippines – Kit Ceron Garces of the Prime Fight Boxing Gym delivered an impressive victory by knocking out Kier Clenton Espere in the eighth round of the Prime War 6 boxing event held at the Tabo-an Sports Complex in Cebu City on Wednesday, December 18, 2024.
A wild left body shot to Espere’s abdomen dropped him at the 1:11 mark of the eighth round. Espere failed to recover within the mandatory 10-second count of referee Rey Caitom Jr., prompting the fight to be stopped.
With this win, the Talisay City native Garces improved his record to 8-1, with six wins by knockouts, while Espere from Surigao City dropped to 8-7-1 (win-loss-draw).
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“I’m happy because we successfully executed our game plan as a team. I didn’t rush things. I knew early on that he was hurt in the body, so I focused on that,” Garces said in a post-fight interview.
Garces also revealed plans to return to his usual fighting weight of 112 pounds, as his bout with Espere was contested at 115 pounds.
Atty. Jigo John Dacua, president of Prime Stags Sports, shared that Garces has received numerous fight offers, but they will carefully evaluate them before making a deal.
“We can all see that he’s ready for a title shot. He was initially set to fight in Thailand, but due to injury, that didn’t push through. Still, we’ve received plenty of offers for Kit, and we’ll take the time to weigh them carefully,” Dacua said.
Garces was originally slated to fight Danai Ngiabphukhiaw in Bangkok, Thailand, on November 29 for the vacant World Boxing Council (WBC) Asian 112-pound title.
However, an injury forced him to pull out, and his stablemate Michael Adolfo stepped in but suffered a knockout loss.
Last July, Garces defeated veteran and world contender Robert Paradero (10-8-2, 13 KOs).
In the supporting bout, Steven Lagrama from Surigao City earned a majority decision victory over Jimmybie Cais.