For a while, South Cotabato-native Vic “Vicious” Saludar looked headed for what could have been a momentous win when he floored his Japanese opponent Kosei Tanaka in the fifth round.
Tanaka, however, weathered the storm and finished off Saludar with bone-crushing body shot that knocked out Saludar in the sixth round of their world title showdown on New Year’s eve in Nagoya, Japan.
The remarkable win allowed Tanaka to retain his World Boxing Organization (WBO) world minimum weight title while sending Saludar home emoty-handed.
Saludar nearly completed a huge upset after sending Tanaka to the floor with a two-punch combo to the head.
A wobbly Tanaka was able to beat the count of referee Michael Ortega and survive the round.
It didn’t take for Tanaka to return the favor as he tagged Saludar with body shots.
Saludar couldn’t overcome the blows. The ending came at the 2:15 mark of the sixth round.
It was a painful defeat for the ALA Boxing Gym stalwart as he was leading the scorecards before he got knocked out.
The three judges Lynne Carter (50-44), Levi Martinez (49-45) and Zoltan Enyedi (50-44) all scored the bout for Saludar.
The 25-year old Saludar suffered his second defeat with 11 wins with nine knockouts while the younger 20-year-old Tanaka remained unbeaten with his sixth win with three knockouts.
Meanwhile, Genesis “Azukal” Servania made a triumphant return to the ring after dominating Indonesian journeyman Hendrik Barongsay via unanimous decision in their eight-round duel.
Servania, formerly ranked number two in the the WBO super bantamweight division and WBO Intercontinental super bantamweight champion, now has 27 wins in as many fights with 11 knockouts.
It was Servania’s first fight in 10 months or since he left the ALA Boxing Gym.
Servania, 24, is rumored to be now under a Japanese boxing promoter.
Reports had it that Servania’s contract ALA Promotions International was only until August last year.
He was reportedly scheduled to fight in the undercard of Donnie Nietes -Francisco Rodriguez Jr. last July but he showed up at the gym overweight and trained only once.
The ALA Promotions is already consulting its legal team to address the matter.