MICHAEL Farenas finally gained a world title shot after stopping American Mark Davis in the eighth round of their IBF junior lightweight bout eliminator Wednesday night (Thursday morning in Manila) in Mashantucket, Connecticut.
The 30-year-old Farenas, who broke into prominence when he decked renowned Cuban fighter Yuriorkis Gamboa two years ago before losing via unanimous decision, simply overpowered Davis, 27, a technical and highly regarded prospect.
A southpaw from Sorsogon, Farenas lined himself up as mandatory challenger for the IBF 130-pound title to be disputed by Argenis Mendez and Rances Barthelemy on July 10.
“From the first round I knew that I can take his punches, so I tried to get in and become aggressive,” Farenas told Rich Mazon of philboxing.com.
Farenas improved to 39-4-4 with 31 knockouts while Davis suffered his first defeat after winning 18 straight, five by knockout.
A protege of former two-division world champion Gerry Peñalosa, Farenas has won five straight, the last two by second-round stoppages over Mexicans Hector Velazquez and Jesus Rios.
Davis, handled by rapper-manager Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, was the overwhelming favorite coming into the fight.
But Farenas, who trained at Wild Card Gym under the guidance of friend Marvin Somodio, didn’t hesitate to mix it up with Davis in what he described as his “last card” for boxing stardom.
He opened a cut over Davis’ left eye in the first round and was throwing heavy blows that staggered the American, who was saved from a knockdown by the bell in the sixth round.
Farenas finished the job with a flurry at 59 seconds in the eighth. Marc Anthony Reyes