Pacquiao’s pugs seal Open victory

DIGOS CITY—Flashy John Paul Bentoso capped Team Pacman’s domination of the PLDT-Abap National Boxing Championships Sunday night with a unanimous 3-0 decision victory over Aglayan’s Robert Paradero at Digos City Gym here.

Bentoso’s victory in the youth boys’ light fly (49 kg) division raised Team Pacman’s gold medal haul to six out of 18 staked in the five-day event organized by the Association of Boxing Alliances of the Philippines and hosted by eight-division world champion and Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao.

Other Team Pacman gold medalists were Reducto Gaidyl (school girls’ light pin, 46 kg), Jericho Sahohito (junior boys’ light fly, 48 kg), Ranjo Gil Napoles (junior boys’ bantam, 60 kg), Jean Minguillan (junior girls’ pin, 46 kg) and Ryan Moreno (youth boys’ pin, 46 kg).

The standouts from the Manny Pacquiao Boxing Academy here also bagged three silvers and eight bronzes to top the 19-team field.

Cebu’s Junrel Jimenez put up the most impressive performance when he won by technical knockout over La Union’s Ryan Torres in the youth boys’ flyweight (52 kg) final.

Jimenez felled Torres with a flurry of punches to the head en route to the stoppage 1 minute and 55 seconds into the second round.

Another Cebuano, Jorge Edusma, took the youth boys’ bantam (56 kg) title at the expense of Camiguin’s Gilbert Rey Jerusalem while Cagayan de Oro’s Sugar Ray Ocana and Grace Paulo Ganton took the last two golds.

Ocana beat Calinan’s John Bryan Noces in the youth boys’ lightweight (60 kg) class while Ganton edged Bago City’s Sarah Mae Mag Usara in the youth girls’ flyweight (51 kg) class.

Cagayan de Oro (5-1-4) finished second followed by Cebu (3-0-2), Bago (2-3-1), General Santos (2-0-2) and Zamboanga (1-0-0).

Abap president Ricky Vargas said bringing the Nationals to this city is part of the association’s grassroots development program.