There’s the great news about a tiny Filipino boxer, who practically had to be pulled out from the hospital where he underwent an appendectomy last month, winning in a world boxing championship bout in faraway Africa.
The boxer’s name is Rey Loreto, the world crown is the International Boxing Organization (IBO) light flyweight title, the fight venue is East London in South Africa.
Who’s Rey Loreto, where the hell is East London, what in the boxing world is the IBO?
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Until late Sunday (in Manila) maybe it was only sportsman Manny Piñol, former governor of North Cotabato, who knew all the answers.
In a report (from South Africa posted in Philboxing.com) early Monday, Piñol, an able newspaperman, said the unbelievable did happen in the name of God.
Piñol did not mince words to say that there was a miraculous procedure up in the boxing ring where Loreto, who had not trained for the fight, shrugged off pains from healing surgical wounds to score an unbelievable knockout in the first round.
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Reported Piñol: “In a fight everybody had expected him to lose, Rey Loreto, 24, relied on a big heart and a strong faith in God to score a stunning knockout of hometown hero Nkoshanti Joyi at Mdantsania Gymnasium in East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa.
“The fall of Joyi was so brutal it silenced the noisy hometown crowd that kept chanting a Zulu war anthem to pump up Joyi, a former Olympian and two-time world champion.
“At about one minute and 30 seconds into the bout, Loreto caught Joyi with a crackling left hook followed by a left uppercut which dropped the South African for a mandatory eight-count. As the fight resumed, Loreto sized up distance before unleashing a combination to the head which sent Joyi slumped almost motionless in the neutral corner. The referee no longer bothered to count.
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“Loreto, a native of Davao, said he had not expected to last six rounds, but that he grabbed the opportunity in order to get the money with which he hoped to build a simple house for his young wife and their first son.
“The IBO title fight, rescheduled to Feb. 28, had to be moved to March 22 after Loreto underwent an appendectomy on Feb. 6, with sutures below his midsection still there, and Loreto feeling pain inside his stomach. His condition had prevented Loreto from sparring and doing sit-up exercises.”
Piñol said Loreto, who had been advised against taking the fight until he has fully recuperated from surgery, had given himself only six rounds at most to last against Joyi.
Loreto would later confess he had to cry before he could enter the ring because he felt very sorry for himself.
The IBO light flyweight champion, a protege of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, is expected back in Manila today.