Pinoy Pride: Pagara, Magsayo trounce foes

Prince Paraga and his belt. Photo by Roy Luarca

CEBU CITY—There were no knockouts, only dominant wins for “Prince” Albert Pagara and Mark “Magnifico” Magsayo in the headliners of Pinoy Pride 35: Stars of the Future Saturday night at Waterfront Hotel and Casino here.

Pitted against fighters who refused to slug it out, Pagara and Magsayo settled for lopsided unanimous decisions over Nicaraguan Yenser Talavera and Mexican Eduardo Montoya, respectively, proving their worth as potential world champions.

Pagara knocked down the backpedaling Talavera with a right straight to the body in the seventh round to retain his World Boxing Organization (WBO) intercontinental junior featherweight crown, matching the feat of Magsayo, who landed a flurry of punches, also in the seventh round, to scuttle Montoya and  clinch the WBO Youth featherweight crown.

Oozing with punching power, Magsayo  finally put the Mexican on his knees for the count given by referee Bruce McTavish.

Though Magsayo failed to finish off Montoya, the pride of Tagbilaran, Bohol did enough to earn the nod of the three judges, 110-89, 97-92, 99-90, and raise his clean slate to 13-0, 10 KOs.

Montoya resorted to survival mode after that knockdown and saw his record drop to 17-5-1, 13 KOs.

The 22-year-old Pagara virtually clobbered Talavera throughout their 10-round tussle and was given the nod by all three judges, 119-108 and 120-107 twice.

Bigger fights

The twin victories mean that Pagara will headline an ALA Promotions card in San Francisco, California, on July 9.

Magsayo virtually secured a bout against American Chris Avalos on April 23 in the undercard of Nonito Donaire Jr.’s title fight against  Hungarian Zsolt  Bedok on April 23 in Cebu.

Another UD win

Rising local star Kevin Jake Cataraja used his ring cunning and accurate punching to subdue Mexican Tony Rodriguez by unanimous decision and post his third straight win in as many fights.

Cataraja, a multiple amateur champion who is now a graduating criminology student, prevailed via  scores of 78-74, 79-73, 80-72, though he failed to stop the tough Rodriguez (3-2).

Jeo Santisima caught Marco Demecillo with a wicked left to the breadbasket to win by sixth round technical knockout in their super bantamweight battle.

The 25-year-old Demecillo gasped for breath and slumped near the corner in a delayed reaction that gave the 19-year-old Santisima his ninth win against two losses, eight by KO.  Demecillo, a former world title contender, dropped to 21-5-1, 16 KOs.

Nine-match streak

Melvin Jerusalem stretched his winning run to nine, seven by knockout, with a majority decision over former International Boxing Federation (IBF) champion Florante Condes, who dropped to 27-10-1, 23 KOs.

Just 19 years old, Jerusalem proved to be the busier fighter as he earned the nod of two judges by similar 78-74 scores.

The third judge saw it even.

Pinoy Pride 35 is a joint undertaking by ALA Promotions, through its president and CEO Michael Aldeguer, and ABS-CBN Sports.