After another world title came to pass last December 29 as Warlito Parrenas was easily defeated by Naoyo Inoue, Vic Saludar had the opportunity to take a world title back in facing the WBO World Minimumweight Champion Kosei Tanaka in a New Year’s Eve special Aichi Prefectural Gym in Nagoya, Japan.
However, it was not meant to be as Saludar’s valiant stand was not enough as the 20 year old Japanese champion was able to was able recover from a knockdown in knocking out the Filipino to retain the WBO World Minimumweight Championship.
Saludar speed advantage was evident all throughout the bout as the Filipino was able to counter every combination by the young Japanese champion. The 25 year old Cotabato del Sur-native was even able to knockdown the champion during the fifth round with a huge right with 39 seconds remaining in the round. The Japanese was able to get back up and recover from the stool.
Tanaka, who had been targeting the body of Saludar for the majority of the bout, continued to pursue the body with short shots from the clinch. With 57 seconds remaining in the bout, the power of Tanaka was able to penetrate the blocking of Saludar with a combination that knocked out the Filipino in dramatic fashion.
The loss is Saludar’s first in 12 bouts while Tanaka continues his rampage in six fights.
Genesis Servania continues unbeaten run
Genesis Servania, the #3 ranked super bantamweight in the Philippines, had been inactive for ten months.
Servania showed no rust in his return bout as he was able to outpoint Indonesian journeyman Hendrik Barongsay in an eight round super bantamweight showcase.
Servania was on a whole other plane compared to his opponent in completely dominating the 35 year old boxer. Servania was able to take a unanimous decision victory, 80-72 across the board.
“Azukal” is now 27-0 while Barongsay falls to 29-24-3.
