By Rene Bonsubre,Jr.
MANDAUE CITY, CEBU - Cristian “The Bomb” Araneta easily disposed of Sanchai Yotboon of Thailand in a non-title contest this Wednesday December 11 at the IPI Gym in Mandaue City.
Araneta used his left uppercut and hard body shots to drop Yotboon thrice, prompting Referee Tony Pesons to call a halt to the carnage at 58 seconds of the opening round.
This was an activity fight of sorts for Araneta (25-2,20 KO’s) who was coming off an injury after his sensational first round TKO win against Arvin Magramo last January. This win propelled Araneta to the top of the IBF rankings making him the number one challenger to the current IBF light flyweight champion Masamichi Yabuki (17-4,16KO’s) of Japan.
Yotboon (16-9-10KOs) was also stopped in the first round here in Cebu last May by former two-time world minimumweight champion Vic Saludar. Araneta, who is one of blue chip title hopefuls from the Philippines, called out Yabuki after the fight for a title fight next year.
In a brutal, action packed bout, Ramil Roda (7-1, 4KO’s) beat Ian Donaire (5-4-1,4KO’s) for the Philippine Boxing Federation 115 lb division title. It was four rounds of mayhem, with both boxers taking turns pummeling each other. But a fading Donaire was unable to continue after the fourth round. The timing was bad, Roda was suffering leg cramps in between rounds, and it was questionable if he could have continued also had Donaire fought another round.
In the opening contest, lightweight prospect Alexander ‘Showtime’ Fredriksson from Sweden, who has Filipino roots, also made it a short night for Jubmark Pan. Both were making their pro debuts but Fredriksson immediately stunned Pan after the opening bell and dropped him three times. Referee Rafael Osumo signaled the end at 1:56 of round one.
The card billed as KUMBATI 18 is presented by International Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (IPI) and Omega Boxing Promotions.
Photo – Cristian Araneta celebrates with fans after his win.
