MANILA – Filipino boxer Dave Peñalosa failed to clinch the WBC Silver featherweight championship after a unanimous decision loss to Lerato Dlamini of South Africa on Friday night at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Peñalosa, who traced his roots in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental, did not only lose a chance to move closer to a world title fight but has also suffered his first defeat in his career.
Despite being out for 10 month, Dlamini did not show any signs of rustiness with his “hit and run” tactics against Penalosa in the early rounds allowing him to gain an early advantage.
Peñalosa tried his best to rally back in the latter part of the match but unable to do so with Dlamini running circles in the ring for a lopsided 119-107, 118-108, 117-109 decision.
The 28-year-old Peñalosa saw his boxing record dropped to 15-1-0, including 11 stoppage wins, while Dlamini improved his boxing slate to 13-1-0, with six victories by stoppages.
Over at Osaka, Japan, Filipino boxer Joe Noynay has successfully retained his WBO Asia Pacific super featherweight championship with a sixth round TKO win over Satoshi Shimizu of Japan.
Noynay set the tempo in the opening round as he quickly scored a knockdown against a stunned Shimizu before imposing his presence all match long to improve his record to 18-2-1, with seven stoppage wins.
Meanwhile, Filipino Jonathan Taconing lost by a technical knockout in the 4th round to defending WBC world light flyweight champion Ken Shiro of Japan./PN
