MANILA – Negrense boxer Merlito Sabillo failed his mission to clinch the Asian Boxing Federation (ABF) flyweight championship after a second round technical knockout defeat to Sho Kimura of Japan at the Manila Arena on Feb. 15.
It now marks the fourth consecutive defeat of the Toboso, Negros Occidental-native Sabillo, a former WBO world minimumweight championship holder, as he ponders to retire from boxing.
Sabillo was no match to Kimura in the opening round. The Jap fighter cornered the Negrense slugger several times and unloaded numerous shots to the body and the face.
Kimura’s dominance continued in the second period, but Sabillo showed some life by connecting some combos. However, the Japanese found an opening and threw a straight left to the Filipino’s jaw, knocking him (KO) out for good.
With the defeat, the 36-year-old Sabillo saw his boxing record fall to 27-8-1 with 13 stoppage wins, while the 31-year-old Kimura improved his resume to a 19-3-2 (12 KO’s).
Meanwhile, Silay City, Negros Occidental-native Richard Claveras cruised to a sixth round knockout victory over Richard Rosales in the sixth round of non-title flyweight division bout.
Both boxers were trading hits heading into the sixth round before Claveras finished off Rosales with a cracking right straight to the jaw that tumbled the latter thrice in the canvas.
The victory allowed the 31-year-old Claveras to snap his four-bout losing skid and improve to a 19-7-2 record with 15 stoppage victories, while the 26-year-old Rosales skidded to 14-12-2 (8 KO’s)./PN
