MANILA – Negrense fighter Joepher Montaño retained the World Boxing Organization (WBO) Oriental welterweight crown after a sixth round stoppage victory over Pakistani Muhammad Bilal at the RCA Plaza in Bangkok, Thailand.
This was the first successful defense of the Bago City, Negros Occidental-native Montaño on the championship he captured at the expense of Indian fighter Kulbir Dhaka last November, 2022.
Montaño, dubbed as “El Gwapito,” showed his punching accuracy in the first few rounds with his accurate left and right combinations that stunned Bilal, who is a known knockout artist.
Bilal also had his moments in the championship clash as he unloaded several combinations but Montaño answered with cracking punches that forced the referee to stop the match with two minutes left in the sixth round.
The WBO Oriental belt is the second welterweight division championship won by the 27-year-old Negrense boxer after previously winning the ASEAN Boxing Federation (ABF) version of the crown.
With the victory, Montaño increased his boxing record to 16 wins, five losses and two draws, including 14 victories by way of knockouts, while Bilal saw his record dropped to 11-4-1, with nine stoppage wins.
Meanwhile, Negrense Arthur Villanueva hacked out a fourth round technical knockout victory over Thailand boxer Chatre Buakaewdee for his third consecutive stoppage triumph.
The Bago City-native Villanueva improved his record to 35-4-1 win-loss-draw with 20 knockout victories, while the Thai fighter suffered his first defeat after winning his debut bout.
Ador Torres (9-4-1, 6 KOs), on the other hand, has successfully defended his ABF welterweight championship following a second round knockout victory over Thai fighter Sakda Langkabam (4-2-0, 4 KOs).
Filipina boxer Wenie Cline Verano (10-0-0, 7 KOs) maintained her unbeaten record following a sixth round technical knockout win over Thai boxer Monthawee Srisongkhram (2-2-0, 1 KO) in the undercard./PN
