MANILA – Ilonggo boxer Arnel Baconaje pounded fellow Filipino fighter Ivor Lastrilla via second-round knockout (KO) in their non-title bout on Saturday night at the Urdaneta Cultural Sports Complex in Pangasinan.
This was the second consecutive triumph for the San Rafael, Iloilo- native Baconaje this year after scoring a two-round stoppage over Jay Lloyd Quidlat in May.
At the start of the clash, Baconaje pummeled Lastrilla with punches while the latter resorted to defending himself from the vicious attacks of the Ilonggo boxer.
Baconaje went for the kill in the second period by unloading left and right combinations towards Lastrilla. The referee halted the match as the latter was unable to counter the former’s hits.
With the victory, the 27-year-old boxer improved his record to 13-4-0 win-loss-draw while posting his 11th stoppage victory. The Tacloban City-native Lastrilla, on the other hand, dropped his slate to 12-11-1, with seven KO wins.
Meanwhile, Negrense fighter Richard Clavera’s return bout last Saturday versus Christian Araneta in Cebu did not push through.
The organizers did not divulge the reason for the cancellation of his match against Araneta, who came from a controversial unanimous decision loss to South African Sivenathi Nontshinga in April.
The 32-year-old Claveras has not fought since scoring a sixth-round stoppage win over fellow Filipino Richard Rosales in Manila in February 2020./PN
