MANILA – Ilonggo boxer Roman Canto failed to seize the American Boxing Federation Continental Americas welterweight belt with a third-round stoppage loss to American LaVonte Earley on Sunday at Greenville, South Carolina, United States of America.
It was the second consecutive defeat of the Barotac Viejo, Iloilo-native boxer after losing in the final bout before the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic against Japanese Shuya Masaki.
This was also the third time that Canto dropped an international boxing title match after failing to clinch the World Boxing Council world interim youth super flyweight belt and Pan Asian Boxing Association super bantamweight belt.
During the fight, Canto was tentative to start the opening round as he circled Earley before unloading flurry hits in the final minute but the he was unable to stun the American foe.
In the second round, Canto rocked Earley twice with his volume punches, but the American sent the Ilonggo boxer to the floor two times with his low blow hits earning him a warning from the referee.
Earley went for the kill in the third round as he connected a punch to Canto that sent the latter to the floor anew. The Ilonggo fighter failed to beat the referee’s count ending the title match.
Canto, a former Philippine Boxing Federation (PBF) featherweight titleholder, was apologetic in his post-match message as he vowed to train hard for his future boxing match.
“Humihingi ako ng pasensya gid sa lahat ng nagsupport sa akin. Talo talaga tayo,” Canto said in a Facebook video message. “Babawi na lang po tayo sa susunod na laban. Paghahandaan po natin.”
The 31-year-old Canto had his boxing slate dropped to 14-14-3 win-loss-draw, including eight stoppage wins. The Ilonggo was also struggling recently as he only won two of his last eight matches.
The Charlotte, North Carolina-native Earley, on the other hand, maintained an unblemished boxing record to 13-0-0 win-loss-draw, while netting his seventh knockout victory./PN
