MANILA – Negrense boxer Warlito Parreñas announced his retirement after his first round stoppage loss to OPBF bantamweight titleholder Keita Kurihara of Japan on Friday night at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.
The 37-year-old Parrenas tried to keep in step with his younger foe but Kurihara got his bearings going late in the opening round until he scored a stoppage with 35 seconds left.
Parreñas told Panay News on Saturday that he decided to hang up his boxing gloves after the defeat and will just focus as a full-time boxing trainer at Morioka Boxing Gym in Japan.
“Panahon na rin ang nagsabi. This is time to retire,” said Parreñas. “I will just turn my attention as a full-time boxing trainer here in Japan.”
It was the second time in the last two years that Parrenas struggled in his title match after failing to wrest the WBO Asia Pacific super flyweight belt from Ryoichi Funai last year.
It was also the third consecutive defeat of the Cadiz City, Negros Occidental native who was also defeated by Japanese Sho Ishida via a close unanimous decision on December 2018 in Osaka, Japan.
The 37-year-old Parreñas finished his boxing career with 26-10-1 win-loss-draw (23 stoppage wins), while 26-year-old Kurihara improved his boxing slate to 14-5-0, including 12 victories by way of stoppages./PN
