MANILA – Vic Saludar of the Philippines defeated Ryuya Yamanaka of Japan via unanimous decision to take home the WBO minimumweight belt and become the latest Filipino boxer to become a world champion.
A native of Polomolok, Cotabato del Sur, Saludar succeeded in his second attempt to capture the title at the Central Gym in Kobe, Japan on July 13, raking in the scores 117-110, 116-111 and 115-112 from the judges.
Yamanaka dominated the first three rounds as he unloaded body shots on Saludar. The Filipino responded in the next few rounds by landing solid shots that rocked Yamanaka’s body.
Saludar started to gain control in Round 7 as he sent Yamanaka down with a solid right. The Filipino tried to wrestle the Japanese several times on the ropes but the latter survived.
Yamanaka was still hurt in Round 9, and Saludar took advantage. Knowing the opponent was way ahead in the scorecards, Yamanaka tried to turn things around in the last few rounds, but Saludar did just enough for the win.
With the victory, the 27-year-old Saludar improved his record to 18 wins and three losses with 10 stoppage victories. The 23-year-old Yamanaka dropped his record to 16-3-0 (win-loss-draw).
On the other hand, Filipino fighter Orlie Silvestre failed to follow up on the victory of Saludar after a knockout loss to Japanese fighter Reiya Konishi in their WBO Asia Pacific light flyweight match.
In the undercard, Rey Ramos suffered a knockout defeat to Japanese boxer Kazuhiro Nishitani while Jimboy Rosales was also knocked down by debuting fighter Yuki Yamauchi./PN
