MANILA – Filipino boxers Jayar Inson and Rey Perez suffered decision defeats in the undercard of Manny Pacquiao-Adrien Broner match on Sunday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Inson (18-2-0, 12 knockout wins) struggled in his United States debut after suffering a close split decision defeat at the hands of American slugger Jonathan Steele (9-2-1, 6 KOs).
Steele was aggressive early on as he knocked down Inson late in the opening round. The Filipino tried to battle back but the American continued to push forward for a 74-77, 77-74, 78-73 score.
Perez (24-11-0, 8 KOs), on the other hand, failed to keep in step with Australian boxer George Kambosos Jnr (16-0-0, 9 KOs) to suffer a one-sided unanimous decision defeat.
Kambosos, a former sparring partner of Pacquiao, dominated the late callup Perez from start to finish with his strong right straights and combinations for an 80-72, 80-72, 80-72 scores.
Inson and Perez were the Filipino fighters left in the Pacquiao-Broner undercard after former WBA interim featherweight champion Jhack Tepora and Genisis Libranza matches got cancelled last Saturday.
Tepora was stripped of his interim world championship and was also removed from his bout against Hugo Diaz after tipping the scales five pounds above the featherweight limit.
Libranza’s non-title fight with veteran fighter Carlos Buitrago, meanwhile, was postponed to Feb. 9 with the latter five pounds over the limit during Saturday’s weigh in./PN
