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Filipino aspiring boxers shine in ‘Pinoy Pride 34’

The five Filipino former ring titlists who hurdled their assignments include Arthur Villanueva, Milan Melindo, A.J. Banal, Rocky Fuentes and KJ Cataraja.

Villanueva (27-1-0, 14 KOs), is coming off a technical decision loss against McJoe Arroyo of Puerto Rico last July at the Don Haskin Convention Center El Paso, Texas.

The 26-year-old orthodox fighter from Bago City, Negros Occidental survived a sustained attack by Victor Mendez (19-3-2, 15 KOs) of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, Mexico to earn a split decision win.

Milan Melindo (33-2, 12 KOs), who co-headlined the event, also took a split decision win against Victor Olivo (9-1, 4 KOs).

Melindo is nursing a technical decision loss to Javier Mendoza of Mexico last June at the Auditorio Municipal Fausto Gutiérrez Moreno, Tijuana, Baja California.

While Villanueva and Melindo barely escaped the relentless attacks by their Mexican foes, two other Filipino boxers saved the night for the fans as they knocked out their respective opponents.

AJ Banal (34-2-1, 23 KOs), fighting with a badly damaged left eye caused by a headbutt in the second round, came up swinging in the third round to finish his Tanzanian opponent Emilio Norfat (25-7-0, 19 KOs) with a power hook shot behind the ear at at 1:41 of third round.

Rocky Fuentes (36-8-2, 21 KOs), a former flyweight title challenger, dropped his Indonesian opponent Afrizal Tamboresi (11-4, 6 KOs) in the second round with a power overhand right and a left uppercut for a TKO win at 1:01 of the second round.

Fuentes is coming off a loss against Amnat Ruenroeng in a title fight for the IBF flyweight belt last year.

Another Filipino flyweight contender KJ Cataraja took three more rounds to finish off his Indonesian challenger Ellias Nggenggo after nailing him with a first-round knockdown to end the fight via TKO in the fourth round,

While the Pinoy Pride 34 batch have won their respective assignments, it seems ALA Promotions president Michael Aldeguer isn’t happy with performance of the other fighters.

“[Melindo] made the fight closer than it was, I think he could’ve executed more,” said Aldeguer. “But Milan has his own mind. I think we need to sit down with him and see what’s in his head. Right now it’s either he wants to move forward or he wants to fight entertaining fights,” Aldeguer said.

For its next event in February, ALA will feature younger fighters including Mark Magsayo and and Albert Pagara who recently headlined ALA’s first foray in the U.S. market.

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