Harmonito de la Torre victorious in US debut

CEBU, Philippines - Lighhtweight Harmonito “Hammer” dela Torre of General Santos City remained undefeated after scoring a successful debut in the United States via a majority decision over Guillermo Sanchez on Friday at the Seneca Niagara Resort and Casino in Niagara Falls, New York.

Dela Torre improved his ring record to 18 straight wins with 12 knockouts while Sanchez dropped to 15-19-1.

Two judges scored it in favor of Dela Torre at 78-74 and 77-75 while the third judge saw it even at 76-all.

It was not, however, a good performance for Dela Torre according to his young manager Jim Claude “JC” Manangquil, chief executive officer of the Sanman Promotions.

“(But) it was a good learning experience for him. It was hard for him to recover from the jetlag and he also hurt his right hand in the 4th round,” said Manangquil, who was accompanied by Danny McDermott.

The 22-year old Dela Torre’s right hand got swollen but is now okay.

“It’s just a slight injury,” said Manangquil.  

Sanchez started strong in the opening round and tagged Dela Torre with his left to keep him at bay. But Dela Torre came back stronger in the next rounds to dominate the 8-rounder fight against Sanchez.

“I’m happy for the win but I know I have a lot more to improve,” said Dela Torre.

Manangquil said that Dela Torre will now stay in Miami to continue training with his new Cuban coach Osmiri "'Mmoro" Fernandez.

“He (Dela Torre) will be back better,” said Manangquil.

The fight was promoted by Greg Cohen Promotions and was shown live from Niagara Falls, NY on CBS Sports Network as part of their Friday evening boxing program - CBS Sports Spectacular Fight Night. (FREEMAN)