Omega Pro Sports pleased with Who’s Next?

The top brass of Omega Pro Sports International were pleased and impressed with the over-all turnout for Who’s Next? 3 last weekend at the Mandaue City Sports and Cultural Complex.

The fight card which was powered by the all new Hyundai Tucson, featured Jhack Tepora winning the WBO Oriental junior featherweight title via a fifth round knock-out over Galih Susanto of Indonesia. Kenny Demecillo also defended his WBF Asia Pacific bantamweight title by beating Jestoni Autida via a unanimous decision in the double championship fight card.

 “Over-all, we were pleased with the turn-out. All the fights were competitive and entertaining. Our boxers were tested and even went through some scary moments.

Then of course Jhack Tepora proved to all once again that he should be considered as a world-caliber boxer,” OPSI President Pio Paulo Castillo said.

 OPSI also announced that coming off the success of Who’s Next? 3, plans are in the works for Who’s Next? 4 and a small fight card early in 2017. While Tepora and Demecillo are expected to defend their respective titles, OPSI is planning on having Christian Araneta fight for a regional title. “We will talk to the WBO and propose that Christian go for a regional belt. We’re confident that he’s already ripe for this, especially after last Friday’s fight. We are hopeful that the response will be positive,” Castillo added.

 It will be recalled that while Tepora dominated Susanto, Araneta had a roller coaster of a fight against Philip Luis Cuerdo with both fighters enjoying both ups and downs during the fight. Araneta survived some scary moments when he was groggy after getting tagged by Philip Luis Cuerdo.

Relying on his conditioning, Araneta survived, then recovered to knock out Cuerdo in the seventh round. In a near loss scenario, Araneta nearly used up all his energy when he went for a knock-out in the second round when he caught Cuerdo. He was spent in the third round before recovering later in the fight. Demecillo recovered from a razor-thin win over Rambo Lagos in his last fight by outboxing and outpunching Autida.

 Looking forward, OPSI is set to stage more editions of the Who’s Next? Pro Boxing Series in 2017 as well as hold some roadshow fight cards in different parts of Cebu or Bohol. “We are thankful for the support of the boxing fans and community in 2016, and we see OPSI getting busier in 2017,” Castillo capped.