Singwangcha destroys Cerna in 7

CEBU, Philippines - Undefeated Philippine super flyweight champion Marco Demecillo-Singwangcha of RWS Stable held virtual clinic in scoring a masterful seventh round knockout of the iron-chinned Jeffrey Cerna of Manila in their non-title bout topbilling the well-attended 'No Retreat, No Surrender" fight card last Sunday night at the D.M. Reynes Gymnasium in Compostela north of Cebu.

A vastly improved Singwangcha was very effective and precise in hitting his targets, pummeling his hapless foe with solid combinations fight from the start.

To the delight of fans, Cerna appeared to be unmoved and unhurt despite his heavy absoption of Singwangcha's punishing blows.

Not until the sixth round when in the middle of a heated exchange, the fighting pride of Iligan City landed a string of punches that sent Cerna flat on his back.

Cerna, though gasping for air, managed to get up at the count of eight only to receive another sizzling bombardment from Singwangcha. Cerna went down on the canvas again but was luckily saved by the bell as referee Teddy Alivio inadvertently failed to administer the mandatory count.

As the fight resumed, Singwangcha did not waste a single second in going for the kill. He swiftly launched another relentless offensive capped by a powerful right to the paunch, which appears to be a borderline shot during the slo-mo replay, that flattened Cerna.

It was this point that Alivio wisely intervened to halt the carnage and prevent Cerna from further harm. The official time was 1:12 of the seventh round.

"I'm very impressed with Singwangcha's performance. He has improved a lot and the way he handles his opponent, I could say that he's indeed a world-class fighter," said Cebuano topnotch promoter Rex "Wakee" Salud, who helps chart Singwangcha's career along with Thai boxing patron Naris Singwangcha.

Singwangcha, thus, stretched his unbeaten streak to 17 now spiked with 13KOs, while Cerna fell to 12-6 (5KOs).

Salud said Singwangcha will mostly likely fight next for the OPBF championship either late August or in the first week of September. "It's high time for him to face bigger challenge. Our target next is for him to go for the OPBF title."

In the supporting main event of the slambang show co-presented by Japanese impresario Akira Sato of TI Yamagata Promotions, Adones TI Yamataga Aguelo snatched the interim Phl featherweight belt after Jerry Nardo of Bacolod waved the white flag of surrender before the start of the sixth round due to exhaustion.

Nardo tried his best to put up a courageous stand, but was clearly outclassed by Aguelo on all fronts. Battered and visibly worn out, Nardo refused to continue before the start of round six to the delight of Aguelo and his small throng of supporters.

The biggest upset of the night, however, was delivered by Eman Lavanza of Mandaue City after he vanquished the favored Redondon Singwangcha of Ormoc City via ninth round TKO to claim the PBF super featherweight crown.

Singwangcha was in command from the outset only to run out of gas as the match progressed. As the two warriors were about to trade punches, a fagged out Singwangcha suddenly turned his back from his opponent as if looking for an oxygen tank, forcing the third man on the ring to call for an outright stoppage. 

Singwangcha nearly collapsed while being attended to by his corner and responding paramedics, but regained his senses moments later.

In the undercards, TI Yamagata Valero stopped Gerald Ubatay at 1:05 of the fourth round, Rajah Ronoel Pael won by split decision over Louie Arlos, while TI Yamagata Ardie, Dodong Masahi, Kenny Singwangcha and Jun Ryan Quimbo all won by unanimous decision over their respective rivals.