No-nonsense ref for IBF title fight

A no-nonsense referee from Pittsburgh will work the scheduled 12-round fight between Davao City’s Randy Petalcorin and Nicaragua’s Felix Alvarado for the vacant IBF lightflyweight championship at the Midas Hotel and Casino tent on Monday.

Ernie Sharif has been assigned as the third man in the ring for the bout where the expectation is Alvarado will brawl and Petalcorin will counter. It’s a classic encounter as Alvarado is a frightening knockout artist and Petalcorin has a reputation as a classy technician. 

Sharif was the referee when Carl Frampton scored a split 12-round decision over Scott Quigg in an IBF/WBA superbantamweight unification title bout in Lancashire, UK, in 2016, when Wladimir Klitschko halted Francesco Pianeta in the sixth round to retain his unified IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight championship in Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany, in 2013 and when Billy Dib retired Eduardo Escobedo at the end of the sixth to keep his IBF featherweight crown in Tasmania, Australia, in 2012. What gained acclaim for Sharif was his impartiality in penalizing Dib, an Australian, a point for holding and hitting in the third round before a partisan crowd in Tasmania. It took guts for Sharif to dock a point off the hometown defending champion.

The three judges assigned for the Petalcorin-Alvarado bout are Michael Alexander of Doncaster, UK, Alejandro Lopez of Mexico and Silvestre Abainza of the Philippines. The supervisor will be Ben Keilty of Australia.

The Midas card will feature 62 total rounds and seven fights. Aside from the main event, another 12-round battle will pit WBO Oriental flyweight titlist Giemel Magramo against Thai challenger Petchorhae Kokiet-Gym. Magramo, 24, comes from a family of fighters dating back to the rugged flyweight Ric, Sr. who saw action in 57 fights from 1961 to 1970, logging 12 bouts in Japan, five in Thailand and once each in Hawaii and Glasgow. Ric, Sr. figured in a trilogy with former world champion Bernabe Villacampo and a tetralogy with another former world champion Erbito Salavarria. The late Ric, Sr. was Magramo’s grand-uncle. Magramo’s grandfather Antonio was Ric, Sr.’s brother. Magramo’s father Melvin was also a former fighter who once battled Sen. Manny Pacquiao in Cebu in 1997. Pacquiao won by a unanimous 10-round decision and said it was one of his toughest fights ever. An uncle Ronnie was a former WBF minimumweight titleholder. Another uncle Ric, Jr. was a fighter, too and his brother Arvin is an aspiring lightflyweight with an 8-1-1 record, including 5 KOs.

Petcharhae is a late substitute for Mexican Sebastian Sanchez who backed out because he couldn’t get a passport in time. The Thai has a record of 17-1, with 8 KOs compared to Magramo’s 21-1, with 17 KOs. Magramo’s only loss was a close unanimous 12-round decision to Seoul-based Pakistani Muhammad Waseem in Seoul in 2016. Magramo was deducted a point for an accidental headbutt in the sixth round. If not for the point deduction, the outcome would’ve been a majority draw.

In a pair of tenners, unbeaten superflyweight Jade Bornea of J. C. Manangquil’s Sanman stable, 23, takes on Macrea Gandionco of Cagayan de Oro and Ronnie Baldonado, 22, of MP Promotions faces undefeated southpaw Enrique Magsalin, 23. Bornea is a rising star in Manangquil’s stable and boasts a 12-0 record, with 8 KOs.  Gandionco is a road warrior with a 12-6-3 slate, including 7 KOs and has fought in South Africa once, China twice and Thailand four times. Baldonado has a 12-1-1 record, with 9 KOs and big things are also lined up for the Cotabato del Norte slugger. Magsalin totes a 5-0-2 record, with one KO, and will be hard-pressed to preserve his unbeaten mark.

Alvarado, 29, arrived in Manila from Nicaragua last Monday with trainer Luis Cortez, assistant trainer Wilmer Hernandez and promoter Pablo Osuna. Petalcorin lands in Manila from General Santos City with trainer Fernando Lumacad today.  The Filipino fighter will do a workout for media at the Elorde Gym near MOA from 1 to 3 p.m. tomorrow. Alvarado has no plans for a media workout. The weigh-in will be at the ESPN5 studios in Mandaluyong at 10 a.m. on Sunday.

Petalcorin’s co-manager and promoter Peter Maniatis of Australia said it will be a tough fight for the Filipino, considering Alvarado’s credentials. He called it a possible “fight of the year” as Petalcorin is expected to go all out to win a world crown before his countrymen. Alvarado has lost only twice to former world champions Juan Carlos Reveco, a Donnie Nietes victim, and Kazuto Ioka, both on points. 

There have been several fights involving Filipinos and Nicaraguans in boxing history. The late Alexis Arguello halted two Filipinos, Rey Tam in 1978 and Rolando Navarrete in 1980, and got up from a first round knockdown to stop Andy Ganigan, a Hawaiian of Filipino descent, in 1982. Former world champion Roman (Chocolatito) Gonzalez has claimed four Filipino stoppage victims, Eriberto Gejon, Juan Purisima, Rocky Fuentes and Brian Viloria. Nietes pulverized Nicaraguan Eddy Castro in two rounds in Cebu in 2008 and ALA stablemate Jason Pagara made short work of another Nicaraguan Santos Benavides in two rounds at the StubHub Center in Carson City in 2015. Filipino Johnriel Casimero traveled to Managua in 2009 to knock out Cesar Canchila but the victim was a Colombian, not a Nicaraguan.