PINOY PRIDE XXVII: SERVANIA WINS

PINOY PRIDE XXVII: SERVANIA, VILLANUEVA, BAUTISTA WIN IN DUBAI

DUBAI – Filipino boxers Genesis 'Azukal' Servania, 'King' Arthur Villanueva and Rey 'Boom-Boom' Bautista won their respective fights against Latino opponents in the 'Pinoy Pride XXVII – Duel in Dubai' Friday night at the Dubai World Trade Center here to the delight of a full house mostly Filipino crowd who treated the evening's event like a big party. 
Servania's opponent, Jose 'Matador' Cabrera from Mexico, quit at the beginning of the 10th round to give Servania the TKO victory and retained his WBO Intercontinental super bantamweight title. True to his monicker, Cabrera's stance was like a matador who allowed Servania to throw the first punch before throwing his own counters. Servania, however, timed his punches perfectly and caught Cabrera with a left-right combination that sent Cabrera down to the canvas in the second round. In the third round, Servania, sensing Cabrera was hurt, continued to put pressure as he punished Cabrera with left crosses and looping rights. At the end of the round, Referee Danrex Tapdasan went to Cabrera's corner and summoned the ring physician to check Cabrera's conditon. 
Servania wins. 

It appeared that it's only a matter of time before Servania was going to finish the Mexican. In the 4th round, as Servania continued to put on the pressure with the aim of knocking out Cabrera, the Mexican connected with some big counters that stopped Servania on his track and completely changed the complexion of the fight. In the 5th and succeeding rounds, Servania became hesitant as Cabrera's confidence grew and suddenly Servania's victory was put in peril. Cabrera probably took the 5th, 6th and 7th rounds before Servania came back strong in the 8th and 9th rounds putting back Cabrera on the defensive. Cabrera was deducted a point in the 8th round for excessive low blow before a clash of heads in the ninth round caused a cut under Cabrera's left eye. At the end of the ninth round, Cabrera's cornerman stopped the fight to give Servania a TKO victory in an anti-climactic ending. Servania was widely ahead on the three judges' scorecards before the stoppage. Servania later said after the fight that he had suffered leg cramps by the 6th round. Servania has now upped his undefeated record to 25 wins with 11 knockouts. The 'matador' from Mexico has dropped to 24 wins, 5 losses and two draws.