WBA Bantamweight champion Koki Kameda (31-1, 17) successfully retained his world title with a very straight forward victory over the game but completely outclassed Filipino challenger John Mark Apolinario (17-3-3, 4).
It was obvious from the opening round that this was an opponent Koki felt confident against, there was no worry about Apolinario being able to hurt him and as a result Koki came forward, stalking his whilst trying to slowly grind down the challenger with his powerful straight left.
Whilst Koki wasn't really able to hurt his challenger early on it was clearly he felt like he was in total control and on the few occasions where Apolinario came forward as the aggressor his shots were taken on the guard as Koki took a step back and composed himself. It was calculating stuff from the champion who stalking with pressure and slowly but surely grinding down the challenger.
Through the middle rounds Koki started to have real success with his southpaw left which scarcely seemed to miss as he went through the gears. He was still fighting well within himself but was starting to get Apolinario who's own assaults were becoming ever rarer.
Going in to the championship rounds it was less a question of who was going to win, it was clearly Koki, but more a question as to whether or not Apolinario was going to be able to see the distance, was Koki going to hunt a finish or was he going to be happy with a lopsided decision.
In round 10 it appeared as though the stoppage was likely to come as Koki dropped the challenger with a counter right hook but the challenger showed off his toughness as he recovered immediately to his feet and almost charged over to Koki. Unfortunately whilst Apolinario was willing to run across the ring he was unwilling to let his hands go too much and did little more than actually survive.
Although the challenger saw out round 10 he was fortunate to see out round 12 as he was again dropped after Koki really went for the stoppage. It seemed as if Koki had decided to try and give the crowd what they wanted though he had tried too late and was forced instead to take a very wide decision.
Showing posts with label John Mark Apolinario. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Mark Apolinario. Show all posts
Tuesday, 23 July 2013
Sunday, 17 March 2013
Roberto Vasquez v John Mark Apolinario II
Less than a week since reports broke about the WBA possibly doing away with "Interim" titles, we saw a rematch between Panamanian Robert Vasquez (32-5-2, 22) and Filipino John Mark Apolinario (17-2-3, 4) for the WBA interim Bantamweight title. Rather surprisingly the title remained "vacant" as the two men fought to a draw, the second successive bout.
The two men, who fought for the first time just 4 months ago, drew when they first met in Argentina with neither man managing to get an upper hand for any stretch of time. This time however things looked different, things seemed to be flowing wonderfully for the Panamanian who had previously held titles at both Light Flyweight and Flyweight.
At the mid way point in the bout it was very easy to feel that Vasquez was in a clear lead. He wasn't beating the ever loving snot out of Apolinario but he was clearly winning more rounds than he was losing and he was at home with the fans getting well behind him. According to Argentinian television station "TYC Sports" Vasquez had bagged 5 of the first 6 rounds and was surely on his way to the title.
Vasquez continued to look a class better than his lesser known opponent in the second half of the fight as he showed his experience and seemed to sweep the second half of the fight to what appeared on paper to be a clear decision. Vasquez's domination of the bout had seen Argentinian TV score it 119-109 in his favour and seemingly saw him claiming the title by clear decision. The came the judges decision which rather oddly saw the bout much, much close than most scoring it 116-112 each way and 115-115 to leave us a majority draw.
Interestingly when the men first met it was viewed that Apolinario was robbed, this time however it seems that Vasquez was denied a clear victory in a shocking case of boxing karma.
The two men, who fought for the first time just 4 months ago, drew when they first met in Argentina with neither man managing to get an upper hand for any stretch of time. This time however things looked different, things seemed to be flowing wonderfully for the Panamanian who had previously held titles at both Light Flyweight and Flyweight.
At the mid way point in the bout it was very easy to feel that Vasquez was in a clear lead. He wasn't beating the ever loving snot out of Apolinario but he was clearly winning more rounds than he was losing and he was at home with the fans getting well behind him. According to Argentinian television station "TYC Sports" Vasquez had bagged 5 of the first 6 rounds and was surely on his way to the title.
Vasquez continued to look a class better than his lesser known opponent in the second half of the fight as he showed his experience and seemed to sweep the second half of the fight to what appeared on paper to be a clear decision. Vasquez's domination of the bout had seen Argentinian TV score it 119-109 in his favour and seemingly saw him claiming the title by clear decision. The came the judges decision which rather oddly saw the bout much, much close than most scoring it 116-112 each way and 115-115 to leave us a majority draw.
Interestingly when the men first met it was viewed that Apolinario was robbed, this time however it seems that Vasquez was denied a clear victory in a shocking case of boxing karma.
Monday, 5 November 2012
Roberto Vasquez v John Mark Apolinario
Panama's Roberto Vasquez (32-5-1, 22) failed in his attempt to claim the WBA "interim" Bantamweight title this past weekend as he could only score a draw with relatively unknown Filipino John Mark Apolinario (17-2-2, 4).
Vasquez, a former champion down at Light Flyweight and Flyweight, was expected to have the experience and know-how to defeat Apolinario who hadn't fought in close to a year, however the 22 year old co-challenger relished the opportunity of being in a title fight and refused to be intimidated by his experienced opponent.
Although neither man was fighting at home, as they went to Argentina, it was thought that the destination of the bout would favour Vasquez, who has fought through out the world (including his native Panama, Mexico, Dominican Republic, France and Japan) as opposed to Apolinario who was fighting for the first time outside of his homeland. Surprisingly however Apolinario didn't look like a fighter fighting out of his homeland for the first time and was thoroughly impressive in a very close battle.
The close and competitive nature of the bout was seen clearly in the scoring as two judges (Gustavo Estrella and Jesus Cova) scored it level at 114-114 whilst a third judge (Uriel Aguilera) could only see 1 clear round between them, scoring the bout 115-113 for Vasquez, leaving the "interim" belt vacant.
Vasquez, a former champion down at Light Flyweight and Flyweight, was expected to have the experience and know-how to defeat Apolinario who hadn't fought in close to a year, however the 22 year old co-challenger relished the opportunity of being in a title fight and refused to be intimidated by his experienced opponent.
Although neither man was fighting at home, as they went to Argentina, it was thought that the destination of the bout would favour Vasquez, who has fought through out the world (including his native Panama, Mexico, Dominican Republic, France and Japan) as opposed to Apolinario who was fighting for the first time outside of his homeland. Surprisingly however Apolinario didn't look like a fighter fighting out of his homeland for the first time and was thoroughly impressive in a very close battle.
The close and competitive nature of the bout was seen clearly in the scoring as two judges (Gustavo Estrella and Jesus Cova) scored it level at 114-114 whilst a third judge (Uriel Aguilera) could only see 1 clear round between them, scoring the bout 115-113 for Vasquez, leaving the "interim" belt vacant.
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