It seems incredibly rare now a days for the judges to actually get things right. They do occasionally. but the key word there is occasionally. Thankfully today saw one of those fights as the judges rightly scored a draw and saw Merlito Sabillo (23-0-1, 12) retain his WBO Minimumweight title against fellow unbeaten fighter Carlos Buitrago (27-0-1-1, 16).
The fight, at one point, looked like the title was going to change hands. After 3 rounds it was very hard to make a case for Sabillo winning. Buitrago was too quick, too skilled and too talented for Sabillo to continue to box with. The idea to box was a good one though one that failed to work in his favour.
Knowing he was behind Sabillo changed tactics in round 4 and started to try and cut the distance off to get to Buitrago. This began to work and although the champion may have lost round 4 he began to come back in to the fight over the following rounds, cutting the distance and unloading with sheer volume. This saw Sabillo turning the fight in his favour as he started to crawl back the rounds that he had lost early on.
Although Sabillo was coming back in to the fight in a big way, Buitrago was holding his own with the champion and seemed on the verge of a knockdown before Sabillo's street fighter mentality kicked in and he refused to go down instead fighting with more tenacity than ever.
By the time we got to the final bell it was obvious the fight was close and many had already began calls for a rematch. It had been competitive from the first round to the last and although both men had their clear rounds there was enough debate to see either man as the winner. This close and competitive nature was reflected perfectly in the score cards which were 115-113, 114-114 and 113-115.
I'll admit I've joined the chorus of people calling for a rematch and hopefully we'll get one sooner rather than later, something however tells me we could have these two in several bouts together and no one would come out as a clear winner barring a freak shot either way.
Showing posts with label Merlito Sabillo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Merlito Sabillo. Show all posts
Saturday, 30 November 2013
Saturday, 13 July 2013
Merlito Sabillo v Jorle Estrada
Filipino Merlito Sabillo (23-0, 12) successfully defended his WBO Minimumweight title for the first time as stopped Colombian challenger Jorle Estrada (17-7, 6).
The bout started well for Sabillo who applied intelligent pressure whilst landing shots with both hands. Unfortunately it was obvious from the opening round that Estrada hadn't really come to fight but instead was there to make life difficult for Sabillo.
In the second round Sabillo began to target the body, an idea that seemed to be about slowing down the tricky Estrada. It was the body attack that appeared to hurt Estrada in round 3 as Sabillo continued to bag rounds with little real challenge. Unfortunately for Sabillo however Estrada showed his toughness and managed to ride out the storm in rounds 3 and 4.
Having realised that Estrada was there to survive more than win Sabillo started to try and box off the back foot, luring Estrada in. This tactic had mixed success with Estrada becoming wise and not really falling for it as much as Sabillo would have liked, though it did give Sabillo one or two chances to land something hard up top.
Although Estrada had promised a knockout in round 7 he did little to force it and whilst he did open up a bit more the pace of the bout seemed to completely dissipate in easily the least memorable round of the fight.
Thankfully Sabillo remembered where he was in round 8 and went back after the out matched challenger who was hurt late in the round but managed to see out the bell. The following round however Sabillo wouldn't be so kind to Estrada and this time he made his body shot really count sending Estrada down for the count on a shot that quite possibly left the Colombian with a broken rib or two.
Following the bout Sabillo was questioned about who he was wanting to make his second defense again though seemed to suggest that it was up to his promoters ALA as opposed to himself, hopefully it'll be a bigger test than Estrada who was poor from start to end.
The bout started well for Sabillo who applied intelligent pressure whilst landing shots with both hands. Unfortunately it was obvious from the opening round that Estrada hadn't really come to fight but instead was there to make life difficult for Sabillo.
In the second round Sabillo began to target the body, an idea that seemed to be about slowing down the tricky Estrada. It was the body attack that appeared to hurt Estrada in round 3 as Sabillo continued to bag rounds with little real challenge. Unfortunately for Sabillo however Estrada showed his toughness and managed to ride out the storm in rounds 3 and 4.
Having realised that Estrada was there to survive more than win Sabillo started to try and box off the back foot, luring Estrada in. This tactic had mixed success with Estrada becoming wise and not really falling for it as much as Sabillo would have liked, though it did give Sabillo one or two chances to land something hard up top.
Although Estrada had promised a knockout in round 7 he did little to force it and whilst he did open up a bit more the pace of the bout seemed to completely dissipate in easily the least memorable round of the fight.
Thankfully Sabillo remembered where he was in round 8 and went back after the out matched challenger who was hurt late in the round but managed to see out the bell. The following round however Sabillo wouldn't be so kind to Estrada and this time he made his body shot really count sending Estrada down for the count on a shot that quite possibly left the Colombian with a broken rib or two.
Following the bout Sabillo was questioned about who he was wanting to make his second defense again though seemed to suggest that it was up to his promoters ALA as opposed to himself, hopefully it'll be a bigger test than Estrada who was poor from start to end.
Monday, 11 March 2013
Merlito Sabillo v Luis De La Rosa
Unheralded Filipino Merlito Sabillo (21-0, 10) made a statement this past weekend to the Minimumweight division as he traveled to Colombia and defeated Colombian Luis De La Rosa (21-2-1, 12) in eye catching fashion to claim the WBO interim Minimumweight title.
The fight started fast as both men came out with bad intentions and it was Sabillo who got an early upper hand inflicting a cut on to De La Rosa in the opening round. Although many fighters go in to their shell when cut it seemed to merely spur on De La Rosa who fought like a wounded animal intent on taking out his attacker.
With De La Rosa cut and Sabillo going toe-to-toe with his opponent the fight quickly erupted in to a war as both men took turns in firing bombs at the other. Neither man willing to back down though neither man quite able to get an upper hand against an opponent who was wanting to claim a portion of the world title. The action was relentless as both men tried their hardest to rock the other and take them out of their game plan though neither man could manage it in the opening half of the bout.
After the back and forth action of the first 7 rounds Sabillo finally got a clear upper hand as he felled De La Rosa in round 8. Although De La Rosa rose to his feet he was back down soon afterwards as Sabillo took advantage of his woozy opponent and forced the stoppage just seconds later.
Although the Colombian fighter had lost the crowd gave both men a show of hands as the local mayor also welcomed Sabillo to return to the area to fight another Colombian fighter later this year. Looking at this it would appear that Sabillo has made a new set of fans as boxing for once treat the away fighter with the dignity and respect they deserved.
Although the full version of the WBO Minimumweight title is held by Mexican Moises Fuentes, rumours are rife that Sabillo will be upgraded to the full champion in the coming months as Fuentes, who was a huge guy at Minimumweight, simply cannot make the 105lb limit. Fuentes, who drew recently with Donnie Nietes (who like Sabillo is a Filipino fighter and part of the ALA Gym) is expected to chase a rematch with Nietes if he can even manage to make 108lbs again, if not he could well move to 112lbs later this year.
The fight started fast as both men came out with bad intentions and it was Sabillo who got an early upper hand inflicting a cut on to De La Rosa in the opening round. Although many fighters go in to their shell when cut it seemed to merely spur on De La Rosa who fought like a wounded animal intent on taking out his attacker.
With De La Rosa cut and Sabillo going toe-to-toe with his opponent the fight quickly erupted in to a war as both men took turns in firing bombs at the other. Neither man willing to back down though neither man quite able to get an upper hand against an opponent who was wanting to claim a portion of the world title. The action was relentless as both men tried their hardest to rock the other and take them out of their game plan though neither man could manage it in the opening half of the bout.
After the back and forth action of the first 7 rounds Sabillo finally got a clear upper hand as he felled De La Rosa in round 8. Although De La Rosa rose to his feet he was back down soon afterwards as Sabillo took advantage of his woozy opponent and forced the stoppage just seconds later.
Although the Colombian fighter had lost the crowd gave both men a show of hands as the local mayor also welcomed Sabillo to return to the area to fight another Colombian fighter later this year. Looking at this it would appear that Sabillo has made a new set of fans as boxing for once treat the away fighter with the dignity and respect they deserved.
Although the full version of the WBO Minimumweight title is held by Mexican Moises Fuentes, rumours are rife that Sabillo will be upgraded to the full champion in the coming months as Fuentes, who was a huge guy at Minimumweight, simply cannot make the 105lb limit. Fuentes, who drew recently with Donnie Nietes (who like Sabillo is a Filipino fighter and part of the ALA Gym) is expected to chase a rematch with Nietes if he can even manage to make 108lbs again, if not he could well move to 112lbs later this year.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)