MANILA – Filipino boxer Juan Miguel Elorde has successfully retained the WBO Asia Pacific super bantamweight belt after a unanimous decision win over Japanese Shohei Kawashima on Monday night at the Okada Manila Hotel and Casino in Paranaque City.
It was the fourth successful title defense of Elorde, grandson of the late Gabriel “Flash” Elorde, since winning the championship over Thai boxer Terdchai Doungmontree in 2015.
Juan Miguel, who sustained injury in his right hand a couple of weeks ago, struggled to find an opening on Kawashima’s defense early on until the Filipino found success in putting his punches together in quick combinations as Kawashima barged in to attack.
After the 12 round match, Juan Miguel got the nod of the three judges at 115-113, 117-111, 117-111 to improve his boxing record to 28 wins with 15 knockouts against a single defeat.
“He really tested my stamina because he kept on attacking,” Juan Miguel said after the match. “He was a hard worker so I’m happy it turned into a good fight.”
Juan Miguel’s elder brother Juan Martin Elorde, meanwhile, made a successful ring return after almost a year of inactivity after a technical decision win over Indonesian Rengga Rengga.
Juan Martin focused on attacking the body of Rengga in the opening round until the Filipino was able to land punches on top of Indonesian, who refused to answer the bell for the third round awarding a technical knockout victory to Elorde.
“I didn’t expect to finish the fight that quickly but I just listened to my cornermen. They told me to attack the body and that’s what I did,” said Juan Martin, who improved to 24-2-1, with 11 stoppage wins./PN
