MANILA – Negrense boxer Genesis Servania was unsuccessful in his ring return after a brutal first-round stoppage defeat to American fighter Andres Cortes on Sunday at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma City.
The Bacolod City, Negros Occidental-native Servania gamely traded blows with the heavily-favored Cortes in the early goings of round one, but the latter’s punches managed to wobble the Filipino fighter.
With just a few seconds remaining in the opening round, Cortes caught Servania off guard as he landed a right hook to the jaw followed by a left straight to the face sending the Negrense down for good.
Servania could not get up from the knockdown immediately, prompting the medical doctors to take a look at him, but the Negrense boxer was fine.
This was Servania’s first boxing match in two years after failing to get a match schedule last year due to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.
Prior to that, Servania was on a roll as he won his last two matches in Japan against Indonesian Ahmad Lahizab and former world champion Pungluang Sor Singyu of Thailand.
With the defeat, the Japan-based Servania saw his record dropped to 34-3-0, including 16 stoppage wins, while Cortes kept his unblemished record of 15-0-0 while also recording his eighth knockout victory.
On the other hand, Filipino Richard Pumicpic failed in his United States debut after a unanimous decision loss to Puerto Rican Abraham Nova.
Both fighters engaged in a tight battle for eight rounds with their exchange of massive blows and combinations. However, it was the American who got the three judges’ nods, 78-74, 79-73, 79-73.
With the loss, Pumicpic dropped his record to 22-12-2 with seven knockout wins, while Nova stayed undefeated in his 20 bouts, with 14 stoppage wins./PN
