The Undefeated Was Defeated By Quirico M. Gorpido,Jr.

Maasin City, Southern Leyte- The undefeated boxer from Thailand, Tawanrung Eausampan,118 lbs.,under WBOs bantamweight division, has finally met his waterloo against Maasinhon boxer Prince Albert Pagara,119 lbs, of the same division via second round straight shoot that hit the formers jaw. Prior to the bout, Pagara, the number 2 in his division received a plaque of recognition from Mayor Maloney Samaco at the city gymnasium. In their first round of the non-title bout both were trying to find an opportunity advantageous for hard shoots. But both did not seem to achieve a goal since no-one was able to deliver jolting punches. However, in less than three minutes in the second round, the Maasinhon strong puncher saw an open arm, enough to penetrate a right hook hitting the visiting Thailander on his jaw and fell down like a log. Unconscious for several seconds he was rushed to the provincial hospital for emergency examination. The thick crowd of spectators who expected to watch the first ever international fight here with wild thrill, suspense and long actions have complained that the fight ended so early with nary a hard hit suffered by Pagara against his opponent. When Mayor Samaco asked Pagara about the early knockout at postfight, the latter said that he saw an opportunity to deliver a straight blow to Eausampans jaw that floored him.

Earlier, in a 122 lbs. 6-round fight,Jojo Flash Intor of Mabinag,Negros Occidental, pounded Junel Busaw of Jagna,Bohol in the 4th round .The barrage of left and right heavy punches made the latter leaned on the canvass as he weakened. Seeing Busaws failure to dish out counterpunches against his attacker, referee Pizon of Cebu stopped the fight. In another 122 lbs.,4-round bout,Takaoki Noma of Osaka, Japan out punched Jamjam Ungon of Bantayan Island, Cebu on the third round. Samaco further informed that the rush hospitalization of the pugilist Thailander is to have him examined by an orthopedic surgeon if Eausampan has a fractured jaw. An apparent chaperon of the visiting boxer, probably his coach, who sat on a plastic chair near the ringside, looked deeply sad as shown on his countenance. When I arrived at the venue at about 7:30 p.m., the three bleachers were already full of people from all walks of life.The court itself was also crowded with the audience. Some were even setting on some precarious parts of the bleachers just to have a clear view of the fight, which was announced earlier around the main streets of the city during the day of the fight. The only area that has some vacant seats, which was preserved for the paying patrons, was near the ringside.

Below the bleachers higher heights people were already occupying good spots for clearer view of the fight. But we, who are lower in heights, could hardly saw each pairs actions inside the ring. The blocking heads in front of us have some small spaces for peeping towards the ring. Yet the heads movements from left to right synchronized the fighters moves as they engaged in counterpunches and attacks.

Every now and then, I would raise my toes to increase my height, but I could not sustain my improvisized position to stand for more than a minute. As lower heights watchers continued to arrive by groups, some folks and I moved backwards to find places where we could view clearly the series of fights, including that of the amateur boxers from the host city and Mandaue City, where the Ala Stable that handled and managed the Pagara boxers came from.

For the amateur bouts of 26 kgs up to 56 kgs, Maasin had only 2 wins, while Mandaue had four. After the main event I entered the cordoned ringside and I saw 2 of my colleagues in the media-PIAs Marcelo Bong Pedalino and Diego Credo of the District Office of Congressman Roger Mercado.

Other private media practitioners like PDI correspondent Jani C. Arnaiz, Ramon Boyser, Nick Lanugon and Jade Nombrado of DYDM were not around.

Arriving early at the gymn, Pedalino and Credo were ushered by the fight EMCEE Zaldy Olita of the Mayors office and enjoyed the comfort at the ringside. Zaldy said that if I called him thru a cellphone upon my arrival, he could have accommodated me also at the ringside. However, at the time I have no cellphone yet.

Asked about the physical condition of the hospitalized puncher, Olita the following day said that x-ray result showed that the formers jaw has fractured.

He said that the injured boxer, the first ever foreign pugilist who was invited to Maasin, was brought to Cebu City by the Manager of the Ala Stable to fix his damaged bone.(Quirico M. Gorpido,Jr.)
P.S.Very important announcement. All SSS pensioners in the country are now required to report annually to the SSS offices in their respective communities during the months of their birthdates for physical confirmation that they are still alive and kicking. Failure to comply with this new SSS policy is tantamount to the cessation of their monthly pensions a few months later. Forget it not!