A NASTY cut on the right eye brow from a head butt in the first round proved costly for Besao, Mountain Province pride Dayer Gabutan yielding a unanimous decision loss to ZongLi Hei for the vacant World Boxing Council Asian Boxing Council Silver Super Flyweight title.
Gabutan, who was upbeat of becoming a champion once again, pressed on the action in the early rounds but the cut bothered the former WBO Oriental bantamweight champion all throughout the bout as he yielded to a younger ZongLi at the Olympic Park in Xi An, China.
With only three bouts under his name prior to facing off Gabutan, ZongLi improved to 4-0 with one knock out while the 29-year-old Highland Boxing Gym fighter slid to 20-7-3.
Gabutan recorded his 20th victory against Roilo Golez in September last year with a second round knockout.
The Besao pride then took time off after his victory last year to concentrate on his studies.
Although Gabutan has become a fulltime student, the former six time bantamweight champion said he remained active at the Highland Boxing Gym by sparring with his teammates.
Prior to his huge win in September last year, Gabutan lost five out of his six fights from 2013 to 2016. (Roderick Osis)