Foreign fighters reign supreme in kickboxing tilt

ALTHOUGH no knock out was scored, British kick boxer Edward Batten came up with telling blows to eke out a unanimous victory over Kent Basinga in the 1st Open Kickboxing Tournament held during the weekend.

Dubbed as ‘The First Quarter Storm,’ Batten of Machester, England impressed the judges with his ring savvy to cap the night that saw another foreigner victorious against his Filipino counterpart at the jampacked Baguio Convention Center.

“We have trained hard for this. All I can say is that my opponent is outstanding and he can really fight. He’s got a strong jaw and he can really take a hit,” said Batten.

Robert Watts of Canada also scored a unanimous victory over Hanzel Olosan of Team UNICON as co-main event of the evening but Gergely Peto of Hungary suffered a loss over Randy Basinga of Team UNICON in a majority decision.

In the undercard, Jay Olod won against Jack Suldayan of Team UNICON via 1st round knock-out in just 56 seconds of the very first round, while Franklin Donglay won via unanimous decision against Sammy Matthew of Team Unicon, Brindle Lee Kuengan also won against Eric Angyab.

In the pro-am Muay Thai, John Mark Calabias of the WMBFP won over Johnson Olod of Empire gym Team Torogi; Eric Angyab of the WMBFP lost to Brindle Lee Kuengan of Team Torogi and Bonifacio Nasarao of WMBFP bowed to Brandon Cabforo of the WMBFP La Trinidad.

The curtain raisers in the pro-am kickboxing saw Lemuel Matib of Team UNICON defeated by Benedicto Alumno of Team Torogi in the 60-kilogram division; Sammy Mathew of Team UNICON lost to Franklin Donglay of Team Torogi in the 57-kilogram division; Eric Aban of the WMBFP also lost to Jordan Lobido of Team Lakay La Trinidad in the 60 kilogram category.

Rafael Wasan, Jr. of Team UNICON came out the winner against JC Ganibe of Hybreed Yawyan of Manila in the 65-kilogram division; Kruiseton Bahingawan of Team UNICON settled for draw against Joel Bongyao of the WMBFP in the 54-kilgram division and Josapaht Navarro of the WMBFP La Trinidad won over Efren Marinas of Team Lakay La Trinidad in the 54-kilogram category.

In the pro-am boxing, Junior Ballasiw of Team Unicon and Mark Dictaan of the World Muay Boran Federation of the Philippines – BSU settled for draw while in the kids kickboxing division, George Clydyke Lusadan of Team UNICON won over Jefferson Agustin of the World Muay Buran Federation in the 40kilogram division.

In the special ladies kickboxing, Rochelle Lestino of the WMBFP won against Meah Panisigan of Team Lakay La Trinidad, Benguet.