ALBERT Pagara made quick work of Thai heavy-hitter Ratchanon Sawangsoda, knocking him out in just a single round in the main event of Pinoy Pride 46 on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2019, in Ormoc City.

Pagara dropped Sawangsoda four times in the opening round before the Thai’s corner threw in the towel, forcing the referee to stop the contest in the 2:53 mark.

ALA Gym head coach Edito Villamor told SunStar Cebu that the 25-year-old Pagara has regained his confidence and is close to getting his world title shot.

“He’s got his old form back,” he said. “He’s No. 3. He has to fight for a title eliminator to become the mandatory challenger for a world title shot. He’s just waiting for a big opportunity to come to his career.”

Pagara is rated No. 3 in the World Boxing Organization (WBO) super bantamweight division, just behind Marlon Tapales and Juan Miguel Elorde. Emanuel Navarrete just defended his WBO belt with a third-round knockout of Francisco de Vaca last Aug. 18, 2019.

Pagara is 32-1 with 23 knockouts, while Sawangsoda dropped to 12-4 with 12 knockouts.

Heavy-handed Jeo Santisima also had an easy victory after knocking out Indonesian Alvius Maufani in the first round.

Santisima knocked out Maufani with a straight right in the 1:49 mark of the first round. Santisima improved to 18-2 with 15 knockouts, while Maufani dropped to 6-4-2 with three knockouts.

In the undercard, one-time world title challenger Jonas Sultan (16-5, 10 KOs) stopped Salatiel Amit (11-7-2, 8 KOs) in seven rounds. World Boxing Council (WBC) No. 2 ranked minimumweight Melvin Jerusalem (15-2, 9 KOs) also scored a seventh round stoppage of Reymark Taday (9-10-1, 4 KOs). Esneth Domingo (12-1, 7 KOs) successfully bounced back from his first career loss with a first-round knockout of Belmar Plaza (4-12-3, 2 KOs). Lorenz Ladrada (7-0-1, 2 KOs) beat Rimon Rama (6-3-1, 4 KOs) by majority decision, while Jhon May Acope (1-0) defeated fellow rookie Anthony Desabille (0-1) also by majority decision. (EKA)