KENNY Demecillo poured out everything he had, making his 12-round International Boxing Federation (IBF) bantamweight title eliminator with Michael Dasmariñas last Saturday night, March 23, an all-out war.
Thinking that he did enough to get the the judges’ nod, Demecillo was shocked after the decision was announced that Dasmariñas was the winner via a convincing unanimous decision.
“I won that fight,” Demecillo told SunStar Cebu. “I dictated the pace of that fight.”
Judge Greg Ortega had it close at 115-113, judge Silvestre Abainza scored it with a wider margin, 116-112, while judge Gil Co scored it 117-111.
“I was confused that the score was so far apart,” he said. “The judges favored him. I also had more punches than him.”
Demecillo immediately made it into war by sticking right up Dasmariñas’ face and throwing at will. The 26-year-old Dasmariñas was mostly on the defense and occasionally unleashed a flurry of punches.
In the fourth round, Demecillo started to target Dasmariñas’ body and was very effective with his body shots. He, however, landed low and was given a warning in the fourth, fifth and in the sixth.
Luckily, he wasn’t deducted a point.
The action was back-and-forth in the ninth round.
Demecillo never backed up despite absorbing a huge punch by Dasmariñas in the 12th round.
Dasmariñas improved to 29-2-1 with knockouts and is now the no. 1 contender in the IBF bantamweight division. Demecillo, in the meantime, dropped to 14-5-2 with eight knockouts.
Omega Pro Sports International vice president Jerome Calatrava, who handles Demecillo, said that despite the defeat, his ward impressed both fans and promoters.
“The loss was okay because at least he was able to put on a show. The promoters (MP Promotions and Ringstar Asia) were very impressed. He’s promised a fight very soon because of what he has shown in the fight,” he said. “He was able to make an excellent impression and even impressed the IBF ratings chairman.” (EKA)