FORMER world title challenger Rene Catalan and teammate Jomary Torres both suffered defeat in ONE Championship: “Big Bang” on Friday night, Dec. 4, 2020, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore.
The 41-year-old Catalan’s hopes for a rematch with ONE strawweight champion Joshua Pacio may just have to wait after suffering a first round knockout loss to fast-rising South African prospect Bokang Masunyane.
It only took 37 seconds fof Masunyane to end Catalan’s night. Catalan shot for a takedown that was well defended by Masunyane.
The 26-year-old South African landed a knee and as Catalan was backing off from the clinch Masunyane landed his shin on his jaw that knocked him out cold.
Catalan, ranked No. 3 in the strawweight division, suffered his second straight loss and dropped to 6-4, while Masunyane remained unbeaten with 8-0.
Meanwhile, Torres lost a first round technical knockout in the hands of unbeaten Indian prospect Ritu Phogat.
Phogat totally dominated Torres in the fight. He took Torres down and later on unleashed a vicious ground-and-pound from the crucifix postion that forced the referee to stop it in the 3:55 mark.
Torres fell to 4-5, while Phogat is still undefeated with 4-0. (EKA)