PINOY warriors KJ Natuplag and Jopher Montano were victorious and won regional titles after knocking out their respective opponents over the weekend at the FCC Forum in Dubai, UAE.
Natuplag made quick work of promising Thai Boonrueang Phayom after destroying him in just two rounds to win the vacant World Boxing Organization (WBO) Oriental featherweight strap.
Both fighters didn’t need a feel-out round as they immediately traded some vicious blows.
The 26-year-old Natuplag finally found his mark and dropped Phayom with a solid left hook.
Phayom beat the referee’s count, but Natuplag was very aggressive and softened him up with some heavy body shots.
Natuplag finally landed another solid right hook that dropped Phayom and forced the referee to stop the fight at the 55-second mark of the second round.
Natuplag won his third straight fight in Dubai and improved to 11-3-2 with 10 knockouts, while Phayom dropped to 10-2 with 10 knockouts.
Montano, in the meantime, demolished Indian Kulbir Dhaka in the ninth round to win the vacant WBO Oriental welterweight title.
Montano stopped Dhaka at the 1:52 mark of the ninth.
Montano won his second straight fight in Dubai and is now 13-5-2 with 12 knockouts, while Dhaka fell to 6-2 with three knockouts.