AJ “Bazooka” Banal had a successful ring return after a two-year layoff with a split decision win over battle-scarred veteran Jason Egera in one of undercard bouts of “Knockout” at the Makati Cinema Square Boxing Arena in Makati City last Saturday night.
Banal got the nod of two of the three judges with scores of 58-56, 59-55 and 56-58.
Banal improved to 35-2-1 with 23 knockouts, while Egera dropped to 23-19-1 with 11 knockouts.
This is the two-time world title challenger’s comeback after last seeing action in 2015 with a third round stoppage over Emilio Norfat at the Hoops Dome in Lapu-Lapu City.
Banal was once considered one of the country’s best fighters. He, however, didn’t live up to everybody’s expectations and lost his first shot at a world title after getting knocked out by Rafael Concepion in the 10th round of their interim World Boxing Association (WBA) super flyweight title fight at the Cebu Coliseum in 2008. He was given another chance at a world title four years later but he got stopped in the ninth round against Pungluang Sor Singyu in a World Boxing Organization (WBO) bantamweight title fight at the SM Mall of Asia Arena. (EKA)