VETERAN Pete Apolinar finally got his first win on Japanese soil, stopping Ryusei Ishii last June 19, 2026, at the Edion Hisaya Plaza in Nagoya, Japan.
Apolinar ended Ishii in the 2:29 mark of the third round of a scheduled eight-round bout.
The 31-year-old Apolinar has already fought five times in Japan before finally getting his first win.
Apolinar improved to a win-loss-draw slate of 20-7-1 with 13 knockouts, while Ishii fell to 12-10-1 with
nine knockouts.
On the other hand, Apolinar’s teammates at the Zip-Sanman Wellness Center in Cebu City, Alex Santisima Jr. and Kiyoto Narukami, also won their respective fights.
Santisima Jr. (13-2, 7 KOs) knocked out Japan-based Pinoy Richard Pumicpic (23-16-3, 7 KOs) in the first round, while Narukami (6-2-1, 3 KOs) scored an impressive fourth-round stoppage of Ryoto Maekawa (12-5-1, 8 KOs) in what was his farewell fight.
Narukami, a Japanese who lives in Cebu, announced on social media that he will be hanging up his gloves at just 23 years old.
Former world champion Melvin Jerusalem was also in attendance and was one of the guests for the Philippine expo. / EKA
