Balunan denied world title

CHRISTIAN Balunan failed in his bid to become a world champion after losing to International Boxing Federation (IBF) minimumweight king Pedro Taduran by unanimous decision in the main event of “Thrilla in Manila II Countdown” on Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025, at the San Andres Sports Complex in Manila.

Balunan displayed a ton of heart in the fight despite being a huge underdog. He suffered a huge gash above his right eye in the fourth round but refused to back down, pressing on until the final bell.

After 12 rounds, Taduran got the nod of all three judges with scores of 118-110, 117-111, and 118-110.

Despite the loss, the 23-year-old Balunan remained optimistic about his career moving forward.

“I’ll come back stronger,” Balunan told SunStar Cebu. “All I can say is that I’m very happy that I was able to finish the fight and that I’m safe. I did my best to finish the fight even though I got cut early. I wasn’t able to do everything from our game plan but I’m still thankful that I was able to finish the fight. I’ll just keep on going and keep on punching.”

Balunan, who hails from Consolacion, Cebu, suffered his first career loss, dropping to 12-1 with seven knockouts, while Taduran won his third straight world title fight and improved to 19-4-1 with 13 knockouts.

Before his title defense against Balunan, the 28-year-old Taduran defeated Ginjiro Shigeoka twice.

Taduran is now targeting a world title unification bout with World Boxing Organization (WBO) and World Boxing Association (WBA) minimumweight champion Oscar Collazo.

In the co-main event, Miel Fajardo (13-3-2, 11 KOs) secured the International Boxing Federation (IBF) Pan Pacific flyweight title with a unanimous decision win over Esneth Domingo (22-4, 14 KOs).

Fajardo sealed the deal with a right uppercut that dropped Domingo in the final round.

Fajardo got the nod of all three judges with scores of 98-91, 96-93, and 96-93.

Hong Kong star Rex Tso (23-0, 14 KOs) fought Indian Sagar Chouhan (7-0-2, 3 KOs) to a no contest.

In the undercard, Lienard Sarcon (14-0, 6 KOs) put on a masterful performance and stopped Junibert Bantay (9-1, 1 KO) in the seventh round. Unbeaten Cebuano up-and-comer AJ Paciones (12-0, 7 KOs) knocked Jeraldine Ocrarit (5-2, 5 KOs) out in the second round with a solid right.

Carlo Diaz VII (8-3-1, 1 KO) beat Joperson Trazo (6-2-1, 2 KOs) by unanimous decision, while Claire Villarosa (5-0-1, 2 KOs) demolished John Rey Labajo (4-4-2, 4 KOs) in the second round to win the Philippine Youth super-flyweight strap.

Former world title challenger Gretel De Paz (8-7-3, 2 KOs) walked away with a unanimous decision victory over Charimae Salvador (5-10, 2 KOs) to claim the Philippines Women’s bantamweight belt.

Argelou Samson (7-3-1, 5 KOs) stopped Noli James Maquilan (11-4, 8 KOs) in the eighth round and Zyvyr Medecilo (7-0, 3 KOs) squeaked past Richard Garde (11-3, 9 KOs) by a close split decision. / EKA