FORMER world title challenger Michael Dasmariñas suffered another career setback after suffering a ninth round knockout in the hands of world-rated Elijah Pierce in their World Boxing Organization International featherweight title bout on Saturday, July 26, 2025 (PH time) at The Tabernacle in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
The 30-year-old Dasmariñas started out strong and dropped Pierce with a solid left straight in the opening round. Dasmarinas tried his best to end the bout in the first stanza but Pierce managed to hold on and survivethe round.
It was a very competitve bout. However, in the ninth round the 28-year-old Pierce knocked down Dasmariñas with a solid left to the head. The Filipino warrior stood up and did his best to fight back. Pierce then landed a solid left hook to the body and quickly followed it up with a right hook to the jaw that sent Dasmariñas to the floor again, near the ropes. Dasmariñas was glassy-eyed and was unable to beat the referee’s count this time. The bout was stopped in the 2:01 mark of the ninth round.
The bout was eerily similar to Pierce’s win over Dasmarinas’ compatriot Arthur Villanueva last year. After getting knocked down in the second round, Pierce rallied back to knock Villanueva out in the fourth round.
Dasmariñas is back to the drawing board and dropped to 36-5-2 with 25 knockouts.
Pierce continued his hot streak with 12 straight wins and improved to 21-2 with 17 knockouts. / EKA