FILIPINO veteran Jesse Espinas captured the World Boxing Council (WBC) Asian super-flyweight title with a fifth-round stoppage of Jiangtao Cao on Saturday night, June 21, 2025, in Huhehaote, China.
Cao banked on his long reach and landed his punches early on.
Espinas, who moved up in weight for this fight, had a hard time connecting with his combinations because of Cao’s huge size advantage, but still managed to sneak in that occasional body shot whenever the taller fighter stepped into range.
In the third round, Espinas began to turn the tide with his slick head movement, making Cao miss and responding with well-placed body shots to the body.
Espinas found his range in the fourth round and consistently landed his right hook that bothered Cao.
Finally in the fifth round, the 32-year-old Espinas landed a solid right uppercut that rocked Cao. Smelling blood, he followed it up with some vicious haymakers that prompted the referee to stop the fight.
Espinas won his third straight fight and improved to 24-7 with 14 knockouts, while Cao fell to 10-5-2 with four knockouts. / EKA