FORMER world title contender Giemel Magramo bagged the vacant Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) super-flyweight strap after a close split-decision win over Judy Flores in the main event of Manny Pacquiao’s Blow-by-Blow show on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, at the Okuda Manila Hotel and Casino in Parañaque City.
Two judges scored it in favor of Magramo, 115-112 and 114-113, while the other judge saw it differently at 115-112 for Flores.
Magramo won his second straight fight and now has a 30-4 win-loss record with 23 knockouts, while Flores fell to 14-3 with eight knockouts.
The win will most likely move Magramo up in the the world rankings. He is currently rated No. 30 by the World Boxing Council (WBC).
The 30-year-old Magramo fought for a world title back in 2020 against then World Boxing Organization (WBO) flyweight champion Junto Nakatani in Japan. He lost to Nakatani by an eighth-round knockout in his lone world title attempt.
Meanwhile, Cebu-based boxer Benny Cañete won the biggest fight of his career so far, by split decision against one-time world title challenger Edward Heno in one of the featured fights.
The 24-year-old Cañete got the nod of two judges with identical 98-92 scores, while the other judge scored it 96-94 in favor of Heno.
Cañete improved to 12-2 with eight knockouts, while Heno suffered his second straight defeat and dropped to 16-6-6 with six knockouts.
Also in the same card, Pacquiao’s son Eman Bacosa (5-0-1, 4 KOs) continued his unbeaten run with a majority-decision victory over Rodelyn Perez (3-2, 2 KOs).
In other undercard fights, Bryan Cabrillos (6-0-1, 4 KOs) fought Jimmy Cannu (4-1-3, 1 KO) to a majority draw, Ken Danila (4-0, 3 KOs) defeated Sherwin Lombres (3-2-1, 1 KO) by unanimous decision, Angelo Reyes (1-4) got his first career win with a unanimous decision win over Nikko Colar (1-1, 1 KO), Gerald Erederos (2-0, 1 KO) outclassed Ricky Batio-an (1-1, 1 KO), and Mark Gaurana (1-0, 1 KO) stopped Darby Mandal (0-1) in the second round. / EKA