CHRISTIAN “The Bomb” Araneta put on an impressive boxing performance and knocked out Thai veteran Jakrawut Majungoen in the ninth round of the Kumbati 14 - “Battle of Mactan” main event on Saturday night, April 1, in front of some of the big stars of Philippine boxing at the Hoops Dome in Lapu-Lapu City.
Filipino boxing stars Nonito Donaire Jr., Donnie Nietes, Johnriel Casimero and Milan Melindo all witnessed Araneta’s handiwork against the notable Thai fighter Majungoen, who was once world-ranked.
Despite coming off an almost a year hiatus, the 28-year-old Araneta looked sharp. He was quick to his feet and mostly beat Majungoen to the punch in their exchanges.
In the ninth round, Araneta landed a series of powerful shots to the body of an aggressive Majungoen. Araneta connected with a left straight to the midsection of the 27-year-old Thai that apparently hurt him. Araneta followed it up with a left hook to the head that dropped Majungoen to his knee. Majungoen was visibly hurt by the body shots and vomited while referee Tony Pesons counted him out in the 1:25 mark.
“I didn’t expect to knock him out. He’s a veteran with a very good record. He just laughed at me every time a landed my punches. In round four, I felt that my hand started to hurt. I just maintained my jabs and my counter punches, then I hit him,” Araneta said after the fight. “Our game plan with coach Julius was to box him and not engage in a brawl because he’s a fighter.”
Omega Gym head coach Julius Erving “Jinggoy” Junco was totally impressed with Araneta’s patience and maturity and believes that his ward is ripe for a world title.
“It was a classy performance by Araneta. He already has the maturity of the game. That’s what we’ve been working out in the gym, that he won’t overflow with his punches. It must be calculated and he shouldn’t get outbalanced. This was the best performance of his career,” Junco told SunStar Cebu. “Yes, he’s ready (for a world championship). At 28 years old, he’s in the prime of his career. We will fight for any organization as long as it’s for a world title.”
Araneta is currently ranked No. 4 by the International Boxing Federation (IBF), No. 9 by the World Boxing Organization (WBO), No. 11 by the World Boxing Association (WBA) and No. 17 by the World Boxing Council (WBC).
“I’ll just wait for my time. I hope that my rating will improve. I’ve fought for an eliminator twice and failed. I hope this time I’ll be able to win a world title,” Araneta said.
Araneta improved to 23-2 with 18 knockouts, while Majungoen dropped to 42-4-2 with 21 knockouts.
Benny Cañete (8-1, 6 KOs) scored a convincing unanimous decision win over journeyman Renoel Pael (23-14-1, 12 KOs).
The scores were 98-92, 97-93 and 98-92 in favor of Cañete.
In the undercard, Pete Apolinar (17-4, 10 KOs) totally outclassed Reymond Empic (7-7-1, 3 KOs) via a one-sided unanimous decision, Franco Serafica (10-1, 4 KOs) beat Marjon Piencenaves (6-6-1, 4 KOs) by unanimous decision, veteran Jason Canoy (28-10-2, 19 KOs) had a successful comeback following a four-year layoff with a lopsided unanimous decision win over previously unbeaten prospect Michael Adolfo (4-1, 2 KOs),
Dariel Diamante (1-1-1) settled his score with Ramil Roda Jr. (1-1-2) with a unanimous decision victory in their rematch, Maurino Agum (2-1-1, 1 KO) fought Kier Torregosa (2-2-2, 1 KO) to a majority draw, 19-year-old light flyweight prospect Jhon Magos (1-0) had a successful pro debut with a unanimous decision over fellow newcomer Reggie Empis (0-1).