Banal ‘BazooKOed’

AJ “Bazooka” Banal, crying and all, was left pondering what went wrong with his game plan against Thailand’s Pungluang Sor Singyu in Saturday night’s Pinoy Pride XVII: the Philippines vs The World at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

The more than three months of training and 130 rounds of sparring went down the drain after his first shot at a world title ended in a disappointing ninth-round technical knockout (TKO) loss to the durable Thai in their scheduled 12-round bout for the vacant World Boxing Organization (WBO) bantamweight title, previously held by Filipino-American Nonito Donaire Jr.

The Thai used a four-punch barrage he capped with a left jab to floor Banal, who went down on all fours for a standing eight-count by referee Tony Weeks.

Banal stood up and Weeks signaled both fighters to continue but Sor Singyu, like a shark smelling blood, used that knockdown as momentum and quickly went to work to finish off his opponent with an impressive left-right combination that sent the reigning WBO Asia Pacific bantamweight champ down to the canvas anew.

Banal, 23, managed to get up after the second knockdown but was obviously unstable, prompting Weeks to call off the fight at the one-minute and 45-second mark.

The Bukidnon-born Banal, showing the true heart of a warrior, begged Weeks to allow him to continue but the American referee has already called it a TKO.

“I can still stand up. Of course, I would stop [after being knocked down] to regain my focus but the referee decided to stop the fight,” said an inconsolable Banal in Filipino who is already thinking of a rematch.

Banal suffered only his second KO loss and became the 24-year-old Sor Singyu’s 15th Filipino victim. Banal had won 28 bouts, 20 by KO, and had one draw.

“I’ve been waiting for two years for this title and now I can say to all of Thailand that I am a world boxing champion,” said Sor Singyu, who had to jog around the Mall of Asia to lose one pound after tipping the scales at 119 in Friday’s weigh-in, through an interpreter. “[Banal] was a very strong and good boxer but I just waited for the right time for the knockout.”

ALA Boxing Promotions President Michael Aldeguer said they will meet with Banal, along with officials of ABS-CBN Sports and One Songchai Promotions for a possible rematch.

“AJ had a good eighth round. He threw combinations that we wanted and followed our game plan to the letter but the guy [Sor Singyu] was sturdy, could take AJ’s punches, and kept on coming back. It was a back-and-forth fight and could have gone AJ’s way, but breaks lost it. [AJ] felt he can still fight but Tony Weeks knows what is good,” said Aldeguer.

Aldeguer added that the cut Banal suffered through an accidental head butt in the third round threw the former WBO Asia Pacific Youth super-flyweight champion off his comfort zone.”

Banal was the lone Filipino fighter to lose on Saturday night after Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista and Jason Pagara defeated their respective opponents.

Bautista (34-2, 25 KOs) won the WBO international featherweight crown after scoring a split-decision win over Mexican Daniel Ruiz based on the judge's scorecards: 116-112, 115-113, and 113-115.

Pagara, meanwhile, quickly silenced wannabe Manny Pacquiao challenger Miguel Antoine with a first-round knockout at the 2:48-mark of the bout to retain his WBO international light-welterweight crown. The former WBO Asia Pacific Youth light-welterweight champion improved to 30-2 with 19 KOs.