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 co...