By Maloney L. Samaco –
Jason Pagara successfully defended his World Boxing Organization (WBO) international light welterweight title. It was a convincing unanimous decision win over Aaron Herrera of Mexico. Pagara said it’s all up to his boss Antonio L. Aldeguer to chart his future fights. But he is always prepared for any challenge that might come along the way.
It seemed that Pagara was on his way to a knockout victory as promised during the pre-fight press conferences. He knocked the Mexican down who touched the floor with his gloves and received an eight-count from the referee Bruce McTavish. But La Joya recovered and withstood the best punches the Filipino champion could slap on him.
The Mexican challenger had his moments of dominance in the middle rounds when the ALA standout seemed to run out of steam. But the impressive final three rounds proved to be the Filipino’s selling point as he asserted his power over the visiting foe.
Pagara convinced all three judges to score a unanimous decision. The scores are 115-112 by Salven Lagumbay, 116-111 by Tony Pesons, but the 119-108 score by Arnie Najera may be too much.
El Niño traced his roots from Maasin City and honed up his skills in Cagayan de Oro City under the patronage of Misamis Oriental governor now CDO mayor-elect Oscar Moreno.
The WBO top contender is the next Pacquiao foe Brandon Rios. The number two contender is undefeated American Karim Mayfield and the number three is Sehiy Fedchenko of Ukraine, who once fought and lost to Marquez.
If he intends to challenge the other organizations’ titles then he has to contend with WBA and WBC champion Danny Garcia, who is also The Ring champion, or IBF champion Lamont Peterson.
The light welterweight division is overcrowded with talents. But Pagara is still young and has the great potential still waiting to be tapped. He has to train in the United States to be at par with the world class fighters of his category.
And during the post-fight interview over ABS-CBN, Pagara said “ALA knows best.”
