Filipino boxers emerged victorious against Latin fighters in the "Pinoy Pride XXIII: Filipinos Kontra Latinos," held Saturday, November 30 at the Araneta Coliseum. Pinoys continued the winning streak this year started by Donaire and Pacquiao to bring honor to the country.
Presented by ALA Promotions and ABS-CBN Sports, the double world championship bout featured WBO light flyweight champion Donnie 'Ahas' Nietes and WBO minimumweight titlist Merlito 'Tiger' Sabillo.
Donnie 'Ahas' Nietes successfully defended his WBO World light-flyweight belt against Sammy 'Gutty' Gutierrez of Mexico. Nietes dropped Gutierrez twice in the first round before knocking the Mexican out in the 3rd round.
After 12 rounds of boxing, Merlito 'Tiger' Sabillo battled to a split draw against Nicaraguan Carlos 'Chocorroncito' Buitrago. Both remained undefeated while Sabillo retained his WBO Minimum weight title.
Milan 'El Metodico' Melindo won the WBO International flyweight title against Mexico’s Jose Alfredo 'Torito' Rodriguez via unanimous decision after the 12-round bout.
For the undercard fights, Jason 'El Niño' Pagara retained his WBO International Light-Welterweight title with a unanimous decision win over Vladimir Baez of Dominican Republic. Pagara came to hurt his opponent in the 4th round and scored a knockdown in the 9th round.
AJ 'Bazooka' Banal also won his non-title fight against Lucian Gonzalez of Puerto Rico via unanimous decision. Meanwhile, Jimrex 'The Executioner' Jaca lived up to his pet name by knocking out Wellem Reyk of Indonesia in the 1st round.
The Pinoy Pride 23: Filipinos Kontra Latinos will have a special telecast on Sunday (Dec 1), 10:15 AM, on ABS-CBN and 8 PM on Studio 23.
