Analyst praises Astrolabio: 'He performed better than Casimero against Rigondeaux'

Veteran boxing analyst Atty. Ed Tolentino is singing praises for Vincent Astrolabio for pulling off a major upset in defeating Cuban Olympian and ex-world champion Guillermo Rigondeaux to claim the vacant WBC international bantamweight title in Dubai.

Astrolabio, 24, came to the fight as a massive underdog with virtually no fanfare. But the Filipino proved to be a handful for Rigondeaux, effectively cutting the ring to land his shots and even scoring a knockdown en route to winning the fight by unanimous decision.

“Astrolabio was a heavy underdog. In fact, people thought that while he is going to give a fight, Rigondeaux's skill set will win in the end. Truth is he performed better than John Riel Casimero,” said Tolentino.

“You can see there was a fight plan; when Rigondeaux takes a step back, he will quickly chase and go to the body to keep him off balance. Rigondeaux was unable to plant his feet to counter because of that. He mixed his attack very well.”

Rigondeaux introduced himself to Filipino fight fans when he defeated Nonito Donaire in 2013. He also fought the WBO world bantamweight champion John Riel Casimero last August but lost via razor-thin split decision.

Though past his best and not a world champion anymore, Tolentino maintained that the win over the two-time Olympic gold medalist would soar Astrolabio’s stock upward.

“Of course, it also helped that Rigondeaux is already 41 years old,” Tolentino quipped.

“This is a huge win for Astrolabio and I thought he won by a bigger margin in the scorecards. If it was not for the knockdown it might have gone either way. Astrolabio really deserved to win that fight and I am happy he got a break.”

—JMB, GMA News