Marlon Tapales stops Thai foe in first round; Reymart Gaballo suffers defeat vs Torres

Former two-division champion Marlon Tapales is back to his winning ways with a first-round knockout over Nattapong Jankaew of Thailand to capture the WBC Asian Continental super bantamweight title on Friday evening at the Midas Hotel and Casino in Pasay.

Tapales attacked right away and scored two knockdowns in the early going. Sensing blood, Tapales went for the kill and dropped his foe for the third time, prompting the referee to halt the contest at the 2:15 mark of round one.

The win improved Tapales' professional boxing record to 38-4 with 20 knockouts while Jankaew fell to 12-4 with 8 knockouts.

In the co-main event, former world title challenger Reymart Gaballo suffered defeat at the hands of hard-hitting Mexican Kenbun Torres.

Torres, who improved his record to 14-5 with 10 knockouts, sent Gaballo crashing to the canvas thrice in the opening stanza. With Gaballo unable to recover from the punches he took, the referee waived the contest at the 2:33 mark of round one.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News