Peñalosa becomes WBC Asia silver champ; Borres takes ABF belt

Carlo Peñalosa took home the WBC Asia silver flyweight title after subduing fellow Cebuano Salatiel Amit in the headliner of Battle of Palawan: Night of Champions at the Puerto Princesa City Coliseum on Friday night. (Photo: Penalosa Boxing Gym-Southville Las Pinas/Facebook)

PUERTO PRINCESA, Palawan — Carlo Peñalosa took home the WBC Asia silver flyweight title after subduing fellow Cebuano Salatiel Amit in the headliner of Battle of Palawan: Night of Champions at the Puerto Princesa City Coliseum on Friday night.

The nephew of boxing legend turned fight promoter, Gerry Peñalosa, took charge late in the 10-round main event of the key highlight of the 55th OPBF Convention, but he had to settle for a split decision win as Amit showed grit until the final bell.

The match started slowly, but both fighters made good connections, setting up a tight showdown.

Carlo Peñalosa then caught fire in Round 5, pouring it on with renewed aggression, and the strikes continued until Round 9.

Amit, however, never wavered and even put one final push right in the final round, eventually getting the nod from Judge Noel Flores.

Flores gave a 96-94 edge for Amit, but Ferdinand Estrada and Alberto Dulalas both scored the match 96-94 for Peñalosa.

Meanwhile, former IBF youth flyweight champion Robert Onggocan fell prey to virtual unknown Jeronil Borres in the co-main event.

Now based in La Trinidad, the Butuan native completed a giant-slaying over the Biñan-based pug via majority decision to take home the Asian Boxing Federation flyweight title.

Borres began turning the tides of the bout at the middle of the 10-rounder, tagging Onggocan with solid strikes.

But Onggocan showed his pedigree by keeping his resilience, in the end, eventually keeping the game close.

Jaime Mata gave a 95-all stalemate, but Greg Ortega and Lim Jun-Bae both had identical 96-94 cards favoring Borres.