Filipinos make good fist of it

Rey ?Boom Boom? Bautista takes a solid punch from Saichon Sotornpitak in Dubai.

DUBAI // A team of Filipino fighters did national hero Manny Pacquiao proud when they took on and beat "The Rest of the World" at The Lodge on Friday night. Milan Melindo, Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and Larry Canillas all won handsomely inside six rounds at the boxing night organised by KO Promotions in association with the ALA Gym from the Philippines.

They were victories Pacquiao, the world welterweight champion, would have savoured. Melindo, the WBC Youth Intercontinental flyweight champion, scored a fourth-round technical knockout over Komrit Twins-Gym, a resilient Thai challenger, while Bautista continued on his comeback trail by dispatching Saichon Sotornpitak, also of Thailand, in the sixth round. In the opening bout, Canillas pummelled Fred Sayuni of Tanzania after a cautious start for a sixth round knockout.

Melindo's win took his unbeaten record to 21 (6KO) and he looked the best of ALA Gym's three stars on show as he successfully defended his intercontinental title. The 22-year-old had Twins Gym on the canvas in the opening seconds of the first round with a cracking left hook. The Thai, who only arrived in Dubai the previous night after being called up as a last- minute replacement for Colombia's Devis Perez, was on the floor a second time before the round was over, but refused to give up. The rough treatment for Twins-Gym continued until Bruce McTavish, the international referee, stopped the fight in the fourth round, with the Thai on his knees and struggling to get up after a series of vicious body shots.

Perez had to pull out following the disruption of flights due to the volcanic ash cloud over Europe. Bautista also had his opponent on the canvas in the opening round. Sotornpitak threw a few effective counters at a later stage, but the highly rated Filipino eventually brought the bout to a close in the sixth round with an offensive that saw Sotornpitak collapse to the floor. [e-mail]