Pedro Taduran retains world crown by clear unanimous decision

MANILA, Philippines – There was no knockdown, only a convincing unanimous decision for Pedro Taduran.

Applying relentless pressure, Taduran trounced Brandon Moreno of Spain by scores of 120-108, 115-113, and 115-113 to retain the IBF (International Boxing Federation) minimumweight crown and remain the lone Filipino world champion on Saturday, November 7 (Sunday, November 8, Philippine time) at the Kiva Auditorium in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.

The heavy-hitting Taduran said he didn’t find the opening to put Moreno down and settled for outworking and wearing down the erstwhile unbeaten challenger.

“It was a bit hard (to knock him down) as he throws punches before I could come in. I made my move when I felt that he was losing steam,” Taduran told Rappler in Filipino.

Living up to his favorite tag, Taduran improved to a 21-win, with 14 knockouts, 4-loss, 1-draw record, while handing the Spaniard his first loss after 16 wins with 5 knockouts.

Although two inches shorter at 5-foot-3, Taduran was the aggressor from the start, with Moreno keeping him at bay with jabs.

Once Taduran found his rhythm and unloaded punches in bunches, however, Moreno began to open up and get hit.

Joven Jimenez manned Taduran’s corner with his ward, former IBF junior bantamweight king Jerwin Ancajas.

According to Jimenez, they had to compress everything in two weeks as Taduran was overweight (126 pounds) and undertrained when he started working out at the Knuckleheads Boxing Gym in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Taduran, the pride of Libon, Albay, said he will head to Las Vegas on Sunday and will return to the Philippines by Tuesday, adding that MP Promotions president and matchmaker Sean Gibbons will work out his next fight.

Marty Elorde, Taduran’s manager, said the verdict was expected, but the close scores given by two judges contrasted sharply with the shutout given by one. – Rappler.com