MANDAUE CITY: OMEGA’s light flyweight contender Christian Araneta proved that he’s ready for a bigger fight when he knocked out Roland Jay Biendema in the main event of the Kumbati 7 on Friday, Dec. 18, 2020, at the IPI Compound in Mandaue City, Cebu.
Araneta connected with a left uppercut to Biendema’s jaw, sending him to the canvas at the 2:15 mark of the first round.
It was a redemption of sorts for the 25-year-old Araneta who lost to Daniel Valladares in 2019.
Araneta, now with an improved record of 19-1 with 15 knockouts, is aiming to challenge Felix Alvarado (35-2-0,30 KOs), the Nicaraguan International Boxing Federation (IBF) light flyweight champion since Oct. 29, 2018.
“We will see what’s going to happen next. Our cam is ready for the world [title fight]. I’m calling out Felix Alvarado to give us a shot,” Omega’s Boxing gym head coach Julius Erving Junco told The Manila Times on Saturday morning.
Omega Pro Sports International Vice President Jerome Calatrava said they will see how the sanctioning bodies will rate Araneta.
Araneta is currently rated No. 6 in the (IBF) light flyweight division.
In the co-main event, Omega’s rising star Pete Apolinar (13-1, 8 KOs) weathered a second-round storm to pull off a unanimous decision win over Danny Tampipi.
Apolinar was knocked down in the second canto but bounced back to notch his second win in as many fights in the “new normal” setup since the pandemic struck early this year.
“I will further learn and improve. I’m just thankful for the all-out support from Omega Boxing — for giving us all that’s needed in the training camp,” Apolinar, 25, told the Manila Times.
Tampipi’s record dropped to 9-12-2, 5 KOs.
In the Kumbati 7 undercard, Carl Jammes Martin (16-0, 14 KOs) beat Richard Rosales (14-14-2, 8 KOs) by unanimous decision, Albert Pagara (33-1, 23 KOs) defeated veteran Virgil Puton (18-15-2, 9 KOs) by unanimous decision and Franco Serafica (4-1, 2 KOs) scored a first-round stoppage over Matthew Fondales (1-3).
Earlier in the afternoon, Tomjune Mangubat (12-2-1, 10 KOs) forced Reymond Empic (7-6, 3 KOs) to quit in the third round of the Kumbati 6 main event.
Carlo Bacaro (7-0, 6 KOs) beat Ryan Maano (5-10-2, 1 KO) in the third round, Regie Suganob (5-0, 1 KO) won via unanimous decision over Robert Ates (4-8, 2 KOs), while Benny Cañete (1-0, 1 KO) had a successful pro debut with a second-round knockout of fellow newcomer Roque Villagonzalo.
“I’m happy with the performance of my boxers. We know that these fights are only their training ground as the real competition would be in the US,” said Junco.
“We expected a win since they got the advantage on training facility, equipment and training progam plus the undying support from the mother company, which is the IPI,” he said.
The Kumbati 6 and 7 was the third installment of Omega boxing series since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Kumbati 5 held in October was the very first pro boxing event in the country since the lockdown.