Top contenders battle for vacant RP Superfly title

By Dennis Principe

13.08 - CEBU CITY, Philippines – Two of the Philippines top superflyweights collide in a 12-round title fight this Saturday at the New Cebu Coliseum in this city to determine the next 115-lb champion.

Top-ranked Alex Egina tangles with number two contender Ramie Laput for the RP superflyweight title which was recently vacated by newly-crowned World Boxing Council (WBC) International bantamweight champion Roger Galicia.

The Leyte-born Egina plans to use the RP title as his springboard towards a crack at a regional throne within the year.

Egina (9-1, 1 KO) is currently rated #2 in the Pan Asia Boxing Association (PABA) junior bantamweight ratings and is also the 8th ranked boxer of the WBC-backed Oriental Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) superflyweight division.

Egina zoomed into the top spot after winning an impressive 10-round decision over veteran Noel Sungahid on May 17 in Lapu-Lapu City.

On the other hand, the Davao-based Laput is coming off a spectacular two-fight triumph in Indonesia, easily stopping local boys Monte Negro by 1st round TKO last May and Gun Tinular via 5th round TKO this June.

Laput’s recent conquest in Indonesia erased a shameful 1st round knockout loss to current WBC International flyweight boss Randy Mangubat last May 31, 2002 at the Elorde Sports Center in Parañaque City.

In the undercard, Cebuano Elmer Gejon, a protégé of boxing kingmaker Rex “Wakee” Salud, battles leading contender Favio Marfa in a 10-round minimumweight non-title duel.

The winner of the Gejon-Marfa contest will get an inside track on the soon-to-be-vacated 105-lb crown late this year.

This after undefeated RP minimumweight king Rodel Mayol has been tapped to vie for the OPBF tiara versus defending Japanese champion and WBC #5 contender Genki Ohnaka on November 24, 2003 in Fukuoka, Japan.