RIO Olympian Charly Suarez defended his WBA Asia super featherweight crown in scintillating fashion last Sunday at the Elorde Sports Complex in Parañaque.
Suarez, 33, of Davao Del Norte, handily beat veteran international campaigner Mark John Yap via unanimous decision, winning on all scorecards 120-108, 120-108 and 118-110.
Yap initially displayed veteran moves and befuddled Suarez with stiff jabs and hooks to the body.
Suarez took control of the bout midway through the sixth round when he opened up a cut beneath Yap’s right eye courtesy of a powerful left hook coupled with a quick right straight.
Yap showed a lot of guts later in the fight but Suarez’s left-right combinations and counter attacks proved too much to for the Cagayan De Oro fighter.
“It was a great learning experience for me. This fight taught me how to be patient and be tactical when facing a resilient boxer like Yap,” said Suarez, who improved his record to 12-0 with seven 7 knockouts.
Yap dropped to 30-17 with 15 KOs.
It was Suarez’ first defense of the WBA Asia belt that he won last March.
