Sultan falls to Masuda via first round-TKO
Cedrick John Fuentes
Filipino fighter Jonas "Zorro" Sultan was stunned by the young Japanese boxer Riku Masuda in an eight-rounder undercard match, bidding goodbye to the bantamweight title, Saturday night, February 24 at the Kokugikan Arena in Japan.Photo Courtesy of Rappler
Sultan, who is known to be one tough customer to fathom in the canvas, winced in pain as the swift Masuda launched a heavy straight to the body blow to the Filipino boxer.
Everyone was astonished as Masuda just proved too much when the 26-year-old Japanese toughie only needed two minutes and 21 seconds to overpower the experienced Filipino fighter in the first round of the said match.
"I tried to shake it off, but I really can’t breathe. Masakit talaga (It really hurts),” said Sultan after the first-round knockdown.
In the opening salvo, Sultan throwed a solid right punch in order to distract the fighting stance of the young foe, but it was not enough to secure his win for the night.
Sultan, before the heartbreaking loss, had recorded a 19-6 win-loss while his opponent Masuda had a 3-1 record before winning the match.
With that win, Masuda improved his record, tallying 4-1 in his five career matches while Zorro suffered his 7th loss in his boxing stint.