FILIPINO knockout artist Miel Fajardo celebrates his sensational 65-second knockout of Argentine Tobias Reyes in their IBF flyweight title eliminator on Saturday night (Sunday morning in Manila) in Galvez, Argentina.
Photograph courtesy of Viva Promotions
A first-round knockout victory on enemy territory?
Sounds very unlikely but it happened Saturday night (Sunday morning in Manila) when Filipino Miel Fajardo took out Tobias Reyes right in his hometown of Galvez in Argentina.
With a shot at the International Boxing Federation (IBF) flyweight title of Masamichi Yabuki on the line, Fajardo needed just 65 seconds to get the job done.
Just four seconds into the fight, Fajardo landed a wicked left hook that sent Reyes crashing to the floor.
A second knockdown followed and Reyes wisely waited until the third man on the ring counted to eight before getting up.
But at the 40-second mark, Fajardo scored the third knockdown with Reyes still visibly shaken from the early onslaught.
On panic mode, Reyes pulled off a trick by spitting out his mouthpiece so he could buy more time to recover.
But even after almost 15 seconds of added time, Reyes was still shell-shocked and a flurry that was highlighted by another left hook sent Reyes down and the referee immediately called a halt to the contest without issuing a count.
Fajardo, who arrived in Argentina three days before the fight after enduring a 38-hour trip from Manila, ran wild across the ring as the crowd, looking forward to a celebration at the Club Atletico Santa Paula, was left in shock.
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The victory raised Fajardo’s win-loss-draw card to 14-3-2 with 12 knockouts while the defeat dropped Reyes’ card to 18-2-1 with 16 knockouts.
It was Fajardo’s sixth first-round knockout win and actually just his fourth fastest after scoring opening round victories in just seven seconds, 22 seconds and 41 seconds. His two other quickies were recorded in 66 seconds and two minutes and 32 seconds.
The IBF title crack should happen in August or September or even October as Yabuki is slated to defend for the second time against Rene Calixto of Mexico on 6 June in Tokoname, Japan.
