Weljon Mindoro simply didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger against his Brazilian rival Luis De Abreu on Saturday (Sunday in Manila) in their middleweight matchup in Florida.
Dubbed as “The Triggerman,” the undefeated Filipino came out with guns ablaze en route to a savage third-round knockout win.
In total, Mindoro, who was born in Zamboanga but fought out of Bacoor, Cavite, produced three knockdowns, including the last one that he delivered after landing a thunderous right as he raised his record to 13-0-01 with 13 knockouts.
That solid shot — which connected on De Abreu’s left temple with smashing force — sent the severely outgunned South American crashing to the floor.
His knees collapsed, making his fall so scary that the head of De Abreu slammed on the floor as though he got struck with a thunderbolt.
Referee Luis Pabon or Puerto Rico immediately called off the fight without counting and held onto De Abreu.
Shortly afterwards, one of the fighter’s cornermen went up the ring alongside the ring physician to attend to the visibly hurt boxer, who saw his mark slide to 16-5 with 11 knockouts.
Mindoro actually could have pulled it off in the second round when he floored De Abreu two times.
The first knockdown happened after a Mindoro right smashed into De Abreu’s jaw.
Although he got up at the count of six, that proved to be costly as he saw himself on the deck for the second time after eating another right as he was on the ropes.
He got up at the count of four and appeared willing to resume fighting when the bell sounded.
Sensing that De Abreu was still feeling the ill effects of the previous round’s hammering, Mindoro stalked and rained blows on his shell-shocked foe until that right to the head decked him for good.
Represented by the father-and-son duo of Sean and Brendan Gibbons and trained by Bobby McRoy, Mindoro is now based out of Las Vegas.
Owing to his sensational win, Mindoro will return to the ring against Italian Joel Camilleri on 6 December in Dubai, according to Viva Promotions.