MANILA, Philippines - Filipino boxer Vic Saludar won't be celebrating the new year as world champion after he was knocked out in 6 rounds by WBO strawweight titleholder Kosei Tanaka at Aichi Prefectural Gym in Nagoya, Japan on Thursday, December 31. The time of stoppage was 2:15.
Saludar (11-2, 9 knockouts), a 2010 Asian Games bronze medalist and native of Polomolok, Philippines, appeared to be leading the fight early after scoring a knockdown of Tanaka (6-0, 3 KOs) with a right hand in round 5.
His momentum was erased the following round when a left hook to the body from the 20-year-old Tanaka, an Economics student at Chukyo University, sent him to the canvas for the count.
{source}<blockquote class="twitter-video" lang="en"><p lang="in" dir="ltr">WBO 105lb champion、Kosei Tanaka .<a href="https://twitter.com/KOsei615">@KOsei615</a> TKO6 Vic Saludar ！ Retains his belt！<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/boxing?src=hash">#boxing</a> <a href="https://t.co/VspWJ9ESmU">pic.twitter.com/VspWJ9ESmU</a></p>— Alex Iwamatsu (@ONEOFJAPAN) <a href="https://twitter.com/ONEOFJAPAN/status/682467329582628864">December 31, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>{/source}
Saludar's defeat is the second by a Filipino in a world title fight in Japan this week, coming just two days after Warlito Parrenas was stopped in two rounds by WBO junior bantamweight titleholder Naoya Inoue.
(READ: Saludar aims to be 'Vicious' in New Year's Eve world title fight)
The Philippines concludes 2015 with just two world champions to its credit, WBO/RING magazine champion Donnie Nietes and WBO junior featherweight champ Nonito Donaire Jr.
Servania returns with decision win
Earlier on the card, unbeaten Filipino junior featherweight Genesis Servania returned to action for the first time since February with an 8-round unanimous decision win over Indonesian Hendrik Barongsay. All 3 judges scored the fight in favor of Servania (27-0, 11 KOs).
Servania, 24, left Cebu-based company ALA Promotions, with whom he built his career, after citing differences with the gym's trainers. ALA president Michael Aldeguer told Rappler earlier this week that Servania's fight was not authorized by the company, claiming that they had a contract with the Bacolod City native through August. A request for comment from Servania was not returned. – Rappler.com