MANILA, Philippines – Filipino fighter Crisanto Pitpitunge’s plans to get another shot at the PXC flyweight championship were derailed by Kai Kara-France as the Filipino fighter succumbed to a painful knockout defeat at the hands of the New Zealander on the undercard of PXC 52 on Friday, March 18.
Although Pitpitunge managed to deliver the guns in the opening salvo by consistently connecting his signature right cross, Kara-France took over the succeeding rounds and punctuated it in the third stanza with a stoppage victory.
{source}<blockquote class="twitter-video" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Kai Kara-France defeated Filipino fighter Crisanto Pitpitunge via third-round stoppage. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PXC52?src=hash">#PXC52</a> <a href="https://t.co/BtXUzH0DNM">pic.twitter.com/BtXUzH0DNM</a></p>— NISSI ICASIANO (@Nissi_Icasiano) <a href="https://twitter.com/Nissi_Icasiano/status/710814483170467844">March 18, 2016</a></blockquote>
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Despite surprisingly scoring a takedown in the early proceedings of round two, Pitpitunge failed to sustain his momentum as the 22-year-old Kiwi dropped the Pinoy slugger with a straight right and maintained top control by smothering hard elbows to open the floodgates of blood.
Kara-France easily dragged Pitpitunge with a storming double-leg takedown in the third and final frame, but he allowed his opponent to get back to his feet and started to throw big punches to turn things around.
As Pitpitunge was wildly swinging his right hand, Kara-France delivered a bicycle kick and then pacified the 26-year-old Team Lakay representative on the mat before hammering heavy punches to the midsection to compel the referee to step in and halt the contest.
With the impressive victory over Pitpitunge, Kara-France improves his professional record to 12-5 (1 no contest) and is likely next in line for a shot at Jenel Lausa’s PXC flyweight championship.
Pitpitunge, who failed to make weight for his bout against Kara-France but was still allowed to compete, loses his second straight outing and downgrades to an 8-5 win-loss slate. – Rappler.com