Liver shot stops Rubillar

By Joaquin Henson

Another Filipino challenger bit the dust when Juanito Rubillar was stopped by WBC light flyweight champion Edgar Sosa at 2:54 of the seventh round in Mexico City last Saturday night (yesterday morning, Manila).

So far this year, four Filipinos – including Rubillar – were foiled in attempts to capture world titles. The others were Glenn Donaire who lost on points to IBF lightflyweight champion Ulises Solis last July, Sonny Boy Jaro who was decisioned by Sosa last September and Rolly Lunas who bowed to WBA bantamweight titleholder Anselmo Moreno last October.

Additionally, Florante Condes was dethroned by Raul Garcia in an IBF minimum weight title bout last June.

The only Filipinos to win world championship fights this year are Manny Pacquiao (over Juan Manuel Marquez for the WBC super featherweight crown and David Diaz for the WBC lightweight diadem), Gerry Peñalosa who retained his WBO bantamweight title via an eighth round stoppage of Ratanachai Sor Vorapin last April and IBF flyweight champion Nonito Donaire who retained his belt with a sixth round TKO over Maruti Mthalane last month.

Rubillar, 31, was staggered by a left hook to the liver and retreated to the ropes when Curacao referee Harold Laurens stepped in to halt the contest. Sosa, 29, appeared to be relieved as he finished the fight bleeding from cuts over both eyes.

Rubillar’s trainer Roel Morata, who worked his corner, told The Star it was an action-packed fight from the start.

“It was a good fight,” said Morata. “Sosa was cut on both eyebrows and Juanito kept hitting him with straights. Then, Sosa hit Juanito with a punch to the side of the body. Juanito stepped back and leaned on the ropes. He was fighting back when suddenly, the referee stopped it.”

The premature ending was a sad curtain call for Rubillar who is in the twilight of a long career that began in 1994. He had previously lost in two bids for the world title against Zolani Petelo for the IBF minimum weight title in 1999 and Jorge Arce for the WBC light flyweight crown in 2004.

At the end of four rounds, Sosa was ahead on the three judges scorecards, 40-36, 38-37, 39-36. The judges were Humberto Olivares, Stephen Blea and Filipino Rey Danseco.

Sosa’s manager Jacques Deschamps, a Haiti businessman, said before the fight, technique would play a pivotal role in determining the outcome and predicted the thinking fighter would win.

Rubillar, a southpaw, tried to lure Sosa into a brawl but the Mexican champion proved too smart to fall into the trap. Sosa used his skills to outbox the rugged Rubillar from a distance and was probably surprised the fight ended in abbreviated fashion. The win was Sosa’s 22nd in a row.

As Manny Pacquiao is to Mexicans, Sosa is to Filipinos as their tormentor. Sosa won the WBC crown on a majority decision over Fil-Am Brian Viloria and one of his other victims was Aljoe Jaro’s protégé Sonny Boy Jaro. - Philstar