Froilan “The Sniper” Saludar shook the Japanese boxing scene late Thursday when he scored a first-round knockout of world No. 3 and Orient-Pacific Boxing Federation bantamweight champion Keita Kurihara at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo.
It took Saludar, a former world champion, exactly a minute to crown himself as the new OPBF 118-lb king that vaulted him into world title contention once again.
Saludar immediately buckled down to work and stung Kurihara with an overhand right under 30 seconds then floored him with a series of rights to the head.
The stunned hometown fighter proudly stood but he got whacked again with an uppercut and crashed anew.
Saludar then went after his beleaguered and shell-shocked rival by throwing and landing a barrage that forced the third man on the ring to call a halt to the carnage at the 2:00 mark of the opening canto.
“Froilan was the huge underdog,” exclaimed the new champion’s promoter JC Mananquil, noting that the 34-year-old from Polomolok, South Cotabato, was listed at +500 ($100 wins $500).
Mananquil said the camp of the dethroned fighter was so affected by the defeat that it demanded an immediate rematch the morning after the massacre.
“There was no stipulation in the contract that called for a rematch but we’ll see,” said the ecstatic Mananquil, who also promotes two-belt world super-bantamweight king Marlon Tapales and a bevy of other top talents.
The victory boosted Saludar’s win-loss-draw record to 42-7-1 with 24 knockouts while the setback dropped Kurihara’s mark to 34-7-1.
Saludar was seen as a sacrificial lamb by the Japanese since he was coming off a second-round knockout loss to Mexican heavy-hitter Luis Nery in his last fight in July in Mexico.
In another marquee matchup that was held in the undercard of the John Riel Casimero headliner, Vince Paras, another one of Mananquil’s top fighters, beat Kai Ishizawa.
