LOS ANGELES - The fight appeared to be over two minutes into the first round. Mike Plania, a native of General Santos City, landed a thudding right hand to the body that sent Juan Antonio Lopez on all fours, sending Plania running to the neutral corner celebrating. The mostly empty Microsoft Theater was in confusion as they awaited clarification from the referee, who waived off the knockdown and ruled it a low blow.
Lopez, who had never been knocked out before, took a minute to recover and waited out the storm before coming back to make it a fight.
Plania (19-1, 10 knockouts) eventually won a unanimous decision with scores of 79-73, 78-74 and 77-75 in the eight round-scheduled junior featherweight fight, dropping Lopez to 12-5 (4 KOs) in his career. But it was a far longer night than Plania might have expected.
"I thought she stopped the fight," Plania said afterwards.
"He probably would have liked it to end right there but it wasn't the worst thing in the world," said Sean Gibbons, matchmaker for Manny Pacquiao's MP Promotions. Pacquiao's association with Premier Boxing Champions enables him to put Filipino fighters on cards like this, which is headlined by the IBF super middleweight title fight between Jose Uzcategui and Caleb Plant.
"Mike got a good eight rounds and we'll go back to building off this."
Plania, 21, dazzled early on, throwing fast, multi-punch combinations of four and five hooks at a time and tripling up on his right hands. Lopez, 25, of Dallas, Texas eventually found his way into the fight, putting lots of sustained pressure on the Filipino, landing counter overhand lefts whenever Plania remained in front of him after finishing a combination.
Plania remained in control throughout the first six rounds, digging hard body shots but never putting his opponent back down. Lopez figured out his pattern - explode, rest, explode - and began to step on the gas pedal once Plania paused to catch his breath.Midway through the seventh round Lopez started landing his best shots, pushing Plania to the ropes and landing around the guard and between the gloves with straight lefts and right hooks. Plania looked low on gas by the time the final bell rang.
"I'm happy with my performance," said Plania, who was fighting for the second time in the United States, before adding "I have to improve my skills and develop my stamina and my techniques."
Trainer Rodel Mayol, who prepared Plania at the Wild Card Boxing Club for this fight, says he wants Plania to work more on pacing himself.
"He needs to know when and how he's gonna use his power. Now just throwing all power shots. That's why he lost his air in the late rounds.
Jim Claude Manangquil of Sanman Promotions says it wasn't the best he'd seen from Plania but reminds that he's still a month away from his 22nd birthday and will have plenty of time to improve.
"You see glimpses of him, that was a good experience. That's a good development win for him," said Manangquil, Plania's primary promoter.
Gibbons expects Plania to fight next in the Philippines before they begin the climb up the rankings, with a title eliminator eyed in another year.
Plania, who is rated no. 15 by the IBF at 122 pounds, had been hoping to fight IBF junior featherweight titleholder TJ Doheny on January 18 in New York. Gibbons said they had accepted the fight on short notice but it didn't push through and Doheny instead opted to face Ryohei Takahashi in his first defense.
All things considered, Gibbons was optimistic about the fighter's prospects going forward.
"He was tripling up on hooks and body shots, does a lot of good stuff. It was my first time seeing him fight live. I think he's got a good future."