Pedro Taduran applied the pressure from the get-go and showed no letup on his way to a unanimous decision win over Christian Balunan on Monday night at San Andres Sports Complex.
Taduran retained his IBF minimumweight title and more importantly, moved on to focus on chasing a unification fight with Puerto Rico’s Oscar Collazo, who holds the WBA and WBO belts.
‘I’m looking forward to facing Collazo. I want a unification fight,’ said Taduran, who also expressed interest in an all-Filipino scrap with WBC titleholder Melvin Jerusalem, in Filipino.
The 28-year-old Taduran was the heavy favorite and was tipped to steamroll the unheralded Balunan.
But there was nothing easy about it, far as Taduran is concerned.
‘He was tough and strong. He hurt me with some body shots,’ he said.
Taduran (19-4-1, 13KOs) poured it on and kept coming from the second round onwards. He seemed on his way to stopping Balunan midway through the fight but the Cebuano held his ground despite sustaining a cut on his right eye from an accidental clash of heads in the fourth round.
Bloodied, Balunan kept a smile on his face even amid Taduran’s relentless flurries.
‘Giving up was not an option. No surrender,’ said Balunan, who absorbed the first loss of his pro career after 12 straight victories.
In the co-main event, Miel Fajardo overcame Esneth Domingo to claim the IBF Pan Pacific flyweight title in an explosive 10-round flyweight bout.
Fajardo landed a right uppercut that sent Doming to the canvass in the 10th round.
The knockdown sealed it for Fajardo, who earned a unanimous decision victory.