Magramo Bros, Albert Francisco triumph in Elorde Awards boxing card

Albert Francisco turns emotional after he was declared the winner over Yang Chengcheng. Ivan Saldajeno

By Ivan Saldajeno

PARAÑAQUE—Giemel and Arvin Magramo scored contrasting wins to inch closer to a future world title shot, even as Albert Francisco survived a tough battle between undefeated boxers as they ruled the featured bouts of the Gabriel "Flash" Elorde Boxing Awards on Saturday night at the Okada Manila Grand Ballroom.

Giemel Magramo won the main event of the boxing card dubbed "Boxing Kontra Droga" after knocking out Thai opponent Sanchai Yotboon.

In an uncommon manner, Magramo banked on solid body shots to rock Yotboon, especially in the second round where the Filipino knocked down the Thai three times.

By the third knockdown, however, referee Danrex Tapdasan had already seen enough and called it a bout at the 1:28 mark of Round 2.

Magramo is now the WBO global flyweight champion, a secondary belt to the world title itself, and his record moved up to 27-3 with 22 knockouts.

Yotboon, on the other hand, fell to 9-6.

Meanwhile, the younger Magramo survived bloodshed against Joel Lino to keep the WBO oriental light flyweight title.

With both Filipino pugs already bloodied as early as Round 2, Arvin Magramo's ring brilliance prevailed against Lino's heart as the former won via unanimous decision.

In another uncommon moment, all three judges had it 116-112 in favor of Magramo, who moved up to 17-1-1, dropping Lino to 12-4-1 in the process.

In the other marquee bout, Francisco did just enough to beat the sturdy Yang in an eight-round encounter for the WBO oriental youth flyweight title.

Francisco nearly floored Yang twice, one in Round 1 and another in Round 6, but the Chinese opponent remained steadfast and pushed the Filipino youngster to the limit.

In the end, though, two judges scored the bout 77-75, while a third juror tallied it 78-74 favoring Francisco, who is now at 9-0.

Yang, on the other hand, lost for the first time in his career after winning his first five bouts.

In the preliminary bouts, John Paul Perez (1-1) beat Kean Batanglawin (2-1-1) via unanimous decision, Christian Gajana (2-0) defeated Dante Martillana (3-1) via split decision with a Round 1 knockdown turning out to be the difference and Donaki Laurejas (4-0) edged Dexter Eraya (2-6) also via unanimous decision.

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