Merlito Sabillo
Courtesy of boxrec.com
At the beginning of 2014 Merlito Sabillo (23-2-1, 12) was a world champion, sadly by the end of the year he was holding on to his career by a thread.
The 30 year year old Filipino, a product of the ALA Gym, may not be a high profile name, in fact many in the fighters home country wouldn't recognise him if they saw him on the street, but he is a talented fighter who has shown that it's never too late to start.
Sabillo came from an incredibly poor background. He had viewed his future in sports but had to try several to find the one for him. He had tried basketball but figured he was too short, he tried BMX but the bikes simply cost too much and despite being good at Karate it wasn't a sport that would pay the sums he needed.
Eventually Sabillo settled on boxing and followed in the footsteps of Manny Pacquiao who had literally punched his way out of poverty.
Although Sabillo only had a short amateur career and failed to win any major tournaments he had fallen in love with the sport and several years later he would turn professional.
Aged 24 when he made his professional debut Sabillo was certainly a late starter though his talent was obvious and with in a year of his debut in January 2008 he had racked up 6 wins.
It wasn't until Sabillo's 8th professional contest that he was pushed hard for the first time as Jetly Purisima really gave Sabillo a tough battle in what was Sabillo's first ever 10 round contest. Sabillo and Purisima would meet in an immediate rematch with Sabillo coming out a more conclusive winner the second time around, though it was obvious that the two men had unfinished business.
The 30 year year old Filipino, a product of the ALA Gym, may not be a high profile name, in fact many in the fighters home country wouldn't recognise him if they saw him on the street, but he is a talented fighter who has shown that it's never too late to start.
Sabillo came from an incredibly poor background. He had viewed his future in sports but had to try several to find the one for him. He had tried basketball but figured he was too short, he tried BMX but the bikes simply cost too much and despite being good at Karate it wasn't a sport that would pay the sums he needed.
Eventually Sabillo settled on boxing and followed in the footsteps of Manny Pacquiao who had literally punched his way out of poverty.
Although Sabillo only had a short amateur career and failed to win any major tournaments he had fallen in love with the sport and several years later he would turn professional.
Aged 24 when he made his professional debut Sabillo was certainly a late starter though his talent was obvious and with in a year of his debut in January 2008 he had racked up 6 wins.
It wasn't until Sabillo's 8th professional contest that he was pushed hard for the first time as Jetly Purisima really gave Sabillo a tough battle in what was Sabillo's first ever 10 round contest. Sabillo and Purisima would meet in an immediate rematch with Sabillo coming out a more conclusive winner the second time around, though it was obvious that the two men had unfinished business.
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Having successfully moved to 11-0 Sabillo would then face Purisima for a 3rd time as the two men battled for the Philippines Games & Amusement Board (GAB) Minimumweight title. Once again the men were hard to split with Sabillo taking a very competitive 12 round decision over his fierce rival to claim the GAB title and move up the proverbial ladder.
Sabillo would defend his GAB title just twice, claiming a majority decision over Donny Mabao and stopping Roger Echavez (TKO7) before moving up the ladder against and fighting for the OPBF title. Trying to prevent Sabillo from claiming the OPBF belt was Rodel Tejares, an experienced journeyman with more than 40 bouts to his ledger. Despite the experience edge for Tejares he was unable to prevent Sabillo from taking a decision and the title as Sabillo claimed further up the world rankings. Despite fighting 4 times within 13 months of his OPBF victory Sabillo only managed a solitary title defense as he stopped Jonathan Refugio and retained not only his title but also his world rankings. Prior to the Refugio bout Sabillo had ranked in the the top 15 by all 4 of the world governing bodies and had been improving fight after fight. The improvements in Sabillo were seen in his following bouts as he started to show more impressive power and belief in himself, stopping 5 of his last 6 opponents including Colombian pair Luis De la Rosa and Jorle Estrada. In the bout with De La Rosa, Sabillo claimed the WBO "interim" Minimumweight title (which has now been upgraded to the full version of the title) thanks to an eye catching victory in Colombia. Since then he has defended the belt once beating the negative Estrada with a vicious body shot in round 9. The stoppage run of Sabillo's came to an end in his second title defense as he fought to a draw with Nicaraguan youngster Carlos Buitrago. The bout, one of 2013's best contests finished in such a way that fans were immediately calling for a rematch. Unfortunately however Sabillo lost his world title in his first fight of 2014, being bossed around and then stopped by hard hitting Mexican Francisco Rodriguez Jr who supplanted himself on the world stage with a stunning performance. Sadly in Sabillo's most recent bout he upset by Faris Nenggo and some are now worried that Sabillo will call it a day on his career. The loss wasn't the most physically damaging but a cut suffered in the fight will keep him on the sidelines for a prolonged period of time. The video below, thanks to TVCINCONOTICIAS, shows some of the highlights from Sabillo's victory over De La Rosa, including the eye catching knockdown punch that essentially won the bout for Sabillo. From the clip you can see that Sabillo has solid skills, a nice variety of punches and excellent movement. |
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