By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Filipino boxing star Jonas Sultan showed that ring rust will never bother him despite a 16-month layoff after scoring a unanimous decision victory over Frank Gonzalez of America last September 7, 2023, held at the ProBox TV Events Center in Florida, USA.
After losing a world title match against Paul Butler last year, the hard-hitting Pinoy pug made his boxing return sweet after imposing his will over Gonzalez during the eight-rounder bout.
Sultan never skipped a beat and scored two knockdowns in the second and fifth rounds which were enough to cover his deducted points called by the match referee.
During the fifth round, the referee decided to penalize Sultan after s sequence of follow-up strikes after Gonzalez already went down.
Sultan went back to square one at the start of the sixth round and picked Gonzalez apart with his efficient counter right hook and solid head movement.
Gonzalez tried to earn more points in the following round after sending in a wild flurry of punches midway through the seventh but Sultan wisely backpedaled to avoid further danger.
The dominant Sultan then officially closed the curtains on Gonzalez after owning the eighth and final round. After hitting the American with two-straight combinations, the Filipino added three more strikes in the last minute of the match to secure all three scorecards.
With the win, Sultan improved his win-loss pro record to 19-6 alongside 11 knockouts while Gonzalez dropped to 12 wins and four losses.
Sultan will now expect more challengers to line up and climb to the contender board of the super bantamweight division after his spectacular performance against Gonzalez.
