By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Filipino bet Vincent “Asero” Astrolabio failed to snatch Junto Nakatani’s World Boxing Council (WBC) bantamweight championship belt after suffering a devastating first-round knockout loss on July 20, 2024, at the Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo, Japan.
Astrolabio, the no. 1 ranked WBC bantamweight challenger, kneeled to the canvas after receiving a vicious left straight punch that went straight to his abdominal section.
That one punch was enough to help Nakatani defend his WBC bantamweight belt and he only needed two minutes and 37 seconds to get the job done in front of his home fans.
It was a great defensive start for Astrolabio after neutralizing Nakatani’s power by ducking in and raising his right shoulder to absorb more deflections.
However, when the 1:30 mark passed, Astrolabio began to bite Nakatani’s set traps and was getting hit with his feinting jabs.
From that point, Astrolabio didn’t know where Nakatani would generate his offense and kept him guessing for the remainder of the first round.
Nakatani then stepped on the gas pedal with the first round nearing to a close, finding the opening in Astrolabio’s body to seal the deal and go home with the win.
The brave Filipino pug tried his best to get up and extend the title fight to go the distance but the damage that Nakatani inflicted was too much, forcing the match referee to stop the fight.
Astrolabio was coming off an impressive technical knockout performance over Navapon Khaikanha during their WBC bantamweight title eliminator bout.
After the win, the WBC ranked him as the no.1 challenger to Nakatani, paving the way for the arranged championship bout.
Nakatani improved to 28 wins, 21 knockouts, without a single loss while the Filipino boxer fell to 19 wins, 14 knockouts, and five defeats.
