Ordonio upsets Al Naqbi; Palcar loses to former world champ

JOHN Lawrence Ordonio scored a huge upset against previously unbeaten prospect Majid Al Naqbi, while Jerald Palcar fell short against former Olympian and ex-world champion Khalid Yafai on Sunday (PH time), Nov. 6, 2022, at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Ordonio came into the fight with back-to-back losses and was there to test Al Naqbi, who won all seven of his fights so far.

Ordonio, however, was too much for Al Naqbi and dominated him for four rounds of action.

The 25-year-old Ordonio got the nod of all three judges with scores of 40-36, 40-36 and 39-37 for the lopsided unanimous decision victory.

Ordonio ended his slump and improved to 8-4-1 with four knockouts, while Al Naqbi dropped to 7-1 with four knockouts.

Meanwhile, Palcar scored an early knockdown but lost to Yafai by a unanimous decision.

Palcar caught Yafai with a solid right straight that dropped him to the canvass. Palcar tried to finish off Yafai, who was still groggy. But Yafai showed a ton of heart and survived the early scare to walk away with the win.

All three judges saw the former World Boxing Association super flyweight champion Yafai up ahead with scores of 96-93, 96-93 and 95-94.

Palcar fell to 16-6-3 with nine knockouts, while Yafai ended a two-year layoff and improved to 27-1 with 15 knockouts.