The 26-year-old Plania was supposed to be tested against an established fighter in Geraldo.
However, Plania made it look easy. He sent Geraldo flat on the ground with a left hook to the head.
The 31-year-old Geraldo beat the referee’s count and fought back. But Plania landed another vicious left hook that dropped Geraldo again.
Geraldo was crawling on the ground trying to regain his senses, but the referee waved off the fight before he could recover.
“Mike showed a lot of improvement with Coach Nonito (Donaire) Sr. His punches are shorter now. They are putting a lot of work in the gym. He’s still improving, and we haven’t seen his best yet. I’m excited for his next fight,” Sanman Promotions chief executive officer JC Manangquil, Plania’s handler, told SunStar Cebu. “Geraldo was tough and a good boxer, but he was badly hurt.”
Plania improved to 28-2 with 15 knockouts, while Geraldo, who suffered just his third stoppage loss, dropped to 38-13-3 with 19 knockouts.
Plania is currently ranked No. 14 by the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and No. 22 by the World Boxing Council (WBC).
Manangquil plans to bring Plania back to campaign in the US.
“We will look for bigger fights for him in the US,” said Manangquil. “He’ll return around September. We plan for him to train here in Gen. San with Nonito Sr. and go to the US three weeks before his fight.”
Meanwhile, Gabriel Tapales (4-1, 4 KOs) dropped Jegear Bereno (3-4-3) three times and stopped him in the third round of their scheduled six-round bout.
The 20-year-old Tapales is the younger brother of World Boxing Association (WBA) and IBF super bantamweight champion Marlon Tapales.
On the other hand, Ricky Cristobal (2-1, 1 KO) rose up from a first round knockdown and stopped MB Baselasco (0-1) in the third round. (EKA)