ADONIS AGUELO, MAASIN'S CHAMPION

ADONIS AGUELO, MAASIN’S CHAMPION


Adonis Aguelo hails from Barangay Matin-ao of Maasin City and is the son of the former village chief Gregorio Aguelo, himself a former boxer. It was his father who first introduced him the basics of boxing and he was later turned over by his father to the Maasin City Sports Council.

He then participated as an amateur boxer in various inter-city developmental boxing championships and the national youth boxing championships. He turned professional at the age of 19 and was taken by Rex Wakee Salud stable. 

It was the first professional fight in Maasin City since the untimely death of local boxing hero Alex Aroy. And a new hero emerged from this city in the person of Adonis who snatched the Philippine Boxing Federation superbantamweight title via a very impressive knockout win over Tiny Tyson.

The hometown crowd cheered lustily as Aguelo unleashed his bombs in the second round which shook Tiny Tyson as he absorbed punches to his head and body. The lethal combination let loose by Aguelo proved to be Tyson’s waterloo as he crawled to the canvas never to get up until the referee counted him out. The official KO time was 1:59 of the second round.

It was an easy win for the new Golden Boy of Maasin City. True to his name Adonis, he
 possesses the good looks which complemented his untiring passion for boxing excellence. The mother of the late Alex Aroy congratulated Aguelo and I told her that his son already has a successor in Adonis.

Aguelo raised his pro record to 4-0-1 with 3 wins by KO. Tyson’s record dipped to 4-6-1 (1 KO). Rex Wakee Salud Promotions matchmaker Willie Flores commented that the new PBF champion has a great future ahead of him with his good attitude towards rigid training.

Aguelo successfully defended his Philippine Boxing Federation superbantamweight title via a split decision over Johnrey Verano of Bukidnon at the Otis Mall, Butuan City on March 21, 2009.  The fight was well-fought in front of cheering Butuanons most of whom rooted for Verano, which came from the neighboring province of Bukidnon. 

It was Aguelo’s first defense of the title he won in just five professional bouts. Philippine Boxing Federation apparently gave him the green light to fight a championship due to the high-percentage knockout rate he had in his previous fights.

In his next fight in Maasin, Aguelo sent challenger Phil Angcamor to the canvas four times, enroute to a successful defense of his PBF superbantamweight crown before thousands of cheering local fans at the Maasin City Gymnasium.

Aguelo was well ahead in the scorecards of the three judges in every round when Angcamor was floored once in the third round and three times in the sixth round. Punches unleashed by the champion took heavy beating on the challenger who was specifically weak in his torso.

But Angcamor, who hails from Cagayan de Oro City, showed gallant stand from the beginning until the end of the fight, absorbing astoundingly Aguelo’s blows in six rounds especially those that hit his head. He showed some his cleverness by swaying his head to evade the crushing blows of the Maasin champ.

But the determination to give the hometown crowd something to cheer about inspired Aguelo to end the fight with a bang. The curtains closed on the challenger when referee Ben Necesario stopped the fight at 1:44 of round 6 when Angcamor hit the canvas three times in that round.

The fight was dubbed “Makalingawng Away Sa Adlaw ni Mayor” and true to its billing, the fights amused the full-packed crowd of all genders and ages. Boxing is alive and kicking in this capital city and it was evidenced by the upbeat response of the crowd in every fight.

On November 20, 2009, the excitement of the victory of Manny Pacquiao over Miguel Cotto was not yet over, and the local crowd here once more witnessed a very entertaining boxing extravaganza at the City Gym. This time it was for real as Aguelo, the Pride of Maasin City, faced Eric Macas of Zamboanga City for the vacant PBF featherweight title.

Aguelo had to move up to the next higher division because of problems maintaining his fighting weight. And Macas is no ordinary boxer from Maranding, Lanao del Norte and based in
 Zamboanga. He absorbed all of Aguelo’s punches right from the opening bell. He was able to withstand the flurry of the champion’s blows and when the final bell rang, he finished the bout in his feet.

Dubbed “Maasin’s Champion in Action,” the fight was a lopsided contest in favor of the local hero Aguelo. But the crowd who wanted a knockout victory was annoyed because of Macas’ gallant stand against Aguelo’s fists. Macas’ eyes were swollen because he absorbed all the punches he could take but the ring physician Dr. Teodulo Salas. Jr. let him continue with the fight.

The scores were 100-90, 98-92, and 99-91, all in favor of Maasin’s champion. It was supervised by the Games and Amusements Board (GAB) through Mr. Rolando Mendoza, GAB Visayas head. The boxing promotion was made possible by the city government of Maasin through the Maasin City Sports Council. It was a traditional yearly presentation for the birthday of Governor Damian Mercado. It was Aguelo’s eighth win in nine professional bouts with one draw and no defeat, exuding lots of promises as a rising boxer.

Aguelo had been unsuccessful in a series of fights abroad He lost to undefeated Australian Joel Brunker in the interim WBO Oriental featherweight championship in Richmond, New South Wales, Australia last November 25, 2011.

His attempt at the WBC Asian Boxing Council featherweight title also proved futile when he lost to Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo in Uttaradit, Thailand via a unanimous decision on March 4, 2011. The Thai boxer is still undefeated in 45 fights with 25 KO
 wins.

He was also defeated by Sod Kokietgym for the WBO Asia Pacific super bantamweight title by unanimous decision on May 14, 2010 in Nonthaburi, Thailand.

In a stint in Kobe, Japan, he lost a very close split decision to hometown favorite Kota Fukuoka by scores of 76-77, 76-77, 78-74 in June 24, 2011.

In the local scene, Aguelo however bounced back by defeating Victor Mañon by 6th round TKO, Edgar Gabejan by unanimous decision, and Jake Verano by 4th round TKO to win back the PBF superbantamweight title.  He won a ten round unanimous decision against Renan Branzuela of Bukidnon to successfully defend his title.  

The Maasin City boxer won also the interim Philippine featherweight title when he defeated Jerry Nardo on July 22, 2012 in Compostela, Cebu.  Aguelo relied on his steady body attack to turn back the Bacolod City native. Aguelo had a slow start but increased his punch output to the abdomen in the fifth round prompting Nardo to signal that he will not continue to fight going into the sixth round. 

On January 5, 2013, Aguelo lost to Cirilo Espino for the vacant Games and Amusements Board Philippine featherweight title by a unanimous decision. The title fight was held at the Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology Gym in Iligan City, Lanao del Norte. It was a title fight between Aguelo the number one contender and Espino the number two contender of the GAB ratings. The title was vacated by Michael
 Fareñas who moved up to the higher superfeatherweight division.

According to manager Willie Flores, Aguelo exerted so much effort in reducing to 126 lbs. to stay within the featherweight limit. He has ballooned to 145 lbs. and had to trim down in a short period of time. It resulted in a rather sluggish fight for the Maasin City native enroute to a deficit in points. 

On February 15, 2013 Aguelo won over Sho Arai in Tokyo, Japan. Aguelo inflicted the Japanese his first professional loss by a majority decision. The unbeaten Arai was heavily favored but Aguelo turned the tide during the fight before the adverse crowd. 

Adonis Aguelo impressed thousands of hometown crowd on May 21, 2013 when he knocked Gadwin Tubigon out in the third round to capture the vacant Philippine Boxing Federation super featherweight title. The time of the stoppage was 2:27 of the third canto when Tubigon of Dipolog City was unable to continue due to the hard blows inflected on him by the Maasin boxing hero. 

As early as the first round, he has shown dominance of the fight but was unable to floor his visiting foe which the crowd would love to watch. In the third round, Aguelo started hitting Tubigon's body and a solid upper cut sent him down never to continue fighting that night. 

The boxing event was dubbed "Kadaugan sa Maasin" or "Victory in Maasin" in line with my 50th birthday celebration and a thanksgiving of the recent election victory. The prior year, Aguelo also won over Tubigon by a fourth round knockout for the PBF featherweight championship in Mandaue City. Aguelo's record improved to 20-8 with 11 KO's while Tubigon dipped to 7-7 with 3 KO's. The slated opponent of Aguelo was originally Bonnie Makiling of Bukidnon. But he was injured in practice and Tubigon was a replacement.

Aguelo, who was Orient Pacific Boxing Federation ranked no. 10 superfeatherweight, survived an early knockdown in round two, and displayed furious and continuous attacks that he finally stopped Hiroto Fukuhara at 1:26 of the eighth and final canto in Mimasaka, Okayama, Japan. Fukuhara was hospitalized after his surprising defeat after leading on points, but he proved to be all right.

In the encounter entitled as a World Boxing Council super featherweight eliminator, WBC No. 2 rated contender Mexican Sergio “Yeyo” Thompson won a ten round unanimous decision over Aguelo on August 2, 2014 at the Estadio Nachan Kaan in Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Thompson dropped Aguelo at the end of round six with a big right hand and coasted along to a 96-93, 97-92, 96-93 unanimous decision.

Thompson started rather slowly and did not care so much in defense that Aguelo was more aggressive in the earlier rounds connecting some punches. For three rounds the Mexican used his jab and his flashy footwork. After dominating the first round, he was surprised by the venomous right of Aguelo which caused him severe swelling below the left eye.

Later Thompson unleashed a more serious offensive resulting in real exchange of bombs in the fourth round.  In the sixth round, the hometown hero sank his left on the liver area of the Maasin City native to make way for two awful forehand, one upper and other straight that threw Aguelo the floor. Upon getting up the bell rang shortly signalling the end of the sixth round.

High voltage episodes followed because the two warriors engaged in furious exchanges and Aguelo was again throwing dangerous punches to the Mexican. The hardness of the hands of Aguelo took its tool on the left cheek of Thompson who continued his punching tactics and batteries of jabs on the visiting Filipino.

Thompson complained after a clash of heads and again was electrifying Aguelo. Adones opened the ninth round with hits as Yeyo intensely jabbed and threw combinations to the face. But the underdog kept firing artillery again which endangered the crowd favorite.

Knowing that he was ahead on the cards, Thompson moved in the ring and jabbed and coasted in the tenth and final chapter, and avoided any final counter offensive by Aguelo.

Thompson improved to 30-3 (26KOs), but has gone the full distance in three of his past four bouts. Aguelo fell to 21-10-2 (13KOs). But he had nothing to be ashamed of having hurt one of Mexico's premier fighters.

Aguelo  won the Asian Boxing Federation (ABF) super featherweight title by 8th round TKO against Bonnie Makiling in the main event of the boxing card on September 20, 2014 at the Talisay City Sports Complex. His record improved to 22-10-2 with 14 KO wins.

Aguelo’s TKO win was due to a cut around Makiling’s right eye. His international experience proved to be a great advantage over the less seasoned Makiling.

Adones Aguelo Singwangcha made a short workout of his Indonesian foe Elly Ray knocking him out in the second round in 25 seconds to successfully defend his Asian Boxing Federation lightweight crown November 13, 2014 at the Maasin City Gym.

Aguelo found the range as early as the first round targeting the soft tummy of the visiting opponent. He dropped Ray on his knees but the Indonesian was quick to get up breaking the referee's count. In the next round the Maasin City native hit the same stomach which weakened the legs of the challenger and was not able to get up.

"It's a great pleasure for me winning over my opponent before hometown fans," said Aguelo who prevailed in the scheduled 12-rounder. "I noticed of his weak middle body and took advantage of it," referring to the fallen visitor.