Philippines have a strong representation in Vietnam on December 10, and Jetro Pabustan will take on the feisty Le Hoang Hiep in what is destined to be a crazy action packed fight at the beachside resort of The Grand HoTram. The Vietnam boxer has a reputation as being unhinged, and in spite of jumping two weight classes, is confident that he can handle the much bigger pinoy boxer.
But for the well traveled Pabustan, he's seen and heard it all before !
Jetro Pabustan is one of the most experienced fighters appearing at the Fortunes of War in Ho Tram. The clever southpaw is known as the Silent Operator, and when you watch him at work, it’s no surprise that this technician has racked up 31 wins in his career so far. With a professional resume dating back to 2008, Pabustan suffered only one defeat in his first 29 bouts, an amazing feat considering he was fighting everyone!
The Silent Operator hails from Malapatan , Sarangani, but has fought for most of his career based in Cagayan de Oro. A talented southpaw from the start, his style has always been steeped in good fundamentals – touch jabs, deft counters, and point scoring against opponents that get a bit ragged. This template saw him get to a WBO world bantamweight title in 2016, one that he unfortunately lost to the legendary Thai Panya Uthok by technical decision. Ironically, this title was later avenged by another quality pinoy named Marlon Tapales. The very next year, Jetro Pabustan ventured to Japan to claim the WBO Asia Pacific title, accounting for the highly rated Tatsuya Takahashi. When it appeared that his career was in another upswing, the talented CDO fighter seemingly vanished from the landscape, fighting only three times in the next 3 years.
The Silent Operator resumed in May to beat the outstanding and dangerous Bryan Tamayo in Manila. He followed that effort with a last moment trip to the United States to take on the world top 20 fighter Tramaine Williams. Whilst being on the receiving end of a narrow loss, many that watched this fight were convinced that Pabustan had done enough to get his hand raised.
Jetro Pabustan v Le Hoang Hiep
4 rounds Bantamweight 55kg
THE GRAND HO TRAM RESORT AND CASINO
Saturday December 10
Despite suffering narrow losses, Ben Ligas and Jules Victoriano produced next level performances in the belt fights in Vietnam last night.
Ligas faced the vastly experienced Uzbek, the much revered "mini Tyson " Olimjon Nazarov. This was quality boxing from both, with "the Sniper" bringing the cleaner punches, but perhaps lacking the aggression of Nazarov, who looked constantly keen for work. This was a hard match to score, as neither fighter was particularly dominant in a see sawing affair, and the body shot in the 11th where Ligas took a knee was perhaps the only real difference.
Dinh Hong Quan is physically indomitable, and with his height and reach, this improving Vietnam boxer is a task for anybody. It was anticipated that Jules Victoriano would give him his toughest test to date, and he definitely didn't disappoint !
This was a great fight, and is probably best viewed in two parts. Victoriano boxed beautifully in the early rounds, but despite landing nice shots, the Vietnam champ kept stealing rounds with some heavier and more direct landed shots. Quan also "appeared" more dominant, more frequently backing Victoriano up and putting him on to combos.
Going into the second half of the fight, Victoriano definitely lifted his output and accuracy, and even gave the Vietnam opponent a couple of "dig deep" moments !
This was an exciting and fantastic match up, that very easily could have been scored a draw, it was that evenly contested! There is no doubt that Dinh Hong Quan produced the best performance of his career last night, and this was really needed because of the beautiful boxing skills displayed by Jules Victoriano.
VSP would love to see these two great young fighters rematch at a later date, maybe on a bigger stage!
Post event, all smiles, and pictured are Coach Toto Laurente, Ben Ligas, VSP Vietnam boss Lim Song, and Jules Victoriano. Great job by all !
