Merlito "Tiger" Sabillo won by TKO 9 to defend his first WBO Minimum Weight Title

Merlito "Tiger" Sabillo won by TKO 9 to defend his first WBO Minimum Weight Title against Colombian fighter Jorle Estrada during their matching match in "Pinoy Pride XXI: When Worlds Collide."

In his first fight in Manila, the pride of Bacolod City crippled Estrada with a vicious hook to the body in the 9th round to end of their 12-round bout.

Sabillo, who extended his unbeaten run to 23 wins, was pleased with his performance at the Solaire Resort Hotel and Casino.

Estrada wanted to avenge the loss of his fellow Colombian Luis de la Rosa to Sabillo but it wasn’t meant to be.

The 24-year-old San Pelayo native fell to his 7th loss in 24 fights.

Meanwhile, other Filipinos in the Pinoy Pride card also won their respective matches.

“King” Arthur Villanueva won via 4th-round referee stoppage over Mexico’s Arturo Badillo.

Villanueva improved his record to 23 wins and took home the WBO Asia-Pacific upper flyweight belt.

Comebacking AJ Banal won over Abraham Gomez after two bruising rounds.

After getting cut due to an accidental clash of heads in the first round, both Banal and Gomez suffered knockdowns in the second.

An exhausted Gomez refused to continue in the third, prompting the referee to award the win to “Bazooka.”

Watch Pinoy Pride XXI Merlito Sabillo vs Jorle Estrada Fight

Watch Pinoy Pride XXI Sabillo vs Estrada, Reigning World Boxing Organization (WBO) minimum weight champion Merlito “Tiger” Sabillo will defend his title against Colombian Jorle Estrada on July 13, 2013 at the new Solaire Resort and Casino of the Entertainment City in Manila Bay.

Sabillo stakes his unbeaten record of 21 straight wins with 11 knockouts against the No. 6 ranked Estrada (16 wins with 5 KOs and six loses).

“This is a mandatory title defense for Sabillo,” said Canete, who signed the agreement in behalf of ALA Promotions president Michael Aldeguer with ABS-CBN vice president for Sports Peter Musngi.

In his last fight, Sabillo scored an 8th round technical knockout against Luis dela Rosa last March 9 in Colombia for the interim WBO minimum weight title.

Sabillo also won the Orient Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) minimum weight crown via a 7th round TKO win over Jonathan Refugio last May 14, 2012 at his hometown in Bacolod City.

Also featured in the undercard is former world rated AJ “Bazooka” Banal, who will make his ring return to face Mexican Ramon Maas in a non-title bout that could determine his career.

Banal (28-2-1 with 20 KOs) has not fought since his devastating ninth-round technical knockout loss to Pungluang Sor Singyu for the vacant WBO bantamweight title last Oct. 20 in Manila.

Maas has an impressive 26-3 record with 15 knockouts but he is coming off back-to-back losses against Jonathan Ramos Lecona and Mario Briones, who lost to Banal.

Pitted in the main supporting event of the Pinoy Pride XXI dubbed as "When Worlds Collide", is Arthur Villanueva (21-0, 11 KOs) against former world title contender Arturo Badillo (21-4, 19 KOs) for the vacant WBO Asia-Pacific super flyweight strap.