Mike Plania of the Philippines scored a huge upset victory over top bantamweight prospect Joshua Greer, Jr. of the United States in their fight on Wednesday (Manila time) at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas.
Had the odds against him entering the contest, “Magic Mike” of General Santos City impressively showed his mettle against his highly favored American opponent en route to the majority decision victory in their scheduled 10-rounder, 94-94, 96-92 and 97-91.
Mr. Plania, 23, had a strong start, dropping Mr. Greer to the canvas just a minute into the opening round off a solid left hook.
He would continue to dictate the tempo thereafter, even scoring a second knockdown in the sixth round.
Mr. Greer tried to make up for lost ground for the remainder of the fight but the Filipino fighter was not to be denied the victory as he held on tough and maintained the lead he was able to secure early on to preserve the win.
With the victory, Mr. Plania improved to 24 wins with only one loss. It was also his ninth straight victory.
Mr. Greer, 26, for his part, saw his 19-fight winning streak come to an end. More telling, the loss could affect his quest for a shot at the World Boxing Organization belt currently held by Filipino champion John Riel Casimero.
The Plania-Greer fight was part of the second offering back by Top Rank Boxing after it took a break because of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. – Michael Angelo S. Murillo
