Cotto's cousin prevails

MANILA – Filipinos Richie Mepranum and Eden Sonsona were victorious in the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto “Firepower” match at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada Saturday (Sunday in Manila).  

According to Fightnews.com, flyweight Richie Mepranum won by split decision over Ernie Marquez of the US in their 6-round fight.

The scores were 58-55 and 57-56 in favor of Mepranum and 57-56 in favor of Marquez. Mepranum improved to 15-2-1, (3 KOs) while Marquez dropped to 9-6-2, (3 KOs).

Another Filipino, super bantamweight Eden Sonsona of General Santos City, scored a spectacular win over Eilon Kedem.

Sonsona, a relative of WBO super flyweight champion champion Marvin Sonsona, decked Eliom Kedem of Israel in the first round of the match. Kedem survived the round, beating the count.

Sonsona then unleashed a fury of punches against his hapless opponent prompting referee Joe Cortez to stop the fight 17 seconds of the second round. He improved his record to 17-5-0 (4 KOs) while Kedem fell to 10-3-4 (7 KOs ).

Meanwhile, Miguel Cotto’s second cousin, lightweight Abner Cotto (5-0, 3 KOs), won his 6-round fight against Luis Guzman (3-5, 2 KOs) by unanimous decision. The scores were 59-55, 60-54, 60-54.