By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Filipino boxer Jade Bornea moved closer to his world championship dreams after a third round stoppage win over Mohammed Obbadi on Saturday at the Arena Jose Sulaiman in Monterrey, Mexico.

The impressive win put the General Santos City-native Bornea as the mandatory challenger to fellow Filipino and International Boxing Federation super flyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas.

Obbadi was the aggressor early in the opening round with his combination hits but Bornea responded by targeting the body of his opponent with consecutive right straights.

The 26-year-old Filipino fighter maintained his momentum in the second round as he shifted his fighting stance and was able to connect the cleaner and stronger punches against Obbadi.

Bornea and Obbadi gamely traded punches to kick off the third round but the Moroccan fighter was stunned with a cracking body shot from the Filipino fighter midway in the round.

Bornea then hurt Obbadi with a right hook before finishing the latter with a left uppercut to the ribcage at the 1:25 mark. Obbadi was badly hurt that he was not able to beat the referee’s 10 count.

Bornea made true to his promise of making a good impression in his first fight under the banner of Probellum which has partnered with Sanman Boxing Promotions to chart his career.

“My dream is to really become a world champion this year,” said Bornea, a former Asian Youth boxing champion and World Youth bronze medalist before he turned professional fighter.

“I really waited for this opportunity so I will go for it even if it’s against a fellow Filipino,” added the boxer, pertaining to Ancajas, who is set to defend his world title against Argentine Fernando Daniel Martinez on February 26.

With the victory, Bornea maintained his unblemished slate of 17-0-0, while also recording his 11th stoppage win, while Obbadi suffered his second defeat in 24 fights with 13 knockouts./ASC, WDJ