A native of Sibulan town, Oriental Negros who is a three-time Philippine boxing champion knocked out his Mexican foe in the undercard of the Pacquiao-Morales fight dubbed "The Battle" at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas Saturday night (yesterday morning in the Philippines), reports from Philboxing.com said yesterday.

Southpaw super-featherweight champion Jimrex Jaca alias "Jimuel Divino," 22, who was born in Sibulan but has resided in Cebu City beat Mexican boxer Geronimo Hernandez to end the fight at 2:46 minutes of the first round.

Jaca, who is the Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation SuperFeatherweight champion from January 30, 2004 to May 30, 2004, decked the Mexican twice in the first round, forcing the referee to stop the eight-round fight, Philboxing.com said.

Born on June 16, 1983 in Sibulan, the 5'7" Jaca had 24-1-1 win-loss-draw record, with 11 victories via knockout, going into the fight against Hernandez.

Hernandez was actually the second replacement to Jaca's original adversary, Ivan Valle, who had been replaced by 5'8" John Nolasco Hughes of the Dominican Republic.

Adding his triumph over Hernandez to his long list of ring glory, Jaca is also a recipient of various ratings, among them being the no. 36 man in the International Boxing Organization, rank 9 in the World Boxing Organization-Asia Pacific, 22nd in the World Boxing Council, and no. 2 occupant in the Games and Amusements Board rating.

Brix Flores is the trainer of Jaca while his manager is Rex Salud.

In the main event, People's champion" Filipino ring icon Emmanuel "Manny the Pacman" Pacquiao knocked down twice Mexico's Erik "El Terible" Morales in the 10th round of their 130-pound showdown, avenging his defeat to the Mexican 10 months ago.*

back to top