LAST-MINUTE Filipino replacement import John Vincent Moralde won the WBC Asian Continental featherweight title but was saddened by the death of Australia’s Brayd Smith following their brawling encounter in Queensland on Saturday, March 14, 2015.
Smith posed for pictures and congratulated Moralde after their match, then watched another bout before returning to his dressing room where he collapsed 90 minutes later.
He was rushed to hospital where he died on Monday afternoon, March 16.
Moralde was back in Manila immediately after the fight and was praying for Brayd’s full recovery, but was devastated when informed that his opponent’s parents had made the gut-wrenching decision to turn off their son’s life-support machine.
“I pray for Brayd’s soul, may he rest in peace,” he told GMA News Online. “He’s gone too soon. Hopefully his friends and family will be okay,”
Going into the fight, Smith and Moralde were unbeaten. Smith’s fight record was slightly better with 12 wins, 0 loss, 10 by knockout. Moralde came to the fight with 11 wins, 0 losses, 6 by knockouts.
In a unanimous decision, the judges’ scores were 97-93, 98-92 and 99-91 in favour of the Filipino.
Smith, a 23-year-old law student and part-time boxer, began to fade as his mother Kerri watched the eldest of her three sons being hit again and again, local newspaper Courier Mail reported.
“Moralde was not landing huge knockout blows but his punches were fast, accurate and persistent, hitting home with sickening thuds on the fragile looking local boy.
“In Brayd’s corner his father and trainer Brendon Smith told him to keep his hands up.
“And in a cruel twist that makes this death even more appalling, apart from some facial bruising Brayd appeared unharmed, even buoyant after the first loss of his career.”
The report said that Smith, interviewed in the ring immediately after the fight, had said the 10-round points loss was nothing more than a hiccup and that he’d be back better than ever.
“I knew from the first round how tough he (Moralde) was,” Smith had said. “He was a lot stronger than I expected but I landed a lot of big shots on him.
“A loss is a loss, but I’ll take good experience from it. I learnt a lot about myself tonight. I know now I can go 10 tough rounds with a quality opponent.”
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IN PICTURE:
Brady Smith, right, mixing it with John Moralde. (Photo: thechronicle.com)
