July 12, 2003
July 12, 2003
YOKOHAMA, JAPAN-Venezuelan Noel Arambulet(right photo), 105, barely retained his WBA minimum belt as he kept moving around all night to cleverly avert powerful but sporadic shots of previously unbeaten ex-WBA champ Yutaka Niida(below photo), 104.5, Japan, and eked out a split verdict over 12 close rounds on Saturday night in Yokohama, Japan.
The official tallies were as follows: Rodolfo Maldonado (Panama) and Wansoo Yuh (Korea) both 115-114 for Arambulet, and Henk Meijers (Holland) 116-114 for Niida. The referee was Armando Garcia (US).
The Venezuelan made best use of his shifty footwork, while Niida kept going forward with solid but less accurate shots to the elusive target. The Japanese, in the 12th and final session, desperately attacked the fading champ, which wasn’t enough to overcome his earlier deficit on points.
The ex-champ Niida, who returned to the ring warfare after a 23-month layoff since his severely castigated relinquishment, made a
good start as he connected with his trade-mark left hooks and solid rights to the cautious champ in the opening canto. Arambulet,
29, became cautious enough to keep circling without mixing up with the hard-hitting youngster. The Venezuelan might solve his
opponent’s strategy from the third on, as he began peppering the onrushing Japanese with light but busy combinations. Arambulet
looked to be in command in the third through 6th rounds with his busier combos.
Niida, 24, handled by ex-world top feather contender Mitsunori Seki, commenced using sharp stinging lefts to the Fancy Dan to dominate the 7th. He displayed furious rallies to pin the champ to the ropes, winning the 8th.
The tide, however, turned again in the champ’s favor in the 9th. Arambulet moved to-and-fro to prevent Niida’s judgment of distance to nullify his retaliations, taking the 9th through 11th. Niida might be aware of trailing on points before the final canto, so he furiously went out for a finish with his fierce combinations in the 12th. Niida should have shown such an effective attack in earlier rounds, only taking the last canto which wasn’t sufficient to come up with Arambulet’s accumulation on points.
It was a lousy fight with Arambulet refusing to mix up with Niida and often grabbing him, but it might be his fight plan to outleg and outmaneuver the less experienced rival. Arambulet raised his mark to 20-2-1-1NC, 10 KOs. Niida, 14-1-3, 7 KOs, showed his good physical shape despite his long inactivity but failed to catch the fast-moving champ with precision to taste his first setback.
Niida may deserve a rematch, but he had better fight some tune-up bouts before he meets such a crafty, if not strong, champ as Arambulet in the nearest future.
Unbeaten Venezuelan Jorge Linares (5-0, 3 KOs), 124, whose amateur mark was reportedly 119-6, decked his fifth victory here so impressively that he outspeeded and outpunched Thunder Ito (9-4-3, 2 KOs), 124, from all angles en route to a fine stoppage at 2:44 of the third session. This prospect may be a real thing with his gifted speed, power skills, plus good physique.
Promoter: Yokohama Hikari Promotions.
(7-12-03)