January 31, 2007
KOBE, JAPAN
WBA#4 featherweight contender Juan Gerardo Cabrera (52-13-1, 36 KOs), Argentina, will face Japanese Zaiki Takemoto (20-6-1, 12 KOs) in Kobe, Japan, on March 18.
Takemoto is a stablemate of the WBC bantam champ Hozumi Hasegawa, handled by ex-Japanese national middle ruler Keitoku Senrima. He was once rated by the WBA thanks to his upset majority decision over Saohin Srithai-condo, a durable and energetic Thailander, in 2004, but dropped out of the WBA top fifteen as he failed to win the national belt via close but unanimous nod (97-94 twice and 97-96) to unbeaten Hiroyuki Enoki (the current OPBF champ) in his mandatory crack in Tokyo in 2005. Though still highly ranked by the JBC and the OPBF, Takemoto surprisingly dropped an upset seventh-round technical decision to unranked Yoshio Kojima in his previous bout in Kobe last November.
Cabrera, two years his senior at 30, is a typical Argentine boxer with great durability and good defense, having fought since 1994. He once acquired the vacant WBC international feather belt by pounding out a unanimous verdict over Pastor Maurin in Buenos Aires in 2002. Though he lost a hard-fought decision to Thomas Mashaba in a quest for the IBO 126-pound belt in South Africa last July, he gained the South American belt by chalking up a KO win over Gerardo Ramon Gomez in eleven in September and kept it by a tenth round technical decision over world-rated Jose Pablo Estrella in November.
Cabrera may be a tough opponent for the fluctuating Takemoto, who will have to show his best out of his stock in order to defeat the much more experienced Argentine. It will be presented by Senrima Kobe Promotions.
(1-31-07)