March 18, 2007
TOKYO, JAPAN
WBA flyweight champ Lorenzo Parra (27-0, 17 KOs), Venezuela, forfeited his belt on the scale, as he failed to make the 112-pound limit on Sunday in Tokyo, Japan. Japanese challenger Takefumi Sakata (29-4-1, 14 KOs) tipped the beam at 112, but Parra scaled in at 118 pounds at his first trip to the scale. In two hours Parra made his best effort to reduce his weight, but weighed in at 116.75 pounds to lose his belt. They are mandated to make the prefight weigh-in under 118 pounds at 5 pm tomorrow, four hours before the WBA title bout starts. Should Sakata win, he will become the legitimate WBA fly ruler. Should Parra win, the WBA interim champ Roberto Vasquez of Panama will elevate to the full champ. If Sakata should be victorious, he will be obliged to face Vasquez in his first defense.
The WBA officials are as follows: referee Guillermo Perez Pineda (Panama); judges Henk Meijers (Netherlands), John Poturaj (US) and Ferdinand Estrella (Philippines); and WBA supervisor Noa Reandeau (US).
(3-18-07)