April 16, 2011
April 16, 2011
OSAKA, JAPAN
Unbeaten WBA full female champ Etsuko Tada (7-0-2, 2 KOs) (left), a Japanese southpaw whose amateur mark as national titlist was as good as 47-3, will square off against interim ruler Ibeth Zamora (11-2, 4 KOs) (right), Mexico, over ten two-minute rounds tomorrow (Sunday) in Osaka, Japan.
There was a weigh-in ceremony, where Tada scaled in at 104.25 to the 105-pound class limit for Zamora. Each looked confident and comfortable with good condition.
The WBA officials are as follows: referee Ferlin Marsh (New Zealand); judges Chalerm Prayadsab (Thailand), Silvestre Abainza (Philippines) and Michael Lee (Korea); supervisor Alan Kim (Korea).
It will be a very competitive fight as Tada had battled to a hard-fought draw twice with WBC 108-pound rulter Naomi Togashi here and then WBA interim champ Ria Ramnarine in Trinidad and Tobago to her credit. Tada, making her fifth defense, is eager to unify the belts by defeating the interim champ Zamora.
Zamora, a cute 22-year-old Mexican seven years her junior, is nicknamed La Roca (the rock) because of her aggressiveness. She once beat current WBC kingpin Anabel Ortiz on points with the Mexican national belt at stake in 2008. The interim champ is accompanied by her uncle and ex-fighter Cruz Zamora (who once defeated current WBC 108-pound champ Gilberto Keb Baas in 1997) and her representative Gabriel F. Cordero.
Each said at the press conference prior to the weigh-in, “I’ll show a good performance to entertain and encourage the earthquake victims.” Only one difference of their speeches was that Zamora added her intention to bring the unified belts to Mexico. Usually Tada, a good talker, used to speak more than her challenger in the press conference, but it was Zamora that outspoke our champ today. Her eloquence was great enough despite her hanger before the weigh-in. We look forward to watching their fistic battle rather than their verbal war.
Unlike a male confrontation, there was a beautiful friendship between the gal-warriors. Tada said to Zamora, “Thank you for your coming to Japan to fight me.” The Mexican responded to her gratitude, saying, “Not at all. I have my great respect to you as good champion. It’s my pleasure to exchange punches with you.” The better will win tomorrow.
This show is presented by Futur Promotions.
(4-16-11)