ORIENT UPDATE AS OF FEB. 19; SAMSON SCORES 22ND DEFENSE OF WBF JR. BANTAM TITLE

THAILAND

Feb. 6 RATCHADAPHISEK, THAILAND--Unbeaten lefty Thailander SAMSON DUTCHBOYGYM kept his WBF junior bantam title for the 22nd time, as he mixed up with a game Filipino named FELIX MARFA and sank him with a vicious left to the stomach for the count at 1:49 of the 4th round at Freshland Supermarket. I, as boxing scribe in Asia, feel embarrassed at Samson's 22 defenses, which surpassed the Asian record of the most title defense held by Khaosai Galaxy, the Thai legend and ex-WBA junior bantam champ, whose overall record was 49-1, 43 KOs. (Please remember that Rocky Marciano's overall one was 49-0, 43 KOs.) Samson had fought many Orientals, chiefly internationally mediocre Filipinos, ballyhooing the world title bouts. But I myself would not accept Samson being superior to Khaosai Galaxy. I have seen some fights of Samson, who looked aggressive and powerful, but less skillful. He is much inferior to Johnny Tapia and Gerry Penalosa. Samson, 25, is 27-0, 24 KOs.

More importantly, former WBA flywqeight champ SAEN SOW PLOENCHIT made a fine comeback since he yielded his title to Venezuelan Jose Bonilla on Nov. 24, 1996, as he pounded out an 8-round decision over Filipino RAMIL GEVERO, the GAB's #1 junior fly contender. Saen suffered a gash over the left eyebrow caused by an accidental butt in the 5th, but fought hard to decisively defeat the game Filipino. Saen is 26 -1, 8 KOs.

JAPAN

Feb. 17
HIROSHIMA--Local favorite Tetsuro Inoue, 121 1/4, outscored Akira Ebisuoka, 122, over 10.

TOPICS

Feb. 17 Former 2-time world champ Hiroki Ioka moved up to Tokyo to train under the tutelage of Cuban trainer Ismael Salas at Kadoebi Gym. Ioka is said to have a shot at the WBA junior bantam crown against compatriot Satoshi Iida on Apr. 29. At this stage, Ioka is a prohibitive underdog due to his last two lackluster performances in his comeback goes since he was annihilated by Jose Bonilla in a bid for the WBA fly throne in Feb. of the previous year. Salas, having cultivated 5 world champs in Thailand, moved to Japan owing to the notorious and drastic recession in Thailand. Will he be able to revive the 29-year-old, still ambitious veteran Ioka?

WBA junior bantam champion Satoshi Iida

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