Jan. 23, 1998
TOKYO-Korakuen Hall-Crafty Filipino veteran JESS MACA(right photo), 117 1/4, swarmed
over a lanky Japanese lefty SHIN YAMATO(left photo), 118, dropped him with a
smashing right in the opening session, and completely controlled the
affair to successfully retain his OPBF bantamweight throne on a nearly
shutout decision over 12.
Scored: referee David Chung (Korea) 119-111, Virgilio Garcia
(Philippines) 117-111, and Masakazu Uchida (Japan) 120-111, all for the
defending champ.
Maca, making his second defense, furiously started fireworks in the first round, battered the still nervous opponent with a flurry of punches and sent him sprawling to the deck with a solid right. Yamato's pride and determination made his last the crisis. Maca kept aggressive in the first half and connected with well-timed rights to the southpaw footworker.
The Filipino showed a sign of fading from the 7th, but he maintained his domination of the fight with his crafty counterpunching and clever defense. Yamato, the OPBF top contender, could seldom catch the elusive target. The Japanese showed his best in the final session, when he threw a barrage of punches but Maca kept ducking and weaving to avert his desperate attack.
Maca, the WBC #12 ranked contender, 27, reportedly raised his mark to
36-16-3, 16 KOs. He captured the OPBF crown by a close verdict over
Masahiko Nakamura in Tokyo on May 9, and kept it on a unanimous duke
over Setsuo Kawamatsu in his first defense here on Aug. 25. Maca is
unbeaten in 5 bouts here. Yamato, 23, fell to 13-2-4, 2 KOs.
Promoter: Teiken Promotion.
(1-23-99)