Oct. 9, 1999
CARACAS, VENEZUELA-Fast-moving Venezuelan NOEL ARAMBULET(right photo), 104 1/4,
acquired the vacant WBA minimumweight title, as he made best use of his
footwork, dancing all night to outleg and outmaneuver hard-hitting
Filipino JOMA GAMBOA(left photo), 104 1/2, to win a unanimous decision over 12.
This 105-pound title of the WBA was previously held by Ricardo Lopez,
but the WBA finally decided to make him renounce it since the unbeaten
Mexican was to have a shot at the IBF 108-pound champ Will Grigsby on
Oct. 2. An elimination bout was originally scheduled between WBA No.1
ranked Jose Garcia of Colombia and WBA No.3 ranked Noel Arambulet in the
main event of the WBA's annual "KO Drug" event in Caracas. But the
former suffered an injury to pull out three weeks before, so WBA No.5
ranked Filipino Joma Gamboa became a late substitue for Garcia who
previously earned a split nod over Arambulet this Apr.
It was a Tom-and-Jerry fight with Arambulet trotting and Gamboa chasing. The Venezuelan's footwork, if not his attack, was so superb that it looked a marathon race rather than a fight.
Gamboa, probably the hardest-punching 105-pounder, previously displayed his power in demolishing ex-WBA 108-pound champ Carlos Murillo with a single right in Sept. of 1997, having scored 8 first-round KOs in 19 stoppages out of his 26-4-1, 19 KOs mark. But Gamboa was so anxious to knock out the negative dancer that he failed to throw many punches only to respect Arambulet's incredibly fast circling.
Arambulet occasionally rained a powder-puff punches to Gamboa's gloves
and immediately ran away from his retaliation. Thus the Venezuelan
piled up points steadily.
The 8th saw Gamboa turned very aggressive to stalk him, sometimes pinning him to the ropes with solid but less accurate combinations. But Arambulet was too elusive for the flat-footed Gamboa. Another round Gamboa took was the 12th and final round, when Arambulet cautiously kept moving to-and-fro and side-to-side to avert mix-ups to keep his accumulation on points.
Scored-Samuel Conde (Puerto Rico) and Tommy Thomas (Trinidad & Tobago) both 117-111, and Uriel Aguilera (Colombia) 118-110, all for Arambulet, 11-1-1-1NC, 8 KOs.
In a companion world title go, ANTONIO CERMENO, Venezuela, won the WBA
interim super-bantam title on a majority decision over compatriot YOBER
ORTEGA over 12. Scored-117-111 and 116-112, both for the elongated
122-pounder Cermeno, and 115-115.
(10-9-99)