December 4, 1999
NAGOYA, JAPAN-Filipino hard-puncher JOMA GAMBOA(right photo), 105, completely
flattened Japanese lefty SATORU ABE(left photo), 105, with his beautiful combination
at 1:00 of the sixth round to acquire the vacant interim WBA
minimumweight title.
Abe was slated to face the WBA champ Noel Aramblet, Venezuela, who suffered a heavy flu and became unable to come to Japan. The WBA then authorized this interim title bout under the condition that the winner should meet Aramblet in 90 days upon the Venezuelan's recovery.
Despite on a short notice just 10 days before, Gamboa looked sharp and
cool enough to outpunch the onrushing Japanese. Gamboa, who had iced 19
victims out of 26 wins, probed Abe's aggressive and tricky style to find
his range. The third saw Gamboa catch the shorter lefty with very solid
uppercuts following good combinations with precision. Abe desperately
grabbed him to barely last the round.
Gamboa kept countering Abe to be in command in the 4th and 5th. Abe occasionally attempted to confuse him in an unorthodox fashion-a la Prince Naseem Hamed-if not using wrestling tactics.
In the fatal sixth, the Filipino upright stylist caught Abe with a vicious right uppercut and followed with a left-right combination to the face. Abe became a flattened pancake to be counted out by Japanese referee Masakazu Uchida.
The clearcut KO victory raised the new champ's credentials to 27-5-1, 20 KOs (with 8 KOs in the first round). The crestfallen and crying Abe dropped to 23-3-1, 10 KOs.
Gamboa, on Oct. 9, failed to win the vacnt WBA 105-pound title, losing a 12-round decision to Noel Aramblet in Caracas, Venezuela, as the Venezuelan kept running away all night to avert any mix-ups with the hard-hitting Filipino. Gamboa jubilantly said, "I am very happy. When I meet Aramblet again, I will knock him out to become the real WBA champ."
Scores after the 5th: Medaldo Villalobos (Panama) 49-47 and Pinit Prayadsab (Thailand) 49-46, both for Gamboa, and Takeshi Shimakawa (Japan) 48-48.
Lefty flyweight prospect HIDEYASU ISHIHARA(right photo), 113 3/4, sank Thai national
champ PANOMDET AU YUTHANAKORN, 114, with a single southpaw one-two for
the count at 2:24 of the opening canto in a semi-final 10. Ishihara is
4-1, 3 KOs.
Promoter: Matsuda Promotions in association with Teiken Promotions.
Matchmaker: Joe Koizumi.
(12-4-99)
PS This reporter experienced a very complex standing position of being a matchmaker for Matsuda Promotions as well as the manager of Abe's foreign opponent, Gamboa. Yours truly saw Gamboa fail to win the world title three times, losing to Saman Sorjaturong for the WBC 108-pound title on a 7th round TKO in Thailand in 1996, to Pichit Cho Siriwat for the WBA 108-pound title on points in Thailand in Feb. of this year, and to Noel Aramblet by a decision in Venezuela last Oct. Gamboa was fortuate to acquire the interim WBA title because of his previous conqueror Aramblet's illness, but he must show his vaunted punching power in his rematch with the Venezuelan to revenge his previous defeat.