April 9, 2000

HICHINOHE, JAPAN-Filipino hard-puncher JOMA GAMBOA, 104 3/4, kept his WBA interim minimumweight title, as he dropped Japan's ATSUSHI SAI, 105, in the 4th and pounded out a unanimous decision over 12.

It's Gamboa's first defense of the WBA interim title since he acquired it on a 6th round KO of Satoru Abe in an interim elimination bout in Nagoya last December, as the WBA champ Noel Arambulet became unavailable to fight Abe due to his virus infection.

Some 3,000 partisan spectators were in attendance at Hachinohe Municipal Gymnasium. But Gamboa proved more skillful for the game but less experienced Japanese boy.

Sai, formerly a silver medalist in the national high school tournaments, started fireworks with his two-fisted attack in the opening session, while the champ averted his attack and probed his strategy. Gamboa turned aggressive and whipped the taller opponent with his crisp punches in the second.

Sai retaliated furiously with plenty of punches in the third, though Gamboa covered himself up properly. The Filipino, who had iced 20 victims in 27 previous wins, sent him to the deck with a countering left hook in the 4th. Since then, it became rather lopsided as Gamboa kept outjabbing the durable foe with precision and had his face swollen badly as the contest progressed.

Gamboa had him at bay in the closing seconds of the 8th, and made him groggy with solid and accurate punches in the 11th. Sai, however, refused to go down again to show his determination.

But it was Sai that dominated the final session with his desperate attempt to turn the tide, as he was aware of being far behind on points. Gamboa cleverly averted and blocked Sai's last surge by showing his superior defensive skill.

Scored: Takeo Harada (Japan) 117-111, Kazunobu Asao (Japan) 115-112, and Eddy Toomkit (Thailand) 116-114, all for Gamboa. The reason why the two officials scored in such a close fashion despite the actually onesided fight was that they might evaluate Sai's aggressiveness (regardless of punching accurately) rather than Gamboa's accurate and effective punches.

Gamboa, 26, raised his credentials to 28-5-1, 20 KOs. Sai, a year his senior, fell to 14-3-1, 7 KOs. The Japanese loser said, "I will retire after this fight, and concentrate on my job as house construction designer." Gamboa said, "I didn't take no strong punches. I tried to finish him, but he was very durable and tough."

Gamboa is scheduled to meet the WBA champ Noel Arambulet this July or August. The Filipino had lost a unanimous decision to the Venezuelan in an elimination bout to decide the WBA 105-pound champ in Caracas, Venezuela, last October--following the relinquishment of Ricardo Lopez.

Referee was Masakazu Uchida, Japan.

Promoter: Teiken Promotions in association with its subsidiary, Hachinohe Teiken Promotions. WBA supervisor: Shigeru Kojima, Japan. (4-9-00)

SCORESHEETS

TAKEO HARADA (JAPAN)
ROUND 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 TOTAL
GAMBOA 9 10 9 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 9 117
SAI 10 9 10 8 9 10 9 9 9 9 9 10 111

KAZUNOBU ASAO (JAPAN)
ROUND 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 TOTAL
GAMBOA 9 10 9 10 10 10 9 10 10 9 10 9 115
SAI 10 9 10 8 9 9 10 9 9 10 9 10 112

EDDY TOOMKIT (THAILAND)
ROUND 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 TOTAL
GAMBOA 9 10 9 10 10 10 9 10 10 9 10 10 116
SAI 10 10 10 8 9 9 10 9 10 10 9 10 114

REFEREE: MASAKAZU UCHIDA (JAPAN)