BUHAIN TO LOOK INTO TEPURA FIGHT IN JAPAN
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 11 May 2007
Games and Amusements Board chairman Eric Buhain says he will look into the circumstances of how Filipino super flyweight Pingping Tepura was allowed to fight undefeated Daiki Kameda (8-0, 6 KO’s) in Shizuoka on April 30 despite the fact that Tepura was not rated among the top ten by the GAB.
The Japan Boxing Commission has a standing rule that only Filipino boxers who are rated in the top ten can have their fights in Japan sanctioned and since Tepura was not in the top ten questions are being raised as to why both the JBC and the GAB allowed a standing rule to be violated.
The head of the GAB boxing division Dr. Nasser Cruz claimed that the JBC had “approved the fight” and when the request was received by the GAB “with all the contracts and it was the Japanese side that was asking for the authority” Tepura was given the necessary GAB clearance.
In another interesting development, Dr. Cruz said that Tepura who had lost four of his last five fights eventually qualified under GAB rules that require a fighter to win two of his last five fights to be allowed to fight abroad. Dr Cruz said Tepura had met the requirement by reportedly winning a ten round decision over Jun Pader in his last fight in Maasin, Sarangani on March 24 after suffering a brutal first round knockout at the hands of Bert Batawang on January 21 in Cebu.
Sarangani falls under the jurisdiction of the GAB regional office in Davao City. However, the head of the office Jimmy Mata said they did not receive a request to sanction the Tepura-Pader fight. It was the same negative answer from the regional offices in Cebu and Cagayan de Oro City contacted by Viva Sports/Manila Standard Today.
However, a call to Vicente Cabalog of the Zamboanga City GAB office on the cellular phone of Cabalog - since the office has no landline - revealed that it was his office that approved the Tepura-Pader fight despite the fact that it was not in his regional area of responsibility. The GAB office in Zamboanga City was recently accused of a number of irregularities including fake fight results.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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