RUBILLAR DREAMS OF WORLD TITLE SHOT
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 26 Jun 2007
OPBF light flyweight champion Juanito Rubillar says his “dream” is to get “one more chance to fight for the WBC world title.”
Rubillar scored a smashing fifth round knockout over Japan’s Ken Nakajima in Osaka on Sunday forcing the challenger to announce his retirement after the beating he suffered at the hands of the Filipino southpaw who dropped Nakajima three times with vicious body shots.
Rubillar said he will “constantly stay in training” hoping that a title shot will materialize even as he expressed the hope that the fight against reigning champion Edgar Sosa could be staged in Manila during the WBC Convention in November.
The soft-spoken OPBF champion said Nakajima was “a good fighter” and he had “a hard time early in the fight” but that the challenger was “weak in the body and that’s where I attacked him most of the time.” Rubillar said Nakajima was a vastly improved fighter compared to the one he saw in a tape sent to him by the Japanese promoter. He said Nakajima “moved well and was quick.”
Rubillar explained that his new-found punching power which he showed when he scored a seventh round TKO to win the OPBF crown from Indonesia’s Irfan Ogah last October 13 and the fifth round KO of Nakajima was mainly due to the fact that he “never let up in training.”
Trainer Roel Marata who predicted a KO win for Rubillar in a pre-departure interview with Viva Sports/Manila Standard Today said “the sacrifices made in training plus the fact that he followed our instructions helped.” Marata said that Nakajima changed his tactics from what he saw on tape and actually won the first round but by the fourth round Rubillar maintained the pressure with a right uppercut and right hooks and turned the tide.
Marata said that the three times Rubillar decked Nakajima it was with a powerful straight right to the mid-section. He said the 30 year old champion’s developed his punching power through a rigorous training regimen and besides, he added, Rubillar “believed in himself.”
The former amateur boxer who has been credited by Rubillar’s manager Gabriel “Bebot” Elorde for his fighter’s improvement said his dream, like Rubillar, was to fight for the world title. “We are chasing Sosa and hopefully we will be rated No.1 and given a mandatory shot at the title.
Elorde noted that Rubillar fought four times for the world title, lost twice to Mexican warrior Jorge Arce which went the distance amidst some controversy, lost to IBF champion Zolani Petelo and dropped an interim title fight against Wandee Singwancha of Thailand, also in controversial fashion.
Elorde said he shared the confidence of Rubillar who said if he is given one more chance “he’ll make sure to get the title.”
Elorde said he reported the result of the title defense to the WBC and the Philippine Games and Amusements Board and “hopefully they can help.” Elorde requested that Rubillar be elevated to No. 1 where he could get a chance at a mandatory title shot.
The manager disclosed that with his new trainer they are “concentrating on body punching” and it is proving to be very effective as evidenced in the Nakajima fight.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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