SOROLLA TKO’D IN IBF TITLE FIGHT
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 24 Dec 2006
IBF minimum weight challenger Benjie Sorolla of the Philippines was TKO’d in the seventh round of a title fight against world champion Muhammad Rachman of Indonesia who gave himself a present as promised on his 34th birthday with the impressive victory Saturday.
Referee John Wright called a halt at 2:10 of the seventh round after Rachman landed a series of big unanswered shots on Sorolla in the title fight held at the Indoor Tennis Senayan Stadium in Jakarta. At the time of the stoppage Rachman was leading on the scorecards of all three judges including Filipino judge, journalist Salven Lagumbay of Philboxing.com. However, Lagumbay reported that Sorolla’s corner felt the stoppage was “a bit premature” although Wright maintained that Sorolla got tagged with too many punches and the fighter’s safety was his paramount concern.
Rachman used an effective jab and was too smart for Sorolla who suffered a cut over his left eye in the sixth round which referee Wright ruled was caused by a legitimate punch. The victory improved then Indonesian’s record to 61-5-5, 31 KO’s
while Sorolla dropped to 21-11-3, 8 KO’s. Sorolla who had lost to Rachmann by a unanimous decision in 2002 was ranked No.14 by the IBF and earned $7,500 as purse while the champion received $54,600 according to reporter Damar Harsanto of the Jakarta Post.
Prior to the fight Rachman said he respected Sorolla as a good boxer but said he wanted to “floor him in the fifth round, but the sooner, the better,” After the win Rachman said he is looking forward to a mandatory title defense in February or March next year before a unification title fight against the WBA champion Yutaka Niida of Japan. The Sorolla title defense was optional following Rachman’s sixth round KO victory over mandatory challenger Omar Soto of Mexico on May 6 in Jakarta.
Rachman told The Jakarta Post “I will fight for two or three years before finishing my studies. Then I will take off my gloves and try to be a politician to help promote sports through politics.” The champion is studying at the Putra Bangsa University School of Law and has also brought some land in East Java where he plan to set up a boxing camp.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
Recent PhilBoxing.com In-House articles:
Smarts over power
By Joaquin Henson, Tue, 16 Sep 2025HALL OF FAME FLIES FLAGS AT HALF-STAFF FOR TWO-DIVISION CHAMPION RICKY HATTON
Tue, 16 Sep 2025Kazakhstan tops the medal table at the inaugural World Boxing Championships 2025 thanks to victory in the final bout of the competition
Tue, 16 Sep 2025THRILLA IN MANILA GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY 13: JOE FRAZIER’S HUMBLE BEGINNINGS AS AN AMATEUR FIGHTER
By Maloney L. Samaco, Mon, 15 Sep 2025A New King, A New Challenger: Turki Alalshikh Proposes Crawford-Benavidez While Canelo Alvarez Faces Defeat with Humility
By Dong Secuya, Mon, 15 Sep 2025Highly Questionable Title Eliminator
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso, Mon, 15 Sep 2025Yoseline Perez Earns Silver Medal at Inaugural World Boxing Championships
Mon, 15 Sep 202521-year-old Filipino wins at Germany rapid chess tournament
By Marlon Bernardino, Mon, 15 Sep 2025Nagoya Nightmare: Naoya Inoue Notches One-Sided Decision over Murodjon Akhmadaliev
Mon, 15 Sep 2025Inoue’s Philippine Connection: Which Pinoy Super Bantamweight Could Challenge “The Monster?”
By Carlos Costa, Mon, 15 Sep 2025Yoseline Perez Advances to the Finals at the World Boxing Championships Perez Set to Face Chinese Taipei’s Hsiao-Wen Huang for 54-Kilogram World Title
Mon, 15 Sep 2025Canelo Gets Outboxed, Loses Undisputed Title to Crawford
By Carlos Costa, Sun, 14 Sep 2025A Masterpiece of Boxing: Terence Crawford Dethrones Canelo Alvarez in Historic Showdown
By Dong Secuya, Sun, 14 Sep 2025LEWIS CROCKER IS CROWNED THE NEW IBF WORLD WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPION
Sun, 14 Sep 2025Battle of Undefeated: Callum Walsh Vanquishes Fernando Vargas Jr.
By Dong Secuya, Sun, 14 Sep 2025