By Rey Danseco
FORMER Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) bantamweight champion Jess Maca has given a chance to expedite his return to the international limelight when he trades bombs against a highly rated foe in South Africa on Friday.
No title will be at stake when the unranked 33-year old Filipino fighter takes on newly crowned World Boxing Association (WBA) Intercontinental super bantamweight king Gabula "Tiger" Vabaza in scheduled televised 10-round tiff at Orlando Community Hall in Soweto, South Africa on May 27.
But the survivor will improve his rating now that the undefeated Vabaza is is ranked eighth by both the WBA and the World Boxing Council while the International Boxing Federation has him in its 14th spot.
Currently one of the few exciting boxers in his country, Vabaza is the former South Africa flyweight and World Boxing Union junior bantamweight champion.
The 26-year old left-handed from East London has unblemished 20-0-1 win-loss-draw records with 15 knockout.
Vabaza’s last appearance happened in Feb. 25 against former world rated Roger Galicia for the vacant WBA Inter-continental 122-lb title. Galicia caught him with an uppercut and needed to pick himself up from the canvass in the 2nd round to win on points.
While Maca ruled the OPBF 118-lb class in four years and six months from May 9, 1998 until young Japanese southpaw Hozumi Hasegawa dropped him with a double left in the third to win a split but well-received decision over 12 fast heats last May 18, 2003 in Kobe, Japan.
Maca, who reached as high as ranked four by the WBC in his career in Dec. 2002 before his defeat to Hasegawa, is coming off in a unanimous decision setback for the WBO Asia Pacific featherweight title fight against defending champ Terdsak Jandaeng last April 11 in Bangkok, Thailand. He now sports a 43-20-6, 17 KOs record.
The fight, dubbed "Ultimate Test", will be broadcast live though out South Africa by SABC Sport 2 on it’s Blow by Blow program.
NOTE : The veteran writer REY DANSECO is based in Manila and the Sports Editor of Bagong Tiktik (Spy), one of the leading daily in the Philippines. He is also a pro-boxing judge and television commentator of weekly program Ringside@Elorde that airs from 11 p.m to 12 midnight every Saturday over NBN Channel 4 in the whole country. He also writes for Manila Times ( www.manilatimes.net ), which was established in 1898.
