By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Roger Galicia lost a unanimous decision to South Africa’s Gabula Vabaza in a battle for the vacant Inter Continental super bantamweight title while Rolly Lunas lost in his bid for the WBA Inter Continental super flyweight crown in a one-sided clash with Masibulela “Hawk” Makepula in a double header at the Orient Theater in East London, South Africa, Saturday Manila Time.
South African promoter Branco Malenkovic told Viva Sports/Manila Standard that in a battle of southpaws Vabuza “got careless and was decked by a right cross to the chin in round two by Galicia to take a count from referee Wally Snowball.” Malenkovic said it was “a wake-up call for the South African who was unhurt and then used all his skills to win a lopsided 12 round decision over his limited opponent.” Vabuza used a punishing jab to pile up the points and was reportedly “in complete control throughout” as Galicia who sustained a small cut over his left eye in the sixth “ marched forward throwing and missing with wild punches as he tried to slow down the crafty South African.”
The scorecards of the judges raised questions of fairness as one judge, despite the knockdown scored by Galicia, gave every round to Vabuza 120-109 while a second judge scored it 119-109 and the third 118-109. Vabaza who is regarded as possibly the most talented fighter in South Africa improved to 20-0-1 with 15 KO’s while Galicia dropped to 23-5-2 also with 15 knockouts.
In the co-main event “Hawk” Makepula was far too slick for Lunas and scored an easy decision. Makepula had no trouble in out-boxing Lunas as he “stabbed and flurried from long range.” Lunas tried to fight his way inside but was wild and by the sixth round it was only a matter of how wide the margin would be in favor of Makepula who improved his record to 24-3 with 17 knockouts while Lunas fell to 18-5 with 12 KO’s. All three judges scored it for Makepula 119-111, 118-111 and 119-112.
