Jose Salas has filled the final vacancy in a new-look bantamweight division.
The IBF 118lbs belt was claimed by the unbeaten Tijuana, Mexico, native, courtesy of a seventh-round stoppage of South Africa’s Landile Ngxeke. A final barrage of power shots was enough to force the referee to intervene, though it appeared that Ngxeke was still alert when the fight was stopped at 1 minute and 54 seconds of Round 7 on Saturday evening at Plaza of the Gustavo A. Madero Mayor's Office in Mexico City.
Nevertheless, Salas earned the last of the two bantamweight titles left behind when Junto Nakatani vacated in order to campaign at 122lbs.
The questionable stoppage aside, it was an otherwise-brilliant boxing display put on by Salas, who waited literally all year for his due title shot.
He was the mandatory challenger to the IBF belt but permitted then-unbeaten titlist Ryosuke Nishida to first face Nakatani in a June 8 unification bout. Nakatani prevailed via sixth-round stoppage to win the IBF title and retain the WBC belt.
At the time, it was ruled that the Nakatani-Nishida bout would be sanctioned, with the provision that the winner had to next face Salas.
Nobody – including Salas – expected anything other than exactly how the matter transpired.
It paved the way for Salas to face Ngxeke, 16-2-1 (8 KOs), in a battle of first-time title challengers. Salas jumped out to a strong start and never really looked back.
Ngxeke was fighting outside of South Africa for the first time, in addition to debuting on the title stage. The bout was his first of any kind since, a 10-round unanimous decision over Eric Gamboa on June 29 in East London, Africa, roughly two hours from his Sada hometown.
His timing appeared off against Salas, as he often fell well short with his jab and counters. Salas made brilliant use of his right jab out of his long southpaw stance. He kept Ngxeke at bay all night, and his rangy frame (for the bantamweight division) allowed him to land shots from virtually any reasonable distance.
The bout was clearly building towards a stoppage even if there were questions over the exact moment at which it occurred.
Salas poured on the pressure in the seventh round without any concern of return fire. Ngxeke made the mistake of fighting with his back pinned to a corner and not throwing punches in return. Salas connected with a series of looping left hands, right hooks and uppercuts from both sides of the plate. Ngxeke took the shots well, but his lack of offensive response prompted the referee to intervene.
Salas’ win comes at an active time for the 118lbs division, which has seen all four major titles change hands this year. Just three weeks prior, Takuma Inoue, 21-2 (5 KOs), claimed the vacant WBC belt with a stirring 12-round unanimous decision victory over countryman Tenshin Nasukawa, 7-1 (2 KOs), in Tokyo.
Seiya Tsutsumi, 12-0-3 (8 KOs), was relieved of his WBA title for failure to defend against Antonio Vargas, 19-1-1 (11 KOs), who in turn was stripped when their fight was re-ordered. Tsutsumi is now set to face WBA interim titlist Nonito Donaire, 43-8 (28 KOs), in a WBA title consolidation bout on Wednesday, also in Tokyo.
Mexico’s Christian Medina, 26-4 (19 KOs), disrupted Japan’s stranglehold on the bantamweight division with a stunning fourth-round knockout of unbeaten WBO titlist Yoshiki Takei on September 14 in Nagoya, Japan.
Salas joined Medina as Mexico’s newest major titleholders. Both are promoted by BXSTRS Promotions, which presented Saturday’s ESPN Knockout show.
