By Carlos Costa
South Korean Featherweight Champion Nam-Joon Lee scored a 12-round unanimous decision win over tough Filipino Jelbirt Gomera to claim the vacant WBA Asia 126-lbs title on Saturday June 24 in Suncheon, South Korea.
By capturing the WBA Asia crown, the lanky 33-year-old Nam-Jom Lee (10-5-3, 4 KO's) will likely be include among the WBA top-15 featherweights, a division where the reigning king is Mexican Leo "Terremoto" Santa Cruz (33-1-1, 18 KO's).
In contrast, the 25-year-old Jelbirt Gomera - born in the Southern Philippine Province of Sultan Kudarat - weakens his record to 12-3, with 6 KO's, but remains committed to his boxing career, willing to quickly bounce back with a win.
The Nam-Joon Lee vs Jelbrit Gomera bout, for the WBA Asia Featherweight title, was a production of Korea Promotions and was broadcast live in South Korea on MBC Sports Channel.
IN OTHER NEWS:
HBO Sports presents WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING: ANDRE WARD VS. SERGEY KOVALEV 2, the exclusive replay of their highly anticipated light heavyweight title showdown, SATURDAY, JUNE 24 at 10:00 p.m. (ET/PT).
The HBO Sports team, which was ringside at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas for the live HBO Pay-Per-View presentation June 17, calls all the action, which will be available in HDTV, closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired and presented in Spanish on HBO Latino.
The fight will also be available on HBO NOW, HBO GO, HBO On Demand and affiliate portals.
Last November, in the most anticipated fight of 2016, Kovalev and Ward squared off under the bright lights of Las Vegas. The 12-round battle ended with Ward edging out a unanimous decision victory by the thinnest of margins.
Seven months later, on June 17, the rematch took place in the same city, with an even higher level of intensity. Elevating his standing among the top pound-for-pound fighters, the undefeated Ward scored an eighth-round TKO triumph that has the boxing community buzzing.