By Rey Danseco
 
SUPER featherweight Randy “Kamaong Maso” Suico and bantamweight Malcolm Tunacao will join unbeaten Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation  minimumiweight king Rodel “Kid Rapido” Mayol will receive a warm hero’s welcome when they come home to Mandaue City.

Suico and Tunacao retained their own OPBF titles in contrasting fashion against Japanese challengers on Sunday at International Conference Hall in Nagoya, Japan.

Suico kept the regional title with a fourth-round stoppage win over former world title challenger Ryuhei Sugita, the top ranked contender. The ref stopped the bout at two minutes 39 seconds of the round.

The hard-hitting Suico (24-2, 21 KOs) has defended his OPBF diadem for the fifth time since winning the vacant crown with a sixth-round TKO of Korea’s Sung-Ho Yuh in April 2004 in Cebu City.

Sugita (30-3-2, 22 KOs) took his second TKO loss of his career and it was also yet another time he failed to capture the OPBF 130-lb throne from a Filipino in as many fights in regional championship.

Laguna-native Tiger Ari, whose real name si Eder Olivetti, denied him the belt via majority decision in 2001. His other TKO loss was in the 7th round in his failed attempt to dethrone then WBA super featherweight king Yodsanan Sor Nanthachai in Feb. 2004.

Tunacao, world rated No. 5 by World Boxing Council (WBC) among 118-pound campaigners, and unbeaten Kohei Ohba figured in a split draw after 12 rounds. The Filipino retained his belt in his first defense.
The Japanese judge favored his compatriot, 115-113, and the Australian official had it 115-114 for Tunacao. Filipino judge Teddy Alivio from Cebu saw it 115-115 even.

Tunacao, whose 8-fight winning streak in four years was ended, now has a 19-1-3 win-loss-draw record, spiked with 13 knockouts. Ohba, only 21, remained undefeated with stock 13-0-1, 8 KOs.

With this development, the Philippines have remained with four OPBF champions, including Mayol and welterweight Rev Santillan.

The warm welcome by the natives of Mandaue is suppossed to be solely for Mayol after he became the first Filipino to win in Mexico in the past 10 years on Jan. 28, after Luisito Espinosa sent Alejandro “Cobrita” Gonzalez to the hospital with also a devastating 4th round KO win in March 1996.

Mayol also knocked out local favorite Lorenzo Trejo in the fourth in their WBC 105-lb title eliminator on Jan. 28 at the Plaza de Toros in Cancún, Mexico.

Mayol opted to fly to Japan to be at ringside by his countrymen instead of going back directly to the country, incidentally, giving the officials in Mandaue time to prepare for the Grand welcome rites that will start by a motorcade from Mactan International Airport. Santillan is a native of Iloilo.