There’s was a strange twist to the technical draw called by internationally respected referee Bruce McTavish in the WBO Asia Pacific super featherweight title fight in which Jimrex Jaca retained his title when he deserved to lose it to Japanese challenger Ryu Miyagi.
Viva Sports/Manila Standard Today has learned that prior to the fight at the Rules meeting the Japanese signed a document stating that if he won the title from Jaca he would relinquish it. In fact the original wording said he would “denounce” the title which was considered harsh and unwarranted and was subsequently changed to “relinquish”.
The speculation is that since Japan has little or no respect or faith in the WBO, that’s what triggered the decision. Both WBO Asian Pacific executive Leon Panoncillio and the Games and Amusements Board officials headed by boxing division chief Dr. Nasser Cruz were aware of the Miyagi decision since they were at the rules meeting.
This virtually turned the title fight into a farce. Nowhere in the world does a fighter sign a document stating he would relinquish the title if he won before even entering the ring. If such a decision was made it should have been done after the fight.
The obvious question is, why did the Jaca-Miyagi fight take place at all if the Japanese had decided to relinquish the title if he won? Indeed, what was he fighting for?
Perhaps we can now appreciate referee McTavish’s decision in a more reasonable light since in the tough situation that he was placed in, why should he have awarded the fight to Miyagi when he planned – to use their original language which was later changed – to “denounce” the title? That clearly reflects the attitude of the Japanese to the WBO which was, quite honestly, given respectability by the Philippines but eroded much of it by their hand-picked referee – Samuel Viruet and judges Raul Caiz and Chuck Giampa who robbed Z “The Dream” Gorres of the WBO super flyweight title in his bout with Fernando Montiel right in Gorres’ own hometown.
This latest caper and the continuing parade of Thai patsies as opponents in most fights in the Philippines, some of them with fake records, is bound to eventually result in a total loss of respect for the WBO, at least in this part of the world.
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