JAKARTA--IBF minimumweight champion Muhammad Rachman celebrated his 35th birthday with a big bang, stopping gutsy Filipino challenger Benjie Sorolla in the seventh round of a scheduled 12-rounder at the 5,000-capacity Indoor Tennis Stadium Senayan here.
Rachman rained several unanswered punches in the seventh round, prompting referee John Wright to stop the fight for a technical knockout victory by Rachman at the 2:10 mark.
Rachman was leading on all three judges' scorecards prior to the stoppage.
There were no knockdowns in the fight.
Sorolla's corner, however, felt that the stoppage was a bit premature, although Wright maintained that there were too many punches landed on Sorolla and the safety of the boxer was of paramount concern.
Rachman used a pricking jab most throughout the fight, and was moving well to befuddle Sorolla, who got cut in the sixth over his left eye after what was ruled by Wright as a legit punch.
With the win, Rachman improved his record to 61-5-5, 31 KO's, while Sorolla, who was praised for his gallant effort by IBF supervisor Ray Wheatley, went down to 21-11-3, 6 KO's.
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