FORMER WORLD BOXING COUNcil flyweight champion Malcolm Tu?acao guns for the Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation bantamweight title of Thailand’s Kumarnthong Por Pluemkamo on Nov. 19 at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo.
The 26-year-old southpaw Tu?acao, currently ranked WBC No. 7 super flyweight, is set to return to Japan this Friday to start his rigid training as a bantamweight and to cheer for his buddy Eriberto “Yukka” Gejon, who will vie for the World Boxing Association crown this Sunday in Yokohama.
The 31-year-old Kumarnthong took the OPBF title with a majority decision win over Japanese Jun Toriumi on July 16 in Tokyo.
Tu?acao (18-1-2, 13 KOs) is coming off a seventh-round technical knockout win over Japanese Ryoichi Hidaka on July 18 in Osaka—his seventh straight victory since yielding his WBC flyweight title to Pongsaklek Wongjongkam in 2001 due to weight problems.
Now managed by Tokyo-based businessman Yasuo Matsuoka, the talented Mandaue City fighter is aiming for yet another crack at the world title, possibly against WBC champ Hozumi Hasegawa.
In 2000, Tu?acao made headlines when he annexed the WBC flyweight crown in just his 11th fight as a pro, battering Manny Pacquiao conqueror Medgoen 3K Battery into submission in the seventh round in Thailand.
