GABRIEL PUMAR of Lapu-Lapu City, Mactan Island, Cebu, will never forget the first time he set foot on foreign land.
The unheralded Pumar stopped Tshepo Lefele of South Africa in the seventh round late Friday night to snatch the World Boxing Council (WBC) International minimumweight crown at the Wembley Indoor Arena in Johannesburg.
The news of Pumar?s victory was relayed by the fighter?s chief handler Wakee Salud, who was at ringside when Pumar boosted his winloss-draw record to 9-0-0- with six stoppages.
The loss was the first time for Lefele, who saw his ledger drop to 13-1 with seven wins inside the distance.
“The African was down several times in the fight and in the final knockdown, he did not get up after taking a left straight from Pumar,” said an ecstatic Salud, who also brought along two other fighters, featherweight Mercito Gesta and fly Benedict Suico, to also face off with feared African foes.
Gesta?s crack at WBC International 126-lb king Jeffrey Mathebula was called off at the last minute after the Filipino failed a medical test, while Suico, nursing a fever owing to tonsilitis, dropped a decision to Monelisi Myekeni for the WBC International 112-lb throne.
“Benedict could have won that fight but he was bothered by the fever. Too bad, he was the most conditioned among the three when they came here,” added Salud, who, along with his boxers, return to Cebu via Hong Kong from Africa on board Cathay Pacific today.
Salud also handles Manny Pacquiao?s younger brother Bobby as well as Orient Pacific welterweight titlist Rev Santillan, onetime world title challenger Yukka Gejon and a handful of other quality pugilists housed in Cebu City.
