IBF minimum weight challenger Benjie Sorolla of the Philippines was TKO’d in the seventh round of a title fight against world champion Muhammad Rachman of Indonesia who gave himself a present as promised on his 34th birthday with the impressive victory Saturday.
Referee John Wright called a halt at 2:10 of the seventh round after Rachman landed a series of big unanswered shots on Sorolla in the title fight held at the Indoor Tennis Senayan Stadium in Jakarta. At the time of the stoppage Rachman was leading on the scorecards of all three judges including Filipino judge, journalist Salven Lagumbay of Philboxing.com. However, Lagumbay reported that Sorolla’s corner felt the stoppage was “a bit premature” although Wright maintained that Sorolla got tagged with too many punches and the fighter’s safety was his paramount concern.
Rachman used an effective jab and was too smart for Sorolla who suffered a cut over his left eye in the sixth round which referee Wright ruled was caused by a legitimate punch. The victory improved then Indonesian’s record to 61-5-5, 31 KO’s
while Sorolla dropped to 21-11-3, 8 KO’s. Sorolla who had lost to Rachmann by a unanimous decision in 2002 was ranked No.14 by the IBF and earned $7,500 as purse while the champion received $54,600 according to reporter Damar Harsanto of the Jakarta Post.
Prior to the fight Rachman said he respected Sorolla as a good boxer but said he wanted to “floor him in the fifth round, but the sooner, the better,” After the win Rachman said he is looking forward to a mandatory title defense in February or March next year before a unification title fight against the WBA champion Yutaka Niida of Japan. The Sorolla title defense was optional following Rachman’s sixth round KO victory over mandatory challenger Omar Soto of Mexico on May 6 in Jakarta.
Rachman told The Jakarta Post “I will fight for two or three years before finishing my studies. Then I will take off my gloves and try to be a politician to help promote sports through politics.” The champion is studying at the Putra Bangsa University School of Law and has also brought some land in East Java where he plan to set up a boxing camp.
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