ERIBERTO “Yukka” Gejon tried his best, but his best was not enough as Japanese champion Yutaka Niida held on to his WBA minimum-weight title after a unanimous win after 12 rounds at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan last Saturday night.
Gejon, perennial top challenger, unleashed heart and skills, but the shorter Niida fought better this time to stun the Cebuano challenger.
After 12 rounds, the scorecards read at 117-112 for both Jean-Louis Leglang of France and Guiseppe Quartarone of Italy while Chalerm Prayadsab of Thailand scored 117-11 all for the defending champion.
The 28-year-old Mandaue City warrior was all business at the starting bell as he accurately connected sharp jabs and combinations and capitalizing on his edge on height and reach.
However, Niida quickly found his way to get out of the situation and dominated the next three rounds using looping left hooks and right cross while Gejon was starting to get dumbstruck and found himself standing in front of the Japanese champion and became a stationary target.
“I am not supposed to tell this because people might think this as an alibi but I have to tell you this, Gejon hurt his right hand from the fourth round and was not able to move freely because he was feeling the pain,” trainer Brix Flores told Sun.Star Cebu after the fight.
As a warrior as himself, Gejon tried to solve the game plan of Niida but his jabs and jab-straight combinations hit nothing but air as the champion perfectly eluded the challenger’s every punch with good lateral movement.
“What can you expect from Gejon, he is inactive for two years and then he got to fight for a world championship,” said boxing analyst Ronnie Nathanielsz.
Gejon had only fought twice since losing to Niida in September 2005—a second round TKO win over Yoddoi Sithsoei in September 2006 and a total domination over Wisan Sor Suchanya last March.
Both fighters cut their foreheads in the sixth but luckily the bleeding stopped by the corner in the following round as Niida continued to connect a single left hook on Gejon’s head, as the Japanese continued to dominate the round.
Gejon took his last stand as he went strong on the eighth round but his punches were averted by the wisely fighting Niida who was clever enough to avoid the hard punches delivered by the Filipino challenger.
Looking desperate, Gejon dropped a barrage of punches on the 10th but he failed to land fatal shots to the champion as the Japanese dominated the next two rounds by connecting left hooks and right crosses until the final bell.
