Sunday at the Hoban Gymnasium in Chuncheon, South Korea, 19 year old Mako Yamada (7-0, 2 KO’s) won the WBO minimum-weight crown on her opponents home town, taking a 10 round split decision over previously undefeated titlist Su-Yun Hong (9-1, 5 KO’s) of Hwaseong City.
Yamada’s early body attack made the difference in the bout, weakening Hong as the challenger kept her activity level high in the later rounds to secure scores of 97-93 and 96-94 in her favor, the third judge scoring the match 97-96 in favor of Hong. The victory makes Yamada the first Japanese female WBO title holder. This was the third defense for Hong, who has also held the WIBA light flyweight title.
In the Philippines, Gretchen Abaniel (14-5, 5 KO’s) won the vacant WIBA minimum-weight championship, defeating the far less experienced Nongnun Mor Krungthepthonburi (2-1) by ninth round stoppage. It’s the second reign for Abaniel, who had a short title run in 2009-2010. She has also fought for the WBA, IBF, and WBO world titles but has been beaten each time.
The current WIBA featherweight champion, Lindsay Garbatt (8-7-2, 3 KO’s) was beaten in Haiku, China by Xu Chun Yan (4-3, 1 KO) in a bout contested for the vacant WBC International featherweight title. Garbatt’s world strap was not at stake. Yan had unsuccessfully challenged for the WBA world title in her second professional bout and also lost a bid for the IFBA title last April. Garbatt’s WIBA title winning performance over Jackie Trivilino in October has been her only win in her last six outings. She held the WIBA super featherweight title in 2011.
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