Anthony Olascuaga (right) grins at Jonathan ‘Bomba’ Gonzalez after their October 14 match ended in a No Decision after just 145 seconds in Tokyo. Photo credit: Naoki Fukuda
Anthony Olascuaga’s team is looking for a decision that will provide a more definitive result for his first title defense.
Moves have been made in hopes of changing his No Decision against Jonathan ‘Bomba’ Gonzalez to a first-round TKO. Their Oct. 14 WBO flyweight title fight ended after just 145 seconds due to an earlier clash of heads. Gonzalez of Puerto Rico eventually informed referee Robert Hoyle that he could not continue, after which the fight was stopped.
A point of contention raised by Rudy Hernandez, Olascuaga’s trainer and manager, was that Gonzalez had previously been cleared to go ahead and quit on his own. That’s why he believes there are grounds for Olascuaga (7-1, 5 KOs; 1DE) to get a stoppage victory.
“In the first round of the fight at 1:10 (left in the round) there was an unintentional headbutt that caused a cut to Gonzalez’s left eye,” Hernandez explained to the WBO in a letter obtained by The Ring. “(Referee) Robert Hoyle called the ring doctor to check the cut. (A) After examining the cut, he (Hoyle) advised that Gonzalez could continue to fight. The contest resumed and Gonzalez continued to fight for about another 25 seconds.
“(During) a clinch he decided not to continue and the referee… stopped the fight. Since he did not want to continue after the doctor advised that he was fit to continue, my boxer Olascuaga should have been declared the winner by TKO. Instead, the supervisor of the fight and the Japanese Boxing Commission (JBC) representative, Mr. Tsuyoshi Yasukochi, the referee advised that the fight should be declared a No Decision.
“We would respectfully ask your organization to review and investigate the outcome of this fight and reverse the decision to a TKO win for Olascuaga.”
The request may end up falling on deaf ears.
Sanctioning bodies do not have the power to overturn an official decision. Their involvement is usually to force a rematch or invalidate a title reign when the belt is won or defended under questionable circumstances.
The official ruling rests with the JBC, which will have to review and decide whether the call should be overturned. All that can be done by the WBO is to review the fight and make its recommendation to the presiding commission.
Gonzalez entered the fight as the mandatory challenger. Olascuaga is understandably concerned that he will be bound for a rematch since the Oct. 14 fight was made flawless, given the result.
There is greater desire for Olascuaga to further unify the flyweight division. Three of the four 112-pound belts were on the line during Teiken Promotions’ two-day, seven-title fight extravaganza in Tokyo.
Seigo Yuri Akui (21-2-1, 11 KOs) retained his WBA belt in an Oct. 13 victory over Thailand’s Thananchai Charunphak (25-2, 15 KOs). In the same show, Kenshiro Teraji (24-1, 15 KOs) claimed the vacant WBC flyweight title in a ninth-round knockout of Cristofer Rosales (37-7, 22 KOs).
Olascuaga’s lone loss came in a ninth-round stoppage against Teraji last April in a last-minute submission.
Fittingly, it replaced Gonzalez and saw Olascuaga fight junior flyweight. Teraji retained his RING, WBC and WBA 108-pound championships with the win.
Gonzalez was the WBO junior flyweight titleholder and in line for the unification bout that night. However, he fell ill and was forced to withdraw. Gonzalez and Olascuaga are both promoted by All-Star Boxing, which made for an easy switch that night.
Olascuaga, who is co-promoted by Teiken, has since reeled off back-to-back knockout victories. Included among them was his third-round stoppage of Riku Kano (22-5-2, 11 KOs) on July 20 to win the WBO flyweight belt.
