Lamhot will fight in world championship
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's Orient and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) junior bantamweight title holder Lamhot Simamora has the chance to fight in a world championship on Dec. 17 here after months of desperate waiting.
Promoter Boy Bolang revealed over the weekend that the boxer, who was born in Medan, North Sumatra, will meet American Harold Grey, the newly crowned champion of the International Boxing Federation (IBF).
Boy said Grey's promoter, Cedric Kushner, had given a green light to the title bout early this month.
"Now it's all up to Lamhot whether he manages to prepare himself in such a short time," Boy said.
The promoter had bid to contest an IBF championship bout pitting Lamhot against then holder Julio Barboa of Mexico early this year. The plan was delayed several times, following an injury and the poor preparation of the 28-year-old contender who underwent a two-week overseas stint in the U.S. last year.
Lamhot's eligibility for the world championship was under fire when he was knocked down by an amateur sparring partner during a training session ahead of his bout against Barboa, slated for Jan. 15.
The delay cost the organizers a US$45,000 down payment for Barboa who would have pocketed $150,000 for the match.
Grey snatched the IBF crown from Barboa two months ago in a controversial fight. Barboa's side lodged an appeal and demanded a rematch. IBF ruled out Barboa's protest but has allowed a mandatory rematch. IBF also is letting Grey defend his title twice during six months after wresting the championship belt.
Indonesia tends to affiliate itself with IBF, rather than the World Boxing Association (WBA) and the World Boxing Council (WBC), the older boxing bodies.
Elly Pical was the first Indonesian to become a world champion, when he knocked out South Korea's Ju Do-chun in their IBF bantam junior title fight here in 1985. Elly lost his title to Colombian Juan Polo in October 1989.
Nico Thomas followed in the footsteps of Elly, who is also from Ambon, Maluku, when he held the IBF mini flyweight crown briefly from June to September 1989. (amd)