Cermeno, Anurak make weight in China

Report, photos by Joe Koizumi

Venezuelan veteran Nehomar Cermeno (24-5-1, 14 KOs) will put his newly acquired WBA super-bantam belt on the line against unbeaten Thailander Anurak Thisa (17-0, 5 KOs), PABA (Pan American Boxing Association) titlist, tomorrow (Friday) in Wenzhou, China. Having gained the vacant WBA belt by a fine final-round stoppage over Xiao Jun Qiu in Beijing last June, Cermeno returned to China to make his initial defense against the Thai prospect under the promoter Niwat Laosuwanwat. Though it was rumored Cermeno would be overweight, he finely make the 122-pound class limit, while Anurak scaled in at 54.75 kg (120.75 pounds). It may be hard to predict the result since we haven’t had enough data on the Thai challenger, though he boasts of an unblemished mark in seventeen bouts.

The WBA officials are as follows:
referee Bruce McTavish (Philippines); judges Gustavo Padilla (Panama), Takeshi Shimakawa (Japan), Raul Caiz Jr. (US); supervisor Kina Malpartida (Peru). Tony Weeks, who was supposed to serve as the third man, couldn’t enter China as it is said he didn’t have a proper visa to do the job.

The results of weigh-in for other bouts are as follows:
WBA international super-feather title bout:
Xu Can (China, 9-2, no KO) 129.75
Ramiro Blanco (Nicaragua, 14-0-3, 7 KOs) 129.25

Heavyweight 8-round bout
Zhilei Zhang (China, 10-0, 7 KOs) 116 kg
Gorita Gorgiladze (Georgia, 32-12, 27 KOs) 98.9 kg
Zhang, a gigantic southpaw, was a silver medalist in the super heavyweight class in the 2008 Beijing Olympic games.

There will be two more bouts on the undercard at Zhejiang-Wenzhou Gymnasium.

Promoter: Liu Gang’s Max Power Promotions in association with the WBA China.