By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Sumio Yamada

Aggressive challenger Daniel Roman (23-2-1, 9 KOs), 121.75, US, impressively captured the WBA super-bantamweight belt when he sent defending champ Shun Kubo (12-1, 9 KOs), 121.75, a taller Japanese southpaw, to the deck twice, effectively followed it up and finally halted him with the referee’s intervention at 1:21 of the ninth round on Sunday in Kyoto, Japan.

Prior to the well-timed halt, the official tallies were nearly shutout—Hernando Steidel (Puerto Rico) and Silvestre Abainza (Philippines) both 80-70, Jean-Francois Toupin (France) 79-72, all in Roman’s favor. The referee was Pinit Prayadsab (Thailand) who made a well-received stoppage even by Kubo’s adherents at his home turf.

The newly crowned champ nicknamed “The Baby Faced Assassin” said, “My plan was to knock him out without having it to the judges. My feeling is beyond description. My dream come true.”

Roman has kept on fighting since 2010, tasted a couple of close defeats by Takashi Okada in 2011 and by Juan Reyes in 2013, but recently scored fourteen wins straight in three years. Daniel participated in a WBA eliminator to decide the mandatory challenger, stopping previously unbeaten Adam Lopez after nine good rounds in Atlantic City this January. His target Nehomar Cermeno, however, forfeited his WBA belt to Japanese lefthander Kubo in April, and the WBA ordered Kubo to face Roman in his initial defense.

The 5’9” Kubo, taller by four inches and having a longer reach also by four inches, utilized his trade-mark footwork, kept circling with southpaw jabs and felt out the pressure of Roman, who didn’t throw many punches but scored with a few body shots to the lanky champ.

It’s Roman’s long uppercuts that effectively caught the awkward southpaw Kubo from the third onward, while the champ occasionally landed southpaw lefts to the onrushing challenger. Well instructed by his manager/trainer Eddie Gonzalez, Daniel maintained the pressure on the still fleet-footed champ, and connected with left and right uppercuts that bounced off his face due to good precision.

The fifth saw Roman open a cut on Kubo’s eyelid with sharp combos and apparently take the initiative with his constant aggression. Daniel, 27 as old as the game champ, accelerated his attack and had him at bay with busy combinations in the sixth session.

The first knockdown happened in round seven, when they mixed it up toe-to-toe and Danny’s combos were more effective, flooring the champ with a solid right. Kubo gamely raised himself and resumed fighting, but Roman became more confident and more aggressive.

In the closing seconds of the eighth, Roman caught him with busy attacks to deck him again, but just after Kubo fought on, the bell came to his rescue.

The fatal eighth witnessed Roman go for a kill and batter him with all he had, staggering him to the ropes, when the third man waved it off with no one’s complaints.

His family, friends and supporters from California rushed into the ring to celebrate the new hero’s triumph. His promoter Ken Thompson and his general manager Alex Camponovo jubilantly joined the celebration in the squared circle after such a decisive victory abroad. Ken said, “We’re very much proud of Danny Roman. He’ll be a good and long champion.” Alex was stunned by Roman’s great performance, “I’m really excited to see his best performance in his most important bout.”

On behalf of the crestfallen ex-champ Kubo, his manager Masato Yamashita gloomily reviewed the fight, “In the sixth Kubo’s footwork didn’t function as previously, and he was forced to mix it up with the aggressive challenger. Kubo, with such a height, had a weight problem, and he may outgrow the 122-pound category and move up to the featherweight division. Congratulations on the new champ Roman. His performance was good enough.”

Despite the Japanese champ’s forfeiture of the belt due to the lopsided TKO defeat, people in Kyoto frankly celebrated Roman’s victory. Rome wasn’t built in a day, but Roman’s good name was built in the daytime (since the bout started at 4:30 PM).

Promoter: Shinsei Promotions.
WBA supervisor: Alan Kim (Korea).