Malcolm Tuñacao of Mandaue City showed he still has what it takes to be a champion as he beat Mexican Christian Esquivel by seventh-round technical knockout in a WBC bantamweight eliminator last Saturday at the Central Gym in Kobe, Hyogo, Japan.
With the victory, the 35-year-old Tuñacao improved to 32-2-3 (win-loss-draw) with 20 knockouts and earned the right to become the mandatory challenger of undefeated WBC world bantamweight champion Shinsuke Yamanaka (17W-0L-2D, 12KOs) of Japan.
Official time of the stoppage was at the 2:10 mark of the seventh round. The loss dropped Esquivel to 25-4.
Tuñacao, who is a former OPBF bantamweight champion and WBC world flyweight champion, had a brief world title reign when he dethroned Medgoen Singsurat of Thailand in only his eleventh pro fight last May 19, 2000.
Tuñacao’s first defense against Celes Kobayashi of Japan ended in a draw then he lost his title to Pongsaklek Wonjongkam of Thailand by first round TKO in March 2, 2001.
Tuñacao is now based in Kobe, Japan and has been waiting for a another world title shot in the past 12 years. He will possibly get his chance within the first few months of 2013.
The 30-year-old Yamanaka became champion last year after stopping Esquivel in 11 rounds. He had two successful defenses against Vic Darchinyan of Australia and Tomas Rojas of Mexico.