ALA fighter Roli "Gasca" Nengasca carved out a thrilling 12-round majority decision win yesterday against reigning champion Oohashi Hiromasa to capture the OPBF super bantamweight crown in Aioi Hall, Kariya, Aichi, Japan.

A native of Japitan, Barili in Cebu, Gasca started out with quick left and right power punches that connected with the face of Hiromasa to take the lead in the scorecards of two of the three judges after four rounds.

He continued to land solid shots on his Japanese foe in the succeeding rounds but the defending champion bulldozed forward and landed some significant body shots of his own that had the Filipino boxer in defensive mode.

During the middle rounds, Gasca boxed and set up his overhand right and executed it to perfection then coupled it with good upper cuts to the body and face.

After the 9th round, when the pro-Japanese crowd thought that Gasca was fading due to Hiromasa's constant pressure, the Filipino bounced back and answered with combinations to the body then to the face of the Japanese.

Gasca then punctuated his win by dominating the Japanese champion the whole of the 12th round, frustrating him and the crowd in attendance at the Aioi Hall.

Judges Masakazu Murase of Japan and Filipino Noel Flores scored the bout an identical 116-112 in favor of Gasca while the Korean referee/judge Kwang ki Kim scored it an even 115-115.

Gasca will be arriving today in Cebu with his team composed of coach Joseph Baldago, ALA chief trainer Edito Villamor and ALA Promotions Director for Marketing and Media Relations Chad Canares.*

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