By REY DANSECO
FORMER WBC flyweight champion Malcolm Tuñacao of the Philippine has regained the Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) bantamweight title after beating Korean national champion Chae Seung-suk on Saturday in Mungyoeong, South Korea.
Tuñacao took the vacant title via split decision win, his fourth straight victories in as many fights since losing the same title to a fellow Filipino, Rolly “Matsushita” Lunas, in January 2007 in Tokyo.
Two Korean judges saw an identical 115-114 tallies for the 31-year old Filipino while the Japanese official favored Chae with the same verdict.
Tunacao first captured the belt in Nov. 2005 when he battered Thai contender Kumarnthong Por Pluemkamol in Tokyo.
The Filipino southpaw became the WBC flyweight champion in his 11th professional bout in January 2000 in Udon Thani, Thailand where he knocked out Manny Pacquiao’s conqueror, Medgoen Singsurat, in the 7th round.
Tuñacao, who fought as top contender in the division, improved to 25-2-3, 15 KOs while the second ranked Chae, a 30-year old native of Seoul, dropped to 16-2-0, 6 KOs.
The title was declared vacant after ex-champion Alexander Bakhtin took the chance to face ex-WBC International champ Nick Otieno of Kenya for the WBC bantamweight eliminator on Feb. 22 in Udmurtia Circus, Izhevsk, Russia.
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