(Pictured Hall of Famer Miguel Canto)

In Part II, we traced the division's history from Pone Kingpetch dethroning the great Pascual Perez to become Thailand's first world champion until a time in January 1975 when the again vacant lineal title was about to be filled.

Part III starts at that point.

The vacant lineal title was filled on January 8, 1975, in Sendai, Miyagi, Japan, when Miguel "El Maestro" Canto won a 15-round, majority decision over defending WBC champion Shoji Oguma. After a non-title victory over Ignacio Espinal of the Dominican Republic, the new lineal, WBC, and Ring Magazine champ made the first of what would be a then record 14 successful defenses, winning a 15-round, split decision over Gonzalez on May 24 to further legitimize his status as the lineal champion.

By the time Canto had made his first defense, Susumu Hanagata had lost the WBA belt. On April 1, he was beaten by Erbito Salavarria. The former WBC and new WBA champ won by a split decision.

Canto finished 1975 with a TKO-9 over future WBA light flyweight champion Lupe Madera in a non-title bout and two more successful title defenses, a TKO-11 over Japan's Jiro Takada and a 15-round unanimous decision over Espinal. Salavarria, after a split decision loss to Alberto Morales in a non-title affair, won another split decision over Hanagata to retain his title. That would be the only successful defense of his second reign as a flyweight titleholder.

Fighting before a crowd at the famed Araneta Coliseum in Metro Manila, Salavarria was stopped in the 15th round by Panama's Alfonso Lopez on February 27, 1976, thus losing the WBA title.

After a non-title win in March, Canto made the first of three successful defense that year, a unanimous decision over Hanagata on May 15. A split decision over Gonzalez on October 3 and a unanimous decision over Filipino Orlando Javierto on November 19 followed.

Making his first defense, Lopez traveled to Japan and outpointed former WBC champion Oguma on April 21, 1976. On August 25, he knocked out Kenki Kato in a non-title bout which led to his last defense. On October 2, fighting in Los Angeles, California, Lopez was dethroned by Mexico's Guty Espadas who stopped the defending champion in the 13th round.

Thus, as 1976 came to a close, Canto, recognized by The Ring, had made 6 successful defenses of the WBC and lineal championships while the newly crowned Espadas was preparing to defend his WBA title for the first time.

On New Year's Day, 1977, Espadas made his initial defense, halting OPBF champion Takada in the 7th round. He added two more defenses during the year, again stopping Lopez in 13 in their April 30 rematch and knocking out overmatched Nicaraguan Alex Santana Guido in 8 on November 19.

Canto took his act on the road for three of his four 1977 defenses. He outpointed Luis Reyes Arnal in Venezuela on April 24 and Kimio Furesawa in Japan on June 5. After decisioning Martin Vargas in Mexico on September 17, he gave the tough Chilean a rematch in Santiago de Chile on November 30 and again outpointed him over 15 rounds.

Canto's reign continued through 1978 as he twice won decisions over Oguma in Japan, on January 4 and on April 18, and outpointed Thailand's Tacomron Vibonchai in Houston, Texas on November 20. Espadas wasn't so fortunate. After successfully turning back Furesawa's January 2 challenge by stopping him in 7 in Tokyo, Espadas made a fateful journey to Venezuela where he was outpointed on august 12 by Gonzalez, who won a share of the flyweight diadem for the third time. On November 4, Gonzalez retained the WBA title with a 12th round TKO over Vargas.

Neither Canto nor Gonzalez would make it through 1979 as champion. It started all right for both. On January 29, Gonzalez retained the WBA belt with a 15-round draw with Oguma, fought in Hamamatsu, Japan. On February 10, Canto unanimously outpointed fellow Mexican Antonio Avelar, a future WBC and lineal champion, in Merida, Mexico.

Canto's 15th defense would turn out to be his last. In Pusan, South Korea, on March 18, he lost a unanimous decision to Chan-Hee Park. Park was now the new lineal, Ring, and WBC champion. Park quickly put his titles on the line. On May 20, he retained them with a 15-round unanimous decision over Japan's Chikara "Riki" igarashi in Seoul.

Gonzalez recorded one more successful defense, a 12th round knockout of Oguma in Utsunomiya, Japan on July 6, before being outpointed by Panamanian southpaw Luis Ibarra on November 17.

Park kept busy, retaining his belts with a 15-round draw against Canto on September 9 and a TKO-2 over Espadas on December 6. He also won twice in defense of his titles in the first four months of 1980, outpointing Filipino Arnel Arrozal on February 10 and Alberto Morales on April 12.

Ibarra lost his the WBA title a week after Park had defeated Arrozal. He was knocked out in the 2nd round by South Korea's Tae-Shik Kim. Kim made one successful defense, a unanimous decision over Arrozal on June 29, before losing the title via a split decision to South African Peter Mathebula on December 13.

By that time, Park was an ex-champion. He had been KOed in 9 by Shoji Oguma on May 18. Oguma also defended the assortment of titles he had taken from Park twice in '80- retaining the lineal, Ring, and WBC championships with split decisions over Sung Jun Kim on July 28 and Park on October 18. He gave Park a second opportunity to win back the titles on February 3, 1981 but denied him the trophies with a majority decision. Oguma's second reign ended in his next bout when he was kayoed in 7 by Antonio Avelar on May 12.

Mathebula had already been dethroned at that point as he was stopped in 7 by Santos Laciar of Argentina on March 28. Laciar's first reign as a champ ended with his first defense as he dropped a 15-round, unanimous decision to former WBA titlist Luis Ibarra on June 6.

Avelar successfully defended his "triple crown" on August 30, 1981 with a second-round knockout over former WBA champion Tae-Shik Kim while Ibarra lost his newly acquired WBA belt to Juan Herrera of Mexico via an 11th round TKO on September 26. Herrera closed the flyweight title activity for the year with a successful defense against Betulio Gonzalez, halting the former 3-time champ in the 7th round on December 19.

Both Avelar and Herrera were dethroned when they put their titles on the line in 1982. Avelar was steamrolled in the first round by Colombian Prudenco Cardona on March 20 and Herrera was stopped in 13 by former WBA champ Laciar on May 1.

Cardona dropped the WBC, Ring, and lineal titles on July 24, losing a unanimous decision to Mexico's Freddy Castillo. Three weeks later, Laciar retained his WBA title with a split decision over Betulio Gonzalez, and on November 5, made the second defense of his second reign, halting Denmark-based Kenyan Steve Muchoki in 13. The very next day, Castillo lost his "three titles" by split decision to Eleoncio Mercedes of the Dominican Republic.

Laciar retained the WBA through 1983 with three successful defenses- a TKO-9 over Ramon Nery of the Dominican Republic on March 4,, a TKO-2 over Japan's Shuichi Hozumi on May 5, and a TKO-1 over South Korean Hi-Sup Shin on July 17. The WBC, Ring, and lineal triad, however, continued to be a "hot potato" as Mercedes was stopped by England's Charlie Magri in 7 on March 15 and Magri, in turn, lost the belts to Filipino Frank Cedeno by a TKO in the 6th round on September 27.

On December 23, 1983, the IBF held its inaugural flyweight title bout and South Korea's Soon-Chun Kwon, the OPBF super flyweight champion and a former WBA super flyweight title challenger, knocked out Rene Busayong of the Philippines in the 5th round to join Cedeno and Laciar as the flyweight division's reigning champions.

Cedeno did not remain a member of the club for long. In his first defense, on January 18, 1984, he was defrocked by Japan's Koji Kobayashi who halted the defending lineal champion in the 2nd round, thus also winning the WBC title and recognition by Ring Magazine.

Kobayashi, too, lost in his first defense. He was starched in the second round by Gabriel Bernal of Mexico on April 9. Bernal actually made a successful defense, a TKO-11 over Spanish-born Frenchman Antoine Montero on June 1, before losing a 12-round, unanimous decision to Thailand's Sot Chitalada.

Laciar, again, had a stellar year. He won a 15-round, split decision over former WBA champion Herrera on January 28, knocked out former WBC, Ring, and lineal champ Cardona in the 10th round on September 15, and scored a 15-round, unanimous decision over former two-time WBC light flyweight champ and future WBA flyweight titlist Hilario Zapata on December 8.

Kwon, too, made it through 1984, with his title belt still in his possession. He made three successful defenses, posting a 12-round, technical decision over Filipino Roger Castillo on February 25, a 15-round, unanimous decision over Ian Clyde of Canada on May 19, and knocking out a fighter billed as legitimate Colombian contender Alberto Castro in 12on September 7. It turned out the fighter Kwon KOed was not Castro but an imposter, an unranked Colombian named Joaquin Flores Caballero.

Thus 1984 ended with a dominant WBA champion, a lineal, WBC and Ring champion who would prove to be dominant, and an IBF titlist who, despite the Castro/Caballero fiasco, was proving to be formidable as well.

Chitalada retained his titles through 1985 but Laciar, after a successful defense, vacated his and Kwon, before the year was over, was dethroned. Chitalada stopped former champ Magri in the 5th round of their scheduled 12-rounder February 20 and battled to a 12-round draw with his predecessor Bernal on June 22.

Laciar made his 9th and final defense of his second reign as WBA champion on May 6, winning a unanimous, 15-round decision over Antoine Montero who had won both of his fights since his failed attempt to dethrone Bernal 11 months earlier. Announcing his intention to campaign as a super flyweight, Laciar voluntarily relinquished his title July 19.

Kwon fought to a 15-round draw with his countryman Chong-Kwon Chung (also listed as Jong Kwon Chung) January 25, knocked out Japan's overmatched and underqualified Shinobu Kawashima in the 3rd round April 14, fought to another 15-round stalemate with Chung July 17, and, on December 20, was stopped by Chung in the 4th round, ending his reign as the IBF titlist.

The WBA title did not remain vacant for long. On October 5, the former two-time light flyweight kingpin Zapata became a champion for the third time, winning a 15-round, unanimous decision over Alonzo Gonzalez (AKA Alonso B. Strongbow), whom he had outpointed over 10 rounds earlier in the year.

The lineal title as well as the WBC and Ring belts remained in Chitalada's possession through 1986 also. On February 22, he outpointed former champion Freddy Castillo over 12 rounds and duplicated that result on December 10 when he convincingly completed his trilogy with Bernal.

In his first defense, Chung, on April 27, lost a 15-round, majority decision to fellow Korean Bi-Won Chung, who, in turn, on August 2, lost the IBF diadem via a 15th round TKO at the fists of another Korean, Hi-Sup Shin. Shin retained the title aith a 13th round stoppage of USBA champ Henry "Hot Pepper" Brent of New York on November 22.

Zapata was busy, defending his belt 5 times with 15-round decisions over Mexico's Javier Lucas on January 31, Japanese champion Shuichi Hozumi on April 7, previously unbeaten Filipino Dodie Boy Penalosa, who had vacated the IBF junior flyweight title to campaign at 112, on July 5, Colombia's Alberto Castro (the real Alberto Castro) on September 13, and Brazilian Claudemir Dias on December 7.

Chitalada, who had fought four times in 1986, winning two non-title bouts in addition to his title defenses, fought only once in 1987, retaining his lineal, WBC, and Ring titles with a 4th round KO over Seoul's Ri-Ki Ahn on September 5.

Shin, also of Seoul, was dethroned by Penalosa, who knocked out the defending IBF champion in the 4th round of their February 22 bout. Unlike his reign at 108, Penalosa's stint as a flyweight titleholder was over the first time he put the title on the line. Korean Chang-Ho Choi dethroned the popular Pinoy on September 5, coming from behind to knock out Penalosa in the 11th round.

Colombia's unbeaten Fidel Bassa upset Zapata on February 13, winning a unanimous, 15-round decision. After stopping Northern Ireland's Dave McAuley in the 13th round on April 25 in his first defense, Bassa granted Zapata a rematch. The two battled to a 15-round draw on August 15. Bassa closed his 1987 campaign on December 18 by retaining the WBA title with a 12-round decision over Bronx-based Dominican Felix Marti.

In 1988, the lineal title changed hands. Chitalada, after a successful January 31 defense in which he stopped Japan's unbeaten but relatively inexperienced Hideaki Kamishiro in 6 rounds, dropped the lineal, Ring, and WBC titles to undefeated South Korean Yong Kang Kim, losing a 12-round, unanimous decision on July 24. Kim hung on to the titles by unanimously outpointing Japan-based Filipino Emil Matsushima (Emil Romano) over 12 rounds on November 12.

Choi lost the IBF title in his first defense to Rolando Bohol of the Philippines. Bohol won by split decision after 15 rounds on January 16. After retaining the title with a 15-round, unanimous verdict over Cho-Won Park of South Korea on May 6th, Bohol traveled to London, England and was stopped in the 11th round by undefeated Duke McKenzie on October 5. For McKenzie, the IBF flyweight title was the first of three world titles he would capture. In 1991, he outpointed Gaby Canizales for the WBO bantamweight belt and in 1992, after losing that title, decisioned Jesse Benavides for the WBO junior featherweight crown.

WBA champ Fidel Bassa was more fortunate as he kept his title through the year. On March 26, he outpointed McAuley in Belfast and on October 2, he outscored American Ray Medel, the then USBA titleholfder, in San Antonio, Texas.

1989 was a significant year in flyweight history. It was during 1989 that the "lineal" title no longer was equated with that of The Ring. It was also the year a fourth organization would anoint its first champion.

On March 2, 1989, The Ring ceased publication for seven months. When the magazine resumed publication, a new policy was in effect. The Ring did not, with a few exceptions, recognize champions. It just rated the top ten fighters in each division. By 1992, no champions were recognized by "The Bible of Boxing." That policy remained in place until 2001-2002. Instead of tracing the lineage of the various titles, The Ring elected to ignore 12 to 13 years of boxing history and start "anew."

Yong Kang Kim, the last flyweight champion recognized by The Ring, defended his lineal and WBC titles on March 5, outpointing Leopard Tamakuma of Japan. In his next defense, on June 3, he lost the lineal and WBC titles back to Sot Chitalada by split decision.

Bassa retained the WBA belt on April 15 stopping Panamanian national champion Julio Gudino in the 6th round. Gudino had earned his shot with an upset decision over Zapata.

On September 30, Bassa lost the WBA title to Venezuelan Jesus "Kiki" Rojas via a split decision.

IBF titleholder Duke McKenzie retained his title on March 8, stopping American Tony De Luca in the 4th round. On June 7, in his next defense, McKenzie was unanimously outpointed by former two-time WBA title challenger Dave McAuley. McAuley made his first defense on November 8, winning a split decision over the former IBF junior flyweight and flyweight champ Dodie Boy Penalosa.

The WBO got into the act on March 3, sanctioning its inaugural flyweight title bout. Colombian southpaw Elvis Alvarez posted a 12-round, unanimous decision over Los Angeles, California-based Dominican Miguel Mercedes to become the WBO's first champion at 112 pounds.

Other organizations would later crown flyweight champs but for the purpose of this article, those groups and their champions will be mentioned only when their paths cross those of the lineal champ and/or the champions of the four major sanctioning bodies.

In 1990, Chitalada retained the lineal and WBC titles throughout the year. He outpointed Filipino Ric Siodora, a future WBF featherweight champion, on January 30, and Argentinian Carlos Gabriel Salazar who would go on to win the IBF junior bantamweight and WBO flyweight titles, on May 1. Both of those bouts took place in Bangkok but, for his next defense on September 7, Sot traveled to Kingston, Jamaica where he stopped Clarke, who owned wins over Alfonso Lopez, Wayne Mulholland, Amado Ursua, Juan Herrera, Prudencio Cardona, and Julio Gudino, in the 11th round. Chitalada again defended his titles on the road, this time in Seoul, South Korea on November 24 against former WBC light flyweight champion Jung-Koo Chang. He won a majority decision over "The Korean Hawk."

Rojas lost the WBA title on March 10, dropping a split decision to Yul-Woo Lee in Daejon, South Korea. On July 29, Lee was stopped by Leopard Tamakuma in the 10th round in Mita, Japan. Tokyo resident Tamakuma retained the title with a 12-round draw against Rojas on December 6. The bout was fought in Aomori, the city in which Tamakuma was born.

The IBF champion, McAuley, also held on to his title throughout the year, winning unanimous decisions over American Louis Curtis on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, and Colombian Rodolfo Blanco on September 15. Both bouts were held in Belfast.

Alvarez, after winning the WBA Fedelatin title in February, vacated the WBO title the following month. A former WBC and WBO title challenger at 108 pounds, Isidro Perez of Mexico, became the WBO's second flyweight champion when he TKOed Puerto Rico's Angel Rosario, a former WBO junior bantamweight title challenger, in the 12th round on August 18. Perez successfully defended the title against Chilean Alli Galvez, whose only loss had been to defending WBO junior flyweight titlist Jose De Jesus. On November 3, Perez beat Galvez by unanimous decision.

On February 15, 1991, fellow Thai, Muangchai Kittikasem, a former IBF junior flyweight champion, took the lineal and WBC titles from Chitalada, stopping the two-time champion in the 6th round. Kittikasem survived his first defense at 112 by rising from 3 knockdowns to dramatically stop Jung-Koo Chang with 14 seconds remaining in the 12th and final round. The bout, held May 18 in Seoul, was Chang's last.

After a non-title win over Filipino bantamweight Lito Gonzaga, Kittikasem retained his titles with a majority decision over Mexican champ Alberto Jimenez, a future WBO titlist, on October 25.

On March 14, Tamakuma lost the WBA title to former WBO champion Elvis Alvarez by unanimous decision. Alvarez' second reign didn't last long as he was outpointed by former lineal, WBC, and Ring champion Yong Kang Kim on June 1. Kim got by his first WBA challenger, former WBA minimumweight champ Leo Gamez, winning a unanimous decision on October 5. Gamez would later win WBA titles at 108, 112, and 115.

McAuley continued to reign as the IBF champion. Again fighting in Belfast, he won a unanimous decision over Pedro Jose Feliciano of Puerto Rico on May 11 and knocked out future WBO flyweight and WBO, IBA, and WBU junior flyweight champion Jacob Matlala in the 10th round of their September 7 title tiff.

Perez also kept the WBO title during 1991. He was stopped in a non-title bout with Ismael Rodriguez on April 10 but, on August 10, he made his one and only defense of the year and won a split decison over Galvez in Chile.

There were ten flyweight title bouts held in 1992. Kittikasem retained his WBC belt and the lineal title by stopping Chitalada in their rematch on February 28. WBO champ Perez was dethroned on March 18, losing a split decision to Pat Clinton of Scotland. Six days later, Kim retained the WBA strap by knocking out previously unbeaten Filipino Jonathan Penalosa (Dodie Boy and Gerry's brother) in the 6th round.

On June 11, Rodolfo Blanco, in his third title shot and second for the IBF flyweight championship, outpointed McAuley in Bilbao, Spain. Kittikasem joined McAuley as an ex-champ when, on June 23, he was KOed in the 8th round by Tokyo-based Russian Yuri Arbachakov.

On September 19, Clinton retained his WBO title with a unanimous decision over Danny Porter while a week later, Kim was shockingly upset in Pohang City, South Korea by Venezuelan Aguiles Guzman who won the WBA title by unanimous decision.

For his first defense of the lineal and WBC titles, which was held on October 22, the undefeated Arbachakov was matched with previously undefeated South Korean Yun Un Chin who owned wins over Jesus "Kiki" Rojas and Rolando Pascua. Yuri retained his championships with a unanimous decision.

In 1992's last two flyweight title bouts, IBF champ Blanco was kayoed in the third round by unbeaten Thai challenger Pichit Sithbanprachan on November 29 and Guzman dropped WBA belt by being unanimously outpointed by fellow Venezuelan David Griman on December 15.

Three of the four men who began 1993 as champions retained their titles throughout the year. IBF titlist Sithbanprachan went 5-0 including three successful title defenses. He stopped challengers Antonio Perez of Mexico in 4 rounds on March 6, Kyung-Yun Lee of South Korea in the opening round on July 11, and Miguel Martinez of Mexico in the 9th round on October 3. Lineal and WBC champ Arbachakov also made three defenses, TKOing Kittikasem in the 9th round of their March 20 rematch and winning unanimous 12-round decisions over Mexico's Ysaias Zamudio on July 16 and South Korean Nam Hoon Cha on December 13. WBA champion Griman turned back the challenges of Japan's Hiroki Ioka, a former WBC champion at 105 and a former WBA champ at 108, and Colombia's Alvaro Mercado. He halted Ioka in the 8th round on June 21 and scored a unanimous decision over Mercado on October 4.

Clinton was stopped by former IBF title challenger Matlala in the 8th round on May 15. The newly crowned South African then won a non-title bout on July 24 before putting the WBO belt up for grabs on December 4. He retained it by stopping Italian-born, Connecticut-based challenger Luigi Camputaro in the 7th round.

Sithbanprachan was the first of the four flyweight titlists to defend his belt in 1994. He won a 12-round, unanimous decision over previously unbeaten American Arthur Johnson on January 23. He would defend the title one more time, a split decision over Mexico's Jose Luis Zepeda on May 8, before announcing his retirement on November 25, thus vacating the IBF championship.

WBA champ Griman lost his title to Thai Saen Por Ploenchit via a 12-round, unanimous decsion on February 13. Ploenchit proved to be a very active champion, defending his title four times during the year. He outpointed a trio of former champions, Jesus "Kiki" Rojas (unanimous decision, April 10), Agulies Guzman (majority decision, June 11), and Yong Kang Kim (unanimous decision, September 24), and stopped New York and Miami-based Dominican Porfirio Danny Nunez in 11 (December 25).

Matlala retained the WBO title with successful defenses against London-based Francis Ampofo of Ghana (TKO-9 on June 11) and Filipino Pretty Boy Lucas (unanimous decision on October 15). For Lucas, it was his fourth attempt to wrest a world title. He previously had three title shots at 105.

In his only defense of the year, lineal and WBC champion Arbachakov retained those titles when beat future WBA champion Hugo Rafael Soto. Arbachakov knocked out the former Argentine, South American, and UBA champ in the 8th round on August 1.

In 1995, it was Arbachakov who made the first flyweight title defense. On January 30, he scored a 12-round, unanimous decision over Oscar Arciniega of Mexico. He made one other defense during the year, unanimously outpointing previously unbeaten Chatchai Elite-Gym on September 25. It should be noted that "Elite-Gym" would later fight as Chatchai Dutchboy Gym, as Chatchai Singwangcha, and as Chatchai Sasakul.

Matlala lost the WBO title to former WBC and WBB title challenger Alberto Jimenez on February 11. Jimenez stopped Matlala in 8 rounds.

Let me digress for a moment. Matlala would go on to capture the WBO junior flyweight title before the year was over. In 1997, he vacated that title to challenge Michael Carbajal for the IBA version. After scoring a major upset over the future Hall of Famer, Matlala made three defenses of that championship. Later in his career, after failing to regain the WBO junior flyweight title, Matlala won the WBU version and defended that belt twice before retiring in 2002.

Now back to 1995 and Mr. Jimenez. "Raton" made his first defense against Robbie Regan on June 17, stopping the Welshman at the end of the 9th round. Former WBF title challenger and future IBO flyweight and super flyweight champion Zolie Mbityi of South Africa was next on Jimenez' agenda. Alberto again retained his belt, halting Mbityi in the 2nd round on October 9.

The vacant IBF title was up for grabs on February 18. Francisco Tejedor of Colombia TKOed Zepeda in 7 rounds to succeed Sithbanprachan but his reign ended less than two months later. He lost his title by unanimous decision to Danny Romero of the United States on April 12. Romero made one successful defense, a KO-6 over former Sithbanprachan challenger Miguel Martinez on July 29, before moving up in weight on a trial basis. His September 8 non-title bout with veteran Willy Salazar ended badly. Romero, suffering a fractured orbital bone, lost by TKO in the 7th round of what would Ring Magazine would proclaim the "Upset of the Year."

Ploenchit defended his WBA diadem twice in '95- with a unanimous decision over Evangelio Perez of Panama on May 7 and by stopping former strawweight and light flyweight champ Ioka in 10 rounds on October 17.

With Romero sidelined, the IBF sanctioned an "interim" title bout between Regan and previously unbeaten Ferid Ben Jeddou, an Italy-based Tunisian, Regan had no problem solving Ben Jeddou's southpaw style and knocked him out in the 2nd round of their December 16 encounter.

1996, however, would see both Romero and Regan leave the flyweight ranks for good. Romero knocked out former WBO junior bantamweight champion Jose Quirino in one round on February 27 in a non-title, over-the-weight bout and decided to relinquish the IBF's flyweight title. (After one more tuneup win, Romero dethroned two-time IBF junior bantamweight champ Harold Grey on August 21.) The title did not go to interim champ Regan because he was committed to a shot at the rival WBO's bantamweight title. (On April 26, Regan, in his last bout before retiring, outpointed defending WBO bantamweight titlist Daniel Jimenez.) Instead, the IBF sanctioned a bout between former IBF champ Tejedor and long-reigning WBB champ Mark "Too Sharp" Johnson to fill the vacancy created by Romero's departure from the division. Johnson KOed Tejedor in the first round on May 4. He defended the IBF title against Mexican champion Raul Juarez (Juarez' second title shot of 1996- see below) on August 5 and retained it with a TKO-8.

Ploenchit, the first of the 112-pound champs to defend in '96, made three successful defenses during the year before losing the WBA title. On January 14, he unanimously outpointed previously undefeated Yong-Soon Chang of South Korea; on March 24, he won a split decision over former and future multi-divisional champion Leo Gamez; and, on September 8, he scored a unanimous verdict over PABA champion Alexander Mahmutov of Russia. Ploenchit's reign ended the 10th time he put his title on the line. On November 24, fighting in Thailand, Ploenchit lost an upset, unanimous decision to Jose Bonilla of Venezuela.

Arbachakov remained the lineal and WBC champion throughout 1996 by unanimously outpointing Raul Juarez (see above) on February 2 and stopping Japanese titlist Takato "Puma" Tokuchi in 9 rounds on August 26.

Jimenez also made three successful defenses during the year before being dethroned. He retained the WBO belt by stopping two-time IBF title challenger Miguel Martinez in 5 on March 23, by outpointing Puerto Rico's Jose "Carita" Lopez on June 1, and with a split decision draw against former IBF junior bantamweight champion Carlos Gabriel Salazar on September 6. Jimenez granted Salazar an immediate rematch and, on December 13, was stopped by the Argentinian in the 10th round.

In 1997, the IBF, WBA, and WBO titles remained with the fighters who finished 1996 as champions. The lineal and WBC titles, however, changed hands.

IBF champ Johnson made three defenses. He sandwiched a June 1 KO-2 over former NABF bantamweight champion and WBC super flyweight title challenger Cecilio Espino of Mexico between unanimous, 12-round points verdicts over Alejandro Felix Montiel of Mexico and Puerto Rico's Angel Almena on February 10 and September 16 respectively. Almena, incidentally, was a former IBO super flyweight champion and a former WBU flyweight titlist as well.

WBA kingpin Bonilla also made three defenses. First up, on February 25, was Hiroki Ioka, the two-time lesser weight champion who was challenging for the WBA flyweight title for the third of four times. Bonilla stopped him in the 7th round. Next, on August 23, Bonilla met Evangelio Perez, who had won 4 in a row since losing to Ploenchit, and unanimously outpointed him over 12 rounds. Then, November 22, Bonilla halted former WBA light flyweight champion Keiji Yamaguchi in the 6th round.

Salazar retained the WBO title through four 1997 defenses. On March 8, he was held to an upset draw by Mexico's Antonio Ruiz but outpointed Ruiz in their May 23 rematch. Salazar then won a unanimous decision over former European and reigning Italian champion Salvatore Fanni on July 19 and finished up his year on October 10 with another unanimous decision win, turning back the challenge of Everardo Morales of Mexico.

On May 9, Chatchai Elite-Gym (AKA Dutchboy Gym, AKA Singwangcha, AKA Sasakul), who had won 8 straight since losing to Arbachakov in 1995, and Ysaias Zamudio, who was 11-1 since his 1993 loss to Arbachakov, met for the interim version of the WBC title. Chatchai won by unanimous decision. He made one defense of the interim belt, a TKO-7 over future WBO junior flyweight champion Juan Domingo Cordoba of Argentina on August 1 before traveling to Sapporo, Japan for his November 12 rematch with Arbachakov. Arbachakov was making his first appearance since stopping Tokuchi in August of 1996. Chatchai unified the WBC title, thus becoming the new lineal champion, by unanimously outpointing Arbachakov over 12 rounds. It was Arbachakov's last fight. He announced his retirement in January of 1998, leaving the sport with a 23-1 record.

The IBF title was the only flyweight championship not to change hands in 1998. Johnson retained it by knocking out fellow American Arthur Johnson in the first round on February 22, by winning a one-sided unanimous decision over Luis Rolon of Puerto Rico on July 26, and by stopping Jose Laureano, also of Puerto Rico, in the eighth round on September 4.

The first flyweight champion to be dethroned in '98 was the WBA's, Bonilla. On May 29, in the only WBA flyweight title bout of the year, Argentina's Hugo Rafael Soto won a split decision over the Venezuelan at the neutral site of Las Vegas, Nevada. Soto had previously challenged unsuccessfully for the WBC flyweight title in 1994 and for the WBO and WBF junior bantamweight titles in 1996 and 1997 respectively.

Salazar kept the WBO title by winning a 12-round unanimous decision over Jose "Carita" Lopez. (It was Lopez' second of 4 shots at the WBO flyweight title; Lopez would become a champion in his fifth try at a title by winning the vacant WBO junior bantamweight on March 28, 2009.)

On August 14, in his next defense, Salazar lost his title. He was TKOed in the 8th round by former WBB champion Ruben Sanchez Leon. The new champ put the title on the line on December 18 and won a unanimous decision over former Salazar challenger Salvatore Fanni.

Chatchai, now using the ring name of Dutchboy Gym, won a 12-round unanimous decision over South Korean challenger Young-Jin Kim on February 27 and KOed one-time WBA title challenger Yong-Soon Chang in the 5th round on May 1st. He then signed to face the 23-1, 19-year-old Filipino southpaw Manny Pacquiao.

On December 4, Pacquiao knocked out the defending WBC and lineal champion in the 8th round.

After scoring a non-title TKO-3 win over Australian Todd Makelim on February 20, Pacquiao prepared for his frst defense. On April 24, he made that defense, halting Gabriel Mira of Mexico in the 4th round. The deserving Mira had beaten Yong-Soon Chang in a WBC eliminator in March of 1998 only to see Chang get a shot at Pacquiao's predecessor, Chatchai Dutchboy Gym, two months later.

As hard as he tried, Pacquiao could not make the weight for his next defense. He lost his titles on the scale. His September 17 bout with Medgoen 3-K Battery (who now fights as Medgoen Singsurat) went on as scheduled. If Pacquiao won, the lineal and WBC championships would have remained vacant. The titles were available only for the Thai challenger to win and win he did. 3-K Battery knocked out Pacquiao, who had been badly weakened by his failed attempt to to get down to 112 pounds, in the 3rd round.

Pacquiao would be heard from again! Before the year was out, he jumped up to the super bantamweight class and won the WBC International title. He would go on to win the IBF world junior featherweight title, the lineal and Ring world featherweight titles, the WBC and vacant lineal world super featherweight titles, and the WBC world lightweight title. At the time this is being written, Pacquiao is in training to challenge lineal, Ring, and IBO world junior welterweight champion Ricky Hatton. Not the greatest flyweight champion but possibly the greatest pound-for-pound fighter to hold the flyweight title, "Pac Man" is the only fighter in the history of the professional boxing to capture the title at 112 pounds and go on to win a title above 122 pounds.

Of course, there was more going on in the flyweight division in 1999 than just lineal and WBC title bouts. On March 13, at New York's Madison Square Garden, WBA champion Soto was KOed in his first defense by former WBA minimumweight and light flyweight champion Leo Gamez. On May 29, Gamez, in his next bout, won the interim version of the WBA super flyweight title. He followed that with a defense of flyweight championship against Thailand's Sornpichai Kratingdaenggym, a former WBU flyweight titlist on September 3. Kratingdaenggym, whose real last name is Pisanurachank, knocked out Gamez in the 3rd round.

Gamez too would be heard from again- winning the "full" version of the WBA super flyweight title in 2000.

Mark Johnson officially moved up to the 115-pound weight class and vacated the IBF title. His move was a successful one. On April 24, "Too Sharp" won the vacant IBF junior bantamweight championship.

Exactly two weeks earlier, a bout to fill the vacancy caused by Mark's move up in weight was held, pitting Colombian Irene Pacheco against Luis Cox Coronado of Peru. Pacheco won by TKO in the ninth round. He successfully defended the title on October 16, blasting out Ferid Ben Jeddou in the 4th round. Ben Jeddou's only previous loss came in 1995 when he fought for the IBF's interim title.

WBO champ Sanchez Leon lost his belt on April 23 when he was stopped in the 3rd round by Spain's Jose Lopez Bueno. The new champion made one successful defense, a TKO-7 over Russian Igor Gerasimov on June 4, before relinquishing the title.

On December 18, last minute substitute Isidro Garcia, a Los Angeles-based Mexican filling in for fellow Mexican Alejandro Felix Montiel, upset Jose "Carita" Lopez (for Lopez, title shot #3) by unanimous decision to win the vacant WBO title.

The lineal and WBC titles changed hands in 2000 as did the WBA and WBO titles. Only the IBF title remained with the same fighter for all 366 days of the leap year.

Fighting as Medgoen Toyota-Thailand, the former "Medgoen 3-K Battery" won a unanimous decision over Japan's Masashi Kawabata in his first defense on February 25 but on May 19, he was stopped in the 7th round by unbeaten Filipino challenger Malcolm Tunacao. The new champ made one defense in 2000. On August 20, Tunacao retained the lineal and WBC titles with a split decision draw against future WBA super flyweight Celes Kobayashi of Japan.

WBA champion Kratingdaenggym knocked out Filipino Archie Villamor in the third round of a non-title bout on January 28 and, in his last successful title defense, stopped Venezuelan Gilberto Gonzalez, who owned wins over Jose Bonilla, Josue Camacho, Manny Melchor, Jorge Lacierva, and Aguiles Guzman, in the 5th round on April 8. On August 5, Kratingdaenggym, fighting in Puerto Rican challenger Eric Morel's adopted hometown of Madison, Wisconsin, lost a one-sided, unanimous decision in a bout nationally televised in the United States. Morel defended the WBA title twice in 2000, outpointing Mexican challengers Alberto Ontiveros, who he had previously beaten in defense of the IBA junior bantamweight title he held from 1998, on October 7 and Gilberto Keb Baas, who owned wins over Omar Nino Romero and Melchor Cob Castro, on December 15.

Garcia turned back the challenge of former WBB junior bantamweight champion Jose Rafael Sosa, stopping the Argentinian contender in the 6th round August 19 but lost the WBO title when he was stopped by Mexico's Fernando Montiel in the 7th round on December 15.

IBF titlist Pacheco defeated a pair of previously unbeaten challengers in his 2000 title defenses. He knocked out USBA champion Pedro Pena in the 11th round on January 14 and won a majority decision over South African Masibulele "Hawk" Makepula on November 10. Makepula, the WBU light flyweight champion, had won the vacant WBO title at 108 but relinquished it to defend the WBU belt instead. He would go on to win the IBO flyweight championship in 2002.

Article By: Ken Pollitt