NAJERA
A CEBU-BASED professional boxing judge has been named as one of the three judges who will officiate the world title showdown between Milan Melindo and Akira Yaegashi on May 21 at the Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo, Japan.
Arnie Najera will be judging his first world title fight and will be joined by William Bill Lerch of the United States (US) and Japan’s Takeshi Shimakawa.
Eddie Hernandez of the US will serve as the third man on the ring when Melindo fights Yaegashi for the International Boxing Federation (IBF) World light flyweight belt.
Yaegashi is the division’s regular champion, while Melindo is the interim champion.
“I know that it’s every judge’s dream to officiate a world title fight. I hope to give justice to the two boxers come fight night,” said Najera, who works as a full-time finance manager of an international humanitarian organization.
A son of a former professional boxer, Najera’s first stint as boxing judge came in September 2012 when he officiated the Arthur Villanueva-Pramuansak Posuwan fight in one of the editions of Pinoy Pride boxing series at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino.
Since then, the Labo, Camarines Norte-native Najera has been a regular fixture in local and international fights, judging fights sanctioned by various boxing bodies such as the World Boxing Organization, World Boxing Federation and World Professional Boxing Federation.
Najera was notified of the gigantic assignment by Lindsey Tucker, who is the chairman of IBF’s assignments of officials.
“I am honored and felt privileged to have been given the chance to officiate a fight of this magnitude. I will score the fight according to what I’ll see atop the ring – fairly and justly,” Najera said.