Thomas Americo From Dili, East Timor - a tiny country on the north coast on Indonesia, in Southeast Asia. On August 15, 1980 - the 21 year-old Thomas Americo won the Oriental & Pacific Boxing Federation Light-Welterweight Championship by defeating {KO 8} Champion and #4 WBC Light-Welterweight - South Korean Sang-Moo Koo 21-1-2 (13 KO's). The victory put Thomas Americo into the Top 10 of the WBC Light-Welterweight Division, and with the possibility of being the 'first' Indonesian to fight for a World Championship. Very little was known about this 'physically strong' boxer, and records are very spotty in regards to his career before getting a Title Shot on August 29, 1981 - versus WBC Light-Welterweight Champion, the 34 year-old 'Sweet' Saoul Mamby. Early records state, that Thomas Americo may have turned professional in July 1978, at age 19. In the '3-years' prior to fighting Saoul Mamby, it appears that Thomas Americo had compiled a record of 15-0-1 (12 KO's), and was ranked as the #5 WBC Light-Welterweight.
Well there's something. Seems he's hard to find info' on even for you Pepe....mind you, you did this with what, ten minutes?
Flea Man,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, You throw a 'mean challenge'................atsch Tough getting information on Thomas Americo. The Skinny, Don King a Co-Promoter for the August 29, 1981 WBC Light-Welterweight Championship between Saoul Mamby and Thomas Americo. Offered Saoul Mamby an 'astronomical' fight purse of $350,000 to go to Jakarta. The Indonesian backers, were so convinced that Thomas Americo would win, that they threw a crazy amount cash at Saoul.
Saturday Night - August 29, 1981 Bung Karno Stadium, - Jakarta, Indonesia Capacity; 80,000 34 year-old - 'Sweet' Saoul Mamby (WBC Light-Welterweight Champion)...30-12-5 (14 KO's) vs. 22 year-old - Thomas Americo (#4 WBC Light-Welterweight)...15-0-1 (12 KO's) Champion Saoul Mamby (Brooklyn, New York) was making the 4th-Defense of his Championship. The bout was 'Even' on the scorecards after 10-Rounds of heated action. The Indonesian Challenger was the aggressor, as he utlized his incredible strength to bull the Champion into the ropes, and score with heavy body punches. But the 'crafty' Champion - Saoul Mamby was a clever counter-puncher, as he would quickly hit Americo as he was moving in, then tie him up in clinches. The scorecards after 10-Rounds; Referee, Rudy Ortega........96 - 96...(4-4-2 in Rounds)....EVEN Judge, Takeo Ugo............100 - 96..(4-0-6 in Rounds)....for Thomas Americo Judge, Marcello Bertini.......97 - 94...(6-3-1 in Rounds)....for Saoul Mamby But after the 10th-Round, it was all Saoul Mamby as he swept the last '5-Rounds' by out-boxing the strong but tiring young Challenger, using quick left jabs and straight rigth hands to the face of Americo. Neither fighter was hurt badly, and nobody was in any danger of going down. Final Scorecards; Referee, Rudy Ortega.......146-141 Judge, Takeo Ugo............146-146 Judge, Marcello Bertini......147-139 Winner by Majority 15-Round Decision, Saoul Mamby.
Flea Man, By April 1982, Thomas Americo was back up to the #2 WBC Light-Welterweight. Despite losing to Saoul Mamby (L Maj. Dec 15) in August 1981. Then a win in November 1981, (KO 3) over Cornelius Surrea. Then a loss to Sang-Hyun Kim (L Unan. Dec 12) in December 1981, for the OPBF Light-Welterweight Championship. Thomas then won '3' straight bouts in Indonesia, to get to 19-2-1 (16 KO's). But, on April 2, 1982 in Australia (Sydney Opera House) he was out-pointed by Jeff Malcolm. Jeff Malcolm also said that Thomas Americo was 'incredibly strong', but did not know how to avoid a jab.
It's amazing, when I first saw Kim it was against Pryor, and up to that point he was one of the worst fighters I'd ever seen As I've learned about him and watched more of him it's clear to see he was a good contender. Depending on how you view Cervantes after Benitez and whether he was truly the 'champion' again then with his victory over Muangsurin the Korean might well have been the champ'.
Flea Man, It looks like the Indonesian Promoters were trying to get Thomas Americo a World Title in 1981, versus Saoul Mamby. With hopes of putting together a 'big extravaganza' with Obisia Nwankpa for October 1981.
The plot thickens. I always have this image of you, barely able to move, old mags, papers and stacks of paper all around you, and you just pulling stuff out, checking, noting it down, next page, repeat
Flea Man, I've got a million of them............ My guess, was that the Indonesian Promoter, Herman Sarens Sadiro wanted a World Championship for the Southeast Asia region. Saoul Mamby looked like the 'easiset' to take down, so they threw him and Carl King (his manager) $350,000 for the bout in Jakarta. A bout with Nigerian - Obisia Nwankpa was next, with another large fight purse. But Thomas Americo, after fighting a good fight for 10-Rounds, got out-foxed and out-boxed by the 'crafty' Saoul Mamby over the last 5-Rounds.
Sorry for bumping this thread, but i have some interesting facts for you guys. My dad was a friend of Thomas Americo . Apparently he would refuse to sit down or drink water in between rounds because he thought that it would make him weak. This was probably because he was never educated and it probably explains why he tired in the later rounds. He grew up as an orphan and was brought into Indonesia when they discovered his boxing ability. After his career he become bankrupt and he even asked my Dad to loan him some money. He was killed in a political riot during East Timor independence in 2000.