Battling to make the weight, he lost the title in his first defense to Orzubek Nazarov, and lost a rematch to Nazarov in 1994.
In 1994 he took on Orzubek Nazarov for the WBA Lightweight Title, but suffered a TKO in the 2nd.
He won the WBA lightweight title in 1993 in South Africa against Dingaan Thobela and defended it on the road against contenders Thobela, Joey Gamache and Leavander Johnson and two lesser fighters in his adopted home country.