This fight took place in Malang, and Americo upset his opponent with a ten round decision win, after which Buttoms retired.
Once again, Americo upset a far more experienced rival by knocking the South Korean out in round eight to win the OPBF Super Lightweight title.
With these two upset wins, Americo became ranked by the WBC in the Super Lightweight division and got the world title chance that Mo-Koo was expected to receive next.
After 15 torrid rounds, Americo did enough to have Japanese judge Takeo Ugo score the bout a draw at 146-146, but lost on the scorecards of Italian Marcello Berlini by 147-139 and Mexican-American Rudy Ortega by 146-141, therefore losing the fight by a majority decision.
Next, Americo went to Sydney, Australia, to face Australian veteran Jeff Malcolm, 57-19-9, as part of a boxing undercard topped by a fight between Paul Ferreri and John Feeney.
Americo was a victim of one of these, being dragged from his car and shot dead by militia on September 7, 1999, shortly before East Timor gained its independence.