July 10, 2000
TOKYO, JAPAN-Busy puncher Koji Arisawa, 130, kept his Japanese super-feather title as he fought a grueling battle to a majority draw with top contender Tetsuya Shinozaki, 130, over 10.
Scored: Abe 96-95 for the champ, Fukuchi 96-96 and Uchida 97-97. Kodai Kumazaki was the referee.
It’s a really see-saw affair with Shinozaki scoring short left-right combos and Arisawa retaliating with crisp combos. The WBC #17 ranked 130-pound contender Arisawa, making his 5th defense, had the upper hand in later rounds.
Koji, one of the well-known Arisawa twins along with Japan’s #1 ranked feather Kazu, raised his credentials to 24-1-1, 19 KOs with his sole defeat at the hand of the current WBA light kingpin Takanori Hatakeyama. Shinozaki, a late bloomer, is 13-6-7, 6 KOs.
Koji was gunning for a title crack at the WBA 130-pounder ruler Joel Casamayor in the near future. His performance didn’t look bad despite the drawn verdict, since Shinozaki showed a tremendous fight against the prohibitive favorite Koji.
Takanori Kariya, 130, displayed beautiful left hooks, dropping Koji Mukai, 129 1/2, thrice en route to an automatic stoppage at 2:59 of the opening session in a scheduled 8.
Kariya, coached by Japan-based Mexican and ex-national feather champ Roberto Arredondo (the younger brother of Rene Arredondo), improved his mark to 8-1, 2 KOs. This boy is sharp and promising. Mukai dipped to 9-3, 6 KOs.
Promoter: Soka Arisawa Promotions.
(7-10-00)