July 7, 2001
NAGOYA, JAPAN-Unbeaten WBC #8 ranked southpaw Hiroshi Nakano, 112, kept his OPBF flyweight title and ran his inblemished mark to 16-0, 10 KOs as he repeatedly had Korean Woohee Chang, 111.25, at bay, withstood his desperate retaliation and finally dropped him twice en route to a fine TKO win at 1:24 of the 10th round.
Nakano, handled by ex-WBC 122-pound champ Kiyoshi Hatanaka, took the initiative with his trade-mark combinations from the second round on, but sustained a nasty cut at the left eyebrow in the 5th.
Chang, Korean #1 contender, displayed his incredible resilience and durability, and amazingly battered the champ to win a point in the 7th. Nakano fought back hard and weakened him with resistless rallies so effectively that he floored Chang twice in the fatal session. Chang, who won the praise of the crowd with his remarkable fighting spirit, dipped to 8-5-1, 3 KOs.
Ex-WBC flyweight champ Medgoen Singsurat, 114.5, showed his control of the proceedings from the third round on, and impressively scored a KO victory over local prospect Yosuke Kobayashi, 113.5, with a beautiful left-right combination at 1:20 of the 9th round.
Kobayashi, 15-2, 10 KOs, made a good start by utilizing his superior height and reach, but Medgoen, 24-2, 15 KOs, turned loose in the third with his versatile combos from all angles to dominate the fight thereafter.
Medgoen bloodied the Japanese prospect’s nose with his accurate jabs and combinations, and battered the breadbasket so effectively as to stop Kobayashi’s footwork. His one-two combo sent him sprawling to the deck, and the Japanese barely pulled himself up but wobbled to be counted out by the referee.
Both were very hot battles that greatly entertained the spectators at Shiratori Century Hall.
Promoter: Hatanaka Promotions.
Matchmaker: Joe Koizumi.
(7-7-01)