August 24, 2001
TOKYO, JAPAN-WBC No.13 ranked ex-OPBF light flyweight champ Kohki Tanaka (14-3-3, 7 KOs), 114.5, was astonishingly upset by unranked Kazuo Okada (7-2-1, 4 KOs), 115, losing a majority decision over 8.
Tanaka lost his OPBF 108-pound belt via TKO route by Korean Pilkoo Kang probably due to his too severe reduction of weight, so the 5'8" Japanese abandoned a possibility of a rubber battle with Kang to win back the regional title and decided to fight in a 112-pound class.
In his first comebacking fight, he took on a novice who had been fighting in 6-round bouts, so the JBC didn't sanction their 10-round competition but forced them to meet in an 8-round go. An upset happened in such a bout as to have seemed a mismatch.
Tanaka made a good start and took the first two rounds with ease. He might become confident of a victory by KO, so he turned loose, a bit too roundhouse and rough, and took a big right shot to hit the deck in the third. Since then, Tanaka became rougher and rougher as he tried to win back the points of a knockdown and the pace as well. In a give-and-take process, Tanaka attacked hard but also absorbed good shots by the green boy who could punch with his right hand.
Scored: Kumazaki 78-76, Tsuchiya 78-75, both for Okada, and Sarasas 77-77.
Promoter: Rocky Gym.
(8-24-01)
August 22, 2001
TOKYO, JAPAN-We see 24 independent boxing cards in August, so this reporter should not fail to make my respective reports, otherwise there will be unreported results, and tomorrow's fights will take place.
Ex-WBC ranked bantie Hirohisa Ishikawa (16-5-6, 5 KOs), 122, dropped a decision to unranked Jun Toriumi (13-2-1, 2 KOs), 122, over 10.
The currently JBC No.10 ranked Ishikawa, a soft-punching speedster, previously outscored the then WBC international champ Ahmad Fandi without the Indonesian's title at stake, but dropped out of the top 30 due to his upset defeat by unranked Yoshikane Nakajima in the previous year.
Promoter: Kokubunji Saito Promotions.
(8-22-01)