October 20, 2001
TOKYO, JAPAN-Unbeaten WBC No.17 ranked Nobuaki Naka (15-0, 10 KOs), 118, barely kept his Japanese national belt as he was awarded a split technical decision over top ranked Hisataka Ikemori (15-5-3, 7 KOs), 118, who bled too profusely to go on at 2:00 of the 7th round.
It was a grudge fight since Naka defended his belt on a highly controversial decision over Ikemori in Osaka last February, although many thought Ikemori had won due to his more accurate shots.
Ikemori almost stunned the champ with an opening overhand right in the first round, but Naka made good use of his youth and power despite missing plenty and maintained the pressure from the second round on. It became a gory affair, as Iekmori suffered a gash in the third, and Naka in the 4th.
Naka remained aggressive, but Ikemori seemingly took the 5th and 6th with his good shots with precision. Ikemori had his face in crimson as the contest progressed, so the referee Morita finally declared a halt and took a technical decision.
Naka, a highly expected hard-puncher in Amagasaki, once trained at the camp of Marco Antonio Barrera in Mexico, but he couldn’t display his progress against the game and durable speedster.
The OPBF #2 ranked ex-Japanese feather champ Toshikage Kimura (24-3-4, 13 KOs), 128, finally caught Korean #5 super-feather Jaewoo Park (8-6-1, 5 KOs), 128, dropped him before halting him at 2:39 of the 6th canto.
Kimura, in his previous bout, dismantled Aussie Tony Wehbee in the first round on the undercard of the WBA lightweight title bout between Takanori Hatakeyama and Julien Lorcy in Saitama on July 1. He is gunning for a shot at the OPBF 126-pound belt against compatriot Takashi Koshimoto.
Promoter: Teiken Promotions.
(10-20-01)