November 23, 2001
NAGOYA, JAPAN-Slick-punching Filipino southpaw Dennis Laurente (16-2-2, 10 KOs), 133.5, acquired the vacant OPBF lightweight title as he dropped previously unbeaten Japanese prospect Yosuke Otsuka (14-1, 12 KOs), three times in the 4th, 9th and 12th en route to a unanimous decision over 12 heats.
Laurente had the upper hand from the outset, and caught the game Japanese with a vicious left in the 4th. Otsuka, ex-Novice King tourney winner, was in command in the 5th through 7th, but Laurente took back the leadoff from the 8th on. He counterpunched the onrushing foe with precision, decking him with an accurate left.
Otsuka tried to come close to the faster opponent, but he hit the deck again in the final session.
Scored: referee Wansoo Yuh (Korea) 115-111, Edwin Sese (Philippines) 118-107, and Takaomi Ito (Japan) 117-112, all for the Filipino lefty who showed a fine form in handling the less experienced rival.
On the same card, Masakazu Sugawara (13-2-3, 6 KOs), 119.5, survived a couple of visits to the deck, completely dominated the second half and scored an important victory by a unanimous decision over veteran Mexican Cuauhtemoc Gomez (48-10, 28 KOs) over 10.
Gomez had Sugawara down in the first and 4th rounds, but he ran out of gas and sustained cuts, fighting with his face in crimson. Sugawara overcame his earlier deficits on points in the 6th through 9th. Gomez was penalized a point for his intentional headbutt in the 9th.
It was a hard-fought affair, but Sugawara’s youth and speed carried him to an upset triumph.
Scored: Tomoto 95-93, Harada 96-91, and Tanimura 94-93, all for Sugawara.
Hard-hitting lefty super-fly Hideyasu Ishihara (8-2-1, 7 KOs), 115.75, displayed his power punching in dropping Korean Taehee Choi (7-4-1, 5 KOs), 115.5, with a vicious left with a towel fluttering in from the loser’s corner at 0:47 of the third round. (This result is registered as a knockout, not a TKO, as we rule that if a towel is tossed in while a referee is counting, it is recorded as a KO.)
Unbeaten speedster Shin Ogata (10-0-1, 4 KOs), 118, decked a significant win over Japanese No.2 ranked super-fly Koji Fujiwara (21-3-1, 16 KOs), 117.75, taking a unanimous decision over 10.
Scored: 98-94, 98-93 and 97-94, all for Ogata.
Promoter: Matsuda Promotions.
Matchmaker: Joe Koizumi
(11-23-01)
November 24, 2001
GIFU, JAPAN-Japanese No.9 flyweight Yusuke Morishima (9-1-4, 1 KO), 115, dropped Thailander Saithong Sriprajan, 113.25, twice and finished him at 2:16 of the third round in a scheduled 10.
Promoter: Gifu Yokozeki Promotions.
Matchmaker: Joe Koizumi.
(11-24-01)