January 23, 2002
TOKYO, JAPAN-A great ceremony was held for presenting awards to our outstanding boxers for their activities in the previous year. The ceremony was supported by the Japan Boxing Commission (JBC) and the Japan Pro-Boxing Association (JPBA, which is a union of club owners in Japan).
Masamori Tokuyama, WBC super-fly titlist, was named Boxer of the Year due to his remarkable victories over ex-champs Injoo Cho in Korea and Gerry Penalosa in Yokohama.
The Technique Award was rendered to Celes Kobayashi, WBA 115-pound champ, who dethroned Venezuelan Leo Gamez and kept it against Jesus Kiki Rojas of Venezuela.
The Valuable Victory Award was given to former WBA 105-pound champ Yutaka Niida, who retired undefeated without defending his newly acquired title even once after he captured it by beating Thailander Chana Porpaoin.
WBC top bantam contender Toshiaki Nishioka received the Award for Fighting Spirit thanks to his hard-fought draw with Veeraphol Nakhonluang-Promotion, though failing to win the WBC 118-pound title.
Veteran US campaigner Rick Roberts Yoshimura was rendered the Award for Effort due to his well-received draw with Takanori Hatakeyama in his quest for the WBA 135-pound title. Rick, now residing in Florida due to the US military order, had kept his Japanese 135-pound belt on 22 occasions, which is the remarkable and best record by our national champ.
The KO Award was presented to Japanese middle champ Satoru Suzuki and national feather ruler Eiichi Sugama. Sugama, who sensationally dethroned Eugenio Yuji Gomez via stunning KO, also received the Rookie Award.
The Fight of the Year was the WBC 115-pound title bout held in Seoul, where Masamori Tokuyama flattened ex-champ Injoo Cho in their rematch.
The Special Awards were rendered to Akihiko Honda of Teiken Promotions for his outstanding promotions, Hiroyuki Tezaki who retired from refereeing for many years, the two hospitals that our Commission gets assisted: Nihon University’s Emergency Medical Department and Jikei Medical University’s Emergency Department.
The first presentation of the Piston Horiguchi Award was made to former WBA lightweight champ Takanori Hatakeyama, who ironically announced to hang up gloves for good after receiving the prestigious award. Piston Horiguchi was a legendary Oriental feather champ, who registered 47 consecutive victories and later became the Japanese middle titlist before his tragic railway death.