October 14, 2002
TOKYO, JAPAN-Unheralded southpaw Masayuki Arinaga (15-2, 8 KOs), 115, scored a stunning upset in decking a come-from-behind TKO win over WBA #9 super-fly Takuya Kiya (20-5-1, 15 KOs), 115, at 0:49 of the 9th round.
The Japanese #6 115-pounder Arinaga, who had failed to win the OPBF bantam belt by suffering many knockdowns en route to a lopsided decision by Filipino Jess Maca last year, was a prohibitive underdog, and was obviously losing on points. But Arinaga accelerated his retaliation from the 8th on, and finally pinned Kiya to the ropes with a flurry of unanswered punches to prompt the referee’s intervention.
WBA #5 ranked ex-world interim minimum champ Songkram Porpaoin (22-5-2, 12 KOs), 118.5, Thailand, dropped a majority decision (78-76, 79-74 and 78-78) to unbeaten prospect Katsunari Takayakma (10-0, 5 KOs), 108, over 8.
Songkram looked a bit sluggish from the start, while the lefty Japanese youngster landed southpaw lefts with precision and scored a knockdown as the Thailander touched the deck with his glove when he took Takayama’s solid left in the 6th.
Unranked Shinji Kanayama (9-2-1, 6 KOs), 140, surprisingly turned the tide, dropped Japanese top ranked super-light contender Tatsuhiko Kawashima (17-8-3, 6 KOs), 139.75, three times and finished him at 2:12 of the 7th round. The loser had dominated the contest until after the 6th, but Kanayama’s devastating right hand became a haymaker.
Comebacking lefty Akihiko Nago(right photo) (20-3, 13 KOs), 121.25, sank unranked Thailander Sakmongkol Singmanasak (15-12, 4 KOs), 121.25, with a wicked left to score a fine KO at 1:39 of the second round. Nago had failed to win the world 115-pound belt, losing to Hideki Todaka and Masamori Tokuyama, and then moved up to the 122-pound division.
Promoter: Force.
(10-14-02)