February 16, 2003
OSAKA, JAPAN-Unbeaten Noriyuki Komatsu, 112, kept his OPBF flyweight belt as he caught unbeaten OPBF top contender and Filipino champ Rolly Lunas, 111, with a countering right, dropped him with a flurry of punches and prompted the referee to halt it with a furious follow-up at 1:29 of the second session in Osaka, Japan.
Komatsu, 15-0-5, 7 KOs, acquired the Oriental & Pacific Boxing Federationfs vacant throne by defeating Korean champ Jungoh Son here last September. The WBC #16 Lunas, 13-1, 8 KOs, turned pugnacious from the outset, but was wide-open for the champfs counters.
OPBF #3 ranked feather Haruhiko Okuda (23-4, 18 KOs), 126, surprisingly suffered an unexpected KO defeat at the hand of unheralded and unraked Zaiki Takemoto (10-4-1, 7 KOs), 125.75, hitting the deck twice to be rescued at 2:24 of the 6th round.
After see-saw exchanges of punches Takemoto finally forced the prefight favorite to the ropes and floored him with a fusillade of punches, dropping the rubbery-legged opponent again to cause the reffs stoppage. Lefty Seiji Taromaru (9-3, 4 KOs), 123, had the right shoulder dislocated to lose to Kyouhei Tamakoshi (8-5-4, 4 KOs), 123.25, on a TKO at 0:47 of the 4th. (These two bouts were 10-rounders).
Promoter: Eddie Taunsend Promotions.
Matchmaker: Joe Koizumi.
(2-16-03)
February 4, 2003
TOKYO, JAPAN-Naoto Nakazato (11-5-1, 2 KOs), 122, sank a fragile Thailander named Sayarm Sith Gorson, 120.25, with a single body shot at 2:48 of the second round in a scheduled 8. Both were unranked by the JBC and the TBC.
Promoter: Kokubunji Saito Promotions.
(2-4-03)
February 3, 2003
TOKYO, JAPAN-Lanky flyweight Tomohiko Saito (8-2, 6 KOs), 111.5, defeated Akira Matsuo (8-9-1, 2 KOs), 112, by a unanimous decision over 8. Saito, despite his fair credentials, looked promising due to his good height, work-rate and durability.
(2-3-03)