April 27, 2003
NAGOYA, JAPAN-Game and gory WBC #7 ranked Hiroshi Watanabe, 146.75, kept his OPBF welterweight belt as he was almost toppled in the opening canto, fought back hard to put on a furious see-saw performance and pounded out a close but unanimous decision over determined compatriot Yosuke Otsuka, 147, over 12 hot frames on Sunday in Nagoya, Japan.
Itfs Fight of the Year in Nagoya shown by the local rivals. The tide turned so busily that each alternatively made another quite groggy a la Zale-Graziano trilogy. Otsuka often caught the champ with right crosses, taking the first, 4th, 8th, 11th and 12th. Watanabe, making his first defense since dethroning Filipino lefty Rev Santillan last year, showed fierce retaliations with non-stop combinations, dominating the second, third, 5th through 7th, 9th and 10th.
Scored: referee Wansoo Yuh (Korea) 116-114, Kazuo Abe and Yasuo Tomoto, both of Japan, both 115-113, all for the defending champ Watanabe, 17-2-2, 12 KOs. Otsuka, also bleeding from a gash over the left eyebrow, displayed a gallant performance, but dropped to 19-3, 14 KOs.
WBA #5 ranked 122-pounder Kozo Ishii (31-3, 22 KOs), 124, was aggressive all the way to win a unanimous decision over Filipino Michael Domingo (13-7-2, 5 KOs), 123.25, over 10.
Japanese #5 superfly Yoshinobu Nakamura (17-1-2, 11 KOs), 115.5, survived his visit to the deck in the first round and fought back hard with busy combos to earn a unanimous nod over Filipino flyweight champ Rolly Lunas (12-2, 7 KOs), 116, over 10.
Unbeaten WBC youth 122-pound champ Masanori Sugita (14-0, 10 KOs), 123.75, piled up points in early rounds and kept outlegging free-swinging Filipino Joebar Damosmog (12-18-6, 9 KOs), 123.5, winning a unanimous duke over 10.
Filipino hard-puncher Robert Dalisay (11-6-2, 3 KOs), 123.5, dropped previously unbeaten local prospect Minekazu Imura (12-1-1, 9 KOs), 123.5, in the third and 8th, and scored an upset majority decision over 10.
Promoter: Tenyu Maruki Promotions.
Matchmaker: Joe Koizumi.
(4-27-03)