September 7, 2003
KUMAMOTO, JAPAN-WBC #13 ranked Australian Sam Soliman (19-7, 4 KOs), 160, captured the OPBF middleweight belt as he proved too strong and skillful for Japanese defending champ Tokutaro Toyozumi (14-3-3, 6 KOs), 158, to win a one-sided split decision over twelve rounds on Sunday afternoon in Kumamoto, Japan.
Scored: 119-110 and 118-113 for Soliman, and shameful 116-114 for Toyozumi. They fought on even terms in the first three rounds, but Soliman swept all rounds from the fourth on, going forward to attack the lefty champ who was forced to backpedal and repeat clinches to avert the Aussiefs aggression. Soliman, who had recently beat world-rated ex-OPBF 154-pound champ Nader Hamdan to be ranked by the WBC, was a technically superior and more aggressive boxer who obviously deserved a victory
Hisoka Kudo, 129.75, was awarded a technical decision over Filipino Jaime Barcelona, 128.75, at 1:11 of the seventh round.
Promoter: Honda Fitness Promotions.
Matchmaker: Joe Koizumi.
(9-7-03)