TOKYO, JAPAN-Up-and-coming OPBF #6 ranked heavyweight Ryosuke Takahashi (13-3, 7 KOs), 200.25, kept throwing sharp left-right combinations despite the durability of Mexican Jorge Arellano (8-6, 2 KOs), 219.25, and finally caught him with a flurry of punches to send him prone for the count at 1:23 of the sixth round on Wednesday night in Tokyo, Japan.
Takahashi, who had entered the OPBFfs top ten thanks to his upset victory over Fijifs Mosese Kavika in his previous bout, swept all rounds before the trick happened. He needs more power to cope with the OPBF champ Peter Okello, a Japan-based Ugandan.
Ex-national champ Takayuki Korogi (13-3-2, 4 KOs), 105.25, displayed good countering shots in decking a fine TKO over Hidekazu Miyagi (11-3-1, 4 KOs), 105.75, at 2:08 of the third canto. Unranked Ryu Bando (15-7-1, 5 KOs), 146.5, surprisingly scored an upset split decision (96-94, 96-95 and 94-96) over Japanese #3 ranked prohibitive favorite Shunsuke Ito (14-2-1, 10 KOs), 142.75, over ten. The hard-hitting Ito had both optics of Bando badly swollen, but the game underdog almost knocked him down in the final session.
Promoter: Kaneko Promotions.
Matchmaker: Joe Koizumi (as for the Takahashi vs. Arellano bout).
(10-1-03)