November 9, 2003
KOBE, JAPAN-WBC #5 ranked southpaw Hozumi Hasegawa (14-2, 5 KOs), 118, displayed not only his remarkable reflexes, as usual, but also his improved combination punching as he kept his OPBF bantam belt by dropping OPBF top ranked Filipino champ Alvin Felisilda (18-11-2, 10 KOs), 115.75, twice in the third and once more in the tenth to impressively stop him at 1:20 of the tenth session on Sunday afternoon in Kobe, Japan.
It was such a lopsided affair as scored after the ninth: referee Franz Marti (Thailand) 89-82, Virgilio Garcia (Philippines) 88-81 and Masahiro Noda (Japan) 88-80, all for the Japanese version of Pernell Whitaker. Having dethroned cagey Filipino veteran Jess Maca by an upset verdict last May, Hasegawa, making his second defense, showed his improvement in battering the game Filipino from all angles without getting hit with his defensive skills. The 22-year-old Japanese speedster often caught the onrushing opponent with well-timed counters and sent him sprawling to the deck twice in the third. Though Felisilda displayed his great resilience, Hasegawa kept whipping him with sharp combos and finally dropped him again in the fatal canto, when the referee declared a halt without taking a count.
Japanese #5 feather Zaiki Takemoto (13-4-1, 9 KOs), 126, completely flattened previously unbeaten ex-amateur prospect Masakazu Suzuki (3-1-1, 1 KO), 125.75, with a vicious left hook at 2:49 of the fourth round in a scheduled ten. Japanese #5 ranked 122-pounder Kyohei Tamakoshi (11-4-4, 5 KOs), 124.25, withstood some shaky moments and scored a unanimous nod (97-93, 99-92 and 98-92) over Yoshiki Hoshiyama (9-4-2, 5 KOs), 124.75, over ten.
Promoter: Senrima Kobe Promotions.
Matchmaker: Joe Koizumi (as for the Hasegawa vs. Felisilda title bout).
(11-9-03)