November 18, 2003
TOKYO, JAPAN-Once-beaten Japanese 122-pound prospect Yuta Nagai (11-1-1, 8 KOs), 123, impressively scored an upset TKO win as he overpowered unbeaten OPBF #3 ranked Korean champ Il Kwon (5-1, 2 KOs), 123, shook him up with a wicked left hook and floored him with a solid right, following it up to make him helpless en route to a well-received stoppage at 2:24 of the eighth round on Tuesday night in Tokyo, Japan. Nagai, still unranked by the Japanese commission, previously won in the bantam final of the annual national Novice King tournaments (competed by all four-round green boys) in the end of 2001. Kwon, whose amateur mark was 52-18, 15 stoppages, was more experienced, but was obviously less powerful than the 22-year-old prospect.
Tricky Yukio Sekiguchi (8-1, 2 KOs), 122, hit the deck in the second, but came back to earn a majority nod (76-75, 77-76 and 76-76) over Kazuo Morikawa (11-3-3, 2 KOs), 122, over eight.
Promoter: Kadoebi Katsumata Promotions.
(11-18-03)