February 15, 2004
OSAKA, JAPAN-Unbeaten WBC #3 ranked Noriyuki Komatsu (18-0-5, 8 KOs), 112, kept his flyweight belt of the Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) as he floored the top contender Edgar Rodrigo (10-4-4, 5 KOs), Filipino champ, 111.5, in the first round and was awarded a technical decision due to the challengerfs nasty cut at 1:15 of the eighth session on Sunday afternoon in Osaka, Japan.
Scores including the eighth: 79-72 and 80-71 both for Komatsu, and 76-75 for Rodrigo. The shorter Rodrigo, who reportedly had experienced some 150 amateur bouts, swarmed over the champ from the outset and almost stunned him with solid southpaw lefts to the button, pinning him to the ropes. Komatsu, making his fourth defense, landed a beautiful countering left hook, dropping the Filipino in the end of the opening session. Rodrigo was so badly shaken that Anek Hongtongkam, the Thai referee, could have counted him out. Though saved by the bell, Rodrigo absorbed much punishment in the second when the champ tried to go for a kill with a barrage of punches. The Filipino amazingly showed his recuperative power and took the fourth and fifth with solid combinations. The clever champ began to utilize his footwork and whipped him with a whiplash right-left combos, winning the sixth and seventh. An accidental head-collision opened a cut over the right eyebrow of Rodrigo in the seventh, and it became so worsened that the referee finally declared a halt due to the ringside physicianfs suggestion. It was an exciting see-saw affair.
Japanese #6 feather Naoto Fujiwara (15-3, 8 KOs), 123.25, furiously attacked southpaw Seiji Taromaru (9-5, 4 KOs), 123, and sent him to the deck with a well-timed right for the count at 1:13 of the fourth in a scheduled ten.
Promoter: Eddie Taunsend Promotions.
Matchmaker: Joe Koizumi (as for the Komatsu vs. Rodrigo OPBF title bout).
(2-15-04)
February 15, 2004
OSAKA, JAPAN-Last year we saw some 250 cards in 365 days with some 170 staged in the capital Tokyo. The number of fight cards keeps increasing more and more here also this year, as shown in another card by another promoter taking place at the same Osaka Central Gymnasium on Sunday night in Osaka, Japan. All the spectators got out of the arena after the first show in the daytime, and they returned there at 5:30 pm by buying the tickets of the other card.
Fast-rising lefty, WBC #4 ranked OPBF bantam champ Hozumi Hasegawa (15-2, 5 KOs), 118.75, engaged in a non-title bout and pounded out a shutout verdict (all 100-90) by battering a durable Thailander named Detchsiam Sishphohdam (8-10, 4 KOs), 118.5, over ten frames. Hasegawa, a Japanese version of Pernell Whitaker, displayed his excellent defensive ability, kept whipping the game opponent from all angles, but the muscular Thailander refused to go down despite his absorption of much damage. Hasegawa, who had dethroned Filipino veteran Jess Maca last May, had him on the brink of a knockdown in the ninth, but Detchsiamfs great durability made him last the round.
Busy-punching prospect, Japanese #2 ranked 105-pounder Katsunari Takayama (12-1, 6 KOs), 107, overwhelmed #8 light-fly Kosuke Fujiwara (10-4, 7 KOs), a hard-hitting southpaw, 106.5, with incessant combinations, winning a nearly shutout nod (100-91 and 99-91 twice) over ten. With more power Takayama will be a good opposition against WBC #6 ranked Japanese 105-pound champ Satoshi Kogumazaka. Japanese #6 122-pounder Kyohei Tamakoshi (12-4-4, 5 KOs), 125.75, floored Masakazu Suzuki (3-3-1, 1 KO), 125, with a sharp left-right combo in the opening canto, but had a tough time and eked out a split technical decision (57-56, 58-56 and 56-58) at 2:16 of the sixth in the first tenner. Tamakoshi, a lanky outboxer, bled from the nose-bridge and mouth too profusely to go on.
Promoter: Shin Nihon Osaka Promotions.
Matchmaker: Joe Koizumi (as for the Hasegawa vs. Detchsiam non-title affair).
(2-15-04)