LARIOS, VEERAPHOL AND ZARATE WIN IN JAPAN

March 6, 2004

SAITAMA, JAPAN

LARIOS BATTERS NAKAZATO

Mexican hard-puncher Oscar Larios (53-3-1, 35 KOs), 122, kept his WBC 122-pound belt as he defeated Japanese bone-crusher Shigeru Nakazato (24-7, 18 KOs), 121.5, by a unanimous decision over twelve heats on Saturday night in Saitama, Japan.

In their grudge fight, Larios kept jabbing and throwing left-right combinations to the peek-a-boo stylist to steadily pile up points. Nakazato turned loose and scored with solid left hooks though Larios retaliated with wild swings in the fifth, when the Mexican sustained a cut over the right eyebrow caused by the challenger’s legal shots. Larios went all out for a kill to batter the Japanese to the punch in the sixth and ninth. Nakazato was simply overwhelmed by Larios’s abundant and incessant combinations in later rounds. Official scores were as follows: Hubert Minn (US) 118-109, Dalby Shirley (US) 120-107 and David Chung (Korea) 116-112, all for Larios, who is gunning for a showdown against Manny Pacquiao. Referee was Richie Davies (England), who did a good job in controlling the rough-and-tumble slugfest.

VEERAPHOL DEFEATS NISHIOKA

Skillful Thailander Veeraphol Nakhonluang-Promotion (42-1-2, 29 KOs) (right photo), 118, finally ended a tetralogy against top contender Toshiaki Nishioka (23-4-3, 14 KOs), 118, Japan, as the champ kept his WBC bantam throne by a unanimous decision over twelve gory rounds. The Japanese southpaw Nishioka, in his fourth encounter with Veeraphol (with the last two drawn), made a good start, winning the first two rounds with his solid lefts to the champ’s face. The third round witnessed each boxer suffer a gash caused by an accidental butt to be penalized each one point. But Nishioka’s cut was so much severer than the champ’s that he kept streaming blood from then onward. Nishioka fought well, swapping punches toe-to-toe in the center of the ring. But Veeraphol, making his twelfth defense, was visibly more accurate in tossing light straight rights to be in command in later rounds. Scores: Marty Denkin (US) 116-110, Richard Flaherty (US) 117-109 and Gelasio Perez (Mexico) 118-109, all for the 35-year-old champ. Referee was Laurence Cole (US).

ZARATE DETHRONES TODAKA

Fast-moving Julio Zarate (21-2-1, 14 KOs), 118, captured the WBA interim bantam belt as he kept circling or cycling all night to outbox and outpunch defending champ Hideki Todaka (21-4-1, 10 KOs), 118, to win a split but popular verdict over twelve lousy rounds.

There wasn’t a fight since the much taller Zarate kept running to-and-fro and threw much more punches to Todaka, who blocked almost all of them but failed to throw good punches in retaliation. The Japanese champ, who had acquired the vacant interim belt by beat Venezuelan Leo Gamez last year, kept stalking the footworker with his futile effort. Todaka almost caught the suspect chinned Zarate, shaking him up with solid right crosses in the eighth and ninth. Zarate, however, transferred to a faster bicycle and kept refusing to mix it up. The Mexican’s superior speed on hand and foot won the last three sessions to confirm his upset victory. Scores: Uriel Aguilera (Colombia) 116-112 and Pinit Prayadsab (Thailand) 117-111, both for Zarate, but Moohong Moon (Korea) 116-115 for Todaka. Referee was Luis Pabon (Puerto Rico).

Undercard:

WBA #5 and WBC #6 ranked OPBF 140-pound champ Masakazu Satake (19-3-4, 12 KOs), 141, one of the brightest prospects in Japan, surprisingly lost a split decision (96-95, 96-94 and 95-96) to WBC #24 Carlos Maussa (17-1, 15 KOs), 141, Colombia, over ten. Satake, who had kept his OPBF belt nine times, was a preflight favorite, and proved it by dropping the Colombian with a beautiful left counter midway in the second. Too much anxious to score a knockout, Satake failed to smoothly throw punches in combination though occasionally hitting the mark. Maussa, who had been stopped by Miguel Cotto in his previous bout, came back strongly to stalk the Japanese footworker with his roundhouse hooks to the body to sweep the last four rounds. This reporter saw it 95-94 for Satake due to his precision in catching the elusive opponent.

WBC #5 ranked Yoshikane Nakajima (15-5-4, 4 KOs), retained his Japanese national 122-pound belt by winning a unanimous decision (97-95, 98-94 and 99-94) over ex-Olympian Setsuo Segawa (21-4, 12 KOs), 122, over ten. They exchanged hot rallies all the way, but Nakajima’s jabs were more effective than Segawa’s sporadic right crosses. The loser’s right optic was badly swollen and damaged by the champ’s stinging lefts followed but light but fast combinations.

Promoter: Akihiko Honda’s Teiken Promotions.

(3-6-04)

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