December 6, 2004
TOKYO, JAPAN-WBC #8 ranked Japanese 105-pound champ Satoshi Kogumazaka (21-6-3, 9 KOs), 105, successfully kept his national belt as he overcame early deficits on points by scoring solid countering southpaw right hooks in later rounds, winning a split but well-received decision (98-96, 96-95 and 96-98) over WBA #8 Junichiro Kaneda (10-2, 7 KOs), 104.25, over ten heats on Monday in Tokyo, Japan.
Kaneda was the last pupil cultivated by the late first Japanese world champ Yoshio Shirai who passed away in December last year. Kaneda, piloted by ex-WBA 108-pound champ Yoko Gushiken, eagerly wished to dedicate a victory to Shirai, and attacked the slow-starting champ with busy body shots from the outset. The much taller lefty Kogumazaka, however, found the range and rhythm as the contest progressed, and often caught the shorter foe with looping right hooks. Kaneda, who had entered the WBA’s top ten thanks to a fine stoppage over a then rated Genki Ohnaka, was continually busier, but the champ was obviously more effective in mixing it up in the middle range. The champ decked his first bout since being annihilated by Eagle Kyowa with the WBC belt at stake last June.
OPBF #7 ranked welter Kazuhiko Hidaka (20-4, 14 KOs), 150, floored OPBF #3 Korean champ Sukkeun Noh (7-3-2, 5 KOs), 149, each twice in the first and second rounds, finishing him at 1:53 of the second session in a scheduled ten. Hidaka, a muscular southpaw, is gunning for a shot at the OPBF belt against Filipino lefty Rev Santillan next March. Unranked Daisuke Yamanaka (14-2, 9 KOs), 122.5, eked out a hairline but unanimous 10-round nod (96-95 and 96-94 twice) over Japanese #6 ranked 122-pounder Nobuhisa Doi (16-8-5, 6 KOs), 122.5, thanks to a knockdown with his right uppercut to the latter in the seventh. Doi had previously served as sparring partner for Marco Antonio Barrera at Big Bear.
Promoter: Shin Nihon Kimura Promotions.
(12-6-04)
December 7, 2004
OSAKA, JAPAN-WBC #11 ranked 122-pounder Akihiro Kanai (22-2, 18 KOs), 122.75, easily demolished an overmatched switch-hitting Thailander Saknarong Vorsoraphin (8-7, 2 KOs), 123.5, at 0:33 of the fourth canto on Tuesday in Osaka, Japan. Despite a bitter first-round KO defeat by the then OPBF champ Yongin Cho in 2001 and a tenth-round come-from-behind KO loss to Yoshikane Nakajima, Kanai kept scoring victories in Osaka.
Ex-Japanese title challenger Noboru Fukuyama (15-5-1, 12 KOs), 122, landed a wicked right following a busy combo and disposed of Tatsuro Okada (8-10-2, 6 KOs), 122, at 3:09 of the fourth session in a scheduled eight.
Promoter: Taiho Promotions.
(12-7-04)