January 3, 2005
TOKYO, JAPAN-Unbeaten Lorenzo Parra (25-0, 17 KOs), 111.5, Venezuela, successfully retained his WBA flyweight throne as he gave a boxing lesson to Japanese challenger Masaki “Trash” Nakanuma (25-6, 11 KOs), 111.75, and withstood his last surge to pound out a unanimous decision over twelve fast rounds on Monday night in Tokyo, Japan.
It was tallied as follows: Raul Caiz Sr. (US) and Erkki Meronen (Finland) both 116-112, and Ungmyong Bae (Korea) 115-113, all for the fast-moving champ. Referee was Armando Garcia (US).
The slick-punching champ dominated the first five rounds with great ease, since Nakanuma threw few looping left hooks with less precision. Parra, making his third defense since dethroning Eric Morel in Puerto Rico in 2003, kept throwing jabs to the peek-a-boo stylist, who blocked almost all punches but forgot to positively respond to the champ’s attack with busier combinations. Whenever Nakanuma attacked, he threw a punch at a time, the strategy of which was easily solved by the crafty Venezuelan.
Nakanuma, in the sixth, suddenly became so aggressive that he kept stalking the champ with continual combinations to the face and midsection, winning a point. Moving to-and-fro and side-to-side, Parra regained his rhythm in taking back the initiative and finely dominated the seventh through the tenth. The Venezuelan averted almost all big shots of Nakanuma, though he could not penetrate the challenger’s shell-like tight guard.
Though the crowd sensed it was a lopsided affair for the champ, the tide almost turned in the last two sessions. Nakanuma, in round eleven, furiously unleashed heavier shots in combination, and caught the champ with his trade-mark left hooks to the face and to the belly. Parra tried to grab the ferocious challenger to save himself from the onslaught. The final session witnessed Nakanuma attempt to score a come-from-behind knockout, while Parra desperately kept clinching and holding to avert the onrushing challenger’s attack. Just ten seconds prior to the final bell to end the affair, Nakanuma exploded a vicious overhand right to make him groggy. He dropped the champ just after the bell sounded, and the referee didn’t see it a legal knockdown within the stipulated length of twelve rounds. Nakanuma should have started his fireworks much earlier, since Parra was slowing down in later rounds. The Japanese apparently made a big mistake in having waited for opportunities too long and too lazily. It was a great disappointment for the Japanese audience. It was very clear that Parra was the victor on points, regardless of Nakanuma’s last surge, due to his good accumulation on points.
Promoter: Teiken Promotions.
WBA supervisor: Renzo Bagnariol (Nicaragua).
(1-3-04)