January 15, 2005
TOKYO, JAPAN-Unbeaten Japanese #5 ranked feather Ryu Miyagi (12-0-2, 10 KOs), 129, battered Korean top 130-pound contender Sangyul Park (5-4-1, 2 KOs), 130, from all angles and almost toppled the rubbery-legged opponent so effectively that the loser’s cornerman tossed in the towel at 2:19 of the second round on Saturday night in Tokyo, Japan.
Miyagi, from Okinawa, displayed his power punching in overwhelming the game but mediocre foe from the outset, and hurt him with his two-fisted attack in the fatal session.
Unbeaten prospect Nestor Rocha (12-0, 3 KOs), 116, dropped Philippine #7 ranked 115-pounder Shirwin Manatad (11-14-4, no KO), 117.5, with a wicked body shot in the eighth, and pounded out a nearly shutout decision (100-91 twice and 99-92) over ten. It wasn’t an easy fight for Rocha despite the lopsided scores, as he kept bleeding from the nostrils profusely from the fourth round on and Rocha had difficulty penetrating the Filipino’s very tight guard, though whipping him to the punch.
Japanese #10 feather Yoshinori Miyata (14-3-1, 9 KOs), 125.5, revenged his previous defeat and eked out a majority decision (78-76, 77-76 and 77-77) over hard-hitting Shintaro Yazawa (19-6, 13 KOs), 125.75, over eight. Hard-punching ex-amateur southpaw Takuji Matsuhashi (6-1, 6 KOs), 153.25, decked a fine comeback victory after a 13-month inactivity by knocking out Filipino veteran Tata Regatuna (20-27-1, 15 KOs), 153.5, at 2:14 of the opening session. It’s a bizarre KO because of a delayed reaction as Regatuna barely withstood the Japanese lefty’s furious attack with his back to the corner, turned around into the center of the ring and abruptly collapsed for the count. Unbeaten southpaw prospect, Japanese #8 ranked 105-pounder Masatate Tsuji (7-0, 2 KOs), 105.5, impressively floored Tsuyoshi Tanaka (7-8-2, 4 KOs), 105, twice and scored a quick stoppage at 2:48 of the second round in a scheduled eight.
Promoter: Teiken Promotions.
Matchmaker: Joe Koizumi.
(1-15-05)