January 30, 2005
SEOUL, KOREA-WBC feather champ Injin Chi (30-2-1, 18 KOs), 126, successfully kept his belt as he maintained the pressure on durable Australian Tommy Browne (17-3-1, 7 KOs), 125.75, and pounded out a lopsided decision over twelve heats on Sunday at the Convention Hall of Grand Hilton, Seoul, Korea. Chi, making his second defense, had him at bay in the seventh and eighth sessions, but Browne’s pride and gameness had him refuse to go down until the end. The official scores were as follows: Takeaki Kanaya (Japan) 120-107, Kazumasa Kuwata (Japan) 119-108 and Hubert Minn (US) 117-112, all for the champ’s favor. The referee was Jose Cobian (US). It was a hard-fought affair despite the wide difference on points with Browne’s retaliation and resilience, which fully entertained the crowd.
Chi, who acquired the vacant title by dispatching Michael Brodie in England last year, positively started fireworks with fast combinations to the face and midsection in the first round. The champ had him down with a right shot, but the referee called it a slip as Browne then lost his balance. The Korean was continually in command in the second and third with a flurry of punches, but the Australian, some inches taller, gamely fought back with a two-fisted attack.
Browne, the 21-year-old WBC youth champ since 2003, wisely changed his strategy to utilize his superior reach and attempted to outjab the onrushing champ in the fifth and sixth, but Chi averted his jabs and came close to him, battering the breadbasket exclusively. The sixth saw Chi lacerate a cut over the right optic of Browne, who occasionally threw busy combos before the champ retaliated with more furious rallies.
Chi, ten years his senior at 31, showed his best in the seventh, when he almost brought home the bacon as he continually pinned him to the ropes with a fusillade of body punches and had him double up. A couple of judges scored 10-8 by evaluating the champ’s overwhelming aggressiveness. The champ attempted to finish him again in the next eighth, but Browne withstood his versatile attack and amazingly showed his gallant retaliation.
The Australian youngster, in the ninth, desperately attacked the still ferocious champ, who shook them off and responded with solid combinations upstairs and downstairs. It’s Browne’s best round that the judges tallied 10-9 for him, 10-10 and 9-10 against him, respectively.
Chi, whose condition apparently looked much better than in his previous defense against Japanese Eiichi Sugama last July, showed his abundant stamina in stalking the fading but still game Australian in the last three rounds. The audience jubilantly celebrated Chi’s impressive victory, and also praised the good loser’s tremendous fighting spirit.
Jaekwang Chung, 125.75, regained the Korean national feather belt by disposing of Junghoon Kim, 125.75, in the fifth round in a scheduled ten. Korean top ranked flyweight contender Nanam Kook, 113.75, won a unanimous decision (98-93, 96-94 and 96-95) over Filipino Louie Bantigue, 113, over ten. Once-beaten ex-Korean 122-pound champ Heungsik Lim, 123.25, scored a unanimous nod (98-92, 96-95 and 96-94) over Filipino #2 bantam Reyman Salim, 122.5, over ten.
Promoter: Poong San Promotions.
Matchmaker: Joe Koizumi.
WBC supervisor: Dominador Cepeda (Philippines).
(1-30-05)