March 24, 2005
TOKYO, JAPAN-WBC#11/WBA#12 ranked 105-pounder Makoto Suzuki (17-8-2, 11 KOs), 105, chalked up a fine one-punch TKO over Philippine #5 contender Gilbert Dela Torre (6-3, 1 KO), 105, with a solid well-timed right at 2:36 of the second round on Thursday in Tokyo, Japan. The 33-year-old ex-national champ caught the Filipino youngster from the start, and found his range in the fatal second. His one-two combo toppled him near the neutral corner. Dela Torres barely raised himself up and referee Abe told him to go on, but the Filipino was too dizzy with punishment to continue fighting. It was halted then and there. Suzuki, then making his fourth defense, had forfeited his national 105-pound belt to Yutaka Niida, the current WBA champ, via ninth round stoppage here in 2001. The veteran campaigner, who married with his managerfs sister Shinobu Noguchi years ago, is gunning for a shot at either the WBC or the WBA belt.
Promoter: Noguchi Promotions.
Matchmaker: Joe Koizumi.
(3-24-05)