July 18, 2005
OSAKA, JAPAN-Former champ Masamori Tokuyama (31-3-1, 8 KOs), 115, impressively regained the WBC 115-pound belt as he made best use of stinging lefts, piled up points steadily and survived a flash knockdown in the twelfth and final round en route to a unanimous decision over defending champ Katsushige Kawashima (28-4, 18 KOs), 114.75, over twelve heats on Monday in Osaka, Japan.
The official tallies were as follows: James JenKin (US) 118-109 (giving just the last round to Kawashima by 10-8), Hisatoshi Miyazaki (Japan) 117-110 and Kazuo Abe (Japan) 115-112, all for the slick-punching ex-champ. The referee was Ian John-Lewis (England).
Tokuyama fought much better than people had expected. It was their rubber match, as Tokuyama, the then WBC ruler, once defeated Kawashima by a unanimous nod in 2003, but forfeited his throne via shocking first round stoppage by Kawashima in June of the previous year. While Kawashima kept his WBC crown twice against Mexicans Raul Juarez and Jose Navarro, the ex-champ had been inactive, thinking over whether he would go on or hang up gloves for good. Tokuyama, a notorious drinker, then stopped drinking, and resumed training seriously to regain his belt since this spring.
Tokuyama was simply more than impressive. From the first round he began to throw accurate and fast jabs and left-right combinations to the face of Kawashima, who looked too tense and stiff to cope with the ex-champ’s speed. Tokuyama’s trademark jabs became sharper and sharper as the contest progressed. He positively landed good one-two combos to the slower champ to sweep the first six rounds with great ease. Kawashima continued kept throwing a roundhouse shot at a time, missing the target. Tokuyama’s overhand rights opened a gash on Kawashima midway in the fifth, though it didn’t bother him so much in later rounds.
Tokuyama, as old as his former conqueror at 30, began to show a sign of fatigue due to his high pace in the first half in round seven, when Kawashima landed big left hooks following solid but less accurate overhand rights. The taller ex-champ, however, cleverly utilized his favorite hit-and-grab tactics despite his fatigue, and managed to win the eighth through eleventh sessions. Kawashima, handled by ex-WBC and WBA 105-pound champ Hideyuki Ohashi, attempted to score wild swings to repeat his previous TKO win over him, but Tokuyama tonight was neither careless nor overconfident. He diligently outjabbed him and followed with good right crosses, which often shook up the willing mixer effectively. Tokuyama’s left hand was a great nuisance for Kawashima boring in to come close to him.
A trick almost happened early in the twelfth and final session, when Kawashima’s countering right sent him to the deck. Tokuyama truly lost his balance, slipping on the wet canvas, but it seemed a knockdown more than a slip. The third man properly counted against the protesting challenger up to eight. Kawashima was all out for a kill, desperately swinging wild shots to the fading ex-champ only to miss him time and again. In the closing seconds of the final canto, Tokuyama regained his rhythm and displayed a good retaliation.
For Tokuyama it was a more lopsided victory than his in their first encounter some two years ago. Tokuyama showed his determination and desire to win back the belt from Kawashima, the man who sank him to capture his belt 13 months ago. Furthermore, Tokuyama had a great motivation this time to dedicate this triumph to his stablemate and sparring partner Seiji Tanaka, a world-rated ex-Japanese 115-pound champ who passed away after a TKO defeat he suffered about two months ago. As he intended, Tokuyama finely did his job for the sake of Tanaka and his widow at the ringside.
Tokuyama is supposed to face the WBC top contender Jose Navarro, but he is good at fighting a southpaw opponent, having defeated Gerry Penalosa twice and ex-OPBF ruler Kazuhiro Ryuko to his credit. Tokuyama says, “I am willing to fight Navarro in my next bout. I’ll prove superior to Kawashima (who barely eked out a controversial split decision over Navarro this January) by decisively defeating Navarro before my supporters.” The Tokuyama-Navarro confrontation will be a good attraction here.
Ex-Japanese champ Yoshihiro Araki (15-2, 8 KOs), 159.25, acquired the interim OPBF middleweight belt as he displayed a fine performance in dropping OPBF #2 ranked Korean champ Kyunghoon Lee (5-2, 4 KOs), 159.5, with a three-punch combination to halt him at 2:36 of the third round in a scheduled twelve. The newly crowned Araki is supposed to face the legitimate OPBF titlist Sakio Bika, Australia, who pulled out of his initial defense with Araki due to his torn muscle on the back.
Ex-WBC flyweight champ Malcolm Tunacao (18-1-2, 13 KOs), 117, was awarded a TKO win over overmatched Ryoichi Hidaka (9-6-2, 4 KOs), 115.75, due to the loser’s bad gash at 1:10 of the seventh round.
Ken Mitsuyama (4-1, 2 KOs), 125.75, earned a unanimous nod (97-92 twice and 99-90) over Wanghin Chuwatana (2-3, 1 KO), 125.5, Thailand, over ten.
Unbeaten flyweight Tatsuya Ohora (7-0-1, 2 KOs), 111.75, struggled to win a close but unanimous nod over ex-Thai 105-pound champ Namchai Thaksin-isan (11-13, 2 KOs), 110.5, over eight.
Promoter: Kanazawa Promotions.
Matchmaker: Joe Koizumi.
(7-18-05)