August 4, 2005
TOKYO, JAPAN-WBC #14 ranked lefty Norio Kimura (26-5-2, 11 KOs), 140, displayed his strength and skills in battering Hironari Ohshima (21-5-1, 13 KOs), 140, to the punch en route to a fine stoppage at 1:57 of the fourth round to retain his Japanese 140-pound belt for the fourth time on Thursday in Tokyo, Japan. Kimura, a conqueror of the national light and superlight categories, so lopsidedly whipped the bloodied challenger from all angles that the champ had him down to the ropes for the mandatory eight count in the fourth. Kimura’s furious follow-up promoted the referee to intervene the affair.
Japanese #4 lightweight Ichitaro Ishii (13-1-1, 12 KOs), 135, failed to finish tough and durable veteran Tetsuya Shinozaki (17-14-7, 7 KOs), 135, only to be content with a hairline unanimous nod (97-96, 97-95 and 98-95) over ten. Having dispatched then highly OPBF ranked Filipino champ Fernando Montilla in a give-and-take extravaganza, Ishii was greatly expected to run his KO streak, but Shinozaki’s resilience kept him from doing so. Surprisingly, unbeaten but unheralded Ikuto Kobayashi (11-0, 6 KOs), 129.75, scored an upset unanimous decision over Japanese #3 feather KO artist Akinori Kanai (16-2, 15 KOs), 130, over ten. Kobayashi outpunched the prefight favorite Kanai with more accurate combinations whenever they swapped punches in the close quarter.
Promoter: Yokohama Hikari Promotions.
(8-4-05)
August 2, 2005
TOKYO, JAPAN-WBC #23 ranked ex-OPBF lightweight champ Dennis Laurente (23-2-5, 12 KOs), 134.5, a Filipino puzzling southpaw, decked previously unbeaten Japanese prospect Yuki Yoshizawa (12-1, 5 KOs), 134.25, with double left hooks in the opening session, but barely eked out a majority decision (96-95, 98-93 and 96-96) due to Yoshizawa’s retaliation in later rounds over ten lousy rounds. Japanese #9 welter Taisei Marumoto (17-5-1, 7 KOs), 154, whipped ex-national champ Teruo Nagase (22-10-2, 12 KOs), 153.5, all the way to win a unanimous nod (97-94, 97-93 and 99-95) over ten. Japanese #6 ranked 115-pounder Noboru Fukuyama (17-6-1, 13 KOs), one-sidely attacked #9 bantam Akira Takano (11-11-3, 7 KOs), 117.5, to be awarded a TKO win at 2:02 of the eighth round in a first ten.
Promoter: Green Tsuda Promotions.
(8-2-05)