August 23, 2005
TOKYO, JAPAN-A couple of OPBF (Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation) title bouts have been decided, as follows: Australian Sakio Bika, OPBF middle champ, will face interim champ Yoshihiro Araki, Japan, in a unification bout in Osaka on November 22. Bika was supposed to put his regional belt against Araki beneath the WBC superfly title bout between Tokuyama and Kawashima there on July 18, but the Australian hard-puncher abruptly pulled out due to his injury just a week before. Under the OPBFfs sanction Araki face a late substitute named Kyunghoon Lee, Korean champ, to win the interim belt by a third round stoppage. As Araki was once beaten by Bika via TKO route in an elimination bout last year, it will be a grudge fight.
Also, OPBF welter champ Kazuhiko Hidaka, a hard-hitting lefty, will face ex-champ Rev Santillan again in his second defense in Tokyo on December 3. Hidaka dethroned world-rated southpaw Santillan by an impressive fourth round stoppage last March and demolished mandatory challenger and Filipino champ Dondon Sultan in seven lopsided rounds this July. Santillan, mentally unfit due to his sweetheart having suffered a cancer last time, will appear in a better condition, so it will be a competitive rematch.
(8-23-05)