December 10, 2005
TOKYO, JAPAN-As the WBC feather champ Injin Chi (30-2-1, 18 KOs) decided to put his belt on the line against WBC#5 ranked Japanese southpaw Takashi Koshimoto (38-1-2, 17 KOs) in Fukuoka, Japan, on January 29, an avalanche of regional and national championships happened accordingly. Koshimoto automatically forfeited his belt of the Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) due to its rules and regulations to pave the way to other contenders. The OPBF top contender is WBA#9/WBC#11 ranked Japanese feather champ Hiroyuki Enoki (23-0-1, 17 KOs) made up his mind to relinquish his national belt and participate in an OPBF elimination bout with Thai champ Denthakusin Sunkilaroinai in Tokyo on January 21. On the same bill, Kazuhisa Watanabe (11-2, 6 KOs), Enoki’s stablemate, will face Japanese top contender Motokazu Abe (14-2-2, 10 KOs) in a national elimination bout. Koshimoto had been a formidable OPBF ruler with seven successful defenses to his credit, so Enoki or other contenders were very much reluctant to go and fight the puzzling southpaw at the champ’s home turf, Fukuoka. Koshimoto’s OPBF relinquishment thus ironically activated the Japanese feather situation.
(12-10-05)