October 7, 2006
TOKYO, JAPAN
WBA#2/WBC#3 ranked feather, unbeaten Japan-based Venezuelan Jorge Linares (22-0, 13 KOs), 128, proved too fast and smart for durable Colombian Humberto Martinez (14-4-1, 11 KOs), 128, and finally caught him with a beautiful right cross that dropped his opponent to prompt the referee’s intervention at 2:34 of the sixth round on Saturday in Tokyo, Japan. Linares, nicknamed “El Nino de Oro (Golden Boy)”, showed his improvement in patiently oujabbing and outpunching without getting hit by the game Colombian. Having swept all rounds, the 21-year-old prospect accelerated his attack by pinning Martinez to the ropes with a flurry of punches upstairs and downstairs in round five. The sixth saw a picture-perfect overhand right thrown by Linares, handled by Akihiko Honda, to the still aggressive Martinez, who went down flat. The ref Tsuchiya didn’t hesitate to halt the affair to save the loser from further punishment. Martinez said, “Linares was too fast and intelligent. He’ll be world champ in the near future.”
Unbeaten lefty Yoshimitsu Yashiro (15-0-1, 8 KOs), 130, floored Takashi Miura (8-4-1, 5 KOs), 127.75, with a straight left following a southpaw right hook as soon as the game started, and the ref Vinny Martin declared a halt at 1:35 of the opening session in a supporting ten. Yoshihiro Kamegai (4-0, 4 KOs), 140, was awarded a TKO win over Mitsuru Okubo (7-3, 3 KOs), 140, at the end of the sixth round in a scheduled eight, as the loser abandoned on his stool. Ex-amateur Yu Kimura, 112, made a successful pro debut by scoring a fine KO win over Samkolek Chuwatana (5-6, 1 KO), 111.75, at 3:08 of the second round.
Promoter: Teiken Promotions.
Matchmaker: Joe Koizumi (as for the Kimura-Samkolek bout).
(10-7-06)