June 2, 2007
TOKYO, JAPAN
WBA#4/WBC#6 Kohei Kono (19-3, 7 KOs), 115, successfully made his initial defense of the Japanese national super-fly belt as he outhustled and battered OPBF#14 Kenji Saegusa (17-4-1, 9 KOs), 115, to have him a bloody mess and was awarded a unanimous technical decision (89-83 twice and 89-84) at 1:05 of the ninth round on Saturday in Tokyo, Japan. The lanky but game challenger Saegusa bled so profusely from nasty lacerations on both eyebrows that the ring physician called him unfit to go on.
Unbeaten ex-four time amateur national champ, OPBF#4 super-feather Takashi Uchiyama (7-0, 5 KOs), 132.75, dispatched OPBF#9 ranked Korean top contender Sungwon Baek (12-5, 3 KOs), 133.5, with a single vicious body shot at 2:01 of the third session. Former national champ Rikiya Fukuhara (20-2-1, 16 KOs), 126, landed a well-timed countering left hook and flattened Thailander Sangathit Sithsaithong (6-4, 1 KO), 124.5, at 2:05 of the fourth canto in a scheduled eight.
Promoter: Watanabe Promotions.
Matchmaker: Joe Koizumi (as for the Uchiyama-Baek and Fukuhara-Sangathit bouts).
(6-2-07)