## HORIKAWA EDGES MATSUMOTO

July 03, 2008

TOKYO, JAPAN

On the third successive night of national title eliminator tournaments, Japanese top ranked minimum/OPBF#3 Kenichi Horikawa (17-5-1, 4 KOs), 105, bled profusely but managed to eke out a split but well-received decision (59-56 twice and 57-58) over Hiroshi Matsumoto (17-9-4, 8 KOs), formerly world-rated southpaw veteran, over six. Even the top contender Horikawa had to participate in this tourney in order to obtain the right for a mandatory shot at the national throne, which may stimulate our fraternity without doubt. But Horikawa, a slick-punching speedster, had a tough time handling the shorter onrushing lefty puncher, whose head ? even unintentionally ? produced a plenty of head-collisions to have the prefight favoritefs face in crimson. Though the bleederfs corner claimed a penalization of Matsumoto, it went on without a penalty by the ref. Matsumoto, three years his senior at 31, was such a durable iron-chin as extended WBA#1 previously perfect KO artist Roman Gonzalez to the distance for the first time in his seventeenth pro bout this January.

JBC#8 fly Shigetaka Ikehara (16-1-1, 12 KOs), 112, decked JBC#11 Hyobu Nakagama (11-6-2, 7 KOs), 111.75, twice and lopsidedly halted him at 2:03 of the third session in a scheduled six. The shorter infighter recklessly came close to the lanky opponent and floored him with a big right cross in the first, and dropped him again with a barrage of punches in the next. Nakagawa, however, desperately landed a right-left hook combo that temporarily brought him to a standstill. But Ikehara kept on banging him to prompt the refereefs intervention. Despite his fine credentials Ikehara had his national rating pitifully drop because of his sole defeat via upset split decision by Takumi Suda last August. Ikehara needs more finesse and sharpness if he wishes to be national champ.

JBC#4 feather Kazunori Takayama (14-4-4, 4 KOs), 125.5, had a difficulty coping with a Gene Fullmer stylist named Yoshio Kojima (11-9-2, 2 KOs), 125.5, tremendously game and never retreating, but narrowly earned a unanimous nod (58-57 twice and 60-55) over six. The last judge might prefer Sugar Ray Robinson to Fullmer.

Reviewing the first three nights, this reporter points out a bad tendency that all 10-round campaigners became least sophisticated and least skillful bangers in the abbreviated 6-round tournaments. All the games were furious and competitive, but there happened too frequent head-collisions for us to watch many gory affairs.

Promoter: East Japan Pro Boxing Association.

(7-3-08)

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