January 14, 2008
YOKOHAMA, JAPAN
Venezuelan hard-puncher Alexander Munoz (32-2, 27 KOs), 115, barely kept his WBA superfly belt as he positively attacked ex-WBC champ Katsushige Kawashima (32-7, 21 KOs), 115, in earlier rounds and withstood the challenger's furious retaliation down the stretch to win a close but unanimous decision over twelve heats on Monday in Yokohama, Japan. Kawashima, the 33-year-old good loser, announced from the ring that he would hang up gloves for good.
The scorecards were as follows: Jean-Francois Toupin (France) 115-114, Levi Martinez (US) 115-113 and Tom Miller (US) 117-111, all for the defending champ. The referee was Steve Smoger who handled the rough battle well.
The prohibitive favorite Munoz looked terrible, as expected by his last-minute severe reduction of weight. He was slow and sluggish, and furthermore out of timing. He often lost his equilibrium when missing punches. It was his worst performance in his seventh appearance here in Japan. Kawashima, however, couldn’t win despite the champ’s poor condition, though he had it a close affair.
Munoz was an early starter throwing many punches to take the initiative in the first three rounds, while Kawashima kept moving to avert the Venezuelan’s vaunted opening attack. The ex-WBC champ Kawashima turned loose in the fourth, when he swapped punches toe-to-toe with the champ, landing left hooks, left uppercuts to the belly and right crosses.
It became a see-saw battle from the fifth on, as Munoz and Kawashima mixed it up and missed the target with free-swinging rallies. Kawashima began to reveal his bad habit to hit the air with full force. His lack of precision cost some points though he was an aggressor, stalking the champ with roundhouse shots. With more composure and coolness Kawashima could have caught the shaky champ, whose punches were a little more accurate in their furious exchanges of solid blows.
There were some difficult rounds to score, but Munoz seemed to have piled up more points by the end of the ninth, when the officials had tallied: 86-85, 87-84 and 88-83, all for Munoz. Kawashima then desperately displayed his retaliation in the last three rounds, but wasted his energy too much in hitting the air, though he maintained an aggression. Retreating and clinching breathlessly, Munoz occasionally caught the willing mixer with better precision. It was Kawashima that dominated the last two rounds with his more physical power, if not with his finesse, against the terribly fading champ, but it wasn’t enough to overcome his early deficits on points.
The promoter/manager of Kawashima, ex-WBA/WBC minimum champ Hideyuki Ohashi announced his boy’s farewell to the ring immediately after the announcement of the result. Kawashima himself picked up a microphone and said, “I really appreciate your long supports and encouragements during my career.”
Munoz, still unbeaten in seven title bouts here, jubilantly said in the dressing room, “It’s a tough fight, but I believed I was the winner as I scored better punches.” The loser said, “I did my best and I lost. It means that my power couldn’t carry me to the world belt again. It’s time to call it quits.”
Unbeaten OPBF#3 feather prospect Satoru Hosono (10-0, 8 KOs), 130, caught up with fading hard-puncher Keita Manabe (26-4-1, 22 KOs), 130, and finally dropped him to welcome the referee’s intervention at 2:23 of the fifth session. Hosono, ex-amateur champ, may have a bright future with his hard-punching ability and tight defense. In an encounter of small prospects, Shigetaka Ikehara (15-1-1, 11 KOs), 110.25, proved a bit too powerful and pugnacious for Masayuki Kuroda (10-2, 8 KOs), 110, eking out a hairline unanimous nod (all 96-95) over ten.
Promoter: Ohashi Promotions.
Matchmaker: Joe Koizumi (as for the Munoz-Kawashima title bout).
(1-14-08)