January 19, 2008
TOKYO, JAPAN
Unmatched in the 140-pound division in Japan, WBC#7/WBA#15 Norio Kimura (33-5-2, 17 KOs), 140, registered his record-breaking eleventh defense of the national super-lightweight belt, as he greatly confused taller and game challenger Kenryo Matsumoto (20-4-3, 15 KOs), 139, with his puzzling southpaw style, battered him with persistent combinations in every round and pummeled him into submission at 1:37 of the seventh round on Saturday in Tokyo, Japan.
It was Kimurafs mandatory defense in the Carnival of Champions, though Matsumoto was only the JBCfs 9th ranked contender since the top eight contenders all refused to meet the tricky, fast and pugnacious champ. The 5f8h Kimura, 29, started welting him with southpaw lefts followed by solid right hooks from the outset, and accelerated his attack as the contest progressed. Matsumoto, three inches taller and a year his junior, withstood the champfs merciless bombardments, but couldnft retaliate with his vaunted rights as the champ was too elusive for him to catch up with. The ref Uratani, in round seven, wisely called a halt to the massacre as Kimura had him reeling from pillar to post.
Kimura is one of the most stable national champs, as he is apparently much stronger than any of Japanese 140-pound top-notchers. He might be more colorful than Gypsy Joe Harris or Chris Eubank in terms of the color itself of his costume and hair. His hair?dyed in purple, red and yellow?didnft stun the crowd any longer, as people here had already became accustomed to his always shocking and strange appearance. His robe and trunks were also crazily colorful in gold, red, purple, yellow and white, etc. Thatfs Kimurafs taste. Therefs no accounting for tastes. Our old-fashioned experts hate Kimurafs fashion show in the squared circle (though accepted and acclaimed only by the younger generation), but cannot deny his strength shown in his eleven consecutive defenses, which this time surpassed the previous record of ex-champ Hiromu Kuwatafs ten.
Kimura, a flamboyant guy, really wishes to go and face WBC champ Junior Witter or WBA ruler Gavin Rees in a quest for the world 140-pound belt in England as he may act as a Japanese Chris Eubank to surprise the British spectators. He admires Prince Naseem Hamedfs unorthodox style, and usually entertains our witnesses with his go-for-broke aggressiveness. Kimura boasts of not only his big heart but also his big stomach, as he is as big an eater as Ricky Fatten.
Tonight Kimura, a very unique personality, established the new Japanese record in the super-light category, having defeated such challengers as Koji Yoshida (KO3), Hiroyuki Ioku (UD10), formerly world-rated Motoki Sasaki (MD), Hironari Oshima (TKO4), mandatory challenger Kazuyuki Matsumiya (KO2), Shinya Nagase (TKO7), Feifong Kogure (TKO7), tremendously durable Koji Iida (UD10), obligatory challenger Seishu Iida (TKO4), Norihito Nakamura (TKO7) and Kenryo Matsumoto (TKO7). In Asia, there is only one competitive 140-pounder named Korean Jungbum Kim, the WBC#4 ranked OPBF champ, who is reluctant to face Kimura. Now that therefs no worthy opposition, Kimurafs destination may be no place but England that holds both the WBA and WBC 140-pound champs.
Up-and-coming Hirofumi Ito (10-2-1, 8 KOs), 140, displayed a beautiful knockout victory, as he flattened Seishiro Shinozaki (8-3, 2 KOs), 139.75, with a wicked right haymaker at 0:48 of the eighth round in a supporting ten. The loser was carried out of the ring on a stretcher, but fortunately regained his consciousness in a dressing room. Ito, a handsome boy working as a gigolo, showed his good jabs and footwork, plus a finisher, to promise his bright future.
Japanese-Korean prospect, JBC#11 feather Retsuri Lee (9-1-1, 5 KOs), 125, repeated his triumph over Atsushi Tsuburaya (12-7-1, 6 KOs), 125.75, this time by a unanimous decision (79-73, 79-76 and 78-74), despite the loserfs desperate retaliation in the last two sessions, over eight. Lee had previously dispatched Tsuburaya in six of their first encounter last October. Tsuburaya is a nephew of Kokichi Tsuburaya, a bronze medalist in a marathon race in the Olympic Games in 1964, who later committed a suicide because of his physical incapability of running any more and his mental breakdown thereafter.
Japanese top ranked bantam, OPBF#4 Kinshiro Usui (16-1, 8 KOs), 119.25, showed his excellent timing in flooring Thailander Jockeylek Sithsoei (9-5-1, 4 KOs), 118, twice with pulverizing body shots to make him a flattened pancake at 2:25 of the fifth in scheduled eight. Bu the Thailander, who had experienced more than 200 Muay-thai bouts, fought well to show his great resilience and retaliation before the trick happened.
Promoter: Yokohama Hikari Promotions.
Matchmaker: Joe Koizumi (as for Usui-Jockeylek bout).
(1-19-08)