UNBEATEN HOSONO HALTS ESPINOZA


April 30, 2008

TOKYO, JAPAN

Unbeaten feather prospect, ex-national amateur champ and OPBF#2 Satoshi gBazookah Hosono (11-0, 9 KOs), 127, fully displayed his power-punching as he kept stalking and battering slick-punching Mexican switch-hitter Ricardo Espinoza (8-4-1, 3 KOs), 127, and finally halted him at the end of the sixth round in as scheduled ten on Wednesday in Tokyo, Japan.

Espinoza boasted of his amateur wins over Daniel Ponce De Leon and Jhonny Gonzalez, and, as a pro, defeated and drew with the current WBC 115-pound champ Cristian Mijares in 2001. Despite his mediocre pro mark Espinoza once acquired the WBC Continental Americas super-bantam belt by outscoring Ramon Mendez last June. Hosono, one of the most hard-hitting Japanese boxers, started fireworks from the outset, kept throwing heavy shots to the elusive Mexican and piled up points steadily. Hosono, piloted by ex-WBC/WBA minimum champ Hideyuki Ohashi, made him groggy with effective body bombardments in the sixth, after which his handler Lazaro Ayala signaled his boyfs surrender on the stool. Espinosa kept countering well against the willing mixer, but looked apparently overpowered by the heavy-fisted Japanese. Hosono, 24, may have a bright future.

Undercard:

WBC#19 ex-OPBF minimum champ Akira Yaegashi (7-1, 5 KOs), 105, returned to action and pounded out a unanimous nod over JBC#8 Yasuhiro Hisada (7-7-2, 3 KOs), a very durable boxer with a tight guard, 105, over ten. His jaw having been broken by then WBC ruler Eagle Den Junlaphan in an ambitious and unsuccessful crack last June, Yaegashi appeared after a ten-month hiatus and showed his previous speed and power. The ex-OPBF champ had Hisada sprawling to the deck with a well-timed right cross in the ninth, but couldnft finish the affair due to Hisadafs tremendous fighting spirit.

Unbeaten WBC#20 super-fly Go Onaga (11-0, 8 KOs), 112.5, stretched Thai top light-fly contender Chansaknoi Sakrungruang (7-10-1, 5 KOs), 111.75, with a southpaw countering left for the count at 2:16 of the second canto in the first tenner. Onaga, 27, previously defeated ex-WBA 108-pound champ Carlos Murillo by a first-round KO and then world-rated Nerys Espionza by a sixth-round technical decision. Now that he was traded to Ohashi Gym, he may become more active to test his expected fists in Tokyo.

Promoter: Ohashi Promotions.

Matchmaker: Joe Koizumi.

(4-30-08)


Back to Oriental Boxing

Go to Top