June 15, 2008
NAGOYA, JAPAN
WBC#14 OPBF 105-pound champ Toshikazu Waga (17-3, 6 KOs), 105, kept his regional belt as he kept battering tremendously durable Filipino veteran Favio Marfa (25-21-4, 13 KOs), 103, all night and pounded out a unanimous decision (119-109 twice and 115-113) over twelve heats on Sunday in Nagoya, Japan.
Waga, handled by ex-WBC 122-pound champ Kiyoshi Hatanaka, made every effort to finish the challenger, who, however, shoved off the champ’s attack, moved to-and-fro and withstood his rallies to refuse to go down until the end. OPBF#8 Marfa proved really tough when Waga desperately connected with solid combinations upstairs and downstairs in the ninth. It was very questionable that only the Filipino judge tallied such a close score 115-113 to such a lopsided affair, even if we admire Marfa’s durability and fighting spirit.
Unbeaten WBC#11/WBA#12 bantam Kohei Ohba (22-0, 10 KOs), a bright prospect in Nagoya, barely retained his Japanese national 118-pound throne as he almost one-sidedly dominated the first seven rounds, but had a very narrow escape from a KO defeat in the eighth and ninth, and earned a close but unanimous decision (96-95, 97-95 and 97-94) over JBC#2 bull-fighter Takuro Kodama (17-6-4, 12 KOs), 118, over ten. It was such an interesting see-saw affair that we may call it “Fight of the Month.”
Should Floyd Mayweather have watched this fight, he would have laughed at Ohba’s style which was truly his imitation. Hanging his hands low, moving side-to-side, sticking flicker jabs and frequently swaying back to avert the challenger’s rallies, Ohba followed his idol’s way of fighting. He was very successful in the first seven rounds, piling up points steadily. Ohbal, in round eight, went for a knockout with solid body shots without protecting his face, when Kodama’s vicious right caught the champ and he accelerated his attack to have Ohba in trouble.
Kodama almost seized the belt in the ninth, when he continually battered the groggy champ with powerful lefts and rights. But the hard-punching challenger became apparently tired of throwing too many punches in these two rounds, and allowed the champ to come back with desperate retaliations in the closing seconds of the final session. It might be a good lesson for the 23-year-old prospect Ohba that he lasted such a critical moment. Kodama, 26, won the praise of the crowd, but was unable to wrest the belt as he had lost many points in the first seven sessions.
Promoter: Hatanaka Promotions.
Matchmaker: Joe Koizumi (as for the Waga-Marfa OPBF title bout).
(6-15-08)