July 19, 2008
TOKYO, JAPAN
WBA#10 lightweight, ex-OPBF 130-pound champ Kengo Nagashima (34-3-2, 16 KOs), 138, a slick-punching Japanese southpaw, stunned the crowd with his quick demolition of another lefty Hiroto Takeshita (11-7-2, 8 KOs), 138, with a solid left cross to the temple at 1:16 of the opening session in a scheduled ten on Saturday in Tokyo, Japan.
Nagashima, 32, once had an ill-fated opportunity to fight in a quest for the vacant WBC super-feather belt only to be annihilated by Thailander Sirimongkol Singmanassak in two rounds in 2002. Since then Kengo, the promoter Kiyoshi’s son, moved up to the 135-pound category and wrested the national belt from Shunsuke Ito in 2006. He kept it three times by defeating Kazuki Kubota, Ichitaro Ishii (current Japanese champ) and Ricky Tsukamoto, all on points.
It was surprisingly that Nagashima, not regarded as a hard-puncher, displayed such a breathtaking knockout even against the overmatched victim. The veteran lefty is gunning for an ultimate shot of his career at the WBA lightweight throne against the newly crowned compatriot Keisuke Kobori who recently dethroned Jose Alfaro in three give-and-take rounds this May. Kobori, however, is obliged to face WBA mandatory challenger Paulus Moses of Namibia in his first defense.
Promoter: 18 Koga Promotions.
(7-19-08)