October 8, 2008
TOKYO, JAPAN
Any new move may be possible in Japan, if purposed to elevate the popularity of boxing. The Japan Pro Boxing Association (JPBA), the union of licensed managers, realized tournaments of four rated boxers with ultimate winners to be entitled to have mandatory shots at national champions. The final results were as follows:
Middleweight: JBC#4 Makoto Fuchigami (10-5, 2 KOs), 159.25, earned a well-received split verdict (77-76, 78-75 and 75-77) over prefight favorite #3 Fukutaro Ujiie (12-7-1, 7 KOs), 159.75, over eight. The southpaw winner kept peppering the awkward opponent until Ujiie showed his last surge down the stretch in the seventh and eighth, which was too late to overcome his early deficit on points.
Welterweight: #6 Daisuke Nakagawa (12-2-1, 9 KOs), 146.75, impressively halted hard-hitting but fragile southpaw #7 Ushiwakamaru Akibei (16-3, 15 KOs), 147, with a flurry of punches at 1:44 of the third round in a scheduled eight. The lanky boxer Nakagawa will have a shot at the Japanese belt against OPBF#1 defending champ Koji Numata.
Lightweight: #5 Hiroshi Nakamori (25-2-1, 14 KOs), 134.75, was awarded a highly debatable split decision (78-76, 78-76 and 76-79) over aggressive and effective #4 Kazuyoshi Kumano (22-6, 5 KOs), 135, over eight. Kumano had the flashy opponent at bay in rounds one and five, and appeared to be a victor. Nakamori will have an opportunity to avenge his previous defeat against national titlist Ichitaro Ishii in a quest for the belt early next year.
Featherweight: #4 Ex-champ Koji Umezu (15-8-1, 6 KOs), 125.5, outhustled #3 Kazunori Takayama (14-5-4, 4 KOs), 125.75, winning a split nod (77-76, 79-75 and 77-78) over eight.
Bantamweight: JBC #1 bantam Kinshiro Usui (17-1, 8 KOs), 118, defeated #1 super-fly Kenji Saegusa (18-7-1, 9 KOs), 118, by a split but popular decision (77-76, 77-75 and 76-77) over eight. Usui, who threw a solid shot at a time, looked much more effective than busy-punching but less accurate Saegusa, who failed to utilize his height and speed only to recklessly mix it up only to be overpowered in the close range. Usui will have an anticipated crack at the national 118-pound belt against unbeaten world contender Kohei Ohba.
Flyweight: #5 Shigetaka Ikehara (16-1-1, 12 KOs) was rendered a right to fight for the Japanese belt because of a walkover with #12 Yu Muranaka (11-2-1, 3 KOs) having failed to make the 112-pound limit.
Minimumweight: Busy-punching southpaw, JBC#2 Masatate Tsuji (12-1-2, 3 KOs), 105, eked out a split verdict (77-76, 78-76 and 75-78) over #1 Kenichi Horikawa (17-6-1, 4 KOs), 105, over eight. Though the loser’s supporters jeered the decision, Tsuji looked more aggressive and effective in dominating the first six rounds despite Horikawa’s retaliation in the last two.
We witnessed five out of six bouts ending in split decisions, and the scoring standard should be reviewed and studied again since some contests looked so clear in deciding the winners, but dubious split verdicts probably caused by preoccupations of the judges were announced inexplicably.
Promoter: East-Japan Pro Boxing Association.
(10-8-08)