April 19, 2009
April 19, 2009
TOKYO, JAPAN
Today, on Sunday, we got up early and went to the Korakuen Hall, not to church, as the show started so early as 11:25 am. It was because of another rent of the Hall by a TV vaudeville program in the evening.
WBC#11 ranked Tomonobu Shimizu (14-3-1, 5 KOs) (right photo), 112, disappointingly kept his Japanese flyweight belt as he was held to a technical draw by hard-punching challenger Shigetaka Ikehara (17-1-2, 13 KOs), 112, at 0:57 of the second session here in Tokyo, Japan.
Leading on points as he was, Shimizu suffered a come-from-behind tenth-round KO defeat by WBC flyweight champ Daisuke Naito in a quest for the belt last July. Ikehara was the ultimate winner of a tourney to decide the mandatory 112-pound challenger among JBC contenders, though he used to be a 108-pound campaigner.
Ikehara, as expected, made a furious opening attack, occasionally landing a solid shot at a time to Shimizu’s handsome face to win a point. But their head-collision opened a gash over the left eyebrow, which became so worsened early in the second that the referee had the cut examined by the ringside physician and coldly declared a halt. Some disgusted spectators wished to drink afterward as usual, but it was still too early as it ended only before 3 pm.
Promoter: Kaneko Promotions.
(4-19-09)