## FUENTES KEEPS OPBF 112LB BELT

June 5, 2010

TOKYO, JAPAN

Busy-punching Filipino, WBC#9 ranked OPBF flyweight champ Rocky Fuentes (24-6-2, 15 KOs) (right photo), 112, looked very impressive as he kept exchanging solid shots toe-to-toe from the outset, withstood furious retaliations of WBC#15/WBA#15 Shigetaka Ikehara (20-2-2, 16 KOs), 112, and finally halted him with a towel thrown from the Japanese corner at 2:09 of the eleventh round on Saturday in Tokyo, Japan.

It was really the Fight of the Month, each exerting all the power and mixing it up to have the crowd into frenzy. Fuentes, making his initial defense since dethroning Masafumi Okubo here this March, badly rocked the hard-punching challenger in the first and also had the upper hand in round two. Ikehara, who had entered the world top ten thanks to his upset stoppage of ex-world challenger Shingo Yamaguchi last year, almost dropped the champ with a flurry of punches midway in the third and dominated three rounds since. The tide turned again when Fuentes kept jabbing and throwing effective body shots and apparently weakened the game Japanese, being in command in the sixth through eighth rounds. Ikehara, in round nine, desperately came out fighting and shook him up with vicious combos, but Fuentes displayed revenging rallies to have it even. The eleventh saw the versatile-punching champ batter him from all angles to make Ikehara, 28, too groggy and exhausted to survive. A towel fluttering into the ring, it was halted to see Fuentes, 24, the victor that all the spectators praised. Itfs a good fight.

In the main event of a show featuring a triple title bout, WBA#14 Japanese national feather ruler Retsuri Lee (16-1-1, 8 KOs), 125.5, overwhelmed hard-hitting top contender Hisashi Amagasa (15-4-2, 12 KOs), 125.75, all the way and barely endured his last surge to retain his belt by a unanimous verdict (98-93 twice and 97-94) over ten.

Japanese super-feather champ, WBA#10/WBC#13 Takashi Miura (19-1-2, 15 KOs), 130, exploded his southpaw lefts so effectively and dynamically that he decked taller southpaw Hiroto Takeshita (13-9-1, 9 KOs), 130, and pummeled him into submission at 2:57 of the third round. Miurafs brutal and brilliant power accounted for his quick stoppage.

Promoter: Yokohama Hikari Promotions.

Matchmaker: Joe Koizumi (as for the Fuentes-Ikehara OPBF title bout).

(6-5-10)

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