## JAPAN UPDATE

April 13, 2011

TOKYO, JAPAN

Hard-punching southpaw swinger Akinori Watanabe (22-4, 20 KOs), 147, captured the OPBF and Japanese national welterweight belts when he furiously displayed his opening assault, floored defending champ Yo Inoue (18-2-2, 11 KOs), 147, five times and scored a quick knockout victory at 1:22 of the second session in a scheduled twelve rounder on Monday in Tokyo, Japan. Watanabe, who once registered fifteen consecutive stoppages, previously failed to win the national belt, and gained a couple of thrones with a single triumph. His wicked and wild left was a haymaker.

WBA female interim 105-pound champ Ibeth Zamora, Mexico, arrived in Osaka, Japan, with his uncle and trainer Cruz Zamora last Saturday. Ibeth is going to face unbeaten WBA full champ Etsuko Tada, a Japanese southpaw, in a unification bout here on this coming Sunday. Her representative Francisco Gabriel Cordero arrived here on Monday to take care of her final training. Zamora, 22, showed her public workout and displayed her good condition at Muto Gym today (Wednesday). It will be a very competitive confrontation between Japan and Mexico, following a shocker of Jhonny Gonzalez and Hozumi Hasegawa last Friday.

A Japanese national title twinbill took place on Saturday at the Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan. Yota Sato (21-2-1, 11 KOs), 115, kept his super-flyweight belt as he decked an important win by a unanimous decision (97-93 twice and 96-93) over two-time world challenger and world-rated Kohei Kono (25-6, 9 KOs), 121.5, over ten heats. Mikihito Seto (31-8-2, 16 KOs), 121.25, acquired the interim national super-bantam title via close but unanimous nod (96-95, 96-94 and 97-93) over perennially highly-ranked contender Kyohei Tamakoshi (26-7-6, 10 KOs), 121.5, over ten.

(4-13-11)

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