August 20, 2011
August 20, 2011
OSAKA, JAPAN
WBC#6/WBA#9 OPBF flyweight champ Rocky Fuentes (28-6-2, 17 KOs), 112, a busy-punching Filipino prospect, impressively kept his regional belt as he persistently kept battering taller but less experienced ex-amateur Japanese, WBC#10/WBA#14 Hirofumi Mukai (5-1, no KO), 112, by a very unanimous decision over twelve fast rounds on Saturday in Osaka, Japan.
Scoring referee Jun-Bae Lim (Korea) tallied it 118-111, and judges Arnel Passion (Philippines) and Masahiro Noda (Japan), had it 117-111 and 118-110 respectively all in favor of the defending titlist.
The 25-year-old champ, making his fourth defense, took the initiative from the outset by making an opening attack to the lanky southpaw, also 25, who attempted to counter the aggressive Filipino. The open scoring system read after the fourth: 39-37 twice for Fuentes and 38-38. Mukai occasionally caught Fuentes with long southpaw lefts, but the champ kept stalking the elusive but less positive challenger with continual combinations. After the eighth, the official tallies were: 78-74 twice and 78-75, all for Fuentes. The last four sessions saw Fuentes more pugnacious and powerful as he displayed his non-stop assault upstairs and downstairs that effectively weakened the Japanese lefty. The crowd praised Fuentes’ good performance as well as Mukai’s durability.
Promoter: Muto Promotions.
Matchmaker: Joe Koizumi.
(8-20-2011)