October 4, 2011
TOKYO, JAPAN
In a furious encounter of southpaws, WBA#6/WBC#7 Nihito Arakawa (21-1-1, 14 KOs), 135, came off the canvas in round two, fought back hard and barely acquired the vacant OPBF lightweight belt by eking out a split decision over previously unbeaten Filipino champ Jay Solmiano (11-1-1, 7 KOs), 133, over twelve hard-fought rounds on Tuesday in Tokyo, Japan.
The official tallies were as follows: scoring referee Jaebong Kim (Korea) 115-114 and Akihiko Katsuragi (Japan) 115-113, both for busy-punching Arakawa, and Romeo Yulo (Philippines) 115-112 for Solmiano. Even among ringsiders there were different opinions as to which the victor was, but it’s true Arakawa showed his heart and Solmiano his power-punching.
Solmiano, five years his junior at 24, started fireworks from the outset and badly dropped the other southpaw Arakawa with a left cross early in the second. The shaven-skulled Arakawa very barely lasted the crisis with his pride and determination, and began to display his trademark light but quick combinations from the third on. The tide busily turned in every round, as Solmiano occasionally scored with solid shots, while Arakawa kept throwing busier combinations to the more powerful but less aggressive Filipino puncher. Despite his left optic badly swollen and later closed Arakawa withstood furious attacks of Solmiano in the eleventh and kept boring in down the stretch. It was a very competitive and crowd-pleasing combat. Ryan Gabriel, the loser’s handler, claimed his boy’s victory and asked for a direct rematch. Hirotaka Nakaya, however, insisted on his new OPBF ruler’s triumph because of his workman-like combos shown in later rounds.
In a quest of the vacant national 135-pound throne vacated by Arakawa prior to his participation in the OPBF elimination bout, JBC top contender Yoshitaka Kato (20-4-1, 5 KOs), 135, struggled to become the new titlist by earning a unanimous but debatable decision (96-95, 97-94 and 98-93) over Takashi Inagaki (13-10-1, 6 KOs), 133, over ten.
Promoter: Hachioji Nakaya Promotions.
Matchmaker: Joe Koizumi (as for the Arakawa-Solmiano bout).
(10-4-2011)