## MATSUOKA DEFEATS OPBF#12 PUMICPIC

November 1, 2014

SANDA, JAPAN

Local bantam prospect Hikaru Matsuoka (8-1-3, 1 KO), 120, decked an important victory over OPBF#12 Filipino Richard Pumicpic (15-7-2, 4 KOs), 119.5, by a unanimous decision (79-74, 78-76 twice) over eight rounds on Saturday in Sanda, Japan. The Japanese underdog made good use of his footwork and kept averting Pumicpicfs roundhouse punches, piling up points with faster combinations. Pumicpic, a willing mixer, tried to mix it up but Matsuoka refused to trade punches in the close range all the way.

OPBF #7 flyweight Filipino Giovanni Escaner (12-3, 8 KOs), 113.75, aggressively attacked Japanese veteran Junichi Ebisuoka (23-18-6, 10 KOs), 115, from the outset and finally caught him to have him at bay with the towel fluttering into the ring at 2:42 of the seventh canto. The ex-world challenger Ebisuoka, 33, apparently passed his peak and tasted the fifth defeat in his latest six bouts. It may be time for him to consider hanging up gloves for good.

Another Filipino victor was Jonel Gadapan (9-7-1, 6 KOs), 134.75, dispatched previously unbeaten local kid Yuji Itani (4-1, 4 KOs), 133.75, at 2:37 of the second session in a scheduled six.

Out of the three international bouts, a couple of Filipinos decked very convincing victories by registering one-sided stoppages. Probably the local promoter had wrong prefight information from a Philippine matchmaker. The crowd looked stunned and disappointed at their local favoritesf bad defeats.

Promoter: Taisei Promotions.

(11-1-2014)

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