## NONAKA REGAINS JAPANESE 154LB BELT

August 10, 2014

Japanese veteran southpaw, formerly world-rated Yuki Nonaka (26-8-2 9 KOs), 154, impressively regained his Japanese 154-pound belt as he completely outlegged and outpunched a younger hard-puncher from Tokyo, Kengo Nagashima (14-11-2, 13 KOs), 154, to win a unanimous decision (99-91, 98-92, 97-93) over ten fast rounds on Sunday in Osaka, Japan. Nonaka, a fast-punching southpaw, almost stunned him with a solid countering left to the slower puncher midway in the opening session, and kept controlling the contest with his superior speed. It was only in the fourth that Nagashima almost caught the footworker with his vaunted right, which shook up the local favorite for a while. Nonaka sustained a gash over the left eyebrow in the fifth, while Nagashima, in round six, a laceration under the right optic. Deft of hand and foot, Nonaka steadily piled up points to regain the national super-welter belt after four years and nine months. Originally Nonaka was scheduled to have a shot against newly crowned Takayuki Hosokawa (who had dethroned five-class champ Tadashi Yuba), who, however, renounced his belt due to unannounced physical inconvenience, and Nonaka fought for the vacant throne with a substitute Nagashima.

Nonaka, a six-foot skillful speedster, has been unbeaten for more than four years since he lost his OPBF and national super-welter belts to Akio Shibata in November 2009, but has been unbeaten since, including an important victory over previously unbeaten Dmytro Nikulin on points in September 2010. Nonaka is eager to fight abroad for any regional belt of any organization.

(8-10-2014)

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