## KOSEKI, SHIBATA KEEP WBC, IBF FEMALE BELTS

February 19, 2015

TOKYO, JAPAN

WBC female atomweight champ Momo Koseki (20-2-1, 7 KOs), 101, kept her belt with great ease when the Japanese southpaw battered Filipino challenger Aisah Alico (5-5, 4 KOs), 101, from all angles, pinned her to the ropes and made her so helpless that referee Fukuchi wisely waved it off at 1:29 of the second round on Thursday in Tokyo, Japan. Koseki, 32, wrested the WBC throne as she scored a TKO victory over Thailandfs Winyu Paradorn Gym in two quick sessions here in 2008, and retained it on fifteen occasions by showing her improvement in every fight. The busy-punching Koseki wishes to unify the world 102-pound belts with WBA titleholder and compatriot Ayaka Miyao in the near future.

In the main event, IBF junior flyweight champ Naoko Shibata (14-3, 4 KOs), 107.5, barely kept her belt as she eked out a majority decision (96-95, 96-94, 95-95) over free-swinging Saemi Hanagata (9-6-2, 4 KOs), 107.5, over ten. Shibata acquired the vacant IBF belt by outscoring Mexican Alondra Garcia in November 2013, and it was her third defense since. Shibata, 33, had a tough time coping with the aggressiveness of the shorter Hanagata, 30, but the judges might have evaluated the champfs precision rather than the challengerfs volume of punches.

Promoter: World Sports Promotions.

(2-19-2015)

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