## JAPAN UPDATE

Japan may be a crazy place, featuring a great many bouts in December, when people in the world are celebrating this laborious year and expecting a happy new year to come. The below-written are results of title bouts here.

### KUBO WINS VACANT OPBF 122LB BELT

Unbeaten WBC#9 ranked 122-pounder, tall southpaw Jun Kubo (9-0, 7 KOs) impressively acquired the OPBF super-bantamweight belt by flattening Filipino Lloyd Jardeliza in the fourth round last Saturday (December 26). Kubo, a stablemate of ex-WBC champ Hozumi Hasegawa, is expected to follow his seniorfs footstep and seize an international belt in the future.

### SHIRO KEN WRESTS JAPANESE 108LB BELT

Up-and-coming Shiro Ken captured the Japanese national light-flyweight title in his sixth pro bout as he upset veteran defending champ Kenichi Horikawa by a unanimous decision (98-93 twice, 97-93) on Sunday (December 27) in Kyoto, Japan. Shiro is the son of ex-OPBF light-heavyweight champ Hisashi Terachi, and is a good prospect with speed and skills after his amateur experience.

### NONAKA KEEPS JAPANESE 154LB BELT

Japanese 154-pound champ Yuki Nonaka successfully retained his national belt by outlegging and outboxing Koshinmaru Saito, again unsuccessful even in his fifth attempt to win the Japanese belt, to win a unanimous nod (97-93, 97-95, 95-94) over ten heats on Sunday (December 27) in Osaka, Japan.

### ISHIMOTO WINS JAPANESE 122LB BELT

Japanese speedster Yasutaka Ishimoto acquired the vacant national 122-pound belt by scoring a close but unanimous verdict (96-94, 96-95 twice) over Yusaku Kuga in Tokyo, Japan, on December 21. Ishimoto once scored an upset victory over Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. in Macao in 2013, but succumbed to Chris Avalos by an eighth-round stoppage in the IBF eliminator in Macao in May of the previous year.

Probably we had more than three hundred shows here in Japan this year.

(12-31-2015)

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