August 2, 2015
KARIYA, JAPAN
Japan’s #8 ranked super-light Kazuya Maruki (19-3, 12 KOs), 149.5, kept jabbing all the way and pounded out a unanimous decision (98-93 twice and 100-92) over Indonesian 140-pound ruler Heri Andriyanto (20-19-2, 10 KOs), 143.5, over ten hard-fought rounds on Sunday in Kariya, Japan. Despite the wide difference on points it wasn’t so lopsided a fight as the scores indicated as the winner had the face badly swollen down the stretch. Andriyanto kept stalking the Japanese jabber and occasionally scored with a solid right at a time, while Maruki, the elder brother of former world junior light challenger Takao Maruki, kept sticking and moving to counter the onrushing Indonesian. Heri almost stunned Kazuya with a vicious right midway in round four, but the Japanese desperately fought back hard to regain the initiative and then pile up points in later rounds. Kazuya is the brother of former WBC youth 154-pound champ Ryosuke who had kept his belt a week before.
Promoter: Heiwa Promotions in association with Tenyu Maruki Gym.
(8-2-2015)