LUISITO ESPINOSA, a hard-hitting speedster, will put his WBC featherweight title on the line against No.1 contender CARLOS RIOS, Argentina, 39-0-1-1ND, 29 KOs, in Koronadal City, South Cotabato, Mindanao Island, Philippines, on December 6. Espinosa, 41-7, 21 KOs, is making his 5th defense since he dethroned Manuel Medina by a unanimous decision in Tokyo in Dec., 1995. He defended his throne against Alejandro Gonzalez (KO4), Cesar Soto (W12), Nobutoshi Hiranaka (TKO8), and Manuel Medina (TW8) to his credit. Rios is a small version of Ray "Boon Boon" Mancini who can punch in wild and exciting fashion. Espinosa may utilize his superior height and reach, plus his speed to cope with the Argentine bull-fighter. Espinosa must be careful against Rios's go-for-broke style despite his local advantage. If successful in this mandatory defense, Espinosa will go for an anticipated US campaign, and unification title bouts with the WBO champ Prince Naseem Hamed and the WBA ruler Wilfredo Vazquez next year.
RESULTS
JAPANESE LIGHTWEIGHT TITLE BOUT
RICK YOSHIMURA W10 SATORU HIGASHI
Nov. 17, 1997
TOKYO--Korakuen Hall--RICK ROBERTS YOSHIMURA, a Japanese-based New Yorker, 135, kept his national lightweight title for the 12th time to his credit, as he defeated ex-Olympian SATORU HIGASHI, a wild puncher at 135, by a unanimous decision over 10. Scores: double 99-95 and 100-94, all for Rick, 29-5, 16 KOs, including a couple of losses in his first two bout in New York (Please refer to Fight Fax Record Book, although Rick claims his mark of 29-3, 16 KOs, which is just his record of campaigning in Japan). Higashi, in his 2nd comebacking bout after a 4-year inactivity, fell to 8-2, 6 KOs. Rick is ranked #18 in the 135-pound division by the WBC.
Higashi failed to catch the taller target, Rick, who kept jabbing and moving to pile up points steadily. Rick was expected to finish his opponent, but Higashi showed his determination and durability to refuse to go down. Rick had the upper hand on the hard-puncher who just hit a punch at a time.
In a semi-final 10, JBC #3 ranked jr. welter, MASAYUKI TAKEDA, 146 1/2, downed JBC #6 welter KOICHI YOKOTA, 146 1/4, in the 6th, and won a unanimous nod (99-92, 100-92 and 98-92). Takeda, who was the aggressor, is 17-1, 11 KOs. Yokota impaired to 12-15-4, 9 KOs.
Promoter: Ishikawa Promotions.
(11-17-97)
Nov. 16
NAGOYA--Nagoya International Conference Hall--The finals of Shinjin-oh (Novice King) tournaments took place to decide the representatives in the West Japan region.
Jr. fly: Takamitsu Kunitake DRAW 6 Kenichi Nagi (Kunitake will advance to the All Japan final.)
Fly: Tetsuya Yamazaki KO1 Tetsuya Kawakami
Jr. bantam: Hiroshi Nakano W6 Jun (this is his simple ring name, though his real name is Jun Yamauchi.)
Bantam: Isamu Inagaki KO4 Yasutaka Kashiwagi
Jr. feather: Eiichi Sugama KO3 Masaki Goto
Feather: Yoshio Hattori TKO2 Tomoyasu Hayano
Jr. light: Tsuyoshi Nakamura W6 Koichi Okumura
Light: Takeshi Matsumoto W6 Shunsuke Ito
Jr. welter: Masakazu Saeki KO2 Takashi Kashiwagi
Welter: Kenji Yahagi W6 Shinya Sumida
In a main event, JBC #7 jr. feather TOMOAKI IWASA, 121 3/4, won a unanimous decision over AKIRA EBISUOKA, 121 3/4, over 10. Iwasa, 22-5-2, 16 KOs, floored him with a solid left hook in the opening session, and controlled the bout all the way. Scored: double 98-92 and 99-92. Ebisuoka, 15-4-1, 2 KOs, previously fought Yamato Mitani to lose a unanimous nod in Tokyo, but he won the praise of the crowd with his persistent fighting spirit, which was also shown in this losing bout.
Promoter: Tokai Promotions
OPBF FEATHERWEIGHT TITLE BOUT
TAKEO IMAOKA W12 SAMUEL DURAN
Nov. 12
TOKYO--Korakuen Hall--On the same night that Yuri Arbachakov lost his WBC flyweight throne to Chatchai Dutchboygym in Sapporo, there happened an OPBF featherweight title bout here in Tokyo. Japanese speedster TAKEO IMAOKA, 126, captured the OPBF feather title as he dropped the defending champ SAMUEL DURAN, 124 3/4, Philippines, twice in the 7th and gained a unanimous decision over 12. Scored: referee Ukrid Sarasas (Thailand) 117-115, Kazunobu Asao (Japan) 115-114, and Rodrigo Perez (Philippines) 116-114, all for Imaoka.
It was a give-and-take affair as the official tallies indicated. In the 7th, Imaoka landed a solid left hook to floor the champ for the mandatory 8 count. The taller Japanese sent him to the deck again in the same round. The knockdowns eventually carried Imaoka to the OPBF crown. The WBC #8 ranked Duran, reportedly 54-17-2, 25 KOs, had acquired the regional throne on a controversial decision over Singhnum Yamakigym, Thailand, in an elimination bout in Manila on the undercard of the WBC feather title bout (in which Luisito Espinosa kept his title for the 4th time on a technical decision over Manuel Medina). Imaoka, 19-3, 10 KOs, previously failed to win the Japanese title on a hairline split decision to Koji Matsumoto, and continued a winning streak thereafter. He is a talented youngster, but his flaw is a tendency to grab his opponent to avoid mixing up in the close range. If he corrects that defect, he may be a good attraction here.
In a semi-final 10, lanky footowrker KOKI TANAKA, 111 1/2, gave lefty KENICHI HIRAYAMA, 112, a standing count and was awarded a TKO win at 2:24 of the 6th round. Tanaka is 4-0-2, 2 KOs. The loser fell to 8-5-1, 1 KO.
Promoter: Saida Promotions.
Nov. 11
TOKYO--Korakuen Hall--Upcoming lefty CELES KOBAYASHI, 115, dropped Filipino JO JO TORRES, 115 3/4, 3 times to score an automatic KO win at 2:58 of the 2nd round in a scheduled 10. Kobayashi's combinations were effective enough to hurt the Filipino foe. JBC #2 ranked fly Kobayashi, who had failed to win the national fly title on a 3rd round technical draw with Nolito Suzuki Cabato last Sept., is 16-3-2, 10 KOs. Torres reportedly fell to 14-14-3, 10 KOs.
POWERFUL HONMO (this is his ring name), 126, was rendered a majority nod (78-76, 77-76 and 77-77) over JIN KIJIMA, 126, over 8. Honmo is 7-1-1, 2 KOs. Kijima dropped to 9-5-1, 3 KOs.
Promoter: Kokusai Promotions.
Nov. 10
TOKYO--Korakuen Hall--Former national junior middle champ TATSUFUMI ITO, 153 1/2, had TOMONORI OHARA, 154, on the deck twice in the opening session and halted him at 1:05 of the 2nd round in a scheduled 10. Ito, who was dethroned by the current champ Akira Ohigashi in Mar. of the previous year, is 9-2-1, 4 KOs. Ohara, JBC #8 jr. middle, is 9-7, 4 KOs.
In a companion 10, JBC #2 jr. welter JUNICHI ONO, 136 3/4, scored a couple of standing counts before he stopped JUN NAKAYA, 137, at 1:57 of the 3rd round. Ono, 13-1-1, 6 KOs, had failed to win the national 140-pound title, losing a decision to Hisao Arai in Osaka last Apr. Ono is not a hard-hitter but an upcoming combination puncher who will have another shot at Arai's title in the near future.
HIROAKI MOCHIZUKI, 135, chalked up a TKO win over NORIMASA ABIKO, 135, at 2:47 of the 5th session in a scheduled 8. The winner is 10-5, 3 KOs. The loser dipped to 7-6-2, 4 KOs.
Promoter: Shin Nihon Kimura Promotions.
Nov. 9
TOKYO--Korakuen Hall--TOSHIHIRO NAITO, 118, pounded out a unanimous decision over TSUYOSHI TAKANUMA, 118, over 8. Naito, 7-2-1, 4 KOs, floored him with a vicious right uppercut in the closing seconds of the 2nd. Takanuma fell to 7-4-1, 2 KOs. KENICHI MORIYAMA, 122, scored a fine KO over TAKEO KITANO, 122, at 2:22 of the 4th in a first 8. The victor is 10-7-2, 5 KOs, while the loser is 11-6-1, 7 KOs. A towel was tossed in while the referee Shimakwa was counting against Kitano, so this is registered as a KO by the JBC.
Promoter: Rocky Promotions.
Nov. 11
TOKYO--The JBC (Japan Boxing Commission) announced to correct the result of the previous OPBF junior light elimination bout on Nov. 8 into a TKO for Yamato Mitani. Mitani fought Filipino Joselito Rivera for the vacant OPBF title, and was awarded a KO win because Rivera was unable to fight on after he hit the head at the deck of the press box. They fell out of the ropes together and only Mitani could return to the ring. This incident reminds this reporter of the historical happening of Ad Walgast's controversial 13th round KO of Mexican Joe Rivers on July 4, 1912.
Nov. 17
TOKYO--The controversy of the OPBF cruiser champ Yosukezan Nishijima's next title defense was over. Nishijima had acquired the WBF cruiser title by beaten Brian Laspada in Las Vegas last Jul., but our Commission, which affiliates only with the WBA and the WBC, urged to renounce the unsanctioned WBF title upon Nishijima's application for sanctioning the OPBF title defense that is scheduled against New Zealander Lightning Lupe in Kitakyushu City on Dec. 20. Osamu Watanabe, the manager of Nishijima, finally yielded and accepted relinquishing the WBF title because he evaluated the OPBF title more highly. If Nishijima renounces the OPBF title, he will not be ranked in the WBC ratings, where he is now ranked #9. Our Commission's attitude may look strict, but we welcome the JBC's strong policy that our boxing fraternity will not recognize other organizations for the sake of quality control.