July 4, 1998
TOKYO--Korakuen Hall--Unbeaten but less experienced RYUHEI SUGITA, 128
3/4, amazed the crowd as he averted positive attacks of lefty prefight
favorite GO KANEUCHI(right photo), 128 3/4, and flattened him with a single straight
right to the button at 0:29 into the 8th to acquire the vacant Japanese
national superfeather title. Sugita raised his credentials to 14-0-1,
12 KOs. Kaneuchi, formerly All-Japan high school champ, fell to 10-2, 6
KOs.
Kaneuchi, a hard-hitting prospect managed by Akihiko Honda, was favored to win the national throne recently vacated by Takanori Hatakeyama who decided to have a crack at the WBA 130-pound diadem against Korean Yongsoo Choi in Tokyo on Sept. 5. Kaneuchi overcame his previous trouble in moving to Teiken Club from Victory Club and physical injuries. He kept winning since his sole defeat by Yoshikazu Tamasaki in his third pro bout.
Sugita, piloted by ex-WBC superbantam boss Kiyoshi Hatanaka, won the All-Japan Shinjin-o (Novice King) tourney when he fought to a 6-round draw with Kyo Tateoka in the All-Japan final but was declared the winner of the tournament in Feb. of the previous year. For him, this was only the second 10-rounder.
From the start, Kaneuchi was aggressive with his solid southpaw lefts and rights, which, however, were averted by Sugita's tight guard and flexible upper-body movement. Sugita, 3 years his junior at 21, scored sporadic straight rights to his opponent's chin, but remained rather defensive in the first 3 rounds.
Sugita, in the 4th, suddenly turned loose with a flurry of punches to take him to the standstill. He repeated his windmill attacks in the 6th, though Kaneuchi retaliated with less accurate but positive rallies in the 5th. The lefty shifted his target to the rookie's midsection and seemingly took back the pace in 7th.
But Sugita's well-timed right caught the chin of Kaneuchi, who fell flat and barely stood up at the count of 9 to be counted out by the referee Masakazu Uchida, as he was wobbling and fell down again. It was a clearcut one-punch knockout. Sugita kept his composure, blocked and avoided Kaneuchi's hard shots by making good use of his flexible mobility. He proved much better than the spectators in Tokyo had expected.
Strange enough, Japan boasts of more talented boxers in the 130-pound division than in any other classes--WBA #2 contender Takanori Hatakeyama, OPBF champ Kengo Nagashima, ex-Japanese champ Koji Arisawa, ex-world challengers Yamato Mitani, Nobutoshi Hiranaka and Yuji Watanabe, plus Sugita and Keneuchi. It will be very interesting to see the combatants square off each other in the nearest future.
JBC #3 ranked flyweight CELES KOBAYASHI, 111 3/4, earned a unanimous decision over ex-national champ HIROSHI KOBAYASHI, 111 3/4, over 10. The lefty Celes bettered his mark to 17-4-2, 10 KOs. Hiroshi fell to 11-14-2, 3 KOs.
Despite his victory, it wasn't an easy fight for Celes as Hiroshi incessantly kept smoking and stalking the taller lefty. Celes often scored solid southpaw right hooks to the face of the veteran who refused to go down and kept coming forward with his non-stop rallies. Celes, who had failed to win the national fly title twice from Nolito "Suzuki" Cabato, must sharpen his punches and improve his speed and footwork.
Katsuhiro Akita, 111 3/4, was awarded a technical decision over Shunichi
Nagayama, 111 3/4, at 0:10 of the 4th in a scheduled 6. Akita is
10-7-2, a KO, and Nagayama 8-5-1, 2 KOs.
JBC #10 superfly Hisataka Ikemori, 117 1/2, scored a TKO win over Wataru
Matsumoto, 118, at 1:42 of the 2nd in a scheduled 6. Ikemori is 9-2-3,
4 KOs, and Matsumoto 10-8-2, 2 KOs.
Ken Morioka, 133 1/2, stopped Masataka Hirata, 134, at 0:18 of the 4th
in a scheduled 6. The winner is 7-5-1, 6 KOs, and the loser 7-2-1, 4
KOs.
Promoter: Teiken Promotions.
(7-4-98)