June 5, 1999
TOKYO-Fleet-footed lefty, WBC #6 ranked KENGO NAGASHIMA(right photo), 130, successfully kept his super-feather title of the OPBF (Oriental & Pacific Boxing Federation) as he comfortably piled up enough points to win but struggled to the last surge of Korean DOOYUL LEE(left photo), 128 3/4, in the last three rounds to eke out a split but popular decision over 12.

Scored: referee Nobuaki Uratani (Japan) 117-112 and judge Masakazu Uchida (Japan) 117-114, for Nagashima, and Hyunggun Kim (Korea) 116-115, surprisingly for Lee.

Nagashima, who had dethroned two-time world challenger and compatriot Yamato Mitani last Jun., made good use of his superior speed in outboxing and outclassing the shorter Korean for the first 9 rounds. The determined Korean turned loose from the 10th onward, and kept stalking the fading champ who concentrated on circling rather than fighting back hard.

Nagashima became one of the most popular boxers in Tokyo, since he kept his regional throne against name ex-world challengers, Nobutoshi Hiranaka and Yuji Watanabe, and impressively defeated them to attract our aficionados. But he couldn't show a fine performance this night probably due to a partly sprained left leg, which was disclosed after the fight.

Nagashima, 23, bettered his mark to 14-1-1, 9 KOs. Lee, 30, displayed his admirable fighting heart, but dropped to 14-8-1, 8 KOs.

After his third defense of the OPBF crown, Nagashima announced to renounce his regional title to prepare for a future world title shot. He went to Las Vegas for training under the tutelage of Ken Adams, but unfortunately couldn't show his improvement in this title defense.

SCORESHEETS

REFEREE NOBUAKI URATANI (JAPAN)

-	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	TOTAL
NAGASHIMA	10	10	10	10	10	10	9	10	10	10	9	9	117
LEE	9	9	9	9	9	9	10	9	9	10	10	10	112

JUDGE MASAKAZU UCHIDA (JAPAN)

-	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	TOTAL
NAGASHIMA	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	9	10	9	9	10	117
LEE	9	9	10	9	9	9	10	10	9	10	10	10	114

JUDGE HYUNGGUN KIM (KOREA)

-	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	TOTAL
NAGASHIMA	10	10	9	10	10	10	9	9	10	10	9	9	115
LEE	10	9	10	10	9	9	10	10	9	10	10	10	116

UNDERCARD:

WBA #14 ranked light-fly ATSUSHI SAI, 108 1/4, pounded out a unanimous decision over game but limited KAZUNORI OSATO, 108, over 10. Sai, a taller boxer, outpunched the winning mixer all the way despite Osato's persistent but less accurate attacks. Sai is 14-2-1, 7 KOs. Osato fell to 9-6-2, 2 KOs.

18 Koga Promotions.
(6-5-99)

June 6
KURE-Local prospect WATARU YAMAJI, a stylish boy at 111 1/4, withstood the opening attack of Filipino ROLANDO TOYOGON, 110 1/4, and took back the initiative from the 4th on en route to a KO win at 1:00 of the 7th round in a scheduled 8.

Toyogon spontaneously sat down to protest against a butt, but the referee tolled the count up to a fatal ten before the Filipino reluctantly stood up.

Yamaji, formerly rated by the JBC, is 12-5-2, 8 KOs. Toyogon, OPBF #9 ranked minimumweight, reportedly fell to 20-14-2, 5 KOs.

Shin Nihon Kure Promotions.
(6-6-99)

May 30
AMAGASAKI-Upcoming EIICHI SUGAMA(right photo), JBC #10 ranked feather, 127 1/2, swept all rounds before he knocked Thailander PHIMNIMITR SITSYAARAN(left photo), 127 1/2, out of the ropes and put him prone on the apron at 2:05 of the 6th round in a scheduled 10.

Sugama, who had won the Technique Award in the All Japan Novice King tourney in 1998, proved too strong for the Thailander. His trade-mark left hook was a haymaker.

Sugama raised his ledger to 13-1, 11 KOs. He suffered his sole defeat by veteran lefty Hiroaki Fukumoto last Oct. and dropped drastically in the JBC's ratings, but he is one of promising rookies in the Osaka area. The Thailander reportedly dropped to 9-3.

UNDERCARD:

CHULHO SENRIMA(right photo), JBC #3 super-bantam, proved to be a slow starter by losing first two rounds, but dominated the proceedings to earn a unanimous decision over YUICHI OGAWA(left photo), 123, over 10.

Scored: 98-93, 97-95 and 98-95, all for Senrima, 16-3-3, 8 KOs, who had been previously fighting as Chulho Kang. Ogawa, 9-11-2, 3 KOs, displayed his heart and refused to go down despite Senrima's vaunted attack.

Amagasaki Promotions.
(5-30-99)

May 29
HACHIOJI-Upcoming KOKI TANAKA(right photo), JBC #1 ranked light fly, 109 3/4, was befuddled by a puzzling lefty style of Filipino JULIE TAGALOG, 110 1/4, but connected with good combinations to sink him for the count at 2:32 of the 5th canto in a scheduled 10.

It was a tune-up go prior to Tanaka's forthcoming mandatory shot at another lefty Hidenobu Tanaka, WBA #3 ranked 108-pounder, within this year. But Tagalog was too tricky a southpaw for Tanaka to prepare for his encounter with Honda. But Tanaka pinned him to the ropes and scored a barrage of punches to drop him for the fatal ten.

Tanaka is 9-0-3, 5 KOs. Tagalog reportedly fell to 7-10-4, 3 KOs, but he was a much better boxer than this record indicatd.

UNDERCARD:

Local favorite SATORU SUZUKI(left photo), JBC #3 ranked middleweight contender, 160, was a prefight favorite, but unexpectedly suffered a quick KO defeat by TOMOHIRO IDE, 160, in the opening session of a scheduled 6.

Suzuki, this year's Novice King tourney winner, got ranked #3 after his winning the final. But he took a vicious left hook of an unheralded opponent and hit the back of the head on the deck only to be counted out by the ref. Suzuki fell to 6-3, 3 KOs. Ide, handled by ex-world junior middle champ Koichi Wajima, decked an important triumph and bettered his mark to 6-6-2, 5 KOs.

Hachioji Nakaya Promotions.
(5-29-99)