January 15, 2000
TOKYO, JAPAN-Unbeaten speedster KOHKI TANAKA, 107 1/2, acquired the
vacant OPBF light flyweight throne, as he showed good aggressiveness in
earlier rounds, piled up points and was declared a winner on a split but
well-received decision over Philippine champ LORITO LAROA, 108, midway
in the 8th round as Tanaka's gash caused by headbutts became worsened.
Scored: referee David Chung (Korea) 69-65 and Kazunobu Asao (Japan)
69-65 and 69-66 both for Tanaka, and Edwin Sese (Philippines) 68-65 for
Laroa.
WBC #29 ranked Tanaka, by far taller than the 5-foot Filipino lefty,
dominated the first four session with his more accurate shots to the
occasionally onrushing opponent.
A gash Tanaka sustained in the third became bigger as the contest
progressed, since Laroa kept boring in from the head and there happened
plenty of head-collisions. The referee sometimes gave warnings to
Laroa, but when he was about to deduct a point, Tanaka's cut was
diagnosed too bad for him to go on by the ringside physician.
Tanaka raised his unbeaten mark to 12-0-3, 7 KOs. Laroa dipped to
17-23-3, 3 KOs. Despite his mediocre credentials, he was really a
Filipino national champ, and it was true that he showed his fighting
spirit, if not his finesse.
UNDERCARDS:
Sensational KO artist, EUGENIO "YUJI" GOMEZ, 125 1/2, ran his unbeaten
mark to 7-0, 6 KOs, as he needed just 78 seconds of the opening canto to
demolish Filipino ULYSIS PUZON, 126, in a scheduled 8.
Gomez, a Puerto Rican living in Tokyo with his Japanese wife, made his
pro debut here, and won the All Japan final of the Shinjin-o (Novice
King) tournaments in the feather division on a first round demolition of
Jun Hirose on Dec. 18.
Gomez, already JBC #10 contender, will become a very popular boy with
his tremendous power-punching. Probably no top notchers here will be
willing to exchange gloves with this muscular dynamite. Puzon
reportedly fell to 18-17-4, 7 KOs.
JBC #2 ranked middleweight SATORU SUZUKI, 158 1/2, scored a fine KO win
over HITOSHI SAITO, 157 1/4, at 1:58 of the second round in a scheduled
8. The winner is 8-3, 5 KOs. The loser fell to 4-7-2, 2 KOs.
Hachiohji Nakaya Promotions.
Matchmaker: Joe Koizumi.
(1-15-00)
--
Joe Koizumi
If you wish to refer to my previous reports, please access to:
http://www.ring-japan.com/oriental.htm
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