March 28, 2000
TOKYO, JAPAN-Elongated Australian jabber GUY WATERS, 168, impressively
captured the OPBF super-middleweight title as he kept his left hand busy
all night to win a unanimous decision over defending champ YOSHINORI
NISHIZAWA, 168, over action-packed 12 frames.
Scored: referee Takeshi Shimakawa (Japan) 119-115, judges Brad Vocale
(Australia) and Kazuo Abe (Japan) 119-108 and 117-111 respectively-all
for Waters, 25-5-1, 11 KOs. Nishizawa fell to 17-12-4, 9 KOs.
The taller Aussie had failed to win the world throne thrice, losing to
Dennis Andries in 1991, to Virgil Hill in 1993 and to Juan Carlos Gomez
in 1998. But his bitter but more experience paid off. The 36-year-old
Waters utilized his stinging lefts from the start and had the upper hand
all the way. But the 4th saw Nishizawa, the 6'1" tricky puncher,
retaliate well and pin Waters to the ropes with a barrage of punches in
the 4th.
>From the 5th on, Waters kept outjabbing the stationary target to pile up
points steadily. The Aussie had him at bay in the 10th, when he made
Nishizawa groggy with a vicious left hook and his furious follow-up.
The champ refused to go down with his determination and gameness.
Nishizawa occasionally displayed his retaliation, but the clever Aussie
grabbed him to stop him from punching. Despite the rather lopsided
proceedings, Nishizawa kept coping with the more skillful opponent until
the end.
UNDERCARD:
Japan's No.3 ranked flyweight HIROKI SHINOZAKI, 112, unanimously
outscored Thailand's PAITON PLOYSAKDA, 111 1/2, over 10.
The winner is 17-4-1, 5 KOs, and the loser is 6-5, 3 KOs.
Promoter: Yonekura Promotions.
Matchmaker: Joe Koizumi
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