Today Japanese fans at the Komagatani gym in Hyogo saw two new WBO champions being crowned. One of those was Katsunari Takayama, who claimed the WBO Minimumweight title with a technical decision over 18 year old Riku Kano, with the bout being stopped in the 6th round. The other was Australian warrioress Louisa Hawton (7-0, 3) who managed to out box and out fight the naturally bigger Kei Takenaka (11-0, 3). The opening round was a cautious one, with neither wanting to take too many risks too soon. Takenaka tried to make the most of her size advantage, fighting behind a quick, but often wayward, jab, whilst Hawton looked for an opportunity to attack but didn't rush in. It was a technical type of round with neither wanting to make the first big mistake. Unfortunately for Takenaka it seemed like she missed her early opportunity to strike and soon afterwards Hawton had found her groove, realising that Takenaka's key advantage was just her size. From then on Hawton went on the front foot, landing aggressive shots from round 2 and securing an early lead over Takenaka, who looked rather lost at times due to the aggressiveness and speed of the visitor. The Japanese local knew she was behind going in to the middle rounds and tried to change the tempo of the bout, but she was met by Hawton who raised her own game to out battle Takenaka. It was as if Hawton was able to do everything Takenaka could do, better than her and that showed again in the later rounds with Takenaka being staggered in round 10 and being forced to look for counter shots. By the final it was clear that the title, which had been vacant at the start of the day, was heading to Australia with Hawton, who claimed her first world title with a unanimous decision. The scorecards read 98-91, 97-92 and 96-93, with only the closeness of the third card really getting any criticism. Sadly for Takenaka, who has claimed she wants to retire before her 31st birthday, this is a serious setback in her dreams to become a world champion before she walks away from the sport.
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Earlier today fans in Saitama saw female IBF Light Flyweight champion Naoko Shibata (16-3-1, 5) [柴田 直子] narrowly retain her title with a razor thin majority decision against Mexican challenger Maria Salinas (11-5-3, 4). The two women had fought last year fighting to a split decision draw with both fighters looking to over-come that stale-mate today. Unsurprisingly however both fought in a really competitive match again today with neither really managing to establish their dominance over the other. The challenger started well, landing several solid shots to Shibata and also seemed to take round 2 before Shibata fought back in rounds 3 and 4 as she began to up the work the rate and pressure. In round 5 Shibata seemed to have a real break through getting Salinas on the ropes but Salinas saw off the threat and fought back in rounds 6, 7 and 8 before put under pressure again in round 9 with Shibata looking to keep the result out of the judges hands. Salinas saw out the storm of round 9 and her toughness saw her see out the final round, though the judges viewed her as second best, losing the majority decision with scores of 96-94, to Shibata twice, and 95-95. For Shibata the defence was her 5th but it's fair to say she won't be inviting Salinas over for a third bout given very little has split them over 20 rounds. (Image courtesy of boxmob.jp) Late last night Mexican fans so local starlet Ibeth Zamora Silva (25-5, 10) successfully defend her WBC Light Flyweight title, as she became the first fighter to stop Japan's Mari Ando (12-9, 5) [安藤 麻里], who had sought a title in a third division. From the early moments it seemed clear that Ando was up against it with the crowd firmly behind the champion. Not only was the crowd against Ando, but so to was the Mexican who used he jab early to establish control of the bout. That control allowed Zamora to see what Ando had, before upping the tempo herself. As Zamora upped the tempo it became clear Ando had no answer, and the more Zamora went through the gears the more Ando struggled. Although Ando tried to answer back when the Mexican let her hands go she really began to take a bit of a hammering in round 3 as Zamora's accuracy and work rate began to be too much for Ando, who was backed on to the ropes several times. By round 5 Ando was starting to look like a beaten woman and her team seemed to realise it, throwing in the towel in round 6 as Zamora continued to dominate the brave, but completely outmatched challenger, who was unable to match the skills, or work rate of the very talented Zamora (Image courtesy of Pepe Rodriguez) Whilst Momo Koseki's successful title defence against Denise Castle wasn't a shock at all we'll actually admit we were shocked by the other female world title bout in Japan as IBF female Light Flyweight champion Naoko Shibata (13-3, 4) stopped Mexican veteran Ana Arrazola (20-10-2, 13) and made the second successful defence of her belt. Arrazola had come in to the bout with the reputation of being a really tough fighter and had never been stopped despite having shared the ring with some genuinely top tied fighters, such as Yesica Yolando Bopp. When you add Arrazola's perceived toughness to the fact Shibata wasn't viewed as a puncher, afterall she hadn't scored a stoppage in 4 years, this one was expected to go the distance and be tough for the champion. What we got instead was a dominant performance from Shibata who ended up showing off what she is really capable of as she beat down and stopped Arrazola in 9 rounds. For Shibata this is the sort of win that really cements her standing in the Light Flyweight division. Some had felt she had been lucky in her previous 2 bouts but this time around she seemed more confident than ever and managed to really impress. It was as if holding the title has instilled a new found confidence in her and right now she has to be thinking about a rematch with Etsuko Tada, a bout that Tada herself seemed to hint at earlier this year. For Arrazola the travel home will be a long one though we would assume she's not going to fade away despite this loss. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp) "If at first don't succeed try and try again". That old phase came in handy this past Thursday for Naoko Shibata (11-3, 3) who finally won the big one and for the first time in her career claimed a world title. Shibata, who has been a professional for almost 5 years, had come up short every time she has fought a world level opponent. She had lost to Naoko Fujioka, Etsuko Tada and Ibeth Zamora Silva. With the losses to Tada and Silva being very narrow losses in world title fights. Today however it was third time lucky for Shibata who took on the previously unbeaten Mexican Alondra Garcia (8-1, 1) for the vacant IBF Light Flyweight title. A belt last held by Jessica Chavez, herself an excellent fighter. The fight didn't start well for Shibata who suffered a nasty cut early on above the left eye (see picture above) and was tagged by the much younger Garcia, who was fighting in her first world title bout. Things didn't really get better for Shibata who was forced into a tough, tough fight by the young Mexican who hadn't traveled the globe to give up her unbeaten record. Although more experienced Shibata struggled to get the upper-hand and it seemed that every time she was getting a foot hold Garcia would fight back in a valiant effort to take the title back to Mexico. With out a doubt the fight was close and both women knew they needed to make an impression. Unfortunately for both they each cancelled the other out at times making rounds incredibly difficult to score. Fortunately for Shibata, who was cheered on by the crowd, she managed to just do enough to impress the judges that little bit more than the away fighter to take a decision with scores of 98-92, 97-93 and 96-94. It wasn't a robbery by any means, but it's one where the decision went with the home fighter and a 96-94 scorecard either way would have been accurate. Unfortunately the 98-92 card was a bit too wide for our liking. Note-This fight served as the chief support bout on "Earnest Efforts", a card headlined by Momo Koseki defending her WBC Atomweight title for the 12th time. |
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