Japan update

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Boxing Beat

Fujimoto stops Lovelock

WBC#18 heavyweight, Japanese champ Kyotaro Fujimoto (15-1, 8 KOs), 231.5, withstood an opening attack of Australian Adam Lovelock (11-6, 2 KOs), 220, and halted him with his good retaliation at 2:13 of the second session on Tuesday in Tokyo, Japan. The Aussie, in the first round, almost caught up with the local favorite with an overhand right, but Fujimoto utilized his footwork and body movement to avert his determined attack. The second saw Fujimoto connect with a solid right to have Lovelock staggering to the ropes with the loser’s corner throwing in the towel upon his furious follow-up attack. Lovelock fought well, but Fujimoto looked too powerful and heavy for the Aussie visitor.

Hosokawa barely keeps OPBF 154lb belt

IBF#3 OPBF super-welter champ Takayuki Hosokawa (28-10-5, 9 KOs), 154, barely kept his regional belt as he was knocked down twice in the second and eighth rounds, but was awarded a majority draw (113-113 twice and 115-111 for the challenger) with Koshinmaru Saito (23-8-2, 13 KOs), 154, over twelve hard-fought rounds on Sunday in Osaka, Japan. Saito, in his sixth attempt to win the belt, floored the champ with a left hook in the eighth, and was leading on points by the open scoring system: all judges scoring 76-74 for Saito. But the champ’s last surge might win three points of the two local judges’ tallies in the last four sessions, while a judge from Tokyo saw Saito four points ahead in the end.　Saito logically deserves a rematch.

Maruta wins WBC youth 118lb belt

In a separate daytime show at the same arena in Osaka, Hinata Maruta (3-0, 2 KOs), 117.25, won the vacant WBC Youth bantamweight belt by finishing Filipino Wilbert Berondo (10-1, 4 KOs), 117.5, at 3:03 of the sixth round. Japanese #11 bantam Maruta, a 19-year-old lanky prospect, sunk Berondo with a vicious body shot to seize the Youth belt before the WBC youth president Rex Walker in attendance.