Tada dethrones WBO female 105lb champ Ebata

By Joe Koizumi

It was a contest of a 42-year-old champ and a 37-year-old challenger with the WBO female 105-pound belt on the line in the daytime show on Saturday in Osaka, Japan.

Formerly two-time titleholder Etsuko Tada (18-3-2, 5 KOs), 104.5, a slick-punching southpaw, defeated defending ruler Kayoko Ebata (11-8, 6 Kos), 104.5, by a unanimous decision (98-92 twice, 97-93) to wrest the WBO title and acquire her third belt to her credit.Tada displayed sharp southpaw lefts to the constantly sidestepping champ to pile up points steadily. Ebata sustaining a gash over the right optic, she had a nuisance with visual inconvenience to catch up with the shifty southpaw. Ebata showed her desperate attack down the stretch, but it was too late to overcome her early deficits on points. The referee was Danrex Tapdasan from the Philippines.

Wild-swinging left hooker, OPBF female featherweight champ Wakako Fujiwara (7-2-2, 2 KOs), a 37-year-old mother of a couple of sons, kept her newly acquired belt by a unanimous but hairline verdict (77-76 twice, 77-75) over former titlist Kimika Miyoshi (13-12-1, 5 Kos), 125.25 and 34 years of age, in a hard-fought eight. It’s a direct rematch between them as Fujiwara dethroned Miyoshi in Tokyo months ago.

Remarkable speedster, formerly amateur titlist Kasumi Saeki (3-0, 2 KOs), 103.5, seized the vacant WBO Asia Pacific female 105-pound belt (renounced by Etsuko Tada) as she demonstrated a good form and remarkable hand speed in halting Thailand’s Wassana Kamdee (3-5, 2 KOs), 103, at 1:14 of the third round in a scheduled eight.

All six bouts were competed by female warriors who had the audience entertained with their hot exchanges of punches. The female boxing show is less popular in Tokyo and in Osaka, where many supporters kept hailing in favor of their idols.

This show was presented by Shinsei Promotions.