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VALERO, HASEGAWA KEEP BELTS; MUNOZ REGAINS WBA BELT By Joe Koizumi PhilBoxing.com Fri, 04 May 2007 TOKYO, JAPAN WBA SUPER-FEATHERWEIGHT TITLE BOUT EDWIN VALERO TKO8 NOBUHITO HONMO Japan-based Venezuelan KO artist Edwin Valero (22-0, 22 KOs including 19 first round knockouts), 130, kept his WBA 130-pound belt as he kept stalking WBA mandatory challenger Nobuhito Honmo (29-5-2, 5 KOs), 129.5, all night, bloodied him by opening four lacerations and finally halted him at 1:54 of the eighth round on Thursday in Tokyo, Japan. Valero, a hard-punching southpaw, failed to floor the defensive and negative Japanese, but kept throwing punches from all angles to make it a lopsided affair. The official scorecards before the stoppage were as follows: Rafael Ramos (US) 70-63, Guy Jutras (Canada) 70-64 and Philippe Verbeke (Belgium) 69-64, all for the defending champ. The referee was Pinit Prayadsab (Thailand). The beetle-haired Venezuelan, 25, went for a quick stoppage, as usual, aggressively attacking the tight-guarded Japanese challenger from the outset. Honmo, five years his senior at 30, seemed to be only content to last an initial round as he didn$B!G(Bt wish to become Valero$B!G(Bs twentieth victim in the first three minutes. The crowd praised the cautious Japanese having survived Valero's opening attack. The Venezuelan champ, in round two, opened a cut over the left eyebrow of Honmo, who desperately kept moving and defending himself against Valero$B!G(Bs busy combinations. The third saw Valero still aggressive with southpaw jabs and solid straight lefts, while Honmo, ex-OPBF champ, occasionally threw few countering left-right combos. It was a question why a judge generously gave this round to Honmo, probably because the Japanese broke silence and started punching to the formidable champ. It might be a point just for admitting his courage. Valero accelerated his awesome attack to the defensive Honmo in the fourth, when he made the third laceration over the left eyebrow of the challenger. The champ again opened the fourth gash over the right optic to make him a bloody mess. The referee had the cuts examined by the ring physician Dr. Ohtsuki, who would have to climb up to the ring apron twice more later. The champ shifted his target to the midsection to stop the challenger's footwork from the fifth onward. But Honmo desperately averted his solid combinations with the peek-a-boo guard, with which he could survive the sixth and seventh with his face in crimson. The fatal eighth witnessed Valero go for a kill as Honmo was profusely bleeding from the four gashes. The third man called Dr. Ohtsuki check them twice in this round, and the physician advised him to halt the proceedings as the streaming blood might prevent him from watching the champ properly. Even if it hadn$B!G(Bt been stopped then and there, Valero would have caught the bloodied and fading challenger to finish the affair sooner or later. The sensational and awesome KO artist extended his unblemished mark to 22-0, 22 KOs, and is to fight his next in the US according to his promoter Akihiko Honda. WBC BANTAMWEIGHT TITLE BOUT HOZUMI HASEGAWA W12 SIMPHIWE VETYEKA WBC bantam champ Hozumi Hasegawa (22-2, 7 KOs), 118, kept his belt as he earned a unanimous but disappointing decision over previously unbeaten South African challenger Simphiwe Vetyeka (16-1, 9 KOs), 117.75, over twelve rounds on Thursday in Tokyo, Japan. The official scorecards were as follows: Duane Ford (US) and David Sutherland (US) both 116-112, and Victor Manuel Cervantes (Mexico) 115-113, all for the defending champ. The referee was Guadalupe Garcia from Mexico. Hasegawa, 26, had predicted a KO win over the unbeaten taller challenger by two inches, but failed to have his words come true. It was a very technical and psychological game between the fast counterpunchers. They probed each other to feel out the rival, and Vetyeka, also 26, concentrated on watching the southpaw champ as he seldom threw solid punches in the first four rounds. The South African began to throw sharp straight rights from the fifth, while Hasegawa also landed southpaw lefts to the face with precision. It was obvious they respected each other so much that the referee often told them to swap more punches and asked for more action. The seventh saw Vetyeka catch Hasegawa with accurate rights, shaking him up effectively. But the champ furiously retaliated with a barrage of punches in the end of the round. Vetyeka, handled by Nick Durandt who kept urging him to go forward more, scored with good rights to the shorter but busier champ. After the eighth, the open scoring system indicated all the intermediate tallies were identical, 77-75 for Hasegawa. It became a close fight of the sharpshooters. Hasegawa, making his fourth defense, maintained the pressure on the upright counterpuncher to win the ninth and eleventh. Vetyeka was seemingly in command in round ten. The twelfth and last round was quite different from the previous sessions, as Hasegawa furiously turned loose to land a fusillade of punches, sometimes pinning the South African to the ropes. Had Hasegawa started this attack earlier, he might have been able to score a knockdown. It was just too late for him to hurt the cautious but sharp-punching challenger with good style. It might be a disappointing affair for people who had expected Hasegawa's lopsided victory. But Vetyeka was excellent in defensive skills and counterpunching, so Hasegawa had to fight a careful game though he was more aggressive than the challenger. This contest might be a good lesson for both of them that may or may not fight again. WBA SUPER-FLYWEIGHT TITLE BOUT ALEXANDER MUNOZ W12 NOBUO NASHIRO Venezuelan ex-champ Alexander Munoz (30-2, 27 KOs), 114.75, recaptured the WBA 115-pound belt as he maintained the pressure despite sometimes absorbing roundhouse shots and pounded out a unanimous decision (117-112, 117-111 and 118-109) over previously unbeaten Japanese defending champ Nobuo Nashiro (9-1, 5 KOs), 115, over twelve heats. The official scores were as follows: Guy Jutras (Canada) 117-112, Raul Caiz (US) 117-111 and Philippe Verbeke (Belgium) 118-109, all for Munoz. The third man was Rafael Ramos (US). The shorter defending champ apparently followed a wrong fight plan, as he wasn't so aggressive as expected, throwing only a roundhouse blow at a time. Munoz, three years his senior at 28, kept throwing combinations regardless of precision to win more points because of his continual aggressiveness. Munoz was in command in the first two rounds as he displayed opening attacks to the peek-a-boo stylist. Nashiro occasionally landed big left hooks. Nashiro, who dethroned highly regarded Martin Castillo last year, took the third and sixth with solid shots to the more experienced challenger. Munoz, however, kept his engine hot enough to continue versatile combinations to the champ, steadily piling up points. Nashiro showed his tight defense that averted most of Munoz$B!G(Bs long shots, but failed to show his usual pugnaciousness. The Venezuelan hard-puncher dominated the last two rounds by a clearcut margin to confirm his victory. Promoter: Akihiko Honda's Teiken Promotions. Matchmaker: Joe Koizumi. (5-3-07) Click here to view a list of other articles written by Joe Koizumi.  |
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