Philippines, 16 Sep 2025
  Home >> News

 


BOXERS

CURRENT CHAMPIONS 

FORMER CHAMPIONS   

RATINGS                       

NEWS           

FORUM        

FIGHT GALLERIES        

RING CARD GIRLS        


 
 
News  


Takei-Higa Thriller Steal Show From Inoue-Doheny Snoozefest


PhilBoxing.com



Yoshiki Takei (R) connects with a right at Daigo Higa.

As Naoya Inoue slept walk us to another predictable stoppage victory, two fellow Japanese fighters staged a barnburner of a fight that had the audience at the edge of their seats saving an otherwise night of mismatches.

Inoue defended his undisputed world super bantamweight championship by scoring a savage body assault seventh round stoppage of Australian based Irish challenger TJ Doheny in the main event of a premier boxing promotion held at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo.

In the companion world title bout, WBO bantamweight champion Yoshiki Takei and challenger former WBC flyweight titlist Daigo Higa treated the live arena fans and outside viewers to the most intense and thrilling all-Japanese world title fight in recent memory with both fighters ending with cuts and bloodied faces.

Though Higa has just recently moved up, he used his longer experience and brawling style of fighting to unnerve the younger Takei who was just in his tenth bout as a professional. From the opening bell, Higa took the fight to Takei and bull him into the ropes where he attempted to suffocate him with volume of punches though most of his blows were either blocked or missed their target.

To Takei's credit, he kept his calm and composure as he fought back with shorter punches while trying to escape from being trapped and keep the fight in the center of the ring where his better boxing and longer reach kept Higa at bay.

However, occasionally Higa still catches Takei with his hard overhand rights which Takei takes--to the viewers admiration-- without getting groggy or on the verge of going down.

That had been the trend of the fight until in the tenth, Higa connected with a glancing blow on the back of the head that made Takei lose his balance with both hands touching the canvas. Takei protested that it was an illegal blow that made him lose his balance. But the referee still ruled it a knockdown, giving Higa a 10-8 round in a bout that was very closely fought at that point.

Takei trying to even matters up, abandoned his defensive boxing and went on attack at Higa who suddenly became gun shy and defensive up to the bell ending the round.

To everyone's surprise, Higa maintained that posture in the next round and especially in the final round, believing perhaps that he had the fight sewn up with that knockdown.

On the other hand, Takei continued with his strong finishing performance even as he found a new weapon, a jolting uppercut, that jarred Higa's head at least two times as he desperately looked to knock out or at least knock down Higa to avoid or even up the judges' scoring.

In the end, the judges gave credit to Takei's early boxing and strong finish to give him a close but unanimous decision win with two judges both giving Takei a point margin, Only Filipino judge Edward Ligas gave Takei a more comfortable card, 115-112.

A draw could have been fair but the fans in the arena seemed to support the verdict allowing Takei to keep his WBO belt for the first time.

It was a grievous miscalculation on the part of Higa and his corner. They came near to winning it but not quite close. Anyway, Higa proved to still be a dangerous fighter, a viable challenger to other fellow Japanese holding the belt at 118 lbs like perhaps Takuma Inoue (WBA) or Ryusuke Nishida (IBF).

In the supporting 12 round bouts, two promising world rated Japanese fighters Andy Horioka and Jun Sasaki gave Japan something to look forward to in the heavier weights by stopping their respective game but overmatch foreign opponents.

Horioka dispatched Venezuelan veteran Ismael Barroso in the ninth round after outclassing him from the opening bell and neutralizing any threat the aging Barroso could pose with constant movements. The fight was billed as a world junior welterweight title eliminator.

Sasaki on the other hand made no pretense of his bad intentions by blasting away at Australian Qamil Balla almost from the get go leading to a seventh round technical knockout victory. The fight was for the OPBF and Asia Pacific welterweight championship.

The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477.


Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.


Recent PhilBoxing.com In-House articles:

  • Kingsley “The Black Lion” Ibeh To headline historic “Legacy Nights” Inaugural Pro Boxing event in El Salvador
    , Tue, 16 Sep 2025
  • Smarts over power
    By Joaquin Henson, , Tue, 16 Sep 2025
  • HALL OF FAME FLIES FLAGS AT HALF-STAFF FOR TWO-DIVISION CHAMPION RICKY HATTON
    , Tue, 16 Sep 2025
  • Kazakhstan tops the medal table at the inaugural World Boxing Championships 2025 thanks to victory in the final bout of the competition
    , Tue, 16 Sep 2025
  • THRILLA IN MANILA GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY 13: JOE FRAZIER’S HUMBLE BEGINNINGS AS AN AMATEUR FIGHTER
    By Maloney L. Samaco, , Mon, 15 Sep 2025
  • A New King, A New Challenger: Turki Alalshikh Proposes Crawford-Benavidez While Canelo Alvarez Faces Defeat with Humility
    By Dong Secuya, , Mon, 15 Sep 2025
  • Highly Questionable Title Eliminator
    By Teodoro Medina Reynoso, , Mon, 15 Sep 2025
  • Yoseline Perez Earns Silver Medal at Inaugural World Boxing Championships
    , Mon, 15 Sep 2025
  • 21-year-old Filipino wins at Germany rapid chess tournament
    By Marlon Bernardino, , Mon, 15 Sep 2025
  • Nagoya Nightmare: Naoya Inoue Notches One-Sided Decision over Murodjon Akhmadaliev
    , Mon, 15 Sep 2025
  • Inoue’s Philippine Connection: Which Pinoy Super Bantamweight Could Challenge “The Monster?”
    By Carlos Costa, , Mon, 15 Sep 2025
  • Yoseline Perez Advances to the Finals at the World Boxing Championships Perez Set to Face Chinese Taipei’s Hsiao-Wen Huang for 54-Kilogram World Title
    , Mon, 15 Sep 2025
  • Canelo Gets Outboxed, Loses Undisputed Title to Crawford
    By Carlos Costa, , Sun, 14 Sep 2025
  • A Masterpiece of Boxing: Terence Crawford Dethrones Canelo Alvarez in Historic Showdown
    By Dong Secuya, , Sun, 14 Sep 2025
  • LEWIS CROCKER IS CROWNED THE NEW IBF WORLD WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPION
    , Sun, 14 Sep 2025
  • Battle of Undefeated: Callum Walsh Vanquishes Fernando Vargas Jr.
    By Dong Secuya, , Sun, 14 Sep 2025
  • Undercard Inferno: Mbilli and Martinez Deliver a Super Middleweight War Ending in a Thrilling Draw
    By Dong Secuya, , Sun, 14 Sep 2025
  • Crawford to defy odds?
    By Joaquin Henson, , Sun, 14 Sep 2025
  • Clash of Titans: The Final Predictions for Canelo Álvarez vs. Terence Crawford
    By Dong Secuya, , Sun, 14 Sep 2025
  • Weigh-In Results: Naoya Inoue vs. Murodjon Akhmadaliev
    , Sun, 14 Sep 2025
  • Inoue and Akhmadaliev Make Weight for Sunday's Battle, Watch it LIVE on Facebook!
    By Carlos Costa, , Sun, 14 Sep 2025
  • IIEE North Cotabato and Metro Central are the Golden Champion on 3x3 Basketball and 3x3 Chess
    By Marlon Bernardino, , Sun, 14 Sep 2025
  • Sydney Sy Tancontian is Female Awardee of Sports Hero of the Year
    By Lito delos Reyes, , Sat, 13 Sep 2025
  • Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford: Size Matters
    By Chris Carlson, , Sat, 13 Sep 2025
  • BOOTS TALKS SPARRING WITH CANELO IN ‘DAY IN THE LIFE’
    , Sat, 13 Sep 2025




  •  



     
    PhilBoxing.com has been created to support every aspiring
    Filipino boxer and the Philippine boxing scene in general.
    Please send comments to feedback@philboxing.com


    PRIVATE POLICY | LEGAL DISCLAIMER
    developed and maintained by dong secuya
    © 2025 philboxing.com.