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Philippines, 16 Feb 2026 |
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Llover Halts Kurihara in the Very First Round, Completes Conquest of OPBF Bantam Crown By Teodoro Medina Reynoso PhilBoxing.com Tue, 25 Mar 2025  Rising Filipino star Kenneth "Lover Boy" Llover yesterday completed his conquest of the OPBF bantamweight crown by stopping tough Japanese champion Keita Kurihara in the very first round of their 12 rounds main event fight held in Tokyo. Llover who was interim titlist by winning the title in Japan via the same route versus another Japanese Tulio Dekanarudo last year, thus became the full OPBF champion of the 118 lbs class. The youthful Llover in effect announced his coming as the new Filipino hope in the division with these back to back KO wins in Japan, a rarity indeed. Kurihara 30, reclaimed the OPBF regular title by revenge knockout over Filipino Froilan Saludar last year. He was coming off a controversial points win over Renan Portes which won him praise from Filipino boxing fans for his candid admission that he thought he lost it. A boxer-puncher with power, Kurihara had hoped to overwhelm the ten years younger Llover with the same strategy he used in the rematch against Saludar, that was by forcing him to his trademark--- slugfest right from the opening bell That was his undoing as Llover welcomed the exchanges and proved to be the stronger, hard punching fighter of the two, especially with his left hook that scored the knockdowns that forced the referee to eventually stop the fight before the first round was over. Llover put Kurihara down with a counter left barely a minute into the bout. After taking the mandatory count, the Japanese gamely waded in again and a clash of head forced an interruption, somehow delaying what was soon inevitable. After seeing that no damage was done, the referee allowed the action to continue and Kurihara resumed his aggression against Llover. Another left from Llover sent Kurihara down for the second time with the Japanese rising on unsteady legs. Still Kurihara forged on desperately forcing the exchanges and hoping to the land the punch that would reverse the flow and/or end the fight in his favor. But the Filipino sensing the end was near for Kurihara timed his punches well while evading the Japanese wild swings. Another combo topped by a solid left put Kurihara down. The brave Japanese fighter beat the count again but was almost out of his feet. The referee had seen enough and mercifully stopped the bout awarding the contest to Llover. It can be said that Llover in only his 13th professional bout, all wins, now 9 by knockout, won the right for the OPBF bantamweight title with his ponderous left. The victory is expected to put Llover higher in the world rankings in the division just five years ago was teeming with world class and world champion Filipinos, now all gone. 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.  |
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