Last night at the Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo, Japan, Teiken Promotions, along with the WBC put on three title fights in different weight divisions. The outcome was sometimes slow, then sometimes fast and exciting, with two fighters retaining their titles and a new champion recapturing his former title against the younger less experienced champion. In the main event WBC Bantamweight Champion Hozumi Hasegawa, 22-2, 7 KO?s, retained his title through the few boos the always polite Japanese audience threw at him, and his challenger South African, Simpiwe Vetyeka, 16-1, 9 KO?s, for the lack of action over twelve long and drawn out rounds. It wasn?t until the last round that the champion, Hasegawa, tried to go for the knockout, but was unsuccessful and had to settle for a unanimous decision. Judges scored it 116-112 twice and 115-113.
The co-feature saw Alexander Munoz, 30-2, 27 KO?s, recapture the WBA Super Flyweight Title by giving a boxing lesson to the younger and now former champion, Nobuo Nashiro, 9-1, 5 KO?s, over twelve grueling and action packed rounds. Nashiro started the fight quickly and took the fight to Munoz. It was Munoz?s experience in these types of fights that helped him figure out his opponent, and he was able to make the necessary adjustments to counter with his punches, and stop the charging champion. Once he got his game plan in action, besides taking the necessary body punches his opponent was giving, he battered the champion back and gave as good as he took. In the end judges scored it: 118-109, 117-112, and 117-111 for Munoz.
The under card showed why WBA Super Featherweight Champion Edwin Valero, 22-0, 22 KO?s, continues to keep his record perfect and is the fighter to be watching in the near future. He beat up and cut up his challenger Nobuhito Honmo, 29-4-2, 5 KO?s, from the opening bell until it was stopped for excessive bleeding from multiple lacerations at 1:54 of the eighth round. Valero continues to dominate and needs to be matched up with a legitimate champion, to give the young champion a real challenge. Teiken Promotions believes they will be able to get Valero a U.S. bout against someone of notability later in 2007. The super match still remains one of the most intriguing in boxing, should Valero ever meet up with the Filipino sensation, Manny Pacquiao, which may very well happen if Valero keeps winning.
