Elongated Chikashi Inada (17-2, 12 KOs), 134.5, captured the OPBF lightweight belt. He made a good start, overcame countering attacks by WBC 7 ranked defending champ Dennis Laurente (21-3-4, 11 KOs), 134.5, in a see-saw process and scored significant points in the 10th and 11th, winning a split but well-received decision over 12 sizzling rounds on Saturday night. The officials tallies were: scoring -referee Anek Hongtongkam (Thailand) 116-111, Takashi Shimakawa (Japan) 117-113, both for Inada, and Edwin Sese (Philippines) 115-112 for Laurente. Inada, handled by Akihiko Honda, kept jabbing, finding range and rhythm, to win three rounds in the first four. Laurente, a cautious southpaw, changed his strategy and occasionally bored in to confuse the Japanese with wild punches in the fifth. After that, each took a round in every-other session. A head-collision opened a nasty gash on the forehead of the lanky challenger in the 10th, but it elevated Inada’s fighting spirit to dominate the 10th and 11th by a clear margin. The desperate Filipino often came in with his head forward, so roughly that it brought a penalty of a point in the 11th. Inada, who had dropped a hairline nod to Laurente in their first encounter last October, thus avenged his setback to seize the regional throne.
Undercard: WBC 13 ranked Japanese 140-pound champ Norio Kimura (25-5-2, 10 KOs), 140, floored ex-titleist Motoki Sasaki (23-6, 15 KOs), 140, with a short southpaw left in the opening canto, but ran out of gas and spirit in later rounds and barely kept his national belt by a majority verdict (95-94, 96-93 and 95-95) over 10. Fast-rising KO artist Ichitaro Ishii (12-1-1, 12 KOs), 136, came off the canvas in the second, turned the tables on OPBF 2 ranked Filipino lightweight champ Fernando Montilla (28-15-3, 19 KOs), 136.25, and flattened him with a vicious left hook at 2:12 of the sixth round in the first 10.
Promoter: Yokohama Hikari Promotions, in association with Teiken Promotions. Matchmaker: Joe Koizumi (for the Inada v Laurente and Ishii v Montilla bouts).
