Takashi Uchiyama made the fifth defense of his alphabet 130 lb., though his bout with Filipino challenger Michael Farenas ended in anti-climactic fashion Monday evening in Saitama, Japan.
A headbutt midway through the third round left the defending titlist bloodied and unable to continue, resulting in a technical draw, according to ringside feedback from Boxingscene.com correspondents.
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The co-feature saw Sonny Boy Jaro’s unexpected flyweight title reign end in its very first defense, suffering a split decision at the hands of Toshiyuki Igarashi.
Jaro won 116-112 on one card, but scores of 115-113 and 116-112 in favor of Igarashi crown a new lineal champion in the flyweight division.
The 30-year old Jaro scored perhaps the biggest upset of 2012 to date with a shocking 6th round knockout of two-time lineal flyweight king Pongasklek Wonjongkam earlier this year. The diminutive Filipino had fallen miserably short whenever stepping up in class, but delivered a career-best performance in flooring the legendary Thai four times before closing the show in the sixth round.
There was no such magic in Japan, although Jaro fought tooth and nail every step of the way in his best effort to keep the clock ticking his Cinderella story. Igarashi had other ideas, offering a disciplined enough performance to cope with the unconventional style of the now ex-champion.
Constant lateral movement from the challenger proved to troubling for Jaro, who landed the more telling blows on the night but just not with enough frequency to win rounds. Igarashi?s jab also proved to be disruptive, even if never thrown with much conviction.
Igarashi improves to 16-1-1 (11KO) with the win, his ninth straight. The 28-year old southpaw earned the title opportunity with a decision win over Wilfredo Uicab last November, but endured the longest layoff of his career in awaiting the title shot.
The short-lived reign for Jaro snaps a five-fight win streak as he falls to 34-11-5 (24KO).
