By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Last Saturday (May 11), Treasure Boxing Promotions of Japan, presided by ex-WBO junior light champ Masayuki Ito (retired), staged a show at Paradise city in Inchon, Korea. Former world 108-pound champ, now WBA#2, IBF#4 flyweight Hiroto Kyoguchi (18-2, 12 KOs9, 112, surprisingly dropped an upset unanimous decision (97-93 twice, 96-94 by all Korean judges under KBM) to IBF#10 ranked Filipino Vince Paras (21-2-1, 15 KOs), 111.75, over ten. It was such a close contest that Paras was more aggressive with less precision, while Kyoguchi less aggressive but with better precision. The upset loser Kyoguchi, who previously kept his IBF 105-pound belt against Paras by a unanimous nod (all 117-110) in 2018, strongly complained of the debatable decision, which he strongly claimed. The show was shown live by U-Next streaming in Japan, and it became a big controversy among our TV viewers.

The promoter Ito, Kyoguchi’s compatriot, however, supported the Korean judges’ decision in favor of Paras, saying the Filipino was much more aggressive throughout the contest. Now there have been still strong verbal brawls between both parties—pro Taniguchi and con Taniguchi.

Australian Singh wrests the OPBF 160-pound belt

Semi-windup saw Australian underdog Tej Pratap Singh dethrone OPBF middleweight champ Kazuto Takesako, from Japan, by another upset split decision (115-113 twice for Singh, 113-114 for Takesako) over twelve.

Taniguchi halts Abcede in five.

Former WBO minimum champ Masataka Taniguchi, Japan, scored a fine TKO victory over Filipino Jaysever Abcede at 1:14 of the fifth round in a scheduled ten.

Promoter: TB (Treasure Boxing) Promotions.

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