By Joe Koizumi
WBA female flyweight champion Naoko Fujioka (18-2-1, 7 KOs), 112, barely kept her belt as she was held to a split draw by WBO light-flyweight titlist Tenkai Tsunami (26-12-1, 15 KOs), 111.75, over ten hard-fought rounds on Friday in Tokyo, Japan.
The officials’ tallies were as follows: Asao 96-95 for Fujioka, Iida 96-94 for Tenkai, Yoshida 95-95. The referee was Michiaki Someya. All the officials were of the Japan Boxing Commission (JBC) with the WBA supervisor Won Kim from Korea.
In earlier rounds Tenkai took the initiative by utilizing her hand speed and footwork, piling up points. Fujioka, however, turned loose in the second half, as she kept stalking the footworker to demonstrate her aggressiveness despite Tenkai’s retaliation. It was such a close affair that the audience wants to watch their rematch.
In the semi-windup, unbeaten 22-year-old super-light southpaw prospect Andy Hiraoka (14-0, 9 KOs), 140, decked an important triumph by winning a unanimous nod (97-93, 98-93, 98-92) over IBF world rated Akihiro Kondo (31-9-1, 18 KOs), 140, over ten. Andy is a good prospect with an advantageous height and remarkable hand speed.