Unifies OPBF, WBO AP, Japanese 115lb belts

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Hard-punching Japanese southpaw Ryoji Fukunaga (13-4, 13 KOs), 115, unified OPBF, WBO Asia Pacific and Japanese 115-pound belts as he halted national champ Kenta Nakagawa (19-4-1, 12 KOs), 114.75, at 2:24 of the tenth round in a scheduled twelve on Monday in Tokyo, Japan.

In an encounter of southpaws, WBO AP champ Fukunaga battled Japanese titlist Nakagawa with the vacant OPBF belt on the line for the winner to take all.

It was Fukunaga that had the upper hand, dropped Nakagawa in round four, accelerated his attack and finally had the referee intervene in his favor. At the point of a stoppage Fukunaga had been leading on points: all 87-83. Ryoji, a carpenter outside of the ring, thus became the fourth that unified all the three regional belts, following the footsteps of Kyotaro Fujimoto (heavyweight; retired), Takeshi Inoue (super-welterweight) and Shuichiro Yoshino (lightweight).

In the semi-windup, formerly world-rated Hiroki Okada (20-2, 13 KOs), 140, showed his experience and ringcraft in handling Izuki Tomioka (7-4-1, 2 KOs), 139, to win a unanimous nod (all 77-75) over eight.

Promoter: Kadoebi Jewel Promotions.

Attendance: 742 (with the JBC’s regulation at the Korakuen Hall).

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