Then retires to become a teacher

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

IBF female atomweight champion Saemi Hanagata (16-7-5, 7 KOs), 101.25, barely kept her belt as she was held to a majority draw (95-95 twice, 97-93 for the challenger) with Rie Matsuda (4-0-1, 1 KO), 101.5, over ten hard-fought rounds on Thursday in Tokyo, Japan.

For Hanagata, 36, it was her final ring appearance as she retired after her last fight and would become a teacher after her graduation of a university in 2023. The champ maintained the pressure to the southpaw footworker, 26, who gamely retaliated to the onrushing ruler. Hanagata got married to an active referee named Takeru Okaniwa in November 2019. Since then the husband, of course, had never officiated Saemi’s bouts. Hanagata, who won the world belt in her fifth attempt in 2018, will be a good teacher with her perennial patience, hopefully.

Promoter: Dangan Aoki Promotions.

Attendance: 701.

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Hanagata (right) retains her IBF belt against Matsuda