By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Unbeaten skillful southpaw Masayoshi Hashizume (19-0-2, 11 KOs), 115, acquired the vacant regional belts of the OPBF (Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation) and the WBO AP (WBO Asian Pacific) as he smartly outpunched game but less technical IBF#14 Akio Furutani (9-5, 3 KOs), 114.75, and scored a unanimous decision (118-110, 116-112, 115-113) over twelve fast rounds on Monday in Tokyo, Japan.

Hashizume displayed versatile leading rights—southpaw jabs, uppercuts or hooks—to the straightforward Furutani, piling up points. Durable and tough at heart as he was, Furutani (who had entered the IBF ratings thanks to his upset win over then world-rated Takayuki Okumoto in December 2020) absorbed Hashizume’s smashing lefts so frequently that he was nose-bleeding from the fourth on. Furutani accelerated his last surge in the championship rounds, but was too late to overcome his early deficits on points. It was the first of the regional title twinbill.

Unbeaten ex-amateur southpaw prospect Katsuya Yasuda (8-1, 5 KOs), 134.75, tasted his first defeat at the hand of hard-punching Okinawan Shuma Nakazato (11-2-3, 7 KOs), 135, who decked him in round two and kept outhustling him to earn an upset duke (76-74 twice, 75-75) over eight. Shuma is the son of hard-punching 122-pounder Shigeru Nakazato (24-8-1, 18 KOs), who failed to win the WBC and WBA belts from Oscar Larios twice on points in 2003 and 2004, and from Mahyar Monshipour via sixth-round TKO in France in 2005.

Promoter: Ohashi Promotions.