By Joe Koizumi
Unheralded Japanese puncher Hurricane Futa (24-7-1, 15 KOs), 134.25, surprisingly captured the WBC international lightweight belt as he floored defending champ WBC#12 Vage Sarukhanyan (17-2-1, 4 KOs), 134.75, twice in rounds three and seven, stopping him in the seventh round beneath the Gassiev-Dorticos unification bout on Saturday in Sochi, Russia.
Hanging both hands down and moving around, Futa finally exploded a trademark countering left hook to badly deck the heavily favored Russian to prompt the referee to declare a halt. It’s really an upset.
