Keeps JBC 122lb belt

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Elongated 5’11” southpaw 122-pounder IBF#5, WBO#14 Toshiki Shimomachi (17-1-3, 11 KOs), 122, very barely kept his Japanese super-bantam belt as he struggled to fight to a grueling draw (95-95 twice, 96-93 for him) with JBC#1 Toshiki Ishii (6-1-1, 4 KOs), 121.75, over ten extremely hard-fought rounds on Tuesday in Tokyo, Japan. It was truly the Fight of the Month since they kept non-stop punching each other for full thirty minutes.

Ishii, a well-known tough sparring partner of “Monster” Naoya Inoue, displayed his vaunted power punching and sometimes hurt the much taller champ in the close quarter. Shimomachi, 26, making his first defense, responded to his aggression without retreating and mixed it up toe-to-toe all the way. After the fifth, the tallies on the open scoring system read all 48-47—two for the champ and one for the challenger. The second half was more furious than the first with the tide busily turning in every round. The ninth saw Shimomachi, obviously fading with his absorption of punishment, desperately battering him with his little remaining of gas and pinning him to the ropes with a fusillade of punches. A judge scored 10-8 for the champ even without a knockdown, evaluating the intensity of his vicious attack. Ishii, however, showed his last burst in battering the almost exhausted champ back to win the final session.

After the fight Ishii’s jaw bone was found broken with some of the champ’s solid shots. Ishii, 22 and six inches shorter, said, “I couldn’t put my weight behind punches more because of my broken jaw. Without that my punches might have been more effective with stronger follow-through.”

Promoter: Ohashi Promotions.

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