By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

UNBEATEN YOSHINO KEEPS JAPANESE 135LB BELT

One of brightest future champions out of Japan might be unbeaten national lightweight ruler Shuichiro Yoshino (10-0, 8 KOs), 134.75, who impressively kept his belt by annihilating top contender Accel Sumiyoshi (11-5-3, 3 KOs), 135, at 2:12 of the seventh round in Tokyo, Japan, on April 11.

The clever and strong Yoshino, 27, whose amateur ledger was 104-20 prior to his entry into the paid ranks, kept battering the mandatory challenger so effectively that he finally caught up with him, dropping Accel to the deck and halting him with the referee’s intervention. Yoshino thus registered five stoppages in a row in his four successful defenses and title-winning bout in October 2017. Yoshino is worth watching.

UNBEATEN MORI BARELY KEEPS WBO AP 126LB BELT

Unbeaten 19-year-old southpaw prospect Musashi Mori (9-0, 5 KOs), 125, barely retained his WBO Asia Pacific featherweight belt when he eked out a split verdict (115-113 twice, 112-116) over former titlist Richard Pumicpic (21-10-2, 6 KOs), 125, over twelve hard-fought rounds in Kumamoto, Japan, on April 14. Mori, a baby faced lefty hard-puncher, had captured the regional belt by a controversial technical decision over Pumicpic in Kariya last November, and it was a grudge fight between the simon pure and the Japan-based veteran Filipino campaigner. Mori, now coached by Cuban trainer Ismael Salas, may need more experience before facing name opponents.

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