By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Veteran puncher Hidenori Otake (31-2-3, 14 KOs), 122, Japan, made his third defense of the OPBF super-bantam belt when he finally caught up with top contender Brian Lobetania (13-5-3, 11 KOs), 121.75, and halted him at 1:53 of the tenth round in a scheduled twelve on Tuesday in Tokyo, Japan.

Having failed to win the WBA title from Scott Quigg on points in Liverpool in 2014, Otake, 36, thus scored nine victories in a row and is still gunning for his second world title shot. The fatal session witnessed the OPBF champ floor the fading foe with a straight right and follow it up when Lobetania, losing by an open scoring system (80-72, 79-73, 78-74) after the eighth, resumed fighting. The ref made a well-received halt.

In another OPBF mandatory title bout, unbeaten Filipino southpaw Jayr Raquinel (8-0-1, 6 KOs), 111.75, surprisingly dethroned OPBF flyweight defending titlist Keisuke Nakayama (10-2-2, 4 KOs), 112, a Japanese southpaw, as he impressively finished the champ with a furious attack at 2:01 of the ninth round in a scheduled twelve.

Raquinel, eight years his junior at 21, was in command from the outset and leading on points after the eighth: 79-72, 78-73, 76-75. The Filipino, in round nine, accelerated his attack and decked the damaged champ, who barely regained his feet but wasn’t ready to fight on to be counted out by the third man.