By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Former Japanese 140-pound champ Masahiro Suzuki (7-0, 4 KOs), 135, lately moved down to the lightweight category, and managed to earn a split verdict (76-74 twice for him, 77-74 against him) over JBC#1 Seiryu Toshikawa (14-6, 8 KOs), 135, in eight give-and-take rounds on Saturday in Tokyo, Japan.

Suzuki, formerly a university amateur boxer, dethroned national 140-pound titlist Daishi Nagata by a dramatic tenth and final round stoppage this June, but quickly renounced the belt to campaign in the 135-pound division. Ranked #2 by the JBC thanks to his previous coronation, Suzuki squared off against #1 Toshikawa in an eliminator to decide the mandatory challenger and floored him with a vicious left hook in round two. The more experienced foe, however, decked Suzuki back in the sixth and attempted to turn the tide with a flurry of punches from then on. The taller 5’10” Toshikawa’s retaliation was a little short of overcoming the early deficits on points.

Ironically the winner’s target is the current Japanese lightweight champ, unbeaten Shuichiro Yoshino, four years his senior in the same Tokyo Agricultural University’s boxing club.

The semi-windup saw unbeaten hard-punching prospect Suzumi Takayama (5-0, 4 KOs), 117, drop more experienced JBC#9 bantam Kai Chiba (13-3, 8 KOs), 117, twice in the third and fifth, scoring a unanimous nod (77-74, 77-73, 76-75) over eight. Takayama is the nephew of ex-OPBF champ Yuji Watanabe (25-5-1, 23 KOs), who failed to win the WBA belts twice from Genaro Hernandez (by TKO 6) in 1992 and from Wilfredo Vazquez (by KO 5) in 1997. We hope the young southpaw Suzumi to be as hard-hitting a crowd-pleaser as his uncle Yuji.

Promoter: Dangan Aoki Promotions.

Attendance:702 (still with the JBC’s regulation at the Korakuen Hall).

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