By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda
Newly crowned WBO 105-pound champion Masataka Taniguchi (15-3, 10 KOs), a Japanese southpaw, will put his belt on the line against hard-punching national titleholder Kai Ishizawa (10-1, 9 KOs) at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan, on April 22. It was announced by Ohashi Promotions in Yokohama on Tuesday. Having dethroned Wilfredo Mendez by an upset eleventh-round stoppage last December, Taniguchi will engage in his first defense with the younger challenger, three years his junior at 25, in a grudge fight.
They exchanged gloves in September 2019, when Taniguchi suffered a knockdown in round five but scored a unanimous decision thanks to his busier combinations with better precision. For Ishizawa, it was his sole setback against ten victories including nine devastating stoppages to his credit.
Taniguchi said at the press conference, “I won’t be careless since he is a dangerous hard-puncher. I will prepare well so that I’ll keep my belt without fail.” Ishizawa, a short but sturdy puncher, also said, “I learned a lot after my one and only loss to Taniguchi. I feel fortunate to have a world title shot just three months after I won the Japanese belt in January. I’ll avenge my defeat to Taniguchi by finishing him.”
The lefty champ Masataka, born in Kobe city in 1994, entered Ryukoku university in Kyoto and became a captain of its boxing club, scoring a record of 55-19, 16 stoppages. His amateur mark was mediocre, but he made rapid progress as a professional since he entered Watanabe Gym in Tokyo in 2016. His very intimate clubmate is WBA 108-pound super champ Hiroto Kyoguchi, who sometimes worked Taniguchi’s corner to give him good advice. The challenger Ishizawa’s clubmate is WBO flyweight champ Junto Nakatani, an unbeaten southpaw champ with a fine mark of 22-0, 17 KOs. We may watch their competitive rematch with our great interests.
In the semi-windup, highly sensational ex-K1 world champ Yoshiki Takei (3-0, all first-round stoppages) will face veteran JBC#16 Shingo Kawamura (15-8-4, 8 KOs) over ten frames. It is said his manager Hideyuki Ohashi had a tough time booking Takei’s opponent since many countrymen are so scared to square off against him. People may be interested in watching whether or not Kawamura will last the first round.
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