By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda
Fleet-footed Japanese Kenshiro Teraji (24-1, 15 KOs), 111.75, seized the vacant WBC flyweight belt when he battered Nicaraguan Cristofer Rosales (37-7, 22 KOs), 112, from all angles, had him badly nose-bleeding and scored a TKO victory at 0:06 into the eleventh round on Sunday in Tokyo, Japan. For ex-WBC 108-pound kingpin Kenshiro it was his second acquisition of the WBC world belt in the heavier 112-pound category. It was Teraji, 32, that controlled the contest all the way by making good use of his versatile jabs and right counters to the taller Nicaraguan.
The open scoring system indicated Teraji, an Abe Attell stylist, constantly leading on points after the fourth: 40-36 twice, 39-37; and after the eighth: 79-73 twice and 78-74. As Teraji accelerated his attack in later rounds, Rosales’ nose-bleeding became so worsened that the referee Laurence Cole wisely had his gory nose examined just after the eleventh started. The ringside physician diagnosed that his nose bone might be badly broken, so the third man logically declared a halt in favor of Teraji.
Saul Canelo Alvarez was behind the corner of Rosales since the Nicaraguan was also handled by his trainer Eddy Reynoso, but Canelo’s encouragement unfortunately couldn’t have him victorious.
Before the stoppage the scores of the judges were as follows: Kevin Scott (US) and Juan Carlos Pelayo (Mexico) both 99-91, and Alan Krebs (US) 98-92, all in favor the Japanese sharpshooter Teraji. The third man was Laurence Cole (US).
Promoter: Teiken Promotions.
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