By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Unbeaten Japanese feather prospect Kota Kaneko (4-0, 3 KOs), 125, displayed a good form and impressively halted China’s Fan Cai (5-5-1, 3 KOs), 125.25, at 1:06 of the sixth round in a scheduled eight on Saturday in Tokyo, Japan. Kaneko, whose amateur mark was 56-13, caught the taller Chinese with a smashing left hook, dropping him twice in round two with Cai having a narrow escape saved by the bell. Cai, a durable southpaw puncher, was in command in the third, but Kaneko, 25, took back the initiative and hurt him with steady and accurate lefts in rounds four and five. The sixth saw Kota furiously swam over him to prompt the referee’s well-timed stoppage. Kaneko of Teiken gym, who can punch, looked promising.

The semi-windup saw former WBO AP champ Takuya Watanabe (40-12-2, 21 KOs), 135, withstand the opening attack of Chinese southpaw Weiwei Liu (4-2, 2 KOs), 134.75, and sweep the second half to earn a unanimous decision (77-75 twice, 78-74) over eight.

It was the competition of Japan and China in five contest with Japan winning four to one for China. We witnessed Chinese flyweight Longyi Hu (7-2, 3 KOs), 111.25, prove too strong and persistent for Japan’s Shogo Namura (7-2, 7 KOs), 111.75, scoring a well-received TKO victory at 1:35 of the third round in a scheduled eight. His faster and accurate combinations stunned the audience so that Hu, 24, might be a future Chinese star attraction.

Promoter: New Japan Promotion.

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