IKEYAMA AND OZAWA WIN IN SRI LANKA
By Rene Bonsubre, Jr.
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 20 Dec 2015
SRI LANKA ? Nao Ikeyama retained her WBO female atomweight world title by unanimous decision against Filipina challenger Jujeath Nagaowa in ten hard fought rounds at the Stein Studios in Colombo.
After a cautious start, the protagonists increased their punch output with furious exchanges highlighting the third round. Ikeyama scored with hard right hands but Nagaowa showed that she was better than what her record indicated as she remained in the fight in every round.
Nagaowa tried to mount a rally in the middle rounds but Ikeyama?s counter hooks kept her lead. The fight had a scintillating finish with the challenger taking the ninth and the champion finishing strong by winning the final round on all three judges? cards.
The scores ? Sawaeng Thaweekooon (Thailand) ? 97-93, Atty. Danrex Tapdasan (Philippines) ? 98-92 and Surat Soikrachang (Thailand) ? 96-94.
This was the third successful defense for Ikeyama who improves her record to 17-3-1, 4KO?s. Nagaowa drops to 13-16-1,8KO?s.
Tamao Ozawa of Japan beat Kledpetch Lookmuangkan of Thailand by TKO at the start of round four in their non-title bout.
Ozawa had no trouble against the southpaw Kledpetch as she used her longer jab to set up one-two combos. The Thai had trouble landing a solid counter and her corner decided not to her enter the fourth round as she continued to be at the receiving end of punches and had breathing difficulty after the third.
Ozawa, who is the OPBF female superflyweight champion, is now 10-2, 3KO?s while Kledpetch goes down to 6-5, 1KO.
These four women boxers made history by being part of the first ever professional boxing card held in this island nation.
Part of the evening?s entertainment were female pro wrestlers from Japan and a traditional martial arts display, local music and dances showcasing both the Japanese and Sri Lankan culture.
Among the guests for this event was one of Japan?s famous sports figures, Antonio Inoki, a professional wrestler who fought Muhammad Ali in an exhibition match in Tokyo in 1976.
The historic boxing show was organized by Yasushi Hirayama of Futur Promotions Japan and Daisuke Kato of the Global Sports Academy of Japan together with Capital Maharaja Sports Organization of Sri Lanka.
The WBO title bout was supervised by WBO Asia Pacific chief Leon Panoncillo. The officials for this event are members of the Professional Boxing Commission (PBC), International, an organization that is officiating professional fight cards for Top Rank and SECA in Macau and mainland China.
Photo: WBO female atomweight champ Nao Ikeyama (left) and OPBF female super flyweight champ Tamao Ozawa.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Rene Bonsubre, Jr..
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