BARDON LOSES IN OPBF TITLE FIGHT
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 24 Dec 2008
Jojo Bardon, a regular top contender for the Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation flyweight title has lost a lackluster title fight against champion Masafumi Ohkubo in Tokyo.
Ohkubo (14-2-1, 4 KOs) easily retained his title with a lopsided points decision on the scorecards of two of the three judges while the Filipino judge in stark contrast, scored it a close fight and came under fire from Japanese boxing writer, matchmaker and manager Joe Koizumi who branded the Filipino judge?s scorecard ?crazy.?
Referee/judge Brad Vocale of Australia had Ohkubo the winner 119-110 while Japanese judge Kazunobu Asao scored a shutout 120-110 while the Filipino judge Ben Necessario while scoring the fight for the Japanese turned in a 115-113 scorecard.
The fight was reportedly a one-sided affair with Koizumi reporting that Bardon in a post-fight interview claimed he had suffered an injury in training just before his departure for Japan.
The 29 year old Bardon, the former OPBF champion was coming off a stunning first round knockout over another Japanese Yuki Nasu last January 5 and was regarded as a tough challenger. But Koizumi reported that Bardon appeared to have left his speed, power and fighting spirit in the Philippines adding that ?it was a crime that Bardon showed such a terribly lackluster performance before such a huge crowd.?
The Filipino who dropped to 20-13-1 with 9 knockouts was hit at will by the 28 year old Okhubo who easily piled up points to take his record to 14-2-1 with 4 knockouts.
In the main event WBC flyweight champion Daisuke Naito (34-2-3,22 KO?s) who sometimes trains for his fights at the famed ALA Gym in Cebu City retained his title in a brawl against former OPBF champion Shingo Yamaguchi (23-6-2, 9 KO?s) to score a TKO at 1:12 of the eleventh round.
Naito who has an unorthodox style dropped the challenger with a hard right before the stoppage.
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