FUENTES READY FOR A TOUGH OPBF TITLE DEFENSE
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 04 Jun 2010
Rocky Fuentes.
Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation flyweight champion Rocky Fuentes of the famed ALA Gym knows he has a really tough first title defense on his hands against world-rated Japanese mandatory challenger Shigetaka Ikehara and is ready for it.
Fuenetes had no problem making the 112 pound limit at the official weigh in Friday according to respected boxing patron Tony Aldeguer who told us Fuentes realizes that Ikehara is a strong, aggressive fighter and said the champion "is in great condition and ready to battle the challenger."
Leading trainer Edito Villamor will be in the corner of Fuentes for his first title defense at the Korakuen Hall which accommodates some 2,000 fight fans, on Saturday.
OPBF secretary general Koji Ishizuka told us that the scoring referee for the title fight will be Pinit Prayadsab of Thailand while the judges would be Edward Ligas of the Philippines and Takeshi Shimakawa of Japan.
The solidly built Fuentes who has a record of 25-6-2 with 14 knockouts knows he will be in a fight against hard-punching Japanese Ikehara who boasts of a record of 20-1-2 with 16 knockouts in a fight card promoted by the Yokohama Hikari Boxing Gym which was founded by the late Mitsunori Seki, one of the great Japanese world champions.
Ikehara is ranked No. 13 by the WBA and No. 14 by the WBC and was ranked No. 4 by the Japan Boxing Commission at the time he scored a stunning 3rd round TKO over fancied Shingo Yamaguchi on November 30, 2009 .
Yamaguchi who was rated No. 13 by the JBC at that time was dropped by a vicious body shot by Ikehara who swarmed all over Yamaguchi forcing the referee to call a halt at 2:06 of the third round to prevent Yamaguchi from a further battering.
It was a major upset since Yamaguchi had fought for the world title no less than three times losing to light flyweight champion Yosam Choi by a 10th round TKO in 2002, dropping a unanimous decision to WBA flyweight champion Takefumi Sakata in 2008 followed by an 11th round stoppage to then WBC champion
Fuentes won the OPBF title with a majority decision over Masafumi Okubo last March 9 with Japanese judge Kazunobu Asao scoring it 116-114 for Funetes while Filipino judge Ben Necessario also gave it to Fuentes 115-113. However, Australian Brad Vocale scored it an even 114-114.
Ikehara has said he wants to move up in the world rankings and aim for a world title down the road and a win over Fuentes would be crucial in his quest for the native of Okinawa.
Ikehara is coming off a 2nd round TKO win over Thailand?s Rungnirung Sakporton. Ikehara has always fought in Japan and he scored a 2nd round knockout over the only Filipino he faced, Gilbert De La Torre on June 4, 2007.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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