Box On! Boxing News October .

Eagle Akakura to challenge Aguirre for WBC minimumweight title      TOKYO, Oct. 25 – Undefeated Eagle Akakura of Thailand will challenge World Boxing Council (WBC) minimumweight champion Jose Antonio Aguirre of Mexico for the latter’s title on Jan. 10 in Tokyo, officials of a Tokyo gym to which Akakura belongs said Saturday.      It will be the 24-year-old Akakura’s first crack at a world title while the 28-year-old Aguirre is making his eighth defense of the title he won from Akakura’s compatriot Wandee Chor Chareon in 2000. The scheduled 12-rounder will be staged at Korakuen Hall.      Akakura, whose real name is Den Sorjaturong, has been fighting out of Kadoebi Hoseki Gym since 2001.      Akakura, who was formerly known as Eagle Okuda, is ranked second by the WBC, posting an unblemished record of 11 wins, including five knockouts.      For his part, Aguirre, who has fought twice in the past in Japan, is 30-1-1 with 19 KOs. He last defended the title last June in Yokohama by stopping former champion Keitaro Hoshino in the 12th round.      A national super featherweight title bout between champion Nobuhito Hommo and former ruler Koji Arisawa will serve as the chief supporting card.

Box On! Boxing News October 23.

Yamaguchi, Hatakeyama battle to draw in nontitle bout      TOKYO, Oct. 21 – Oriental-Pacific Boxing Federation light flyweight champion Shingo Yamaguchi and Japanese kingpin Masato Hatakeyama fought to a majority draw in a highly-touted nontitle bout in Tokyo on Monday.      There were no knockdowns in the 10-round fight held at Korakuen Hall.      While Yamaguchi, 23, pressed action from the opening bell with left jabs and overhand rights, Hatakeyama, a notorious slow starter, began to rally from the sixth round as he occasionally snapped Yamaguchi’s head back with accurate right uppercuts and left hooks at close range.      Neither could land decisive blows in the final two rounds.      Only one of the three judged had Hatakeyama ahead by two points with the remaining two seeing it even.      Yamaguchi is now 14 wins, seven by knockout, against three losses and two draws, while Hatakeyama, 22, is 11-2-2 with four KOs.

Box On! Boxing News October 19.

Eguchi decisions Kanayama, retains Japan super lightweight title      TOKYO, Oct. 19 – Champion Shingo Eguchi, unleashing a left-right barrage late in the fight, pounded out a lopsided 10-round decision over top-ranked Shinji Kanayama to retain his Japan super lightweight crown at Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall on Saturday.      It was the 26-year old Eguchi’s first successful defense of the title he wrested from Motoki Sasaki last May. There were no knockdowns in the fight.      While Kanayama made a good start by sticking out crisp jabs and straight rights, Eguchi gradually showed his mettle by landing combinations from various angles to pile up points.      Eguchi improved his record to 15 wins, 11 by knockout, against a loss while it was the 33-year-old Kanayama’s third defeat against nine wins, six by KOs with a draw..      Meanwhile, Venezuelan sensation Jorge Linares, dubbed el “Nino de Oro” (Golden Boy) of Venezuela, hammered out a unanimous decision over reigning Oriental-Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) super bantamweight ruler Pedrito Laurente of the Philippines in a 10-round nontitle bout, held as one of the chief supporting cards for the super lightweight title match.      Linares, who turned 18 last August, frequently landed one-two straights followed with sharp left hooks to the head and body while dodging most of Laurente’s blows.      The undefeated Venezuelan, who is fighting out of Tokyo’s Teiken Gym, severely shook up the Filipino in the seventh and eighth rounds with vicious left uppercuts and one-two combinations only to settle for a decision victory as Laurente took his punches well.      With the victory, Linares extended his unbeaten log to seven, four by KO, while Laurente, who won the title from Japan’s Manabu Fukushima last August, dropped to 13-6-1 with four KOs.      ‘’My ring shoes bothered me,’’ Linares complained to his handler on the ring immediately after the fight.      “I was prepared to go the 10-round distance today. I’m happy that I was able to come out the winner in the important fight,’’ the baby-faced Venezuelan told reporters in his dressing room.      Katsushige Kawashima, fighting for the first time since unsuccessfully challenging Masamori Tokuyama last June for the latter’s World Boxing Council super flyweight crown, won a shutout decision over South Korean super flyweight No Ho Sup in a 10-round nontitle bout.      While the feisty Kawashima frequently landed his vaunted left hooks to the head and body from around the second round, he failed to connect with decisive blows at crucial junctures against his tenacious opponent.      Kawashima, currently ranked sixth by the World Boxing Association, upped his record to 24-3 with 16 KOs. No, South Korea’s third-ranked super flyweight sagged to 6-5-1 with two KOs.

Box On! Boxing News October 18.

Ex-WBA minimumweight champ Hoshino officially hangs up gloves      TOKYO, Oct. 18 - Former two-time World Boxing Association (WBA) minimumweight champion Keitaro Hoshino formally announcement his retirement from the ring as he submitted his retirement documents to the Japan Boxing Commission on Thursday.      The 34-year-old Yokohama native, who first captured the title in December 2000 from Joma Gamboa of the Philippines, said although he had returned to the ring after announcing his retirements many times before, it will not happen again this time, adding he wants to become a sports commentator in the future.      Hoshino failed in his first title defense against Thailand's Chana Porpaoin in April 2001 but won the vacant title against Gamboa in January last year.      Hoshino failed in his first title defense against Venezuela's Noel Arambulet in July last year and lost to Arambulet again five months later in his unsuccessful bid to regain the title.      The feisty Japanese challenged World Boxing Council (WBC) minimumweight champion Jose Antonio Aguirre of Mexico for the latter's title last June in Yokohama only to be sopped in the 12th round.      Hoshino had a record of 23 wins, six by knockout, against 10 losses in his 15-year pro career.

Box On! Boxing News October16 .

Ex-nat'l champ Yokota plants to return to ring at 42 TOKYO, Oct. 16 - Former Japanese super bantamweight champion Hiroaki Yokota is planning to return to the ring as he formally applied for a boxing license to the Japan Boxing Commission (JBC) on Wednesday, commission sources said.      If approved, Yokota, who turns 42 on Sunday, will become the oldest Japanese boxer in action.      Yokota's move follows the JBC's earlier decision to lift the 37-year-old age limit for active boxers on certain conditions.      In lifting the age limit last May, the JBC allows a boxer to have the opportunity to file a license request if he has captured at least a national title, has an experience of a world title challenge and is ranked among the top 15 in the world on turning 37. All those eligible are obliged to undergo a brain scan and a thorough neurological examination.      In general, a boxer's license automatically expires once he turns 37. 　　 While serving as the gym owner in Machida, western Tokyo, Yokota has been training himself and had urged the JBC to lift the age limit.      ''I think I can make a careful and better judgment now since I have not been away from the ring (as head of the Yokota Gym),'' he said.      Yokota, who made his professional debut in 1979 out of Tokyo's Okawa Boxing Gym, captured the Japanese super bantamweight title in 1990.      After successfully defending the title three times, Yokota challenged World Boxing Association super bantamweight champion Wilfred Vasquez of Puerto Rico in November 1993, only to lose a 12-round decision.      He hung up his gloves in 1995, but then returned to the ring only six days before turning 37 in October 1998 and fought to a 10-round draw with Shinya Kiuchi. His record is 26 wins, 15 by knockout, against five losses and two draws.      Former Japanese lightweight ruler Rick '''Yoshimura'' Roberts of the United States, 38, recently returned to the ring based on the new JBC rules but lost to Japan's Kengo Nagashima in a 10-round nontitle fight, which has forced him to announce his retirement again.      Outside Japan, former world super lightweight kingpin Saoul Mamby of the United States, now 56, last fought three years ago, while former world lightweight challenger Kenny Lane of the U.S. fought until he became 53.      ''Big'' George Foreman has the record of the oldest boxer to win a world title at 45 when he captured the WBA heavyweight crown by knocking out Michael Moorer in November 1994. Former world light heavyweight champion Archie Moore last defended his title at 47 and 6 months.

Box On! Boxing News October 15.

Kogumazaka beats Suzuki to retain Japan minimumweight title      TOKYO, Oct. 13 – Champion Satoshi Kogumazaka hammered out a shutout decision over veteran Makoto Suzuki to retain his Japan minimumweight title in Tokyo on Monday.      While there were no knockdowns throughout the 10-rounder at Korakuen Hall, southpaw Kogumazaka, utilizing his longer reach advantage, piled up points with straight lefts and right hooks.      The 31-year-old Suzuki, who was fighting for the first time in 13 months due to a nagging neck injury, occasionally landed left hooks to the head late in the fight but could not put his punches together as the fleet-footed champion quickly danced away.      It was Kogumazaka’s second successful defense of the title he won last February.      With the victory, Kogumazaka, 26, who is also ranked sixth by the World Boxing Council, improved his record to 19 wins, nine by knockout, against five losses and three draws. Suzuki, the 10th-ranked Japanese minimumweight, sagged to 13-8-2 with eight Kos.

Box On! Boxing News October 11.

Ex-nat’l champ Rick ‘’Yoshimura’’ calls it quit      TOKYO, Oct. 11 – Former Japanese lightweight champion Rick ‘’Yoshimura’’ Roberts of the United States has decided to hang up his gloves on the wall following his defeat to Japan’s Kango Nagashima earlier this month, officials of Ishikawa Gym, out of which he was fighting in Japan, gym officials said Friday.      The 38-year-old New York native, who defended the Japanese lightweight title a record 22 consecutive times between March 1995 and November 2000, suffered a unanimous decision loss at the hands of Nagashima on Nov. 4 in one of the supporting cards for the triple-header world championship fights at Ryogoku Kokugikan.      Roberts, whose real name is Frederick Roberts, was held to a 12-round draw when he challenged Japan’s Takanori Hatakeyama for his World Boxing Association (WBA) lightweight title in February 2001 and dropped a 12-round unanimous decision to Oriental-Pacific Boxing Federation super lightweight kingpin Masakazu Satake in March last year. Yoshimura, who also held the Japanese super lightweight crown between 1990 and 1991, is married to a Japanese and has a daughter.      Yoshimura, now working as a master sergeant at the U.S. Air Forces Yokota base in western Tokyo after being transferred from a Florida air base late last year, returned to the ring following the Japan Boxing Commission’s lifting of the 37-year-old age limit for active boxers on certain conditions.      In lifting the age limit, the JBC allows a boxer who has captured at least a national title, has an experience of a world title challenge and is ranked among the top 15 in the world on turning 37. All those eligible are obliged to undergo a brain scan and a thorough neurological examination.

Box On! Boxing News October 9.

Kanayama Kos Hidaka to retain Japan super welterweight title+ TOKYO, Oct. 7 – Champion Toshiharu Kanayama, overcoming a third-round scare, demolished second-ranked Kazuhiko Hidaka in the eighth round on Tuesday to retain his Japan super welterweight title in Tokyo.      It was Kanayama’s second successful defense of the title he won a year ago by beating Nobuhiro Ishida. The end of the scheduled 10-rounder at Korakuen Hall came 3 minutes, 9 seconds into the eighth round after the 29-year-old Kanayama floored Hidaka  for the count with a powerful straight right followed by a barrage of left-right combinations.      With the victory, Kanayama, who also holds the Oriental-Pacific Boxing Federation super welterweight title, improved his record to 17 wins, 15 by knockout, against three losses, while Hidaka dropped to 15-4 with 11 Kos.      ‘’I won the two belts the hard way and, therefore, want to keep them while waiting for a world title challenge,’’ Kanayama told reporters later.      While the fleet-footed Hidaka, 25, momentarily shook Kanayama’s legs with  one-two combinations in the third, Kanayama quickly recovered and smothered his opponent with heavy punches.      Earlier, Kanayama’s stablemate Yoshinori Nishizawa, 37, pounded out a lackluster 10-round decision over unheralded Australian super middleweight Joel Burke in a nontitle fight.      Nishizawa, currently ranked seventh by the World Boxing Council, could not land decisive blows and appeared short of breath later in the rounds. He was penalized a point for holding in the final round.      Nishizawa is now 24-12-5 with 11 Kos, while Burke, Australia’s eighth-ranked super middleweight, sagged to 11-11-1 with five Kos.