KOMAKI, Japan, April 26 – Rev Santillan of the Philippines hammered out a　split decision over champion Hiroshi Watanabe of Japan to wrest the latter’s Oriental-Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) welterweight title in a grudge fight on Sunday in Komaki, Aichi Prefecture.
　With the victory, the 26-year-old Santillan avenged his controversial defeat to Watanabe in October 2002. The two battled to a draw in August 2001 for the then vacant title, in which many experts also thought Santillan had an edge.
　While there were no knockdowns in the 12-round fight at Komaki Park Arena, southpaw Santillan visibly landed more effective blows as overly cautious Watanabe, 26, threw punches sparingly.
　With the victory, Santillan improved his record to 20 wins against a loss and a draw with 15 KOs, while Watanabe, who failed in his third defense of the title he won by ‘’beating’’ Santillan in October 2002, fell to 20-3-2 with 14 KOs.

　NAGOYA, April 22 – Hideyasu Ishihara will take on top-ranked Martin Castillo of Mexico next month in Gifu, central Japan, for the World Boxing Association (WBA) super flyweight interim title following the cancellation of Ishihara’s scheduled challenge against champion Alexander Munoz of Venezuela due to the latter’s injury, a Japanese boxing official said Thursday.
　According to Joe Koizumi, a noted boxing matchmaker, the seventh-ranked Ishihara will square off with Castillo on May 16 at Gifu Memorial Center in Gifu Prefecture for the interim crown as Munoz suffered a knee injury earlier this month during a break-in at his house in Caracas..
　While the undefeated Munoz, who has beaten four Japanese in his past four world championship fights, wanted to face Ishihara as scheduled, the WBA, headquartered in Caracas, did not allow him to do so, Koizumi said.
　Ishihara, 28, has a record of 15 wins, 11 by knockout, against two losses and a draw, while the 27-year-old Castillo is 25-1 with 15 KOs.
　The winner is expected to face Munoz to unify the title.

　TOKYO, April 21 – Veteran Yoshinori Nishizawa decked Paula Tuilau three times en route to a fifth-round knockout to win the vacant Oriental-Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) super middleweight title on Tuesday in Tokyo.
　With the victory, Nishizawa, who was fighting his first fight since unsuccessfully challenging World Boxing Association super middleweight champion Anthony Mundine of Australia last January in Australia, became the oldest Japanese boxer to win an either Japanese or OPBF title at the age of 38 years and three months. Nishizawa held the previous record of 35 years and five months when he won the OPBF super middleweight title.
　Fighting at Korakuen Hall, Nishizawa floored Tuilau in the second and third rounds with powerful rights and finished him off 2 minutes, 59 seconds into the fifth round of a scheduled 12-rounder with a left hook to the head after staggering his hapless foe with a left hook to the body.
　‘’While I am not a knockout puncher, I was aiming at a KO victory depending on the course of the fight. I will dedicate this victory to my daughter. I am still going strong in my 20th year since joining Yonekura Gym (to which Nishizawa belongs) on May 19.
　Nishizawa improved his record to 25 wins, 12 by KO, against 14 losses and 5 draws, while Tuilau fell to 15-11-5 with 11 KOs.

　TOKYO, April 18 - Interim ruler Hiroyuki Maeda decked champion Shuichi Kobayashi in the opening round and went on to comfortably win the Japanese welterweight crown in a title-unification bout in Tokyo on Saturday.
　With the victory, the 32-year-old Maeda, who had previously held the Japanese lightweight and super lightweight titles, has become Japan's second boxer in history to win national tiles in three different weight divisions both in name and reality.
　Maeda won the Japanese welterweight interim title last December by demolishing Kazutaka Aihara as champion Kobayashi was unable to defend his title for long due to an eye trouble.

　Noboru Godai was the first boxer to win Japanese titles in three different weight categories - featherweight, super featherweight and lightweight - in the 1980s.
　Fighting at Korakuen Hall, Maeda floored Kobayashi in the first round with a right uppercut and piled up points the rest of the way by mainly working Kobayashi's body.
　''I will aim at a knockout victory from now on so that people not fully acquainted with boxing can appreciate,'' Maeda told reporters after the 10-round fight.
　With the victory, Maeda improved his record to 28 wins, including 17 KOs, against seven losses and two draws, while it was the 30-year-old Kobayashi's third setback against 13 KOs, six by KO.

　TOKYO, April 16 – Former world ruler Yutaka Niida will challenge World Boxing Association (WBA) minimumweight champion Noel Arambulet of Venezuela for the latter’s title in July in Tokyo, fight organizers said Thursday.
　The scheduled 12-rounders will be staged on July 3 at Korakuen Hall.
　It will be the 25-year-old Niida’s second straight crack at Arambulet’s title following his unsuccessful bid last July in Yokohama.
　Niida dropped a majority decision to the Venezuelan in his first fight since August 2001.
　Niida surprised the boxing world in the fall of 2001 by suddenly announcing his retirement from the ring without defending the WBA title he won in August that year from Thailand’s Chana Popaoin.
　But the then-undefeated Japanese said at the end of 2002 that he would return to the ring and directly challenged the Venezuelan.
　‘’This will be the second time for me to fight Arambuelt and I’m determined to win it this time around, said Niida, currently ranked eighth by the WBA.
　The 30-year-old Arambulet, who is making his third defense of the title he won from Niida’s compatriot Keitaro Hoshino in July 2002, canceled his scheduled title defense against Chna last January due to a knee injury during training.
　Arambulet has a record of 20 wins, 10 by knockout, against two losses and a draw and one no contest. Niida, guided by former Oriental featherweight kingpin Mitsunori Seki, is 15-1-3 with eight KOs.

　Ex-OPBF champ Ishii hangs up gloves

　NAGOYA, April 15 – Former Oriental-Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) super bantamweight champion Kozo Ishii formally announced his retirement from the ring in a press conference in Nagoya on Wednesday.

　The 26-year-old Ishii, who unsuccessfully challenged world titles three times – in 1999, 2000 and 2003 - suddenly pulled out of his scheduled challenge against the Japanese super bantamweight champion Yoshikane Nakajima for the latter’s title last month due to a nagging back pain.

　‘’I have decided to call it quits because my physical conditions do not allow me to turn in the kind of boxing fans want to see, which is a knockout victory. While I have focused my attentions on another world title challenge, I cannot continue going on due to the physical conditions, ‘’ Ishii told reporters at Tenyo Maruki Gym to which he belonged.

　Ishii had a lifetime record of 31 wins, including 21 KOs, against four losses.

Yamaguchi beats Masuda, retains OPBF light flyweight crown

　TOKYO, April 13 – Champion Shingo Yamaguchi, overcoming an opening-round scare, hammered out a close but unanimous decision over compatriot Nobuaki Masuda to retain his Oriental-Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) light flyweight title on Monday in Tokyo.
　It was the 24-year-old Yamaguchi’s first successful defense of the title he won in May last year by beating Wyndel Janiola of the Philippines.
　There were no knockdowns in the 12-round fight.
　Fighting at Korakuen Hall, Masuda, the OPBF’s sixth-ranked contender, got off to a good start as he landed a stinging left hook on the button shortly into the first round, momentarily shaking Yamaguchi, who has been guided by former world light flyweight champion Katsuo Tokashiki.
　But Yamaguchi, who is gunning for his second world title challenge sometime around the turn of the year, recovered quickly and piled up points during the middle rounds with his rapid left-right combination blows and quick movement.
　In the 12th and final round, Masuda, 28, came out swinging right hooks. But Yamaguchi escaped with list agile movement and exchanged blows toe-to-toe toward the end of the fight.

　‘’I was nervous. While I got hit a good shot in the first round, somehow I was able to rebound in the ensuing rounds. But I could not turn in the kind of performance I did during training,’’ Yamaguchi reflected.
　With the victory, Yamaguchi improved his record to 15 wins, including seven knockouts, against three losses and two draws, while Masuda fell to 18-3 with 3 KOs.

Japanese boxer dies of brain injury, Japan's 31st ring death

　TOKYO, April 6 - Japan's super bantamweight boxer Masanao Noto died of brain injury on April 2 after being hospitalized at a Tokyo hospital following his March 15 fight. He was 24.
　Noto became Japan's 31st boxer to lose his life in the ring since the Japan Boxing Commission was established in 1952 and was the first in two years.
　In his 10-round fight against eighth-ranked Keisuke Ayukawa at Tokyo's Korakuen Hall, Noto scored two knockdowns only to lose by a majority decision.
　He complained of a headache a few days after the fight and went through a brain tumor removal operation at the hospital.
　Noto, who made his debut in June 2001, had a lifetime record of eight wins, five by knockout, against two losses.

Kuma barely retains Japan featherweight title

　FUKUOKA, April 5 – Undefeated Dainoshin Kuma, exchanging fierce blows toe-to-toe, eked out a 10-round split decision over Motokazu Abe in a grudge match to retain his Japan featherweight crown on Sunday in Fukuoka.
　It was the 25-year-old Kuma’s fourth successful defense of the title he wrested from Eiichi Sugama in late 2002.
　Kuma beat Abe in their first encounter last December in a highly controversial decision as most experts thought Abe was a clear winner.
　Fighting at Munakata Urix Gymnasium in Munakata, both fighters engaged in a fierce exchange of blows with southpaw Kuma unleashing right uppercuts followed with straight lefts while Abe working Kuma’s body by throwing voluminous punches.
　While each round was very close to call, Kuma appeared to have better analyzed his opponent after obtaining a dubious decision last December.
　‘’I thought I did everything I had to. It’s up to people to make a decision. Abe was the same as before, and I was thus better able to cope with him,’’ Kuma said.
　‘’Although I’m not satisfied with the decision, I’ve had enough of Kuma. I now want to fight (Takashi) Koshimoto (Kuma’s stablemate and current Oriental-Pacific Boxing Federation featherweight champion),’’ Abe told reporters.
　Kuma extended his unbeaten streak to 26 with 11 KOs, while its was Abe’s second loss against 11 wins, eight by KO, with two draws.
　Koshimoto, gunning for his second world title challenge, pounded out a lopsided decision over Thongcharoen Mahasap Condo in a chief supporting card.

Kimura beats Eguchi, wrests Japan super lightweight title

TOKYO, April 4 - Top-ranked challenger Norio Kimura floored Shingo Eguchi in the fourth round and went on to hammer out a 10-round unanimous decision to win the Japanese super lightweight crown in Tokyo Saturday night.

　It was the 26-year-old Kimura's second national title as he had previously held the Japanese lightweight title.

　Fighting at Korakuen Hall, southpaw Kimura started out fast with his slick fighting style, landing rights hooks and straight lefts while moving side to side.

　Kimura put Eguchi on the seat of his trunks shortly into the fourth round with a crisp straight left after putting the befuddled champion against the ropes and piled up points going into the seventh stanza.

　In the seventh, while Kimura attempted to throw a right, Eguchi connected with a powerful right hook to the head, turning the challenger's legs to jelly and sending him spinning down to the canvas, which was only ruled a slip.

　Kimura recovered quickly and controlled the fight the rest of the way to win comfortably.
　''I thought I would be able to win if I stick to my kind of boxing, and it worked,'' Kimura said. 

　''Eguchi, who failed in his second defense of the title he wrested from Motoki Sasaki last May, said, ''It was my fault because I could not go all after him when I scored a 'knockdown' (in the seventh round) as I was worried about my stamina.''

　With the victory, Kimura improved his record to 22 wins, nine by knockout, against five losses and two draws. Eguchi sagged to 16-2 with 12 KOs.

Double title fights to be held in June in Yokohama

　TOKYO, April 3 - World Boxing Council (WBC) super flyweight champion Masamori Tokuyama and WBC minimumweight kingpin Eagle Kyowa will put their titles on the line against Japanese challengers respectively on June 28 in Yokohama, southwest of Tokyo, fight organizers said Friday.
　The double championship bouts will be staged at Yokohama Arena
　The 29-year-old Tokuyama, a (North) Korean resident of Japan whose real name is Hong Chang Su, will take on Katsushige Kawashima again as he pounded out a 12-round decision over the ninth-ranked Japanese last June.
　It will be Tokuyama's ninth defense of the title he won in August 200 by beating South Korean Cho In Ju.
　Tokuyama has a record of 30 wins, eight by knockout, against two losses and a draw, while Kawashima, 29, is 25-3 with 17 KOs.
　For his part, the undefeated Kyowa of Thailand, who is making his first defense of the title he wrested from Jose Antonio Aguirre of Mexico last January, will face the sixth-ranked Satoshi Kogumazaka.
　The 25-year-old Kyowa, whose real name is Den Sorjaturong and has recently changed his fighting name from Eagle Akakura, has 12 straight victories, including five KOs. The sixth-ranked Kogumazaka is 21-5-3 with 10 KOs.