By Ian S Palmer
While many large Japanese boxing audiences can be somewhat sedate from time to time, the same definitely can’t be said about those who show up at Tokyo’s legendary Korakuen Hall. The smaller confines of the former Olympic venue lend itself perfectly to a more raucous and boisterous setting as fans, friends and family of the fighters provide a party-like atmosphere.
The joint was rocking Friday night (Sept. 22rd) as former WBA Light Flyweight and IBF Minimumweight Champion Hiroto Kyoguchi put on a vicious body-punching clinic as he disposed of a very game, but outclassed Jerven Mama of the Philippines in the third round. The 29-year-old native of Osaka more or less stuck to head hunting in the first round with a stiff jab and big right hands but began to dig a barrage of debilitating lefts and rights to Mama’s solar plexus and liver starting in the second stanza.
Once Kyoguchi mixed up his attack it became inevitable that his 26-year-old opponent wasn’t going to last anywhere near the scheduled 10 rounds. The end came at tail end of the round after Kyoguchi unleashed a left uppercut to Mama’s head. To his credit, Mama quickly beat the count but the writing was clearly on the wall at this point. The shot reverberated around the hallowed hall and while some may point to the stoppage by referee Michiaki Someya as being slightly premature, Mama’s legs were gone and he was still struggling to walk several minutes later.
With the win, Kyoguchi raises his record to an impressive 18-1 with 12 Ko’s while Mama falls to 13-4-1 with 7 Ko’s and has now lost his last two contests. Kyoguchi, on the other hand, has now won two straight bouts after losing his title to fellow countryman Kenshiro Teraji via a seventh-round TKO last November. Losing to Teraji, who is currently the WBC Super and WBA Light Flyweight Champion, may not be considered a major upset, but the way Kyoguchi was beaten caused a bit of a stir as he didn’t win a round against Teraji before he was halted. Kyoguchi then decided to vacate the light flyweight division and head north to the 112 lb ranks.
He debuted at the heavier weight in May when he shutout Roland Jay Biendema on all three judge’s scorecards and looked a lot more comfortable with the extra four pounds against Mama. Kyoguchi hopes to earn a shot at one of the current four flyweight beltholders (WBO: Jesse Rodriguez, IBF: Sunny Edwards, WBA: Artem Dalakian, WBC: Julio Cesar Martinez), but will need to face stiffer opposition in his next outing if he hopes to start climbing the rankings ladder as quickly as possible. If he does manage to succeed and win a flyweight belt he’ll become a three-division world champion.
The six-bout card, which was promoted by Dangan Boxing, entertained the fans from start to finish. They they were also treated to a Japanese Super Flyweight Title tilt which saw reigning champion Suzumi Takayama (7-0, 6 Ko’s) of Tokyo, stop Tsubasa Murachi (10-2-1, 3 Ko’s) of Itami, in the eighth round with a series of punishing head shots.
