Jonathan González and Kenshiro Teraji Triumph in Saitama, Japan

Puerto Rican Jonathan González and Japanese Kenshiro Teraji were victorious against locals Shokichi Iwata and Hiroto Kyoguchi, respectively, at the Saitama Arena in Japan on November 1^st.

WBO light flyweight champion “La Bomba” González (27-3-1, 14 KOs) unanimously defeated the challenger Iwata (9-1-0, 6 KOs) in a venue full of fans supporting the Japanese fighter.

After an even first round, González went to the canvas in the second, due to a violent clash of heads. After González recovered, referee Raúl Caíz issued a warning to Iwata.

Immediately, the visitor landed a right hook which sent Iwata backward and caused him to fall, However, the referee deemed that it was not a valid blow, but rather a push. In the third round there was another clash of heads, which opened a cut in the upper part of the nose and over the right eye of “La Bomba.”

Pressured by the injury and Iwata’s constant headbutts, Gonzalez stepped up the attack mid-match, which paid off handsomely as he used his straight right hand against Iwata’s attempts to advance.

Already in the final rounds, and aware of his advantage in scoring, González kept fighting from the outside in an attempt to ensure victory. Two of the judges, Americans Jesse Reyes and Pat Russell, delivered scorecards of 116-112, while Filipino Judge Danrex Tapdasan scored the fight 117-111, all for González.

According to several sources, at the end of his bout with Iwata, González expressed that he wants an opportunity to unify the titles with KenshiroTeraji who now holds the WBA and WBC “super champion” belts. The IBF 108-pound belt is currently held by South African Sive Nontshinga (11-0-0, 9 KOs) who obtained it by beating Mexican Héctor Flores by split decision on 3 September in Mexico.

KENSHIRO TERAJI KNOCKED OUT HIROTO KYOGUCHI

In the stellar unification fight, WBC champion Kenshiro Teraji (20-1-0, 12 KOs) anesthetized his opponent Hiroto Kyoguchi in the seventh round. Kyoguchi (16-2-0, 11 KOs) was the WBA “super” champion. Teraji kept the pressure on from the start and with a straight right hand in the final minute of the fifth round, he hurt Kyoguchi to the point that he was barely able to continue. Two rounds later, referee Michiaki Someya stopped the action after another violent right hand from Teraji.

Photo credit: Naoki Fukuda

Article submitted by Jorge Juan Alvarez in Spanish.

Please note any adjustments made were for clarification purposes and any errors in translation were unintentional

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE