WBA#9 Masuda halts Utsumi

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Hard-punching southpaw WBA#9 Riku Masuda (6-1, 6 KOs; amateur 52-14, 22 stoppages), 117.75, had a tough time coping with tricky and unorthodox 40-year-old challenger Yoshihiro Usami (17-12-6, 10 KOs), 117.75, but finally bloodied and halted him at 0:26 into the seventh round in a scheduled ten on Saturday in Tokyo, Japan. It was Masuda’s initial defense since he dethroned Fumiya Fuse via fourth round knockout this July. Riku wishes to avenge his sole blemish on his credentials that he suffered a setback on points by the current WBA bantam ruler Seiya Tsutsumi last year.

OPBF 130-pound champ WBC#19 Yamato Hata (16-2, 15 KOs), 131.75, engaged in a non-title go and demolished Filipino Presco Carcosia (12-5-1, 9 KOs), 130.5, with three knockdowns at 1:31 of the fourth session in a scheduled eight.

Unbeaten IBF#7 elongated light fly Kyosuke Takami (8-0, 6 KOs; amateur 43-4), 107.75, needed just 78 seconds into the opening session to send Filipino Jomar Caindog (12-5, 5 KOs), 106.75, to the deck in agony for the count. A single body shot was the haymaker sending him to dreamland.

Promoter: Teiken Promotions.

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