Teraji stops Akui in final round to unify flyweight titles

Kenshiro Teraji stopped Seigo Yuri Akui to unify a pair of flyweight titles in Tokyo!

Kenshiro Teraji scored a 12th round stoppage win over Seigo Yuri Akui, unifying the WBC and WBA flyweight titles in a terrific war of a fight from Tokyo.

Teraji (25-1, 16 KO) had a very tough night with Akui (21-3-1, 11 KO), as the underdog gave as good as he got, and had a really nice first half of the bout.

But Kenshiro came alive in the second half, turning up the volume in his trademark fashion and becoming his usual, all-action self, forcing the issue and likely racking up rounds, possibly tilting the scores in his favor.

The scores don’t matter in the end, however, as the referee stepped in to stop the fight, which will be a controversial call. Akui was definitely hurt, but the fight had been so good and so competitive that without a clearer reason to stop it — at least that people could see on the TV feed — there will be a lot of debate and discussion.

Anthony Olascuaga retains WBO flyweight title

Anthony Olascuaga kept his WBO flyweight belt with a second successful defense, this time winning by unanimous decision over former light flyweight titleholder Hiroto Kyoguchi in a very good, very competitive bout.

Scores were 114-113, 117-111, and 118-110 for Olascuaga. Bad Left Hook had the fight 114-113 for Olascuaga, and those latter two cards are really pretty wide, but it is boxing.

It was the fifth straight fight in Japan for California’s Olascuaga (9-1, 6 KO), who probably didn’t imagine after five pro bouts on small shows in the United States and Panama that as of his 10th fight, he would have faced Kenshiro, Kyoguchi, and “Bomba” Gonzalez, but he’s done that, and he’s beaten the latter two and become a sincere force and world champion in the flyweight division.

The 11th round saw a knockdown called against Kyoguchi (19-3, 12 KO) that TV replay showed was really a slip, but ultimately it didn’t matter. The knockdown made a difference on just one card, and the other two were so wide that a full reversal — a 10-9 Kyoguchi round instead of a 10-8 Olascuaga round — would have made no difference, and he would have won by split decision at worst.

Rene Santiago upsets Shokichi Iwata to win WBO 108 lb title

Rene Santiago came in from Puerto Rico and made his second shot at a world title count, upsetting Shokichi Iwata to lift the WBO light flyweight title by unanimous decision.

Judges had it 116-112, 117-111, and 118-110, and there’s a lot of belief out there that the scores were entirely fair, and that Santiago (14-4, 9 KO) simply out-boxed Iwata (14-2, 11 KO) to take the belt. I saw it as a very close fight, with some rounds shaded to Iwata for heavier shots and pressure, but a lot going to Santiago, too, for being busier and boxing very nicely, particularly in the second half. I wound up at 114-114, but if I had to tiebreak and pick a winner, I would have also said Santiago.

The 32-year-old Santiago had lost his first crack at this same belt a year ago against Jonathan “Bomba” Gonzalez, who also beat Iwata back in 2022.

Read the full article here