Koki Inoue claims vacant WBO Asia Pacific super-lightweight title
Koki Inoue (17-1, 14KO) got his hand raised August 30 in Tokyo, Japan capturing the vacant WBO Asia Pacific super-lightweight belt as he defeated Abdurasul Ismoilov (10-2, 6KO) from Uzbekistan via 10th round TKO.
Both fighters gave a great show on August 30 at the Korakuen Hall in Japan, with a constant exchange of punches.
Ismoilov was up on the cards but eventually it was the southpaw, Inoue, who demonstrated his superiority throughout the fight and finally turned the tables with three knockdowns to score the TKO in round 10 of 12.
The 31-year-old southpaw from Yokohama has now secured two stoppages in a row since his sole career defeat to Daishi Nagata in 2020. He lost his Japanese super-lightweight title to Nagata in his third defence.
It was his eighth appearance in a row at the Korakuen Hall and second time becoming the WBO Asia Pacific super-lightweight champion. He won the vacant belt once before in 2019 against Filipino, Jheritz Chavez.
Keisuke Matsumoto vs Ridwan Oyekola
Unbeaten prospect Keisuke Matsumoto (9-0, 7KO) kept his Japanese featherweight belt and acquired the vacant WBO Asia Pacific title as well when he pounded out a unanimous decision (118-110, 117-111, 119-109) over JBC#1 Japan-based Nigerian Ridwan Oyekola (11-2-2-1NC, 5KO) over 12 technical rounds on Wednesday in Tokyo, Japan.
The taller shaven-skulled Keisuke is the son of former OPBF 126-pound champ Koji Matsumoto (26-6-1, 15 KOs; whose career spanned 1989-1998), who failed to win the world belt three times from Young-Kyun Park, Yong-Soo Choi and Freddie Norwood. Keisuke, 24, kept jabbing all night to outbox the shorter Nigerian jabber, who came out retaliating furiously down the stretch. But his retaliation in the last two sessions was too late to overcome his early deficits on points. Matsumoto, tall and flexible, seems to have a bright future.
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