TOKYO – Akifumi Shimoda produced an array of counter-hooks for a unanimous decision victory to wrest the World Boxing Association (WBA) super bantamweight title from Lee Retsuri on Monday. Three judges counted it 115-111, 118-109, 118-109 all in favour of the challenger.
The 26-year-old Japanese challenger, ranked sixth in the WBA, fought aggressively from the outset, staggering the Japan-based Korean defending champion in the first round. Shimoda sent Lee to the floor with a fine left counter-hook in the third round, but Lee also downed Shimoda at the end of the round. Both stood up quickly. Shimoda, whose right eyelid was cut by an accidental butting in the fourth round, unleashed a left counter-hook to score another down in the fifth round, and then again downed Lee with a right hook in the eighth.
Lee tried hard to fight back in the last three rounds, but he was unable to reverse the momentum. Uchiyama defends WBA superfeather crown: Takashi Uchiyama beat fellow Japanese Takashi Miura by a technical knockout to defend his World Boxing Association (WBA) super featherweight title on Monday.
