Former WBC super fly champion Srisaket (Wisaksil Wangek) wins his second fight since boxing resumed in Thailand.
His opponent Filipino Jomar Fajardo showed courage beyond the call of duty as he took serious punishment before his team pulled him out during the second round.
Fajardo was trapped on the ropes and being battered by hooks and uppercuts with the referee showing no sign of stopping the pounding until Fajardo’s second climbed in the ring.
The Thai had a real struggle before getting the decision over Amnat Ruenroeng in August but looked sharp here.
He is 1-1 in two battles with WBC champion Juan Francisco Estrada, and as he is No 1 with the WBC, he must be in line for a third fight next year.
Fajardo is much too brave. He is now 2-7 in his nine most recent contests with sixth of the seven losses by KO/TKO.
Apichet vs. Adolan
Apichet remains unbeaten as he takes a majority verdict over Adolan but looks very lucky to do so. Apichet had to survive two counts to make the decision.
Scores 76-74 twice for Apichet and 75-75. He remains the WBC Asian Boxing Council champion.
The third time Apichet has been lucky to stay unbeaten. Having twice scored very narrow victories over former WBA and WBO title challenger Chonlatarn.
Adolan, an Armenian-born Thai-based Russian, is a former Muay Thai boxing trainer and had won his last seven fights by KO/TKO.
Saturday
Tokyo, Japan: Super Welter: Hironobu Matsunaga (17-1) W TKO 7 W Yuto Shimizu (14-5-2).Super Bantam: Ryohei Takahashi (19-4-1) W PTS 8 Kyohei Endo (3-4).
Matsunaga vs. Shimizu
Matsunaga holds on to the national title with the stoppage of Shimizu. Although Shimizu had height and reach over Matsunaga, he could not cope with the aggression of the champion getting inside and connecting with southpaw right hooks.
Although Shimizu found the target with straight rights by the fifth, he was bleeding heavily from the nose and was down 50-45, 49-45, and 48-47 on the cards.
Matsunaga continued to score heavily in the sixth and opened a cut over Shimizu’s left eye in the seventh. Shimizu had nothing left, and a series of punches from Matsunaga brought the referee’s intervention. Tenth win in a row for Matsunaga and his eleventh win by KO/TKO. He was making the second defense of the title.
He overcame an orbital fracture under his left eye and a detached retina before finally winning the Japanese title in May last year.
First, inside the distance loss for Shimizu. Furthermore, he’s the Japanese No 1, who was having his second shot at the title.
Takahashi vs. Endo
Former IBF title challenger Takahashi gets a win but has to climb off the canvas. They fought on fairly even terms over the first two rounds, but Takahashi put Endo down with a left hook in the third. He also took the fourth and fifth.
Endo knocked Takahashi down in the sixth, but Takahashi recovered, and over the last two rounds, although under pressure, his better skills made him a clear winner.
Scores 77-74 from each judge for Takahashi. He gets his third win since being stopped in eleven rounds by JT Doheny in a challenge for the IBF.
The inexperienced Endo did well to last the distance.
