By Mark Eisner: In a predictable outcome, WBA & WBC light flyweight champion Kenshiro Teraji (22-1, 14 KOs) dominated the old warrior, Hekkie Budler (36-5, 11 KOs), scoring a ninth round knockout on Monday night at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.
The younger fighter Teraji, 31, unloaded with a sudden flurry of shots against the 35-year-old former two-division world champion South African Budler in the ninth round, literally burying him with punches, leaving referee Jose Guadalupe Garcia with no choice but to step in and halt the contest.
The time of the stoppage was at 2:19 of round nine. Teraji was well ahead on all three scorecards by the scores:
– 80-72
– 79-73
– 79-73
The way the fight played out, Teraji looked like he could have ended it at any moment, as he was hitting Budler at will with shots and seemingly toying with him in each round.
Budler was constantly coming forward face first, looking to land shots, but he was frequently getting nailed by the surgeon-like Teraji.
The lack of power & defense of Budler made his job impossible because he lacked the assets to his game to pull off the upset against the better-skilled WBA/WBC 108-lb champion Teraji.
By the sixth round, it was clear that Budler wasn’t going to be able to go the distance because he was soaking up awful punishment at the hands of Teraji, and he looked dogged-tired from the big shots that he’d been taking.
It was going to be a big ask from Budler to win, so it wasn’t surprising when he was taken out in the ninth round.
Where Budler goes from here is the big question. At 35, he’s ancient for the light flyweight division. It took Budler five years to get this title shot after losing his WBA 108-lb title to Hiroto Kyoguchi by a tenth round knockout in 2018.
It’s unrealistic to assume that Budler will be able to hang around for another five years to get a title shot at 40. He’s already showing age now, and tonight’s punishing fight against Teraji certainly didn’t help matters.
Junto Nakatano defeats Argi Cortes
Undefeated WBO super flyweight champion Junto Nakatani (26-0,19 KOs)had a tougher time than expected, defeating #6 Argi Cortes (25-4-2, 10 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision. The scores were:
– 118-107
– 119-106
– 119-106
Nakatani came into the fight with a reputation of being a knockout artist, but tonight, he had problems with the pressure and the tenacity of Cortes.
The shots that Nakatani was landing had no effect on Cortes, and he found himself in a war that required him to take a lot of hard shots from the tough Mexican challenger.
Well behind on the scorecards in the 12th round, Cortes went for broke, attacking Nakatani tooth & nail with hard shots, looking for a knockout. However, Nakatani responded by landing some massive shots that hurt Cortes in the final twenty seconds of the round.
Smelling blood, Nakatani went for the finish, tagging Cortes with repeated headshots that had him close to going down as the bell rang to end the fight.
If there had been another 15-20 seconds in the round, Nakatani likely would have knocked out Cortes because he was hurt and ready to go.
Cortes had given boxing great Juan Francisco Estrada all he could handle last year in a losing effort. This writer had the fight dead even after twelve rounds, but the judges gave it to the star Estrada.
In other action on Monday night’s Teraji vs. Budler card, super bantamweight Tenshin Nasukawa (2-0) defeated Luis Guzman (10-3,6 KOs) by a one-sided eight round unanimous decision. The scores were identical 80-72, 80-72, and 80-72.
The game but limited Guzman was dropped in rounds 1,7 & 8 but was able to go the distance.