By Jason Kim: World Boxing Council (WBC) flyweight champion Daisuke Naito (35-2-3, 22 KOs) defeated his Chinese challenger Xiong Zhao Zhong (12-2-1, 8 KOs) in a thrilling 12-round unanimous decision on Tuesday night at the Differ Ariake, in Tokyo, Japan. The bout had pure action with both fighters slugging it out for 12 long rounds in one of the most exciting bouts of the year.
Daisuke Naito
Naito Stops Yamaguchi – Latest Boxing News
By Jason Kim: Making his fourth defense of his World Boxing Council (WBC) flyweight title, champion Daisuke Naito (34-2-3, 22 KOs) turned back challenger Shingo Yamaguchi (23-6-2, 9 KOs), stopping him in the 11th round on Tuesday night at the Kokugikan, in Tokyo, Japan. Naito, 34, hurt Yamaguchi with a left-right combination in the 11th round, and then landed a flurry of shots ending with referee Yuji Fukuchi stepping in and halting the bout at 1:11 of the round.
Naito Defeats Shimizu With 10th Round TKO
By Jason Kim: WBC flyweight champion Daisuke Naito (33-1-3, 21 KOs) successfully defended his title with a 10th round TKO over challenger Tomonobu Shimizu (13-3, 5 KOs) on Wednesday night at the Yoyogi First Gym, in Tokyo, Japan. Naito, 33, had difficulties catching up to the defensive wizard Shimizu, 27, who spent the entire fight running, circling and clinching Naito. Finally, however, Naito landed a right hand that caught Shimizu while he was off balance trying to escape yet again, and knocked him to the canvas. Shimizu wasn’t the least bit hurt, but it didn’t matter, for it caused Naito to unleash a blizzard of punches while Shimizu was trapped along the ropes trying to cover up, knocking him to the canvas. This time, Shimizu was badly hurt and got up slowly but didn’t beat the referee Frank Garza’s count, who then stopped the fight at 0:57 of the 10th round.
The fight was marred by Shimizu’s constant running and holding, which turned the fight into a big track meet with Naito having to spend most of the time chasing Shimizu around the ring in order to land. Naito was forced to jog lightly for most of the fight, and often times he would ram heads with Shimizu when he would suddenly stop for a second.