Boxing In Japan: Valero, Hasegawa Retain World Titles In Tokyo

WBA Super Feather kingpin Edwin Valero and WBC Bantamweight Champion Hozumi Hasegawa were in action at the Nihon Budokan in Tokyo on Thursday night and both retained their titles.

Valero, 24-0 (24), kept his magnificent knockout streak alive with a seventh round pasting of former Japanese Lightweight titlist Takehiro Shimada, 22-4-1 (15).

Shimada used his considerable experience to evade the brunt of the Venezuelan southpaw's firepower and was only down by two rounds on one of the scorecards but the 36 year's luck ran out at 1:55 of the seventh frame when Valero found the target with a crisp right hook, straight left combination to the head.

Valero retains his title for the fourth time and continues his campaign to engage Manny Pacquiao in a high profile showdown but the multi-weight Filipino legend is on a trajectory to face world light welter champ Ricky Hatton later this year.

Hasegawa, 24-2 (8), had an easier time than did Valero as the Kobe based southpaw finished off Uruguay's WBC Latino titlist Cristian Faccio, 15-3 (10), with an overwhelming tow-handed barrage at 2:18 of the second.

The 27 year old keeps his WBC belt for the seventh occasion and could be involved in a lucrative unification bout in the near future.

On the undercard, local man Takashi Uchiyama, 10-0 (7), retained his OPBF Super Feather trophy for the second time with a wide points decision over cross-town rival Hero Bando, 19-9-6 (8), after 12 frames.