Boxing In Japan: Rojas Retains WBC Title Over Nashiro In Osaka
WBC super flyweight king Tomas Rojas returned to Japan again to retain his belt with a victory last evening over Nobuo Nashiro at Osaka’s Prefectural Gymnasium in a tooth and nail contest.
Mexico’s Rojas previously held the Interim version of the title but was KO’d in two by Vic Darchinyan in 2009 when trying to add the full WBC and WBA crowns to his trophy cabinet.
The southpaw finally struck the target last September when he posted a UD over OPBF kingpin Kohei Kono in Saitama, Japan to capture the vacant WBC prize.
In theory, last night’s contest against Nashiro was a risky move for Rojas, going into the opponent’s home town of Osaka and Nashiro was an iron-chinned two-time WBA champion who had only lost to Alexander Munoz and Hugo Fidel Cazares in title bouts.
In practice as well, the going was very tough for the champion, who started off well using the ring and a height advantage to build an early lead. But Nashiro managed to cut down the distance by the middle rounds and took control of the contest.
Nashiro lost a point in the eighth when a head clash produced a bad cut on Rojas. The challenger upped his efforts from that point on in an attempt to nullify the loss of a point but Rojas used effective footwork and counters that kept Nashiro from dominating.
After the 12 rounds were completed, Rojas was awarded the decision on scores of 114-113, 116-113 and 116-111. Given the close nature of the fight, there could be a rematch.
Rojas retains the title on his maiden voyage, improving to 35-12-1 (23), while Nashiro drops to 14-3-1 (9).
The undercard featured ex-WBC flyweight ruler Malcolm Tunacao, 28-2-3 (17), retaining the OPBF bantamweight title for the third of of his second reign, finishing off former Japanese super fly champ Daigo Nakahiro, 21-4-1 (8), in six.
There was also action Tokyo last night as Toshiyuki Igarashi, 13-1-1 (10), annexed the vacant Japanese flyweight belt with a third round stoppage over Takayasu Kobayashi, 16-4-3 (2).