There was plenty of boxing action overseas this weekend with the massive Beterbiev/Bivol matchup in Saudi Arabia while two separate championship cards were staged in Japan.
JUNTO NAKATANI KO6 OVER PETCH SOR CHITPATTANA
WBC bantamweight champion Junto Nakatani scored an explosive sixth-round KO over challenger Petch Sor Chitpattana in the second of two boxing cards from Japan this weekend. Nakatani (29-0, 22 KOs) outclassed his fellow southpaw and used his faster, heavier hands to decide the fight at the 2:59 mark with a second knockdown.
Chitpattana (76-2, 53 KOs), fighting outside of his native Thailand for the first time, pressed the action and landed frequently on the champion, but his punches didn’t have the effect that Nakatani’s did.
A big left hand near the midway point of round six was the beginning of the end as Chitpattana was hurt and sent to the canvas by the followup attack. After rising and appearing to be recovered, the challenger was sent down violently just before the bell and referee Laurence Cole waved it off without counting.
It was the third win of the year for Nakatani.
SEYIA TSUTSUMI UD12 OVER TAKUMA INOUE
Challenger Seyia Tsutsumi (12-0-2, 8 KOs) lifted the WBA bantamweight belt from Takuma Inoue (20-2, 5 KOs) with an all-out effort over 12 rounds. Official scores were 114-113, 115-112 and 117-110.
InTheCorner.net scored it 117-110 for Tsutsumi.
After a couple of early close rounds, Tsutsumi overwhelmed Inoue with high-volume combinations and rarely took a backward step, forcing the now-former champion to fight from an uncomfortable posture, often with his back to the ropes.
Inoue went down in the 10th and Tsutsumi was cut under the left eye brow in the 11th. The knockdown was legit, as Inoue was wobbled by a left an awkwardly fell into the ropes, which were determined by the referee to have held Inoue up.
ARTUR BETERBIEV MD12 OVER DIMITRY BIVOL
Artur Beterbiev took the WBA light heavyweight belt from Dimitry Bivol on Friday night via a majority decision to unify all of the major belts at 175. Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) closed strong to hand Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) his first pro loss.
Official scores were 114-114, 115-113 and 116-112.
