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kenyan_cheena · 11-04-2009, 09:44 PM

THE TOKYO TIMES

Monday, 11 December, 2006

OHASHI SECURES WORLD TITLE SHOT
WITH WIN OVER PINEDA

Story by Hiroko Yamamoto

Tokyo-born welterweight Shoji Ohashi completed an amazing run through the International Boxing League's Challenger's tournament yesterday with a surprising unanimous decision win over the Colombian Hugo Pineda in Bogota. Fighting in front of a crowd that cheered whenever Pineda looked like landing a punch, Ohashi proved too determined and resilient for the hometown favourite. He took the verdict by scores of 115-113 (twice) and 116-112, overcoming the crowd factor and a pair of cuts in rounds ten and eleven to record the victory. The first was above his right eyebrow and the second on the inside of his left eyebrow. While neither was particularly serious they certainly alarmed his corner crew as cuts were the deciding factor in Ohashi's fortunate quarter-final and semi-final victories over the American James Ray and South Africa's Benedict Khumalo.

While luck had played something of a role in those wins Ohashi needed no such assistance yesterday. He landed almost twice as many punches as Pineda while throwing considerably less. Ohashi connected with 395 of 728 shots (54.5%), Pineda just 213 of 1,241 (17.2%). Ohashi's defensive brilliance frustrated the Colombian throughout the contest and the crowd was keenly aware of it, doing their best but failing to sway the judges. Having celebrated his 21st birthday last month Ohashi gave himself a fantastic belated present and will now take on IBL world champion Emile Griffith in his first title defense on March the 3rd. Ohashi remains undefeated, his record now 20-0-1(14) while Pineda fell to 22-3-1(14) with the defeat.

Despite coming into the tournament as the 5th seed Ohashi had not been seriously considered as a threat to win it. While there was no championship at stake in the Challenger's tournament the IBL will be rewarding the winners of the tournament with a commemorative trophy and Ohashi held it aloft as he was shouldered around the ring by his corner crew. It must be acknowledged that he was well on the way to defeat when his quarter-final against James Ray was stopped in the last round due to a cut above Ray's right eye. The situation was similar against Khumalo, with the South African being in the driver's seat when the bout was halted. Ohashi was in no mood to reflect on those results in the aftermath of yesterday's win, his triumph a clear example of an individual making the most of an opportunity. Whether he can overcome Griffith is an entirely different discussion.

The IBL's #4 world welterweight ranking was up for grabs in the evening's co-feature but neither Nigeria's Ademola Udeze or the American Marvyn Rollins were able to claim it. Their bout ended in a draw, with one judge favouring Rollins 96-94, another having Udeze a 97-93 winner and the third scoring it even at 95-95. It was akin to two fights in one with the excitement of the first five rounds giving way to a more subdued, anti-climatic bottom half. Considering that, it must be said that the chance was there for both combatants but both failed to take advantage of it. Rollins is now 30-3-2(22), Udeze 23-3-1(17). As a consequence of the drawn result Rollins and Udeze will be ranked 5th and 6th respectively when the IBL releases their intital welterweight world rankings today. Germany's Gustave Eder will be ranked 4th and the South African Benedict Khumalo at seven following their own drawn result on the undercard of Friday night's world championship bout.

***

IBL Welterweight Challenger's tournament final

(#5) Shoji Ohashi UD12 (#3) Hugo Pineda

***

11-04-2009, 09:44 PM	#613 (permalink)
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 7,426 Thanks: 73 Thanked 130x in 113 posts	THE TOKYO TIMES *Monday, 11 December, 2006* OHASHI SECURES WORLD TITLE SHOT WITH WIN OVER PINEDA Story by Hiroko Yamamoto Tokyo-born welterweight Shoji Ohashi completed an amazing run through the International Boxing League's Challenger's tournament yesterday with a surprising unanimous decision win over the Colombian Hugo Pineda in Bogota. Fighting in front of a crowd that cheered whenever Pineda looked like landing a punch, Ohashi proved too determined and resilient for the hometown favourite. He took the verdict by scores of 115-113 (twice) and 116-112, overcoming the crowd factor and a pair of cuts in rounds ten and eleven to record the victory. The first was above his right eyebrow and the second on the inside of his left eyebrow. While neither was particularly serious they certainly alarmed his corner crew as cuts were the deciding factor in Ohashi's fortunate quarter-final and semi-final victories over the American James Ray and South Africa's Benedict Khumalo. While luck had played something of a role in those wins Ohashi needed no such assistance yesterday. He landed almost twice as many punches as Pineda while throwing considerably less. Ohashi connected with 395 of 728 shots (54.5%), Pineda just 213 of 1,241 (17.2%). Ohashi's defensive brilliance frustrated the Colombian throughout the contest and the crowd was keenly aware of it, doing their best but failing to sway the judges. Having celebrated his 21st birthday last month Ohashi gave himself a fantastic belated present and will now take on IBL world champion Emile Griffith in his first title defense on March the 3rd. Ohashi remains undefeated, his record now 20-0-1(14) while Pineda fell to 22-3-1(14) with the defeat. Despite coming into the tournament as the 5th seed Ohashi had not been seriously considered as a threat to win it. While there was no championship at stake in the Challenger's tournament the IBL will be rewarding the winners of the tournament with a commemorative trophy and Ohashi held it aloft as he was shouldered around the ring by his corner crew. It must be acknowledged that he was well on the way to defeat when his quarter-final against James Ray was stopped in the last round due to a cut above Ray's right eye. The situation was similar against Khumalo, with the South African being in the driver's seat when the bout was halted. Ohashi was in no mood to reflect on those results in the aftermath of yesterday's win, his triumph a clear example of an individual making the most of an opportunity. Whether he can overcome Griffith is an entirely different discussion. The IBL's #4 world welterweight ranking was up for grabs in the evening's co-feature but neither Nigeria's Ademola Udeze or the American Marvyn Rollins were able to claim it. Their bout ended in a draw, with one judge favouring Rollins 96-94, another having Udeze a 97-93 winner and the third scoring it even at 95-95. It was akin to two fights in one with the excitement of the first five rounds giving way to a more subdued, anti-climatic bottom half. Considering that, it must be said that the chance was there for both combatants but both failed to take advantage of it. Rollins is now 30-3-2(22), Udeze 23-3-1(17). As a consequence of the drawn result Rollins and Udeze will be ranked 5th and 6th respectively when the IBL releases their intital welterweight world rankings today. Germany's Gustave Eder will be ranked 4th and the South African Benedict Khumalo at seven following their own drawn result on the undercard of Friday night's world championship bout. * IBL Welterweight Challenger's tournament final** (#5) Shoji Ohashi UD12 (#3) Hugo Pineda * __________________ The Greatest Prize in Sports The Greatest Prize in Sports: Almanac kenyan_cheena's NBA 2K11 Off Topic Dynasty** Last edited by kenyan_cheena; 11-04-2009 at 09:49 PM.