Ideta retains Japanese title, stops Kato

Yesterday at Korakuen Hall fight fans got a pretty notable show, headlined by a Japanese title fight, and also featuring a very notable domestic bout on the supporting card.

The main event of the show saw Japanese Super Welterweight champion Yuichi Ideta (19-16-1, 10) [出田裕一] record his third defense, now aged 40, as he broke down and stopped fellow veteran Hisashi Kato (12-13-2, 8) [加藤寿] in 5 rounds thrilling rounds.

Ideta, who promised to use his pressure in the build up to the bout, did exactly that, coming forward and getting close, using a high guard to defend against the uppercuts of Kato and getting off with his own hooks. Kato had success at times with his shots, but he was being ground down and was rocked back in round 3, despite landing a good left of his own. By now it was looking clear that Ideta was going to be too strong for KAto to win this type of fight. Kato tried to change things around in round 4, but a left hook sent the challenger on to his backside for the first knockdown of the fight. Kato tried to fire back after getting to his feet, and seemed to really get Ideta's attention with a left hand, however a few moments later Kato was down again, following a short right hand from the champion.

To his credit Kato again got to his feet and both came out for round 5, but the pressure, and relentlessness of Ideta broke his man, sending him down again and forcing the referee in at the 2:44 mark of the round.

The win sees Ideta become the oldest Japanese champion and he now has his eyes on a long reign, telling those in attendance that his ambition was 10 defenses, with the next one going to be during the Champions Carnival in the first half of 2025.

The other notable contest on this show was a matchup between Kosuke Tomioka (8-4, 7) [富岡浩介] and Shugo Namura (8-3, 8) [苗村修悟], that had fireworks written all over it. In the end however Tomioka’s skills were the difference, as he controlled range really well, neutralised Namura’s aggression early on, clinching when he needed to, and then turned the tide. Tomioka limited Namaura early on, doing what he could to see out the early storm without taking much punishment. After doing that he put his own foot on the gas, hurting and subsequently dropped Namura in round 4 for the first knockdown of the fight.

Namura, who had scored all 8 of his wins in the first 3 rounds, was under pressure again in round 5 and despite trying to fight back, it seemed he was starting to take more and more punishment. That punishment culminated in round 7, when a straight left dropped Namura, he got to his feet but the referee waved it off, saving him from further punishment