Japanese Scene: Tomonobu Shimizu Stops Takayasu Kobayashi in Champion Carnival

The second card in Japan’s ongoing Champion Carnival took place Monday night as two-time world title challenger Tomonobu Shimizu made the third defense of his domestic title with a TKO over WBA rated #12 Flyweight Takayasu Kobayashi.  Sidney Boquiren of RingwalkNippon has the details.

Tomonobu Shimizu (15-3-1, 6KO) vs. Takayasu Kobayashi (15-2-2, 2KO) for Shimizu’s Japanese Flyweight title

Known as "Speed Star" in Japan for his footwork and hand speed, national champion Shimizu outclassed Kobayashi over six rounds, finally forcing the referee to stop the bout at 0:59 of the 7th after pinning the challenger on the ropes with a barrage of punches.

Nikkan Sports reported that Shimizu was controlling the fight with his jab, straight right as well as working to Kobayashi’s body. Scoring a knockdown in the second with a short right, the champion showed a clear advantage in speed, activity and effective punching.

A textbook boxer, Shimizu has twice challenged for a world title, losing to Pongsaklek Wonjongkam by TKO7 in April 2007, and to countryman Daisuke Naito by KO10 in July 2008. Shimizu was ahead on all three score cards through nine rounds when Naito dropped him with a left hook early in the 10th. The challenger got up from the first knockdown but was unable to beat referee Frank Garza’s count when he was down for the second time.

Ranked #6 by the WBC, and likely to be ranked by the WBA with this victory, Shimizu issued a challenge to the Kameda brothers - WBC champ Koki and WBA title holder Daiki. Both champions already have their next bouts determined, so it will be a while before he gets a chance at either one of them. As all three losses on his record are by early stoppage, the chinny Shimizu may want to target the younger Daiki first, where his footwork and activity would give him a better chance to win.

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For more coverage of Japanese boxing, make sure to check out Sidney's blog, RingwalkNippon.