Junto Nakatani vs. David Cuéllar Ends in Dominant Stoppage

Junto Nakatani Post-fight Interview

Seiya Tsutsumi and Daigo Higa Fight to Another Draw

The second meeting between Seiya Tsutsumi (12-0-3, 8 KOs) and Daigo Higa (21-3-2, 19 KOs) resulted in the pair drawing yet again.

Scores for their rematch were 114-114 across the board. With the draw, Tsutsumi remains the WBA bantamweight champion. He won the title against Takuma Inoue in October last year. In 2020, Tsutsumi and Higa had fought each other in a 10-round non-title contest. Although one judge had it 96-94 for Higa at the time, the other two judges saw it 95-95, resulting in a majority draw.

In the rematch, Tsutsumi began on the front foot and was throwing more. On the other hand, Higa sought to counter. In round four, there was a clash of heads that left the reigning champion with a cut over his left eye. Higa continued to target that area while Tsutsumi started to fight with greater urgency.

In round nine, the challenger landed a left hook that sent his opponent down. Less than a minute later, a right hook from Tsutsumi had Higa land face first on the canvas. Though the former flyweight champion got up, he was still on shaky legs and clinched to avoid further damage.

After 12 rounds of action, it appeared that Tsutsumi had done enough to have his hand raised as he had been the busier fighter. The judges, however, saw things differently and they all had the fight a draw.

Other Bouts on the Fight Card

Tenshin Nasukawa (6-0, 2 KOs) won a unanimous decision against Jason Moloney (27-4, 19 KOs). Scores for this 10-round bantamweight fight were 98-92 and 97-93 (x2). With the victory, Nasukawa is now in line to challenge for the WBO bantamweight world title currently held by Yoshiki Takei.

Ryuya Moriai (5-2-1, 1 KO) won via second round technical knockout against Eigoro Akai (5-4, 4 KOs). The official time of stoppage for this six-round middleweight contest was 1:15. Akai was dropped in the second from a right hand. He got up, but with Moriai continuing to land shots at range with little resistance referee Tetsuya Iida stepped in and ended proceedings.

Hayato Aiko (2-0, 0 KOs) won a unanimous decision against Yuki Sato (0-1, 0 KOs). Scores for the four-round featherweight bout were 39-37 across the board.

Ryosuke Kiuchi (3-3-1, 2 KOs) won a unanimous decision against Fuentes Kitajima (2-2, 0 KOs). Scores for the four-round lightweight clash were 40-36 (x2) and 39-37.