Hatanaka, Ogawa and Hata pick up wins in Japan
21
Today was a busy day of action in Japan, with 4 shows taking place across the country, including two that had very notable bouts on, one in Nagoya, which took place earlier in the day, and then one in Tokyo later in the day. Although neither card featured a world level bout, they both had very notable action on them, with one being a regional title fight, and one being headlined by an absolute thriller.
The Nagoya headliner saw popular second generation fighter Kento Hatanaka (16-1, 11) [畑中建人] dig deep and go through fire to overcome Filipino visitor Wilbert Berondo (17-9-2, 6), after having had several major scares along the way. The Filipino got off to the dream start, dropping Hatanaka in the opening round with a left hook and looked dangerous after Hatanaka recovered to his feet. He scored another knockdown in round 2, with a combination of shots, and seemed to have the power, timing and awkwardness that Hatanaka couldn’t deal with, until Hatanaka scored his own knockdown later in the round,
From there the bout became a battle of attrition, with both taking heavy shots, and Hatanaka’s face showing the punishment he was taking, with his nose bloodied and his face looking swollen. In the end however it was the determination of Hatanaka which saw him come through some tough spells, before landing a body shot in round 6 that sent the Filipino to the canvas, where he was in agony. The count was started, but the bout waved off midway through it, with the referee realising there was no point continuing the count as Berondo was in pure agony.
After the bout Hatanaka admitted "he was too strong an opponent for my comeback fight," and added "He's a fighter with title experience, and he's even knocked Kaisei Matsumoto down, so I knew I had to be careful, but I ended up getting hit." He then spoke about potentially moving down to Flyweight, and seeing how his body feels at 112lbs.
As for the Tokyo show the chief support bout and the main event were both pretty notable.
The chief support bout saw former IBF Super Featherweight champion Kenichi Ogawa (30-2-1-1, 21) [尾川堅一] score something of a stay busy win, as he defeated Filipino visitor Melchor Roda (9-5, 6), who’s corner withdraw him from the bout after 5 rounds, Roda had shored genuine desire, but was out matched, despite his heart, and he was saved from taking punishment as he began to slow.
In the main event OPBF Super Featherweight champion Yamato Hata (17-2, 16) [波田大和] successfully retained his title, as he stopped rugged veteran Takuya Watanabe (41-14-1, 22) [渡邉 卓也], in what was a really one-sided fighter and one that seemed to suggest Hata has the tools to compete at a much higher level than the regional one. From the off Hata looked too sharp, too quick, too powerful and too dangerous. That was clear in round 2, when shots that landed on the guard seemed to be rocking Watanabe, before a right hook dropped him. Watanabe showed his heart, trying to force the bout to become a fight in round 3, as he tried to apply pressure, but he struggled with the footwork and movement of Hata, who managed to create space when he wanted. After 4 rounds all of the scorecards were 40-35, and it was clear that Watanabe really had nothing to turn things around. Thankfully for him however, Hata wasn't wanting to prolong the beating, and he set off for round 5 with a high tempo, putting his man on the ropes and unloading, before the referee was forced to step in, 22 seconds into the bout.
Notably on the show in Tokyo we also saw a brief appearance of OPBF Flyweight champion Jukiya Iimura (8-1, 2) [飯村樹輝弥], who announced that his first defense will be on May 3rd as he takes on Filipino fighter Esneth Domingo (21-2, 13), the men who gave Iimura his sole defeat back in October 2022.
The Nagoya headliner saw popular second generation fighter Kento Hatanaka (16-1, 11) [畑中建人] dig deep and go through fire to overcome Filipino visitor Wilbert Berondo (17-9-2, 6), after having had several major scares along the way. The Filipino got off to the dream start, dropping Hatanaka in the opening round with a left hook and looked dangerous after Hatanaka recovered to his feet. He scored another knockdown in round 2, with a combination of shots, and seemed to have the power, timing and awkwardness that Hatanaka couldn’t deal with, until Hatanaka scored his own knockdown later in the round,
From there the bout became a battle of attrition, with both taking heavy shots, and Hatanaka’s face showing the punishment he was taking, with his nose bloodied and his face looking swollen. In the end however it was the determination of Hatanaka which saw him come through some tough spells, before landing a body shot in round 6 that sent the Filipino to the canvas, where he was in agony. The count was started, but the bout waved off midway through it, with the referee realising there was no point continuing the count as Berondo was in pure agony.
After the bout Hatanaka admitted "he was too strong an opponent for my comeback fight," and added "He's a fighter with title experience, and he's even knocked Kaisei Matsumoto down, so I knew I had to be careful, but I ended up getting hit." He then spoke about potentially moving down to Flyweight, and seeing how his body feels at 112lbs.
As for the Tokyo show the chief support bout and the main event were both pretty notable.
The chief support bout saw former IBF Super Featherweight champion Kenichi Ogawa (30-2-1-1, 21) [尾川堅一] score something of a stay busy win, as he defeated Filipino visitor Melchor Roda (9-5, 6), who’s corner withdraw him from the bout after 5 rounds, Roda had shored genuine desire, but was out matched, despite his heart, and he was saved from taking punishment as he began to slow.
In the main event OPBF Super Featherweight champion Yamato Hata (17-2, 16) [波田大和] successfully retained his title, as he stopped rugged veteran Takuya Watanabe (41-14-1, 22) [渡邉 卓也], in what was a really one-sided fighter and one that seemed to suggest Hata has the tools to compete at a much higher level than the regional one. From the off Hata looked too sharp, too quick, too powerful and too dangerous. That was clear in round 2, when shots that landed on the guard seemed to be rocking Watanabe, before a right hook dropped him. Watanabe showed his heart, trying to force the bout to become a fight in round 3, as he tried to apply pressure, but he struggled with the footwork and movement of Hata, who managed to create space when he wanted. After 4 rounds all of the scorecards were 40-35, and it was clear that Watanabe really had nothing to turn things around. Thankfully for him however, Hata wasn't wanting to prolong the beating, and he set off for round 5 with a high tempo, putting his man on the ropes and unloading, before the referee was forced to step in, 22 seconds into the bout.
Notably on the show in Tokyo we also saw a brief appearance of OPBF Flyweight champion Jukiya Iimura (8-1, 2) [飯村樹輝弥], who announced that his first defense will be on May 3rd as he takes on Filipino fighter Esneth Domingo (21-2, 13), the men who gave Iimura his sole defeat back in October 2022.