In the fourth bout of “Lemino BOXING” held at the Tokyo Dome on the 2nd, Jin Sasaki (Hachioji Nakaya) captured the OPBF welterweight title with a 10-round split decision victory over champion Sora Tanaka (Ohashi). The judges’ scores were 97-93, 96-94, and 94-96.
田中と激しい打ち合いを展開した佐々木㊧
The highly anticipated domestic top-tier welterweight clash took place before a near-capacity crowd. Both the flamboyant Sasaki and the more reserved Tanaka made high-energy ring walks to their respective theme music.
Following the opening bell, the two exchanged sharp left jabs before quickly engaging in a close-quarters rally. Tanaka’s combination punching, mixing hooks and uppercuts to the head and body, caused Sasaki’s face to flush early on. Sasaki responded in the second round by frequently digging heavy left hooks to the body, though he began to bleed from the nose after being caught by a clean Tanaka uppercut.
The battle continued at close range, with Tanaka landing uppercuts and Sasaki countering with left hooks. At this distance, Tanaka’s ability to thread uppercuts through the guard appeared more effective. Sasaki spent much of the fifth round with his back against the ropes but maintained his rhythm with upper-body movement and counter-punching. The open scoring announced after the fifth round saw Sasaki leading 2-1 (48-47, 49-46, 47-48).
In the second half, Sasaki regained his rhythm by behind a sharp jab. Tanaka attempted to halt Sasaki’s momentum in the eighth with further uppercuts, as a significant amount of blood flowed from Sasaki’s nose. Both men landed heavy right hands in the final round, maintaining a high-intensity struggle that prevented either fighter from taking definitive control until the end.
“I won by decision, but I think I disappointed the fans because I couldn’t do what they expected. This isn’t all I have,” Sasaki said in reflection. “To be honest, I intended to finish it within three rounds, but Tanaka fought compactly and calmly. I felt that if I can’t score a knockout here, I won’t be ready for the world stage.” Despite the self-criticism, he addressed the crowd over the microphone: “Don’t forget me. I’ll be fighting another strong opponent on September 21st in Hachioji. One, two, three—World, just you wait!”
Sasaki improves to 21-18-2-1 (18 KOs). Tanaka, failing in his first title defence, moves to 5-1 (5 KOs).
