RYUSEI Matsumoto may have secured the WBA Regular minimumweight title, but celebrations were muted as concern quickly shifted to the condition of Yuni Takada, who was left stricken following a clash of heads that ended the fight in a technical decision.
Midway through the fifth round, the two fighters collided foreheads, leaving Takada badly shaken before he collapsed to the canvas. Referee Koji Tanaka immediately waved off the contest, and medical staff alongside Takada’s corner rushed into the ring. The 25-year-old was carefully placed on a stretcher and taken from the ring, with the arena subdued in silence.
The incident comes during a dark year for Japanese boxing. On August 2, Shigetoshi Kotari and Hiromasa Urakawa both tragically lost their lives following ring injuries in Tokyo. Just three months earlier, Ginjiro Shigeoka suffered life-altering injuries in defeat to Pedro Taduran. The spate of tragedies prompted an emergency meeting on August 12, where Japanese Boxing Commission executive director Tsuyoshi Yasukochi stressed the importance of strengthening medical protocols: “We have been told that we should share what we each have and create a better medical system.”
In Nagoya, Matsumoto, (7-0, 4 KOs), himself paid tribute to his late friend Kotari by wearing his name on his trunks. Once the action began, the 92-fight amateur displayed his poise and pedigree, controlling the tempo with sharp, varied offense. Takada was forced to take risks just to get inside, but struggled to land anything significant against one of Japan’s most highly regarded prospects.
Matsumoto’s precise body uppercuts and crisp hooks underlined the gulf in class, and when the fight was halted, the scorecards read 50-46, 50-45, 50-45 in his favour. There was no celebration from the newly crowned champion, however, as all thoughts remained with Takada (16-9-3, 6 KOs).
Matsumoto now holds the WBA ‘Regular’ belt, setting up potential showdowns with bigger names – including full champion Oscar Collazo, who returns to action next weekend.
