Kenshiro Teraji defended his World Boxing Association (WBA) Super Light Flyweight belt for the second time with a technical knockout over Hekkie Budler on Monday.
The Japanese fighter went all out at the Ariake Arena in Koto-Ku to defeat the South African in the ninth round and remain the WBA champion and retained his WBC belt.
Kenshiro Teraji
As expected, Budler came out all out to put pressure on Teraji and the pace of the fight was frantic with fierce exchanges and good moments for both fighters. The champion got into the challenger’s game and relied on his punching power to chip away at the visitor’s humanity despite taking punishment in the process.
Teraji endured tough moments, knew how to fight on the ropes and in the end managed to take Budler down and bring him to a condition that forced the referee to stop the actions in the final part of the fight.
The champion had another brilliant performance and left his record at 22 wins, 1 loss and 14 knockouts. Budler dropped his record to 35 wins, 5 losses and 11 knockouts.
Victor Morales Jr
On the eve of Mexican Independence Day, Victor Morales Jr. wore the colors of his heritage and made a tough defense of his World Boxing Association Inter-Continental Featherweight belt against Mexican native Edwin Palomares. Morales’ won unanimously with scorecards that read: 96-94/100-90 and 99-91 at the Commerce Casino in California, United States.
Following his spectacular second round KO over Diego De La Hoya on April 29th, Morales came into this new presentation with great confidence. However, he faced a tough challenge against Palomares, a fighter from the Federal District of Mexico, who spiced up the fight.
With hard exchanges generated by Palomares in his insistence to take the fight to blow for blow, Morales ended up with a deep cut on his left eyelid that was well treated by the corner.
Morales maintained the clarity in his plan to stay at bay and betting on the effectiveness and clarity of his high speed punching that gave him an advantage as he was able to use his movement to leave his tireless opponent inactive.
Thus Morales, 126 lbs. Inter-continental champion, increased his numbers to 19 wins with 9 quick finishes, 1 draw and no defeats.
