Tokuyama defeats Navarro in Japan

By Scott Shaffer

27/02/2006

Tokuyama defeats Navarro in Japan

Masamori Tokuyama of Japan successfully defended his WBC 115-pound championship against American Jose Navarro in Japan. Tokuyama won by unanimous decision in Osaka Central Gymnasium and the Associated Press announced afterwards he will be moving up to the bantamweight division. Tokuyama said it will be his last fight as a super flyweight. The official scores were 116-113 (twice) and 117-113. The loss had to be a bitter pill for Navarro, because a little more than a year ago, he went to Japan and dominated Tokuyama's predecessor, Katsushige Kawashima, only to be robbed of the championship by hometown decision. Tokuyama, who is of North Korean descent but lives in Japan, improved to 32-3 with 8 knockouts and one draw. Navarro fell to 23-2 with 11 KOs. source: Associated Press