Nico loses OPBF mini flyweight title

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian Nico Thomas failed to retain the Orient-Pacific Boxing Federation mini flyweight title after he was outpointed by eighth-contender Uruf Tokimitsu of Japan.

The bout was held on Sunday at Kurashi Citi in Osaka. Two judges scored in favor of Uruf and one judge, from Indonesia, scored in favor of Nico.

Salazar from Thailand gave a score of 117-115 and Winaka of Japan gave 117-114, both in favor of Uruf, while Pieter Gedoan favored Nico, giving a score of 115-114.

Willy Lasut, coordinator of the Indonesian Boxing Committee was in Japan for the bout. He said that although Nico lost the fight, his performance received applause from Japanese boxing fans, Kompas reported.

"The Japanese applauded Nico's good performance even though he lost the fight," Willy said.

Nico showed good boxing during the entire 12-round fight.

In the third round, Nico fell to the canvas, saying he slipped, but the referee objected to Nico's reason and said Nico was floored by a punch from the Japanese. Nico was counted and the referee ordered the fight to continue.

In the eighth round, Nico became more wild, landing thunderous jabs and uppercuts to Uruf's face. Uruf suffered a severe cut to the right temple.

The referee stopped the fight and asked for a doctor to treat the cut. Uruf then continued the fight.

In the remaining four rounds, Nico failed to show his best performance, allowing his opponent to collect most of the points.

After the fight, Nico said his defeat was mainly because of the cold weather, saying his hands were stiff like ice.

"My hands were stiff, as if I couldn't move them. Nevertheless, I must admit that Uruf is a good boxer," Nico said.

Although Nico lost the bout, he received US$8,000, while his challenger received $6,000.

Referring to Nico's next fight, Willy said that Nico will still hold a fight in Japan but only for a nontitle bout. (lnt)