Hasegawa claims his second championship!
In Nagoya, Japan, former bantamweight standout Hozumi Hasegawa jumped up two weight classes to featherweight to defeat previously unbeaten Juan Carlos Burgos by unanimous decision for the WBC belt. It was a tense and hard-fought encounter. Hasegawa had to fight at his full powers to repel the spirited challenge of the bigger Burgos. The scores of 117-110 (twice) and 116-111 reflect Hasegawa’s superiority, but do not reveal the difficulty in which he won this fight. Burgos displayed grit and skills throughout the fight. Hasegawa’s big-fight experience and counterpunching prowess were too much to overcome for the young charge.
There were questions lingering about how well Hasegawa would bounce back after the destructive KO loss to Montiel in his last fight, in addition to the passing of his mother–who sadly passed after a long battle with cancer. Hasegawa, however, showed he will be a force to be reckoned with at this new weight. He is now obliged to face Jhonny Gonzalez–another former bantamweight titleholder–in his next fight.
On the undercard, Takahiro Ao, 20-2-1 (9) won the WBC Super Featherweight crown, scoring a unanimous decison over beltholder VitaliTajbert, now 20-2 (6). Scores were 116-110, 117-112, and 115-112. Ao had previously held the WBC Featherweight Title.
