Seiya Tsutsumi Defeats Takuma Inoue To Lift WBA Bantamweight Title In Fight Of The Year
little challenger Seiya Tsutsumi fought back tears as he shouted after the biggest win of his career.
A fantastic performance was produced by the first-time contender as he attempted to lift the WBA title over Takuma Inoue. The Fight of the Year contender saw Tsutsumi win by scores of 114-113, 115-112 and 117-110 on the ESPN+/Amazon Prime-Japan show on Sunday at Ariake Arena in Tokyo.
“This is the moment I really wanted in my life,” Tsutsumi told ringside interpreter Mizuka Koike. “I still can’t believe this is happening.”
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Tsutsumi (12-0-2, 8 knockouts) who bounced back after a good start by Inoue (20-2, 5 KOs).
The younger brother of four-division champion and pound-for-pound champion Naoya Inoue (28-0, 25 KOs) has made a name for himself in the bantamweight division. His defensive prowess proved Tsutsumi a tricky target to nail in the early rounds.
Tsutsumi misses badly with a right hand, which Inoue effortlessly slides into and makes fun of his opponent. It was part of a strong start for Inoue, who led for four rounds.
Tsutsumi is never completely out of the fight, however. What was needed was the confidence to move forward.
“I’ve always had an inferiority complex among all these Japanese fighters who are stronger than me,” Tsutsumi admitted. “I listened to every word that was said in my corner. That was the difference. I didn’t give up.”
The biggest change in momentum happened in the fifth place. Inoue made the decision to stop and sell early in the round. Tsutsumi made him pay for that decision as he fired right hands and a body in close in his best round of the fight.
It went to the sixth. Inoue connected with an uppercut but was covered by Tsutsumi’s high punch.
The message was received by Inoue, who came out strong to start the second half.
Inoue was successful with his right and uppercut but it wasn’t enough to fend off Tsutsumi’s relentless, relentless pressure. Tsutsumi snapped Inoue’s head back with a right uppercut in the closing seconds of the round.
Tsutsumi immediately drove Inoue into the ropes to start the eighth. Inoue briefly escaped and put the action in the ring before Tsutsumi quickly took the lead. The tireless challenger walked at it and often scored with his right hand and left hook.
Inoue regained control in a tight ninth round before the bout took a turn for the worse. A left hook rocked Inoue as he fell to the ropes. Referee Nobuto Ikehara ruled the sequence a ground trial, saying the ropes prevented Inoue from falling. This call angered the defenders, who protested before the proceedings began.
It was an uphill battle that the war was over. Inoue returned in the eleventh, realizing that Tsutsumi was not slowing down and needed something spectacular to retain his title.
Tsutsumi didn’t give that time. His high performance car and relentless work was the difference between claiming his first title and leaving the ring empty.
Hearing the words “… and new” made Tsutsumi almost cry. He burst out in joy as he jumped for joy before falling to his knees. It brought him back to his first tournament experience as a teenager.
“It feels surreal to me. When I was in middle school, I had the opportunity to touch the championship belt held by the great Takashi Uchiyama,” Tsutsumi recalled.
“Since then, I made a promise to myself that I will not touch another world title until I win mine.
Now he has his own, coming off his second Fight of the Year contender within his last three fights.
The previous instant classic provided a worse ending, however.
Tsutsumi was forced to intervene in the damage done to Kazuki Anaguchi. Their brutal ten-round slugfest last December 26 saw Tsutsumi win by unanimous decision. Anaguchi never recovered from the brain damage he suffered in the battle and died in February.
Tsutsumi boldly moved forward with his work. He scored a fourth-round knockout of Weerawat Noolae on July 7 at Kokugikan before an excellent win on Sunday.
Inoue has a seven-fight losing streak.
He captured the WBA 118-pound title last April. He became the first beneficiary following the departure of his older brother, who vacated all four bantamweight titles.
Little Inoue carved his name little by little. Ring’s 3-rated bantamweight was stunned in the ninth round by former 115-pound champion Jerwin Ancajas on Feb. 24 at the Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo. He then returns ten weeks later to join Naoya on the May 6 show at the Tokyo Dome. His appearance led to a twelve round victory over countryman Sho Ishida.
His run came after a November 2019 loss to then-WBC bantamweight champion Nordine Oubaali. Now it’s back to the drawing board for Inoue, who thanked all his fans as he left the Ariake Arena’s main room.
Meanwhile, it’s Tsutsumi’s future during the golden years of boxing in Japan, especially at bantamweight.
His next choice could be seen as the winner of Monday’s main event at this very venue. Junto Nakatani (28-0, 21 KOs) defends his WBC bantamweight title against Thailand’s Petch CP Freshmart (76-1, 53 KOs).
“We will have a second day of boxing here at Ariake Arena,” Tsutsumi noted. “One of those fights is for the bantamweight belt. We’ll watch that fight and see what’s next for us.”
