WORLD—RATED Joey Canoy got a huge boost in his goal for a world title shot after winning the vacant Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) light flyweight strap with a seventh round technical knockout of experienced Japanese Kenichi Horikawa on Dec. 4 at the Edion Arena in Osaka, Japan.
The 29-year-old Canoy destroyed Horikawa with a vicious left uppercut to the jaw that knocked him out cold. The referee didn’t bother to count and waved off the fight in the 1:01 mark of the seventh stanza.
Canoy won his second straight fight and is now 19-5-2 with 11 knockouts, while the 42-year-old Horikawa suffered his second straight loss and fell to 41-18-1 with 14 knockouts.
“Thank you, Lord, for this Christmas gift, for me and my team. This is dedicated to my family and team Sanman and of course to my countrymen. I will go back to training and keep myself in my best shape because I know bigger fights are coming,” said Canoy.
Canoy is currently No. 9 ranked minimumweight by the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and the 30th rated minimumweight by the World Boxing Council (WBC). OPBF is under the WBC, so Canoy may break into rankings of the light flyweight division, which is where he’s campaigning right now.
“This is a big win for Joey and will present bigger opportunities for him next year. This is a big leap in his rankings. His hard work paid off indeed,” said Sanman CEO JC Manangquil.
On the other hand, World Boxing Council (WBC) No. 6 rated minimumweight Marco John Rementizo and Jonathan Taconing both lost in the same event.
Rementizo failed to claim the vacant World Boxing Organization (WBO) Asia-Pacific minimumweight belt after a unanimous decision defeat against Goki Kobayashi.
Kobayashi walked away with the convincing decision win after getting the nod of all three judges with scores of 97-92, 97-92 and 98-91.
Rementizo’s winning streak was cut short to just five and he dropped to 13-4 with 10 knockouts. Kobayashi remained unbeaten with a record of 5-0 with three knockouts.
Taconing, a three-time world title challe nger, suffered his third straight loss in Japan after a one-sided unanimous decision defeat at the hands of Kazuki Anaguchi.
All three judges had identical scores of 80-72 in favor of Anaguchi.
Taconing fell to 29-6-1 with 22 knockouts, while Anaguchi kept his immaculate slate of 4-0 with two knockouts. (EKA)