Cebuano boxer Anthony “Zorro” Sabalde didn’t get the result he wanted in his first fight abroad as he bowed to Japanese Nihito Arikawa in Tokyo, Japan, yesterday afternoon.
Arikawa came away with a unanimous decision win to snatch the vacant World Boxing Organization (WBO) Asia-Pacific lightweight title.
Judges Katsuhiko Nakamura and Masakazu Murase of Japan scored the bout at 116–112 and 115–113, respectively. The third judge, Thai Surat Soikrachang saw it at 115–113.
It was a sorry loss for Sabalde, who got off to a hot start and dominated the first two rounds.
Arikawa started to show his ring savvy when he began connecting combinations while utilizing the ring very well to avoid getting brawled by the Cebuano southpaw.
The 24-year-old Sabalde tried to bounce back in the middle rounds but couldn’t slow down Arikawa, who continued to land well-timed combinations.
Sabalde of the Flores Boxing Gym, who came into the fight winning his last two fights, suffered his sixth loss to go with 12 wins, seven by way of knockouts.
The 35-year-old Arikawa, who tallied his fourth consecutive victory, improved his record to 29 wins (17KOs), six defeats and one draw.