Rodex Piala poses for a photo after his bout against Japanese Kenji Fujita. | Photo from ARQ Sports
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebuano boxer Rodex “The Tank” Piala fell short of winning the World Boxing Organization (WBO) Asia Pacific featherweight title in his first fight in Tokyo, Japan, on Saturday evening, June 1.
He lost to the defending champion Kenji Fujita by unanimous decision in their 12-rounder showdown.
Japanese judge Kazutoshi Yoshida scored the bout lopsidedly,116-111, while Surat Soikrachang had it 112-115 for Fujita.
READ: Rodex Piala ready to face ‘Japanese Pinoy slayer’
Filipino international judge Edward Ligas saw the bout close with Piala losing only a round over Fujita, 113-114.
The defeat stained the 29-year-old Piala’s erstwhile unbeaten record. He now has 10 wins with one defeat and one knockout.
READ: ARQ Boxing Stable’s Gura and Piala to debut in Japan
Meanwhile, Fujita remained undefeated with seven wins and three knockouts. Piala was the sixth Filipino boxer who fell victim to Fujita’s hands.
Despite losing, Piala displayed excellent defense, counterpunching, and resilience against the favored Japanese knockout artist.
READ: Piala headlines ‘Engkwentro 10’ fight card in Lapu-Lapu
However, Fujita was the better boxer throughout the bout. He used his speed, accuracy, and power punches to pile up points and dominate Piala.
Fujita was also the more aggressive between the two of them.
In the second round, Fujita was downed with an accidental headbutt. He needed a minute to recover from being dazed by the headbutt.
In the ensuing rounds, Fujita pinned Piala numerous times against the ropes, but the latter defended himself well.
Piala suffered a deep cut on his left eyebrow in the latter round due to an accidental headbutt.
Despite this, Piala had his fair share of highlights, landing power punches that rocked Fujita, but it wasn’t enough to convince the judges to give him the win.
Also, Japanese boxing fans paid respect to Piala’s performance after the bout, swarming him outside the venue for photos.