Crafty Mexican Miguel Canto had a tough time in retaining his WBC flyweight crown for the eleventh time, as he barely won a split, hairline and controversial decision from lefty puncher Shoji Oguma of Japan over 15 hard fought rounds. There were no knockdowns, though the fighters traded plenty of sharp shots throughout the contest.
29 year old Miguel seemed a bit too confident in his training, because it was only 34 days ago that he unanimously outscored Martin Vargas, Chile, in Santiago to break Pascual Perez' record of nine consecutive defenses in the flyweight class.
From the opening moments Canto and Oguma commened the fireworks by tossing fast leads incessantly.
Southpaw Oguma, sent some good body shots to take the second Canto by a slight margin.
Canto, one of the most skillful boxers pound for pound fighting today, has never been a powerful hitter, as he has registered only 15 kayos ine 54 previous wins against three defeats for nine pro years; however Miguel's superb defensive ability is such that he cleverly averted Oguma's positive attack to fight in even terms from the third to fifth rounds.
Canto was perhaps studying Oguma's progress since their first encounter.
During the first five sessions the shorter Mexican seldom tossed positive rallies, but hit back well timed straight rights whenever Oguma stepped in with strong one twos at Canto's bread basket.
The sixth and seventh rounds were taken by Canto, who became a little active with swift right leathers, while Oguma was cautious to watch the defending champ's elusiveness.
In round eight the game flyweights exchanged hot rallies toe to toe to amaze the crowd that had thought Canto would stick to his favorite hit and run tactics. Oguma, who had finished 17 victims in 29 wins against five defeats, kept boring in round nine to take back the pace with continual combinations.
MIGUEL CANTO BOXING CAREER DVDS
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