Ricardo Sandoval waited a long time to get his first world title shot, and he made it count, scoring a stunning upset win over Kenshiro Teraji in Yokohama, Japan, to win the WBC and WBA flyweight titles.
The result will be debated, as Sandoval (27-2, 18 KO) came off the canvas to win a split decision on two cards of 115-112 and 117-110, with Teraji (25-2, 16 KO) winning the other card, 114-113. Bad Left Hook unofficially scored the fight for Teraji, 114-113.
The 117-110 card for Sandoval will really raise some eyebrows, and came from British-born judge Joseph Gwilt, who resides in Thailand and does most of his work in that country. By BoxRec, it appears to be just the second world title fight in Gwilt’s short history as a judge.
Polish judge Leszek Jankowiak also had the fight for Sandoval, though by a score more will probably see as reasonable in a fight that could have gone either way, while another Polish judge, Pawel Kardyni, scored it for Teraji, with that tally also seeming reasonable.
Teraji, 33, will likely seek a rematch, though he left the ring without comment. The last time he lost a fight, an upset stoppage against Masamichi Yabuki in 2021, he returned six months later to get revenge, knocking Yabuki out in three.
But Teraji is getting up there in years for a smaller divisions fighter, and the 26-year-old Sandoval may be just hitting his stride, with this performance and victory surely making him even more confident going forward. And while you may disagree with Gwilt’s scoring, there’s no taking away that Sandoval fought his heart out in this one, gave Teraji a tremendous battle, and had at the least a fine argument for the victory. This was no robbery, it’s just one of the three cards being a little questionable in the tally, and even then, it’s possible plenty of other people won’t see it that way.
How did you score the fight?
Undercard results
Antonio Vargas retained his WBA bantamweight title by fighting Daigo Higa to the truest draw you will ever see, with all three judges returning even score cards, 113-113. Higa (21-3-3, 19 KO) scored a fourth round knockdown, but Vargas (19-1-1, 11 KO) got that back with a knockdown of his own late in the 12th and final round, and it truly was a fight too close to confidently call, I think.
Vargas proved he can hang at actual world level — he hadn’t yet really fought at actual world level — and for Higa it’s another in what has to be a genuinely frustrating run, as he’s 0-1-2 in his last three fights, and the fight he lost was closely scored, too. All of them have been bantamweight world title fights.
Kyosuke Takami had a breakout performance, stopping Erick Rosa at 2:48 of the 10th round to take the WBA light flyweight title. It was an excellent showing from the 23-year-old Takami (10-0, 8 KO), whose power looks very real at a world level. Rosa (8-1, 2 KO) had some good moments in this fight and is a quality boxer, and he ate a lot of shots along the way to show how tough he is, too, but Takami’s workrate, crispness, and power were just too much, and finally the Dominican crumbled.
Takami is absolutely one to watch at 108 and perhaps beyond, he’s big for the division, has an offensive-minded style, and a very professional approach, none of Rosa’s game plan really worked out because Takami responded well to all of his best moments. Just a really good performance from the young man.
