Earlier today at The Ariake Arena in Japan, WBA bantamweight champion Seiya Tsutsumi, making the first defence of his title, retained it courtesy of a draw with Daigo Higa. Fighting on the Junto Nakatani-David Cuellar card, both men hit the mat in an incredible round nine, but that aside, it seemed there was no way 29 year old Tsutsumi would not get the decision.
After 12 at times very exciting rounds, almost everyone felt the champion had won. Instead, in what might rank as one of the most controversial decisions of the year, the fight was somehow scored a draw, with all three judges having it the same at 114-114.
Tsutsumi is now 12-0-3(8). Former WBC flyweight champ Higa, who is also Japanese, is now 21-3-2(19). Hago actually held Tsutsumi to a ten-round draw back in October of 2020.
The fight saw Higa, also aged 29, get off to a good start, his fast punches scoring. It took the defending champ a couple of rounds to really get going, but come rounds three and four, Tsutsumi was willing to trade and the action really took off. Tsutsumi was landing some sharp body punches now. An accidental clash of heads saw the champion come away with a nasty cut above his right eye. Some fans might feel the fight could have been stopped, the cut was so bad. But on the battle raged, with Tsutsumi becoming ragged and having to dig down.
The second half of the fight appeared to be pretty much all Tsutsumi; aside from what happened in the amazing ninth round, that is. Both men hit the canvas in the ninth, Tsutsumi going down first, from a left hook, Higa towards the end of the round, from a right hand. But Tsutsumi looked to have won most of the rounds, and he dominated the 12th and final round, with the champ looking for the stoppage.
The stoppage never came, though, and instead the three judges decided, somehow, that the fight was all-even at the end. For what it’s worth, I had it 117-111 for Tsutsumi. It will be surprising if a rematch is not ordered here.
