The WBO has a new junior bantamweight titleholder after Phumelele Cafu (11-0-3, 8 KOs) dethroned Kosei Tanaka (20-2, 11 KOs) by razor-thin split decision Monday night at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan .
The scores were 114-113 (twice) for Cafu, and 114-113 Tanaka.
What was expected to be something of a routine title defense for Tanaka was anything but. South Africa’s Cafu (30) dragged him into a fight and got the upper hand.
Tanaka, currently rated No. 4 by The Ring at junior bantamweightstarted well enough, dictating the range and sharpshooting from outside. But in the second heat, Cafu began to sit on his batting.
The 29-year-old Japanese champion, a classic upright boxer who throws tight punches, increased his work rate in the third. He picks and jabs from the outside and shows good ring generalship and output, but Cafu goes with him and lands the heavier blows.
First-time world title challenger Cafu showed good maturity in the fourth. A natural counterpuncher, he enticed Tanaka to close the distance and the local fighter obliged. Tanaka dropped the jab and the pair traded evenly throughout the back half of the round.
Cafu grew in confidence in the fifth. A hugging right hand over the top dropped Tanaka, not for the first time in his career. But as we have become accustomed, Tanaka beat the count and quickly recovered and saw out the round without any further problems.
HE DIDN’T SEE IT COMING.
Down goes Tanaka 😳 #NakataniChitpattana pic.twitter.com/WLJpZBMHS8
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) 14 October 2024
Cafu held on in the sixth push. His sheer physicality forced Tanaka to stand and trade when he would have been better served relying on his cat-like reflexes and boxing in and out. But in this sport you don’t always have choices.
Tanaka got back into his rhythm in the eighth, but a spirited speech from Cafu’s trainer Colin Nathan between rounds prompted Cafu to lift again. He started well with the jab and clipped Tananka with a right hand midway through the round. But the champion was determined.
Cafu kept the fight on his terms in the 10th. A three-punch combination floored Tanaka early and he had little choice but to stand in the pocket and trade.
The battle hung in the balance in the championship rounds.
Cafu, a natural counterpuncher, waited a little too long for Tanaka in the penultimate round, with the champion landing the sharper blows. But in the deciding round it was Cafu who got the win by dragging Tanaka into a brawl and landing the heavier blows.
“This is everything I’ve ever wanted, my whole life, my whole career,” Cafu said after the fight.
The fight was close enough that a rematch would be a natural. And no fight that watched tonight will not want to see it again.
