Tokyo, Japan — Japanese featherweight boxer Reiya Abe secured the biggest win of his career to put himself in the mix for a shot at the featherweight title. The resilient contender showcased an outstanding boxing performance in the IBF featherweight title eliminator against former two-division titlist Kiko Martinez at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo.
Martinez (44-12-2, 31KOs) started the bout aggressively, attempting to intimidate the younger Japanese southpaw. Although Abe weathered a few early rounds of trouble, he settled down and took control of the fight with his superior boxing skills and straight left hands. Abe (25-3-1, 10KOs) scored a unanimous decision with judges Robert Hoyle, Don Trella and Steve Weisfeld scoring the fight 117-111, 119-109 and 119-109.
The fight was a crossroads battle that saw Abe deal with a deep cut over his right eye. However, this did not affect his performance, and he continued to land his straight left hands with precision. Martinez, who suffered a swollen right eye, tried to land shots at Abe's lean body in the later rounds, but Abe's fleet-footed movement and ringcraft was more than Martinez could handle. Abe's superior work rate was the difference throughout the fight, enabling him to outwork Martinez significantly.
Abe's win was impressive, considering he faced an experienced fighter in Martinez, who previously held the IBF title at both junior featherweight and featherweight. The victory marks Abe's sixth consecutive win, earning him the IBF featherweight mandatory challenger position to face the winner of Luis Alberto Lopez vs Michael Conlan.
Sakyi Kwame Cornelius is a writer and boxing analyst for AceTVBoxing.com. He can be reached on Twitter @CorneliusSakyi or via email: sakyicornelius1@gmail.com.
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