Toshiaki Nishioka vs Rendall Munroe

In his only shot at a world title, Rendall Munroe completed twelve rounds without going down, but repeated body punishment left him well short of taking the championship. Toshiaki Nishioka retained his WBC super bantamweight title against Rendall Munroe at the Ry?goku Kokugikan in Tokyo on 24 October 2010, winning 119–109 on all three judges’ cards. Munroe’s early pressure brought some success, but the champion’s speed, movement and accurate left hand increasingly determined the course of the contest.

For Munroe, a thirty-year-old refuse collector from Leicester, this was the summit of his career. He had established himself as European and Commonwealth champion and earned his opportunity by stopping Victor Terrazas in the ninth round of a final eliminator at Coventry in April. He entered with 21 victories and one defeat. Nishioka, four years older, brought 36 wins, four defeats and three draws, and was making his fifth defence. After four unsuccessful attempts to win a bantamweight championship from Veeraphol Sahaprom, he had secured championship standing in the division above. His recent defences included stoppage victories over Jhonny González, Ivan Hernández and Balweg Bangoyan.

Both men boxed southpaw. Munroe began positively, occupying the centre and attempting to press Nishioka backwards behind his right jab and occasional straight lefts. His guard caught much of the champion’s opening work, and he continued to compete effectively with the jab in the second. Nishioka became sharper in the third, moving his head away from the challenger’s larger swings and answering underneath. Munroe nevertheless produced another useful spell in the fourth, advancing with greater purpose and finding the champion’s head. Nishioka replied to the body, beginning an attack that would become increasingly important as the fight progressed.

The fifth brought a clear change in momentum. Munroe had continued to find openings with his left, but Nishioka caught him with heavy left hands of his own and drove him towards the ropes. One rocked the challenger, who recovered sufficiently to answer before the bell. Thereafter, Nishioka’s quicker punching and changes of position made it difficult for Munroe to sustain his attacks. The champion varied the speed of his jab and followed it with lefts, obliging Munroe to reset rather than allowing him to apply uninterrupted pressure. Munroe landed clean punches at intervals, but they did not have the same effect as the champion’s work.

After a more evenly contested sixth, Nishioka concentrated his attack on the body in the seventh. He worked both sides and landed a particularly effective blow to the middle that visibly troubled Munroe. The challenger remained upright and continued boxing, but the punishment was reducing his ability to maintain his advance. Nishioka also sustained a cut during the seventh without allowing it to interrupt his work. In the eighth, he used feints and lateral movement to frustrate Munroe, although he occasionally clinched as the pace told on him. Munroe pressed harder in the ninth, attempting to exploit that pause, but could not establish a lasting advantage.

The tenth again demonstrated the effect of Nishioka’s body punching. A hard left underneath slowed Munroe, who fought his way out of trouble but was now carrying a cut below his right eye. Nishioka continued to land to the body in the eleventh, while Munroe answered with a strong left near the end of the round. In the twelfth, the challenger made a final attempt to force a decisive exchange. He landed left hands and uppercuts, but Nishioka responded with long combinations that pushed him back against the ropes. Munroe covered up, resumed punching when he could and remained on his feet through the closing exchanges. The final bell found both men still throwing punches.

Referee José Guadalupe García had no occasion to administer a knockdown count. Judges David Sutherland, James Jen-Kin and Alejandro Rochin each returned the same 119–109 verdict, giving Nishioka a unanimous decision and advancing his record to 37 wins, four defeats and three draws. Munroe fell to 21 wins and two defeats. The challenger thanked his travelling supporters and left the arena in tears. His persistence had carried him through several difficult passages, but Nishioka had controlled the greater part of the contest with more effective punching.

I thought Munroe earned his chance. European honours and the stoppage of Victor Terrazas showed he belonged in serious company. His job on the bins made a good story, but his boxing had done the work. Against Nishioka, though, he met a champion with more answers.

Munroe started well, using his strength and jab to apply pressure. What impressed me was how Nishioka adjusted: changes in jab speed, movement after punching and hard lefts underneath. Munroe could land, but he couldn’t make the champion hesitate. Those body shots gradually reduced his ability to keep pressing, and Nishioka increasingly dictated when the exchanges happened.

I wouldn’t confuse a wide defeat with a poor effort. Munroe kept answering through punishment that would have finished plenty of challengers. The scores felt severe, but the winner was beyond argument. Nishioka’s accuracy and movement exposed the limits of pressure without enough power to disrupt him.