WBA female minimum champ Etsuko Tada (6-0-1, 2 KOs), 103.75, fought to a split draw with WBC light-fly titlist Naomi Togashi (6-0-1, 4 KOs), 104.75, over ten hard-fought rounds on Sunday in Osaka, Japan. Both belts were at stake as they tipped the beam under the 105-pound minimum limit, but now that neither didn’t win nor lose, they will hold their own belts as previously. Scored: Takeo Harada (Japan) 97-94 for Tada, Silvestre Abainza (Philippines) 96-94 for Togashi and Rey Danseco (Philippines) 95-95. The referee was Yuji Fukuchi (Japan).

Tada, a slick-punching southpaw, scored with good but sporadic lefts, but Togashi, a game bull-fighter, kept going forward with short combinations in the first half. After the fifth, the open scoring system indicated: 49-46, 48-47 (both for Togashi) and 48-48.

Aware that she was behind on points, Tada turned loose to dominate the second half with more accurate combinations and overcame her early deficits on points. Togashi had a right optic swollen badly, but kept on boring in until the end.

It was a hard-battled contest that fully entertained the packed-house crowd of 1,800. Each will have to defend the throne against an interim champ in the next defense. Although their belts didn’t move at all, this encounter became an important milestone for the future growth of the female boxing here in Japan, as it produced a considerable sensation. FOTO: REY DANSECO.