Kenichi Ogawa decks Azinga Fuzile three times, wins one-sided decision

Kenichi Ogawa has made it all the way back.

The Japanese junior lightweight, who won a major belt in the ring only to lose it after testing positive for a banned substance in 2017, put Azinga Fuzile down three times and won a unanimous decision to capture the vacant IBF title on the Teofimo Lopez-George Kambosos card Saturday in New York.

Ogawa (26-1-1, 18 KOs) and Fuzile (15-2, 9 KOs) engaged in a closely contested tactical fight for four-plus rounds. Then, in Round 5, a straight right from Ogawa put Fuzile down and hurt him.

The South African was able to survive the round but fought on his heels for the next four rounds, which allowed the more aggressive Ogawa to control the action and win rounds.

Fuzile, evidently sensing he needed to pick up his pace to have a chance to win, did so down the stretch in spite of cuts above both eyes.

However, it wasn’t enough to deter Ogawa, who absorbed everything Fuzile threw at him and then turned up the heat in Round 12 in an attempt to score a knockout. Another straight right forced Fuzile to the canvas a second time. And then the same punch produced the same result a third time.

Fuzile survived to hear the final bell but had taken a significant beating, both on his body and on the cards.

The final scores were 115-110, 115-110 and 114-111. Boxing Junkie scored it 116-109.

Ogawa defeated Tevin Farmer by a split decision to win the vacant IBF 130-pound title but the result was changed to no-contest after Ogawa’s positive test, for which he was suspended.