Rendall Munroe loses world title shot
Rendall Munroe’s attempt at becoming the WBC super-bantamweight champion ended in a disappointing defeat as he was out pointed and out manoeuvred by Japan’s Toshiaki Nishioka in Tokyo.
The Leicester pugilist was second-best for the entire fight with the hometown fighter proving too much for the “Boxing Binman”. Nishioka set-up behind a tight jab early and was far more busy than Munroe clocking up the first three rounds in no time at all.
Munroe only looked like he might get back into it in the fourth round as he tried to get more involved and landed a nice left uppercut but that was about as good as it got for the Englishman in the first half of the bout.
A sharp left from the local nearly sent “2 Tone” to the canvas, but the challenger just about kept his composure and managed to hold out until the end of the round. Unfortunately by this stage it was looking like Nishioka was a class above and he again showed that with a left-right combination that again rocked the challenger before a vicious body shot in the seventh left Munroe with a massive uphill task.
The challenger and his corner knew he needed a KO to take the fight by the eighth round and although he stepped up his attack he was unable to make the break through, his best round being the ninth where he landed some decent shots.
The result was never in doubt though and Nikosha took it comprehensively with a 119-109 across the board with the three judges.
It was an unfortunate end for Munroe who is an extremely popular fighter but found himself lacking in class against a very good opponent in Nishioka who is the number one fighter in this weight-class.
It was however only the second defeat of 2 Tone’s career and so there is no reason why he can’t go back to the drawing board, get a few decent wins against Europeans under his belt then get another title shot in the future.
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