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MANILA, Philippines - Filipino fighter Dennis Laurente is set to defend his WBC-affiliated Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) super welterweight championship against Japanese pugilist Takayuki Hosokawa on November 22 at the Sumiyoshi SportsCenter in Osaka, Japan.
Laurente (45-6-5, 30 knockouts), who won the vacant OPBF title with a sixth-round stoppage of Tadashi Yuba in December 2014, is coming off a lopsided decision loss to John Jackson on the undercard of the Bounce TV-televised Premier Boxing Champions event this past August.
The aforementioned setback spoiled Laurente’s return to American soil as he last fought in the United States when he yielded to Kenny Abril via split decision in November 2012.
Prior to his disappointing defeat to Jackson, the 38-year-old southpaw from Butuan City, Agusan del Norte was riding high on a 6-fight winning streak, with all six coming by way of knockout.
Laurente was one of the country’s few world-rated boxers who have yet to receive an opportunity to vie for a world title.
On the other hand, Hosokawa (27-10-4, 9 KOs) has won 5 of his last 6 bouts, including a ten-round majority decision win over Tadashi Yuba in March 2014 to capture the Japanese super welterweight belt.
Most of Hosokawa’s professional matches took place in his home-country of Japan as his lone overseas trip happened in December 2014 when he scored a first-round technical knockout of Indonesian journeyman Moses Seran in Bangkok, Thailand. – Rappler.com
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