By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Tough Filipino lightweight Ricky Sismundo has stopped Japan’s Kazuya Nakano in the fourth round of an action-packed bout in Tokyo.
Sismundo was dropped in the third round by his Japanese opponent in their rematch following a 1st round technical draw last May 31 but sprang to his feet and sent Nakano crashing to the canvas twice in the fourth round before the fight was stopped.
With the win the 28 year old Sismundo who now fights out of the Harada Gym in Tagbilaran, Bohol and uses the ring name Harada Mondo according to the Asian Fight Scene, improved to 29-8-2 with 13 knockouts while Nakano fell to 8-5-1 with 7 knockouts.
It was Sismundo’s third win in his last four fights following a twelve round unanimous decision loss in an Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation lightweight title bout against undefeated Masayoshi Nakatani (7-0, 6 KO’s) on May 7 last year.
Sismundo won an 8th round split decision over Shuhei Tsuchiya last November 28 and then won by another 8th round split decision over Akihiro Kondo last April 22.
He is currently ranked No. 13 by the OPBF.