Tenkai keeps WBA 115lb belt
Calls out 'Killer Queen' Kentikian

By Joe Koizumi

Busy-punching and fast-moving Tsunami Tenkai (14-3, 4 KOs), 114, very impressively kept her WBA female super-flyweight belt as she swept all rounds with a beautiful display of speed, skills and power in scoring a nearly shutout decision (100-90 twice and 99-91) over game and durable British challenger Shanee Martin (9-5-1, 5 KOs), also 114, over ten fast rounds on Sunday in Kobe, Japan. The referee was Firlin Marsh of New Zealand. Tenkai, a cute 25-year-old Japanese champ, simply stunned the audience who hadn’t seen so many female boxing bouts by showing her excellent form, reflexes, quickness, skills and stamina. Even this reporter previously thought that Tenkai was only a non-stop warrior, but she completely changed her image tonight so that our people realized that we might be proud of Tenkai being the most outstanding female boxer.

It was amazing that Tenkai so finely penetrated the tight guard of the taller and skillful Martin with stinging lefts, left-right combinations and quick combos upstairs and downstairs. The champ had the fading but still game challenger at bay in rounds five, seven and eight. Tenkai tried to finish Martin with a flurry of punches, but the resilient challenger refused to go down until the end.

Her manager/promoter Toshihiro Yamaki, formerly a well-known kick-boxer in 1980s, proudly said, “This was one of her best performances so far in her career, but Tenkai is still improving technically. Our target is her confrontation with WBA flyweight champ Susi Kentikian in Germany, as Tenkai, though being the WBA 115-pound ruler, is a legitimate 112-pounder. Tenkai may be the first boxer to defeat the unbeaten queen Kentikian.” Tenkai may move down to 112 pounds to fight the German champ with both WBA fly and super-fly belts on the line.

Tenkai’s good jabs and solid rights had the pretty Martin’s left optic badly swollen as if it was a black egg. Her improvements on speed and precision tonight might carry her status to the top among our female boxers.

Promoter: Kameda Promotions in association with Yamaki Promotions.