Naoko Fujioka Retains WBA Flyweight Title After Split Draw Against Tenkai Tsunami

Naoko Fujioka managed to successfully retain her WBA flyweight title, but failed to pick up a win in her latest world title defense.

After 10 highly-competitive rounds, Fujioka fought Tenkai Tsunami to a split draw, meaning Fujioka retained the WBA title. One judge had Fujioka winning 96-95, one judge winning 96-94 and the third judge had the bout scored a 95-95 draw.

The fight was a back-and-forth contest that saw Tsunami start out aggressive and outbox Fujioka in the first half of the fight. But as the fight got into the deeper rounds, Fujioka would be the aggressor and make a furious comeback and make the fight a draw. The title bout took place in Osaka, Japan as one of three world title fights scheduled on the July 12 event that featured Ryota Murata and Ken Shiro win their respective contests.

This was Fujioka’s second defense of the WBA 112-pound title since winning it back in March 2017 with a TKO win over Isabel Millan in the 10th round. After going down in weight to win the WBO light flyweight title, Fujioka returned to flyweight to defend the WBA title in September 2018 with a win over Irma Sanchez. Fujioka is only a handful of boxers in history to win a major world title in at least five different weight classes.

The draw spoiled Tsunami’s latest attempt to become a three-division champion after winning world titles at both light flyweight and super flyweight.