TERAJI DROPS OLASCUAGA, KEEPS TITLES IN JAPAN AS NELSON STOPS THE CONTEST IN ROUND 9
WBC, WBA light-flyweight champion Japan’s Kenshiro Teraji (21-1, 13 KO’s) stopped tough replacement challenger Anthony Olascuaga (5-1, 3 KO’s) by TKO at :58 of the ninth round on Saturday night in Tokyo, Japan. Teraji successfully defended his WBC and WBA titles after breaking down Olascuaga who showed toughness and heart as a late replacement opponent.
A right hand by Teraji shook Olascuaga in the third, causing his gloves to touch the canvas, which referee Mark Nelson ruled as a knockdown. Teraji turned up the pressure in the ninth, dropping the game Olascuaga along the ropes where Minnesota’s Nelson again made a great call to stop the fight when he did.
This was the 14th trip to Japan for Nelson as a referee and the 115th world title bout he has worked overall (105 as a referee and 10 as judge), in 19 different countries. The first time that he refereed in Japan came in 2008 when Roman Gonzalez of Nicaragua defeated Yutaka Niida of Japan for the WBA minimum weight title which took place in Yokohama, Japan. Gonzalez was 18 at the time and is still fighting for world titles today at the age of 35.
Mark Nelson outside of the dressing room of Saturday night’s challenger Anthony Olascuaga 
Japan’s Yutaka Niida (R) is declared technical knockout (TKO) by Roman Gonzalez of Nicaragua in their WBA minimumweight title bout in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture on September 15, 2008. Gonzalez won the match by technical knockout. AFP PHOTO/Kazuhiro NOGI (Photo credit should read KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP via Getty Images) 