By MARK MONTEJO
A true fighter knows that there’s no honor in winning in a fight where he is the one supposed to lose.
And that’s why Japanese boxer Keita Kurihara refused to accept his victory when he felt it was Filipino fighter Renan Portes who should have won in their bantamweight bout at Korakuen Hall in Japan Monday, July 22.
Kurihara admitted that he got outplayed by his Filipino counterpart and believed he was undeserving of the victory despite the judges scoring the fight via split decision.
Judge Katsuhiko Nakamura gave the fight to the Bukidnon pride with 78-74 while Toshio Sugiyama and Shuhei Terayama both scored 78-74 in favor of Kurihara.
“I didn’t win!” the Tokyo native said while shaking his head and eventually wept after the decision was announced.
With the emotions flowing, Kurihara took the microphone and humbly asked for Portes’ forgiveness for winning the fight
“I was treated as the winner in the end, but I lost. It’s embarrassing that I was declared the winner.,” said Kurihara. “I’m really sorry.”
Kurihara even went to Portes’ locker room to personally apologize and share that he too, was shocked with the ruling.
“My punches missed their target and I was spinning around. I got hit quite a lot. It was the worst possible situation and I was completely defeated,” Kurihara admitted.
