Boxing: Yakuza get ringside seats at Kameda title fight

TOKYO (majirox news) — Kameda Gym was issued with a severe reprimand from the Japan Boxing Commission (JBC) after members of a designated crime syndicate had ringside seats Aug. 31 for a double world title fight at the Tokyo Budokan.

Yakuza members were confirmed to have watched the two world title fights at the Budokan, including one bout in which Koki Kameda defended his WBA bantamweight title.

Kameda Gym, which ran the event and is the home gym of the world champion, denied any prior knowledge or involvement with the designated crime syndicate members being in attendance, but has checked ticket records to try and determine how the yakuza members gained the prime seating.

The JBC has, under the guidance of the Metropolitan Police Department, been conducting a campaign against yakuza involvement in boxing since 2007, banning group viewing, ticket sales, distribution of parking tickets and ID passes. The JBC also refused all cash prizes from unauthorized individuals or organizations.

Japan’s sports and entertainment worlds have been rocked by disclosure of organized crime involvement during this year. Apart from the Kameda case, the ancient sport of sumo has been rocked by betting and match-fixing scandals that resulted in the cancellation of a major tournament.

Shinsuke Shimada, once an almost ubiquitous presence on Japanese TV, abruptly retired in August after it was revealed he had ties to underworld figures. The yakuza are long rumored to have strong links in the sports and entertainment worlds.

Also on Oct. 1, a Tokyo Metropolitan Government ordinance cracking down on the yakuza came into effect, giving police powers to monitor those who have regular connections with members of designated crime syndicates.

Tags: Japan Boxing Comission, JBC, Kameda Gym, Metropolitian Police Department, Tokyo Budokan

This entry was posted on 10/02/2011 at 9:02 am and is filed under NEWS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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Little League World Series: California takes title with walk-off win - Detroit Free Press

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. -- California returned the Little League World Series title to the United States with the type of victory even major leaguers dream about.

Nick Pratto singled in the winning run with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of sixth inning to give the boys from Huntington Beach a 2-1 victory Sunday over Hamamatsu City, Japan, and a championship.

With runners on first and second, an error by the shortstop on what could have been an inning-ending double play loaded the bases for California. After a force at the plate, the 12-year-old Pratto smacked a solid liner to center off reliever Kazuto Takakura that scored pinch-runner Eric Anderson with the winning run.

Pratto tossed his helmet into the air after rounding first before his teammates mobbed him in the infield.

"USA! USA," yelled fans before Pratto's single. A U.S. team has won six of the past seven World Series, with Japan's win last year the exception.

The teams exchanged handshakes at the plate before California's players posed at the mound with their new championship banner.

It was a fitting end to a tense game marked by excellent pitching and timely defense.

Braydon Salzman pitched a three-hitter for the win, striking out nine. Japan starter Shoto Totsuka struck out five over 4 1/3 innings. Totsuka gave up a homer to rightfield to Hagen Danner.

The first pitch was delayed more than 3 hours after the outer bands of Hurricane Irene brought more rain than expected to the Williamsport area. The clouds finally started parting midway through the game, and sunshine draped the complex by the time the California players left the stadium to cheers by friends and family.

Neither team could convert on several chances to break open the pitcher's duel earlier in the game.

With runners on first and second in the top of the sixth, third baseman Dylan Palmer blocked the bag from a sliding runner Ken Igeta on a bunt play to help California escape the inning.

California put runners on first and second with two outs in the fifth, but Takakura got a flyout to end the inning.

Playing rightfield in the second, Takakura also made a running catch on a fly down the line to save an extra-base hit with a runner on second.

In a gracious postgame gesture, Japan's players and coaches lined up and exchanged high-fives with the California kids after Huntington Beach did the traditional victory lap around the warning track.

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California and Japan advance to title game - Boston Globe

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SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. - The Little League teams from Huntington Beach, Calif., and Billings, Mont., shared hopes of making it to the World Series when they shared the same dorm in regional play.

Well, they both made it to Little League’s biggest stage - but only California will play for a world championship.

Nick Pratto struck out 10 and had three RBIs, and California built an early three-run lead to cruise to an 11-2 victory over Montana for the US title yesterday at Lamade Stadium.

California will return to the field today to play for the crown against Japan, which took the international bracket earlier yesterday with a 5-2 win over Mexicali, Mexico.

Today’s game time was moved ahead three hours to noon in hopes of avoiding precipitation from Hurricane Irene.

“When I was younger, I used to watch the Little League World Series on TV,’’ said California’s Dylan Palmer, 12, who hit a two-run shot to right in the second.

“It was like, ‘Wow I really want to be there some day,’ and now we’re there.’’

Three nights after losing to Montana, 1-0, California won its second straight elimination game, a rematch with the boys from Billings.

“I don’t think anybody in the Northwest expected Billings to be here. They’ve been our friends for a long time,’’ said California manager Jeff Pratto, Nick’s father. “It’s been a special ride with them.

“We told them maybe we’ll play again somewhere in the middle, maybe Colorado.’’

California left the outcome in little doubt after the fourth inning.

After an RBI ground out in the first, Pratto hit a two-run double in the fourth for a 5-1 lead.

Montana added a run in the sixth on 13-year-old slugger Cole McKenzie’s homer to center field.

“That was [Cole’s] mission in that sixth inning to hit a home run at the Little League World Series,’’ said Montana manager Gene Carlson.

But the California boys did a collective bear hug behind the mound after reliever Trevor Windisch got a force play at second to secure the game’s final out.

© Copyright 2011 Globe Newspaper Company.

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Cho wins first JGTO title in Kansai

ONO, Hyogo Pref. — South Korea's Cho Min Gyu picked up his first career JGTO Tour title Sunday, winning the Kansai Open by four strokes.

The 23-year-old from Daegu became the fourth South Korean winner in five Japanese tour events as a final-round 2-under 69 left him at 14-under 270 at Ono Golf Club.

Cho began the day with a two-shot lead and pulled away from his closest contender Yoshikazu Haku, a winless 31-year-old, by making four birdies on a bogey-free front nine.

Cho struggled to three bogeys in a four-hole stretch from the 11th, but Haku failed to pose any serious challenge to Cho, playing the last 11 holes without a birdie to card an even-par 71 and finish alone in second.

"I'm filled with joy," said Cho. "I thought a lot about victory from the start of the round. I got very nervous. When I reached the 16th green in two shots, I knew I was going to win this tournament."

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Nichidai Daisan wins summer Koshien title

NISHINOMIYA, Hyogo Pref. — Shun Takayama homered and drove in five runs, Kentaro Yoshinaga threw a shutout and Tokyo's Nichidai Daisan routed Kosei Gakuin of Aomori Prefecture 11-0 in the final of the National High School Baseball Championship Saturday.

The Nihon University affiliate school finished at the top of 4,014 participating teams across the country from the regional preliminaries, winning the summer tournament for the first time in 10 years and the second time overall.

Takayama, batting fifth and playing right field, gave the Tokyo school a 3-0 lead in the third inning with a three-run shot over the center-field wall at Koshien Stadium.

He added a run-scoring grounder to make it 4-0 in the fifth and an RBI single in a five-run seventh that included a two-run home run by catcher Takahiro Suzuki.

Nichidai Daisan cleanup hitter Toshitake Yokoo went 4-for-5 with three RBIs as the team pounded out 13 hits.

"As manager, I've won this prestigious tournament twice here, and I should say there is no one as happy as I am," Nichidan Daisan manager Masayoshi Ogura said.

"I kept telling my players: don't miss good pitches to hit. They hit the ball really well throughout the tournament. We wanted to show quality baseball to raise the spirit of people affected by the earthquake and tsunami. I think we were able to do that."

Yoshinaga scattered five hits, walked four and struck out eight in a 125-pitch outing.

The right-hander pitched in all of the team's six games at the 15-day event, starting five times and working 4? innings in relief in Friday's 14-4 win over Kanzei of Okayama Prefecture.

"I'm glad I managed to keep them scoreless in the final," Yoshinaga said. "We are a team with a strong offense. I was able to pitch comfortably until the semis because of plenty of run support, so I'm satisfied with the way I finished the tournament."

Kosei Gakuin ace Noriyoshi Akita was roughed up for nine runs on 12 hits in 6? innings.

The Aomori school was attempting to become the first school in the Tohoku region ever to win a spring invitational title or a summer championship.

New York BLOOMBERG

A $1 billion lawsuit by the trustee liquidating Bernard Madoff's firm against the owners of the New York Mets should be dismissed, a lawyer for the baseball team's owners told a federal judge.

Karen Wagner, an attorney for owners Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz, argued to U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff that the trustee, New York lawyer Irving Picard, has failed to show evidence they ignored red flags that should have alerted them to Madoff's fraud.

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Leipheimer retains Tour of Utah title

Snowbird Utah — Levi Leipheimer successfully defended his Tour of Utah title Sunday, locking onto Colombian Sergio Henao's back wheel on the final climb up Little Cottonwood Canyon.

Henao took the final stage from Park City to Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort and finished second overall, while Leipheimer's Radioshack teammate, Janez Brajkovic of Slovenia, took third.

Leipheimer grabbed the overall lead after four days of racing and just needed to hang close to Henao on the final vertical climb.

It helped that Leipheimer, who had a disappointing Tour de France after winning the Tour of Switzerland in June, had a 23-second advantage over the Colombian coming into the final day.

"It was vicious out there," said Leipheimer, who is from Montana but attended in college in Utah. "One moment Janez and I (were battling) five or six of them. It was a little daunting out there."

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Lin defends world badminton title

Wembley England — Olympic badminton champion Lin Dan had an ideal preparation for his title defense when he won his fourth world title on Sunday in the Wembley arena to be used for the 2012 Games.

The second-seeded Chinese player saved two match points against top-seeded Malaysian Lee Chong Wei and went on to a 20-22, 21-17, 23-21 victory. It was probably the best encounter of the 24 between the two great rivals.

Lin rarely dominated and there were moments, particularly at 16-13 in the final game, when it seemed Lee's court coverage, patience and ability to turn defense into attack would secure victory.

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