10.10 - Three-time WBA Middleweight Champion William Joppy stopped the game Naotaka Hozumi in the tenth round with Referee John Coyle of England halting the action at 2:48.

The pro Hozumi crowd at the Ryogoku Kokugikan Sumo Hall sensed that their challenger had enough and none objected to the stoppage, as Joppy had Hozumi on the verge of going down and thoroughly beaten.

Joppy controlled the pace from the outset, boxing masterfully, while the relentless but less experienced Hozumi, kept coming. Hozumi had his moments, but it seemed that was only what Joppy gave him.

"He was a very strong young fighter," said Joppy. "He kept coming hard and I had to use what got me there and that was my boxing skills. I enjoyed myself out there tonight and it really felt great. Now I'd like to see about getting a unification fight with Hopkins. That's the fight I really want, but I'll talk to my managers Stan Hoffman and Steve Nelson and my promoter Don King," he went on.

"At some point next year I may want to look at the super middleweight title.
There's WBA Champion Byron Mitchell, WBO Champion Joe Calzaghe and WBC Champion Eric Lucas, and Ottke is the IBF Champion from Germany." concluded the champion.

The Judges: Pinit Prayadsab, from Thailand and Ove Ovesen of Denmark, both saw the fight a 89-82 for the champion, while Ricardo Duncan of Panama had it a little closer at 88-84. The well-conditioned Joppy upped his record to 36-2-1 (25 KOs). Hozumi's record falls to 21-3-1 (18 KOs).

Joppy, 32-years old from Silver Spring, Md., completed his thirteenth WBA Middleweight Championship battle and made the first defense of the title he won defeating British Commonwealth Middleweight Champion Howard Eastman for the vacant title on Nov. 17, 2001 in Las Vegas, Nev.

He won his first WBA Middleweight Championship in Japan on June 24, 1996, stopping Shinji Takehara in nine rounds.

The event was promoted by Yonekura Promotions Co., Ltd. of Tokyo in association with Don King Productions, Inc., who delivered the services of the champion.