The Joe Koizumi Dictionary

Joe Koizumi is the king of Japanese boxing. When a major boxing website reports and news or results from the Orient, Joe wrote it, no question. Joe also reports a boxing match as if it were an elegant Shakespearian sonnet. His descriptions is what makes him stand out from your average uneducated boxing writer. Joe is much more talented than all those writers, and he also uses vocabulary (which are words commonly referred to as Koizumisms) that only true Koizumi-maniacs can comprehend. As a service to anybody who reads this page, I present you with the meanings of some of Joe's favorite words.

Aficionados- Fans of a certain boxer. Example: In a press conference, the 33-year-old Hoshino (23-9, 6 KOs) apologized for having confused our aficionados as he announced to hang up his gloves after losing a decision to Noel Arambulet in a quest for the WBA throne in their rematch in Osaka last December.

Boy- Used here to describe a new or inexperienced boxer. Example: Unlike other aggressive but less skillful Japanese boys, Hasegawa, handled by Keitoku Senrima ...

Canto- Generally, it means one of the principal divisions of a long poem. In this instance, it means a boxing round. Example: In the opening canto, Ishii landed a solid right to the champ’s cheek.

Castigated- In this instance, Joe uses it to mean: to criticize severely. Example: The ex-champ Niida, who returned to the ring warfare after a 23-month layoff since his severely castigated relinquishment, made a good start as he connected with his trade-mark left hooks and solid rights to the cautious champ in the opening canto.

Diadem-  A crown worn as a sign of royalty. In this case, it's a belt. Example: Tsuyoshi captured the vacant WBC interim bantam diadem by revenging his previous defeat on a hard-battled decision

Duke- A boxing results which is decided by the judges scorecards. Example: Unbeaten WBC youth 122-pound champ Masanori Sugita (14-0, 10 KOs), 123.75, piled up points in early rounds and kept outlegging free-swinging Filipino Joebar Damosmog (12-18-6, 9 KOs), 123.5, winning a unanimous duke over 10.

Embalming- While we assume it means the process of preserving a body, Joe cleverly uses the word to mean "a knock out". Example: Hard-punching ex-national feather champ Eugenio "Yuji" Gomez, a Puerto Rican staying here, scored a quick comeback win by embalming Thai #2 feather Wannhin Chuwatana.

Fancy Dan- An expression to describe a very slick moving fighter. Example: Niida, 24, handled by ex-world top feather contender Mitsunori Seki, commenced using sharp stinging lefts to the Fancy Dan to dominate the 7th. He displayed furious rallies to pin the champ to the ropes, winning the 8th.

Frame- A word that Joe uses to mean a boxing round. Example: WBC #9 ranked hard-punching lefty Japanese Hideyasu Ishihara (13-2-1, 10 KOs), 115, kept his OPBF 115-pound belt as he came off the canvas and promptly dropped back Thai champ Phissesh Vor Suraphol (15-9, 2 KOs), 114.5, in the second, floored him twice more in the third and sixth to pound out a nearly shutout decision (120-108, 120-107 and 117-111) over 10 frames on Sunday in Nagoya, Japan.

Fatal ten- An expression used when a fighter is knocked down for the count. Example: His wicked right hook to the side of the belly knelt down Cho, who stayed there and barely raised himself up. But the referee Luis Carlos Guzman (Argentina) had tolled a fatal ten.

Fusillade- A rapid outburst or barrage. Example: After see-saw exchanges of punches Takemoto finally forced the prefight favorite to the ropes and floored him with a fusillade of punches, dropping the rubbery-legged opponent again to cause the ref's stoppage

Hairline- Word used to mean "close" as in "close decision". Example: WBC #17 fly Koji Koyama (11-2-1, 6 KOs), 113.25, came off the canvas in the third, dropped Thailander Maengpong Kiatdhohbohubol (11-9, 8 KOs), 111.75, with a vicious right in the 6th, and earned a hairline decision (96-95 twice and 95-94) over 10. It was a hotly contested battle.

Heat- Another Koizumi favorite, a word which means a boxing round. Example: ... winning a unanimous decision over 12 heats.

Lantern jaw- An expression to describe a fighter with a weak chin. Example: He used to be stiff and slow despite his physical power, but we saw his probably best win over the lantern jawed opponent who fell to 8-3-2, 2 KOs.

Mediocre Thailander- Joe uses this expression in his reports on occasion. Example: Japanese #8 lightie Kokichi Tanaka (19-8-1, 10 KOs), 137.25, scored an easy KO win over mediocre Thailander Chalamdam Sishtradtrakam (7-7-1, 3 KOs), 135, at 0:13 of the third. The Thailander left his fighting spirit in Bangkok, hitting the deck in every round.

Optic- Joe likes to use "optic" instead of "eye". Example: The first round saw the underdog Saibogu, the JBC #8 ranked welter, furiously bang out Hozumi, whose right optic was swollen badly.

Peek-a-boo stylist- An expression used to describe a good inside fighter who keeps his gloves high. Example:  The peek-a-boo stylist Uno kept stalking the very elusive champ all the way, but Hasegawa averted almost all shots of his opponent and connected with sharp right-left combinations and body shots.

Powder-puff- Light-hitting puncher (chris byrd, jesse james leija). Example: 108: #6 SHIRO YAHIRO, VERY TALL, SKINNY, POWDER-PUFF PUNCHER, O, 22-3-2, 14KOs

Pugnacious- Combative in nature; belligerent. Example: Larios, in round two, became so pugnacious that he swarmed over Ishii with strong overhand rights, flooring him again.

Repented- To feel regret. Example: HATAKEYAMA, who repented of having lost a gas in the last 3 sessions, is 20-0-1, 16 KOs.

Roundhouse- Word to describe a wild puncher. Example: The taller Russian gave a severe lesson to the roundhouse swinger all night as if it had been a confrontation of a modern boxer and a bare-knuckle butcher.

Session- Another favorite word of Koizumi's, which is used to mean a boxing round. Example: Unbeaten Venezuelan Jorge Linares (5-0, 3 KOs), 124, whose amateur mark was reportedly 119-6, decked his fifth victory here so impressively that he outspeeded and outpunched Thunder Ito (9-4-3, 2 KOs), 124, from all angles en route to a fine stoppage at 2:44 of the third session.

Sheet of trunks- Not sure what this means. Example: ... surprisingly downed the champ on the sheet of trunks.

Southpaw right hook- Again, I have no idea what Joe was saying. Example: ...dropped the champ with a looping southpaw right hook in the second.