Japanese fighter Keita Kurihara refused to accept the judges’ decision declaring him the winner over Filipino Renan Portes in their bantamweight non-title bout last Monday, July 22, at the Korakuen Hall in Japan.

The battle between two experienced sluggers went the distance, with the 31-year-old Japanese boxer winning via split decision.

Judges Toshio Sugiyama and Shuhei Terayama gave the match to Kurihara with identical 78-74 scores, while Katsuhiko Nakamura gave it 78-74 for the Bukidnon native Portes.

Feeling he didn’t deserve the win, Kurihara, an Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation bantamweight champion, shook his head and cried immediately after the decision was announced.

“I didn’t win!” said Kurihara.

With a lot of emotions flowing, the Japanese fighter took the microphone and stressed what he really felt about the fight – shame and humility to ask for forgiveness from Portes.

“I was treated as the winner in the end, but I lost. It’s embarrassing that I was declared the winner. I’m really sorry,” Kurihara said.

"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,” he added.

Kurihara quickly went to Portes’ locker room and said he will protest and ask the for a review of the match

With the decision, Kurihara improved his record to 19 wins, including 16 knockouts, against eight losses and a draw, while Portes fell to a 13-17 win-loss tally with six KOs.