Shozo Saijo vs. Jose Luis Pimental (1st meeting)
Shozo Saijo 126 lbs lost to Jose Luis Pimentel 125 lbs by SD in round 10 of 10
- Date: 1968-02-15
- Location: Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Referee: George Latka 6-5
- Judge: Rudy Jordan 4-5
- Judge: Joey Olmos 4-5
"Unbeaten Jose Luis Pimental, 125 1/2, of East Los Angeles, used a hard left jab to win an unpopular 10-round split decision from Shozo Saijo, 126, Tokyo, in a featherweight bout Thursday night at the Olympic Auditorium. The see-saw battle was close all the way, with neither fighter able to win more than three consecutive rounds. And when it was over, many of the 5,500 fans tossed beer cans and other debris into the ring in displeasure. Saijo won the first two rounds, scoring with good combinations to the head which kept Pimental back-peddling. But the L.A. fighter came back to win the next, scoring with hard rights to the jaw. The 6th went to Saijo, but the 7th went to Pimental when he scored with a furious body attack. Both fighters were bleeding from the nose at the finish, but there were no knockdowns and neither fighter was cut." -Associated Press
- Unofficial AP scorecard - 5-4 Pimental