October 2, 2000
TOKYO, JAPAN-Unbeaten Korean SUNGHO YUH(right photo), 134 1/2, battered OPBF light champ YUJI WATANABE(left photo), 134 1/4, Japan, to the punch and flattened him with a vicious right at 0:28 of the third round to capture the regional title. WBC #22 ranked Yuh raised his mark to 13-0-1, 7 KOs. Watanabe, 25-5-1, 23 KOs, announced his farewell to the ring after this bad defeat.
It was a grudge fight as they had battled to a grueling draw in an OPBF elimination bout here last January. Watanabe, who had failed to win the world belt from Genaro Hernandez and Wilfredo Vazquez each via a bad stoppage, seized the vacant OPBF throne by halting Aussie Stuart Patterson in two quick rounds this April.
Yuh, 28, whipped the Japanese slow starter from all angles, staggering him from pillar to post in the first round. Midway in the opening canto, Watanabe temporarily had the left shoulder dislocated, though he fortunately could go on afterward. The shorter but sturdy Korean decked him with a flurry of punches in the second.
Our crowd, who expected it to be as competitive as their first encounter, got stunned to see Watanabe completely stretched by Yuh’s well-timed right. The 30-year-old do-or-die puncher Watanabe couldn’t beat the count, staying prone on the deck.
It was a sad scene that his manager/promoter Naohiko Saida picked up a microphone to declare that his dearest boy Watanabe, ex-OPBF feather and super-feather champ, would hang up gloves for good and the sobbing ex-champ said a goodbye to his adherents in the center of the ring.
Yuh said, “Watanabe wasn’t what he used to be. This was an unexpectedly easy victory. I wish to have a crack at the WBC throne against Jose Luis Castillo either in Mexico or in the US.”
Tak Yegashi, 121 1/2, lopsidedly rained accurate combinations to prompt the referee to declare a halt against Taka Bando, 121 1/2, at 1:11 of the 5th round in a semi-final 10. The winner is 8-5-1, 6 KOs. The loser dipped to 8-9-2, 6 KOs.
Promoter: Saida Promotions.
Matchmaker: Joe Koizumi.
(10-2-00)