June 11, 2001
June 9, 2001
FUKUOKA, JAPAN-Panther Yanagida, 125.5, successfully kept his OPBF featherweight title as he came off the canvas in the 6th and landed a revenging left hook to finish Indonesian Memes Supatra, 127, at 3:08 of the 9th round.
Yanagida, making his first defense since dethroning Australian Tony Wehbee by an upset decision last year, was leading on points except in the 6th when he hit the deck with Supatra’s left hook to the face.
Yanagida, 18-3, 15 KOs, caught him with a wicked left hook that made him crumble for the count. Suptra, two years his senior at 27, fell to 8-5-1, 2 KOs.
Yanagida will renounce his OPBF 126-pound title, and the OPBF top contenders, Japan’s Takashi Koshimoto and Australian Tony Wehbee, will fight in a quest for the vacant throne in Munakata on September 30.
Promoter: Fukuoka Teiken Promotions.
Matchmaker: Shuki Murayama.
(6-9-01)
June 11, 2001
TOKYO, JAPAN-Lefty Joya Kawai, 152 3/4, withstood solid left hooks of the defending champ Hiroyuki Yoshino, 154, and earned a unanimous decision to regain the Japanese super-welter title over 10.
Scored: 98-94, 100-93 and 99-96, all for the underdog Kawai, 12-3, 4 KOs. Yoshino, 35-9-1, 26 KOs, was obviously outhustled by Kawai’s faster combinations in the close quarter. Yoshino’s trade-mark left hooks could not catch the game southpaw with full power only to lose points steadily.
Elongated Tatsuhisa Kawashima, 139 3/4, floored Thailand’s Sonkhom Kiatnukul, 137 3/4, with a vicious left hook and stopped him at 2:34 of the third round in a scheduled 10.
The winner is 15-7-3, 6 KOs, and the Thailander is 5-4, 2 KOs.
Promoter: Noguchi Promotions.
Matchmaker: Joe Koizumi (as for the Kawashima vs. Kiatnukul bout).
(6-11-01)
June 11, 2001
OSAKA, JAPAN-Fast-rising simon-pure Eiji Kojima(right photo), 114 1/2, very impressively demolished Thai flyweight champ Panomdetch Au Yuthanakorn, 115, with a southpaw left and follow-up combinations at 2:32 of the third round.
Kojima, just 3-0, 1 KO, proved much sharper and faster for the Thai lefty, and scored quick combinations with precision. The vastly-talented Kojima, whose amateur mark was 32-9, 14 stoppages, will zoom up soon.
His manager Hideo Kanazawa, who handles the WBC 115-pound champ Masamori Tokuyama, predicts that Kojima will follow the champ’s footstep in the same 115-pound division.
Promoter: Kanazawa Promotions.
Matchmaker: Joe Koizumi.
(6-11-01)