July 1, 2001
SAITAMA, JAPAN-Slick-punching Frenchman Julien Lorcy, 134 1/4, captured the WBA lightweight belt, as he withstood the constant pressure of the defending champ Takanori Hatakeyama, 135, and scored more accurate blows to win a unanimous decision over 12 heats before some 20,000 spectators at Saitama Super Arena.
Scored: Lou Tabat (US) 118-110, Stanley Christodoulou (South Africa) 117-111, and Erkki Meronen (Finland) 117-112, all for Lorcy, 49-2-2, 35 KOs. Hatakeyama, 4 years his junior at 25, dropped to 24-2-3, 19 KOs. Referee was Julio Cesar Alvarado (Panama).
It was a much closer fight than the tallies might indicate, as the Japanese kept going forward all night, while the Frenchman blocked his attack well and countered with precision.
Lorcy, ex-WBA champ, cleverly boxed from the start by displaying his better defensive tactics against Hatakeyama’s sporadic but furious combinations. The champ looked so eager to score big punches and finish his opponent that he couldn’t punch smoothly and accurately. Lorcy was often forced to the ropes in later rounds, but he covered himself up well and fought back with much more, if not strong, punches in combination.
Hatakeyama, making his third defense, should have thrown more jabs and more combinations rather than he tried to finish him with big shots. Lorcy once gained the WBA 135-pound belt by stopping his compatriot Jean Baptiste Mendy in 6 rounds but forfeited it to Italian Stefano Zoff via 12-round decision-both in 1999. Since then, Lorcy registered 8 victories straight including 6 within the distance, and thus regained the WBA throne in the Far East.
Lorcy’s cleverness and smartness eventually overcame Hatakeyama’s brutal aggressiveness. Though Hatakeyama had refused to shake hands prior to their encounter, he congratulated Lorcy’s victory by offering his hand after the fight. It was a beautiful scene.
Ex-Japanese feather champ Toshikage Kimura, 126.25, stunned the crowd with his quick demolition of the WBC #19 ranked Aussie Tony Wehbee, 127, at 1:17 of the opening session.
Kimura exploded a vicious right cross and sent him to the deck. The rubbery-legged ex-OPBF champ sank again with his absorption of a wicked body shot. Ref Ken Morita asked him whether to go on when he barely regained his feet again. The badly damaged Wehbee denied his will to fight on, so the third man tolled the fatal ten.
Kimura, handled by Akihiko Honda, raised his mark to 23-3-4, 12 KOs. The upset loser Wehbee dipped to 29-7-1, 23 KOs.
Promoter: Yokohama Hikari Promotions.
(7-1-01)