March 10, 2002
March 10, 2002
TOKYO, JAPAN-Beloved by great many Japanese fight fans, WBA #12 ranked lightweight Rick Yoshimura Roberts, 37, announced to hang up gloves for good after he suffered a defeat by a unanimous 12-round verdict at the hand of Masakazu Satake in a quest for the OPBF 140-pound title underneath the WBA 115-pound title bout in Tokyo yesterday.
Frederick Roberts, a US military computer engineer, was born in New York on February 12, 1965, and made his unsuccessful debut there on November 10, 1983, losing a 4-round decision to Michael Dominguez. Rick suffered his second setback to Thomas Otero by a 4-round decision in January 1984. He was just 0-2, and gave up fighting until he entered the US army to be transferred to Japan in 1987.
Working in Misawa Base Camp, Rick resumed training at Hachinohe Boxing Gym and made his second debut in Japan by outscoring Shigenori Motoi over 6 rounds after a 46-month layoff in 1987. He got married with an attractive Japanese girl named Yoshimura, and began to fight as Rick Yoshimura. The lanky Alexis Arguello stylist improved a lot since, and captured the Japanese 140-pound title by stopping Yoshihiro Yamamoto in 6 rounds at the Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, in January 1990. Rick kept it twice but lost it to ex-Olympic gold medalist, imported Russian, Viacheslav Ianovski on points in March 1991.
The US military order moved Rick to Tokyo from Misawa, and then he moved from Hachinohe Teiken Gym to Ishikawa Gym presided by ex-Japanese light champ Keiichi Ishikawa in 1993. Rick kept winning after he forfeited the Japanese junior welter belt as he moved down to the lightweight division.
In September 1993, Rick seized his second Japanese national belt in the 135-pound class when he chalked up a fine second-round TKO victory over Makoto Nishizawa in Tokyo. In his first defense, however, Rick lost his diadem to an upcoming hard-hitting novice named Hiroyuki Sakamoto (who later had a world title shot four times, losing to Steve Johnston, Cesar Bazan, Gilberto Serrano and Takanori Hatakeyama) via upset 9th round TKO in December that year.
With Sakamoto renouncing the national light belt, Rick was given another chance to regain the throne and did so by beating Hiroyuki Maeda, a currently world-rated welter campaigner, in January 1995.
Since then, the stylish jabber registered 22 defenses of the title to his credit by defeating the likes of: Jun Nakaya (W10), Hisao Arai (KO5), ex-champ Hiroyuki Maeda (W10), Masaaki Morooka (TKO8), Hiroshi Ikehata (TKO4), Koji Takae (W10), Shinji Kamei (TKO5), Yasunobu Tsukamoto (W10), Tomoaki Sakayori (KO8), Kazu Arisawa (KO3), Yudai Okane (TKO5), ex-Olympian Satoru Higashi (W10), Yoichi Iwamoto (TKO5), Andrei Bunta (TKO7), Yasuharu Yamaguchi (TKO3), Norio Kimura (W10), Kenji Fukunaga (TKO10), Takayuki Yoshioka (W10), Tadashi Yuba (D10), Takahiro Shimada (W10), Hironari Ohshima (W10) and Takehiro Shimada again (W10).
After his 21st defense, Rick was obliged to leave Japan as the US government transferred him to a military base in Florida. He was to forfeit his national belt upon his departure, but the Japan Boxing Commission (JBC) gave Rick a special permission, considering his great contribution to the Japanese boxing world, to make his 22nd and final defense in November 2000. He scored a successful record-breaking defense by beating Shimada at the Korakuen Hall. (Ironically enough, Shimada welcomed a coronation to become the national 135-pound champ by dethroning Norio Kimura on the same card of Rick’s final showing yesterday.)
Rick welcomed a couple of climaxes in his 18-year career. One was his exhibition with his idol Alexis Arguello at the Korakuen Hall in a promotion titled “World Challenger Scout” promoted by this reporter in 1995, while Rick was the national 135-pound champ and Arguello was in the twilight of his long career after his final and ill-fated comeback. Yours truly remember Rick was greatly excited to exchange gloves with Arguello before the audience.
Another climax was his first and last world title shot on February 17 of the previous year, when Rick failed to win the WBA world lightweight throne as he battled to a controversial draw with Japanese defending champ Takanori Hatakeyama over 12 grueling rounds. Rick kept outboxing and outlegging to piling up more points than the champ, who, aware of being behind on points, desperately kept boring in to sweep the last five sessions. Some people said that Rick had accumulated more than 5 points before Hatakeyama’s last surge. The official tallies were: 115-112 for Rick, 116-111 for Hatakeyama and 114-114 by a Nicaraguan judge named Alexis Arguello. Without Rick’s penalty deducted for his holding in the 9th canto, he would have been the winner and new champ. Before this title bout materialized, great many Japanese fans had earnestly urged Hatakeyama to give Rick a shot at his world belt, so did he. The long anticipated card gathered a sellout crowd at the Ryogoku Sumo Arena then. It was a very good fight.
Rick, who was still very popular among fight fans here, was booked this time against upcoming southpaw speedster Masakazu Satake in a bid for the latter’s OPBF super-light crown. It was agreed by both parties that they would fight at the 138-pound catchweight, since Rick is a legitimate lightweight and Satake a 140-pounder. Rick fought well, though beaten decisively by the fast-handed and fresher Satake on points.
Rick, whose overall record was 38-6-2, 20 KOs, announced to retire from boxing after this setback, and he will return to Florida to resume his military service. Rick, keep your head high. You were a great national champ we, Japanese fans, will never forget. Your 22 defenses of the national title, the very most in Japan, will shine here despite your departure and retirement.