July 21, 2003
TOKYO, JAPAN-Ex-WBA 122-pound champ Osamu Sato (26-2-3, 15 KOs), 124.75, Japan, came off the deck in the third and fought back so hard in later rounds as to fight to a split draw with ex-WBA superfly champ Yokthai Sith-Oar (27-3-2, 17 KOs), 124.5, from Thailand, over 10 hard-fought sessions on Monday night in Tokyo, Japan. Scored: 98-94 for Sato, 97-96 for Yokthai and 96-96.
Sato appeared for the first time in ten months since he forfeited his WBA belt to Frenchman Salim Medjkoune, and gathered a nearly sellout crowd at the Korakuen Hall. Yokthai made a good start by clearly dominating the second and sent Sato sprawling to the canvas with a well-timed looping left hook in the third. But Sato turned aggressive from the 4th round on by effectively scoring with solid left uppercuts to the side of the belly. The durable Thailander was in command in the 7th, but Sato maintained the pressure with busy combos in the last three sessions. It’s a crowd-pleasing see-saw battle.
WBC #10 ranked Japanese national 108-pound champ Masato Hatakeyama (11-2-1, 4 KOs), 108, retained his belt as he kept peppering overmatched Yasuhiro Koyama (6-4, 1 KO), 108, so lopsidedly that he was awarded a TKO victory with the towel thrown in by the loser ’s corner at 2:35 of the 8th round. Despite this result Hatakeyama’s lack of convincing power was obvious enough. With more power he could have finished the slower and less skillful southpaw much earlier.
In an encounter of southpaws, hard-punching Masamitsu Ikeda (13-7, 6 KOs), 118.25, was awarded a technical decision over Michiaki Takemoto (10-2-1, 5 KOs), 119, at 2:43 of the 6th round in a scheduled 8.
Promoter: Kyoei Promotions.
(7-21-03)