September 26, 2003
OSAKA, JAPAN-Former two-time WBC bantam champ Joichiro Tatsuyoshi (19-6-1, 13 KOs), 119, failed to score a predicted KO victory only to earn a hairline unanimous decision (all 95-93) over WBC #19 ranked Mexican Julio Cesar Avila (21-15-1, 9 KOs), 118.5, over ten hard-fought rounds on Friday night in Osaka, Japan.
WBC #9 and WBA #7 Tatsuyoshi, in his second comebacking fight, took the initiative in the first four rounds by his favorite stick-and-move strategy. But Avila came out fighting from the fourth and occasionally pinned the ex-champ to the ropes with roundhouse combinations. The Mexican had his opponent at bay in the eighth, but Tatsuyoshi withstood his attack and mixed it up furiously in the final session. Avila was penalized twice for allegedly having hit open blows in the fifth and ninth. Without the two-point deduction it would have been a drawn game of 95-95. It was a much tougher fight than Tatsuyoshi himself and his adherents had expected.
Ex-OPBF 154-pound champ Nobuhiro Ishida (10-4-1, 4 KOs), 159.5, decked an important victory by a unanimous decision (96-94, 97-94 and 99-91) over WBC #5 ranked veteran Akira Ohigashi (38-8-3, 26 KOs), 160, over ten. The six-foot Ishida kept effectively jabbing the shorter but sturdy rival all night, and withstood Ohigashi’s desperate retaliation in the seventh to nith rounds. Ishida confirmed his triumph as he had Ohigashi missing almost all punches and scored with sharp jabs and combos.
WBC #17 ranked ex-OPBF welter champ Rev Santillan (16-1-1, 13 KOs), 146.5, Philippines, had the upper hand in early rounds and finally caught hard-hitting local prospect Daigoro Yamamoto (6-2-1, 6 KOs), 147, to halt him at 1:54 of the eighth session.
Promoter: Osaka Teiken Promotions.
Matchmaker: Joe Koizumi.
(9-26-03)