February 8, 2004
GIFU, JAPAN-Hard-punching Thai southpaw Yodsanan 3K Battery Nanthachai (43-2-1, 35 KOs), 130, kept his WBA 130-pound belt as he proved too powerful and pugnacious for Japanese challenger Ryuhei Sugita (25-2-1, 21 KOs), 129.5, dropping him with vicious combinations in the second en route to a well-received stoppage at 2:49 of the seventh session on Sunday afternoon at Gifu Memorial Center in Gifu, Japan.
Yodsanan, making his second defense since his coronation in 2002, turned aggressive from the outset with Sugita, two years his junior at 27, circling to avert mixing it up in the opening canto. The second saw the lefty champ explode a wicked right hook following solid combinations to send him sprawling to the deck. Yodsanan attempted to finish the affair to bring home the bacon early in the third and fourth, when Sugita kept moving around and occasionally retaliating with a few straight rights. The shorter but more muscular champ began to utilize his accurate southpaw jabs to control the pace in the fifth and sixth, and showed his skills as well as his power. Yodsanan, in the fatal seventh, caught him again with a barrage of punches and made him so groggy that the champ had him reeling to the ropes. Australian Derek Milham, who showed his excellent refereeing so far, wisely called a halt to save the loser from further punishment. No one complained of his well-timed stoppage, which proved that the champ was too much for Sugita. Scores after the sixth: Armando Garcia (US) 59-54, Mikael Hook (Sweden) 60-53, and Kwansoo Kim (Korea) 59-54, all for the aggressive champ. The partisan crowd also praised Sugitafs fighting spirit as he displayed great tenacity and resilience despite suffering heavy damage in the second.
Unbeaten WBC #7 ranked ex-OPBF champ (20-0, 11 KOs), 111.5, acquired the vacant Japanese national flyweight belt by a controversial technical decision over WBC #12 Koji Koyama (15-3-1, 9 KOs), 111.75, at 2:58 of the sixth round in a scheduled ten. The national title had been vacated by WBA #2 ranked Takefumi Sakata, who is gunning for a shot at the WBA throne against Lorenzo Parra this summer. After they fought on even terms in the first two rounds, Nakano, a busier southpaw, was in command with light but many combos in the third and fourth. Koyama, a taller hard-hitting boxer, started his engine in the sixth and was about to dominate the round. But a head-collision occurred with Nakano streaming blood from a nasty gash at the left eyebrow. The technical nod read: 59-56 and 58-56 for Nakano, and 58-57 for Koyama. We anticipate their rematch in the near future.
Promoter: Hatanaka Promotions.
Matchmaker: Joe Koizumi.
(2-8-04)