December 5, 2005
YOKOHAMA, JAPAN-Japanese lefty, WBC#9/WBA#11 ranked Masayuki Arinaga (20-4-1, 9 KOs), 115, successfully kept his OPBF 115-pound belt as he utilized southpaw right uppercuts and straight lefts to WBC #14 ex-champ Waengpetch Chuwatana (25-7-2, 14 KOs), 115, Thailand, and swept last three rounds to pound out a close but unanimous decision over twelve heats on Monday in Yokohama, Japan. The scorecards read: scoring referee Ignatius Missailidis (Australia) and Pinit Prayadsab (Thailand) both 115-113, and Takeshi Shimakawa (Japan) 117-113, all for the defending titlist. Arinaga, making his second defense, had dethroned Waengpetch via controversial decision and defended his throne by a spectacular knockout over previously unbeaten KO artist Daisuke Maruyama in his first defense. He showed his improvement in better balance and increased speed in tossing sharp combinations to Waengpetch. The Thailander was called gsouthpaw killerh as he was very good at fighting lefty opponents such as then world-rated Eiji Kojima whom he had annihilated in two rounds in Osaka in the previous year. But Arinaga accelerated his attack against the fading rival to be in command in the last three sessions to confirm his victory. Arinaga, handled by ex-WBA/WBC 105-pound champ Hideyuki Ohashi, is said to renounce his regional belt to concentrate on his preparation for a near-future world title shot.
Sensational formerly two-time national amateur champ Akira Yaegashi (4-0, 3 KOs), 106.75, failed to extend his KO streak, but convincingly scored a unanimous decision (99-93, 98-94 and 97-96) over WBC#21 ranked Filipino minimum champ Elmer Gejon (13-9-1, 5 KOs), 106.5, over ten. Yaegashi, 22, made good use of his superior speed and vigorousness in outclassing the more experienced opponent who showed his durability and resilience and refused to go down. Yaegashifs manager Ohashi boldly plans to have his prospect acquire a world belt within seven professional bouts to break Joichiro Tatsuyoshifs record of dethroning Greg Richardson to win the WBC belt in his eighth outing.
Promoter: Ohashi Promotions.
Matchmaker: Joe Koizumi.
(12-5-05)