March 25, 2006
Kobe, Japan:
KOBE, JAPAN-Fast-punching and quick-shifting Hozumi Hasegawa (20-2, 7 KOs), 118, very impressively kept his WBC bantamweight belt as he outspeeded ex-champ Veeraphol Nakhornluang-Promotion (52-3-2, 37 KOs), 117.75, to steadily pile up points in early rounds, withstood his retaliation in the seventh and eighth, and then exploded a devastating southpaw right hook to badly drop the veteran Thailander to prompt the referee’s intervention without bothering to count at 0:19 of the ninth round in their sensational rematch on Saturday night in Kobe, Japan.
It was such a spectacular stoppage as the ref Guadalupe Garcia immediately declared a halt when Veeraphol wobblingly attempted to stand up with rubbery legs and then collapsed again. Before the trick happened, the official tallies were perfectly identical in every round, totaling 77-75 in favor of Hasegawa.
Hasegawa, 25, made a good start as he showed his superior speed with sharp left-right combinations to have Veeraphol much bewildered in the opening session. Veeraphol, twelve years his senior at 37, attempted to work the body to stop the champ’s shifty mobility and the judges gave the second to the ex-champ, but Hasegawa often scored with double lefts (left uppercuts to left hooks) and threw quick combos to the face and midsection.
The Japanese southpaw, ex-OPBF 118-pound champ who had dethroned Veeraphol by an upset verdict last April, swept the third to sixth sessions. The Thailander kept attempting to hit the champ’s breadbasket, but Hasegawa utilized the timing of Veeraphol throwing body shots by landing faster shots to the face. Obviously Hasegawa had the upper hand over the slower opponent and whipped him with sharper punches nearly at will.
Hasegawa almost stunned the ex-champ with a solid left uppercut, and turned loose to batter him with a flurry of punches in the sixth. Having used much of his stamina, Hasegawa looked a bit fading in the seventh, when Veeraphol desperately kept coming forward to aim at the midsection. It’s Veeraphol’s round. In round eight Hasegawa kept circling and countering the onrushing ex-champ, and landed some good uppercuts to the face and solid lefts to the belly. All the judges gave the 7th and 8th to the aggressive ex-champ.
As the ninth commenced, Hasegawa exploded a first power punch of this round, a very strong and perfectly-timed countering right hook, to the button of the ex-champ. Veeraphol fell down with a thud, and he was apparently unable to go on. The third man Garcia quickly watched his grogginess, and waived his arms to signal a well-received stoppage. The sellout crowd at the World Memorial Hall was on its feet to see the local hero’s finest victory. None had expected the slick-punching but light-punching Hasegawa to display such a remarkable victory over the game and durable Thai legend. People had expected a very tough fight for Hasegawa.
The jubilant victor said, “I’m very happy to show a good win before people in my home-town Kobe. It was fortunate I could land a well-timed counter and floored him to finish this game.” Veeraphol, the crestfallen loser, said, “Hasegawa was skillful, fast and strong.”
Unbeaten Takahiro Ao (11-0, 7 KOs), 127.5, dropped Mexican Oswald Juarez (10-4, 8 KOs), with a vicious southpaw left and halted him in the second. Edwin Valero (19-0, 19 KOs), 132, stopped Mexican Genaro Trasancos (21-8-1, 12 KOs), 130.75, at 1:48 of the second canto.
Promoter: Senrima Kobe Promotions in association with Teiken Promotions.
Matchmaker: Joe Koizumi.
(3-25-06)