## SAKATA BARELY KEEPS WBA 112LB BELT

March 29, 2008

CHIBA, JAPAN

WBA flyweight champ Takefumi Sakata (32-4-2, 15 KOs), 112, Japan, barely kept his belt as he showed a slow start as usual, came off the canvas in the third and desperately retaliated in the second half to earn a close but unanimous decision over game compatriot Shingo Yamaguchi (22-5-2, 8 KOs), 111.75, over twelve fast rounds on Saturday in Chiba, Japan.

It was just Sakatafs durability and determination that led him to his tough but successful defense. The official tallies were as follows: Takeo Harada (Japan) 115-113, Michael Lee (Korea) and Kazunobu Asao (Japan) both 116-112, all in favor of the defending titlist. The referee was Takeshi Shimakawa (Japan).

Yamaguchi, in the first round, displayed a brilliant opening attack to have the champ on the defensive with a flurry of punches. Sakata, a notorious slow-starter, looked slow, stiff and sluggish. Yamaguchi, ex-OPBF 108-pound champ, was also in command in the second, when he followed a positive pattern of the previous round and threw plenty of shots to the still nervous champ.

At 0:15 of the third, Yamaguchi connected with a beautifully-timed right cross over the champfs lazy left jab. Down he went. The champ amazingly knelt down with the challengerfs counter, and managed to raise himself up before the mandatory eight. Yamaguchi, two inches shorter but faster than the champ, swarmed over Sakata, still dizzy and damaged, with big but less accurate combinations that the champ barely withstood with his tight guard.

As if he woke up with the shocking knockdown in the previous round, Sakata turned aggressive and began to throw combinations to the aggressor in the fourth. The champ won back a point. The fifth saw Yamaguchi reset his engine and land busy combos to the still slower champ, who sustained a cut over the right eyebrow midway in the round. The sixth might be a turning point of the affair, as Sakata positively responded to the challengerfs aggression with his trademark body attack.

The tide obviously turned in the champfs favor in round seven, when Sakata went forward with a barrage of punches in the close range and Yamaguchi started retreating and only hit a punch at a time. Sakata, a peek-a-boo stylist, began to throw good jabs in the eighth and effectively aimed at the breadbasket of the fading challenger.

In the ninth, Yamaguchi occasionally caught Sakata with sporadic shots, but the champ connected with busier combinations to take the leadoff and take another point. Sakata, a workman-stylist, accelerated his attack and kept on throwing apparently more punches to the challenger, who became unable to throw punches in combination in the tenth. Sakatafs persistent body bombardment seemed to pay off as the contest progressed.

The eleventh was so close that all the judges tallied 10-10, but Sakata, physically bigger and more powerful than the legitimate 108-pounder Yamaguchi, had the upper hand despite the challengerfs occasional shots to the face. Sakata dominated the twelfth and last session with his aggressiveness, though Yamaguchi attempted to show his last surge.

It was a typical battle of the slow starter and the early starter. Yamaguchi finely showed his domination in earlier rounds with his superior speed, but Sakata remarkably displayed his abundant stamina and fighting spirit in later sessions, as usual. The champ, a la Vito Antuofermo, has a specialty to have a tough fight with a bad start turn in his favor in the end. Sakata had overcome early deficits on points to outscore Panamanian Roberto Vasquez in his initial defense, and got off the canvas to barely draw with Thailander Denkaosen Kaowichit in his second. Sakata will become more notorious for his slow start and strong finish. Whoever may castigate his risky fighting style, Sakata is still popular among his adherents who love his heart rather than ring science.

Promoter: Kyoei Promotions.

(3-29-08)

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