November 13, 2009
TOKYO, JAPAN
WBA#12 feather Retsuri Lee (14-1-1, 8 KOs), 126, absorbed good rights of Thailander Big M Or Boonchuay (10-11, 4 KOs), 123.5, in the first round, but decked him with a well-timed countering right in the closing seconds of the second, and finally floored him again with a left hook following a fusillade of punches en route to a fine TKO win at 1:20 of the third session on Friday in Tokyo, Japan.
Lee, a slick-punching boxer-puncher, had entered the world ratings thanks to his upset triumph over ex-OPBF ruler Hiroyuki Enoki this July, and it was his first appearance since. Though less fast and sharp than his Enoki bout, Lee battered the game Thailander almost at will from the second onward to hurt him effectively with solid combinations upstairs and downstairs. Lee will have a mandatory shot at the Japanese 126-pound throne against Naoki Matsuda in the annual Carnival of Champions (where all national champs are obliged to make a mandatory defense against top contenders) next spring.
Promoter: Yokohama Hikari Promotions.
(11-13-09)
November 12, 2009
TOKYO, JAPAN
Unheralded underdog Yuichi Yamaki (7-8, 5 KOs), 112, decked an unexpected victory over previously unbeaten prospect, JBC#8 flyweight Masato Anzai (10-1, 4 KOs), 112, by a quick stoppage at 2:48 of the opening round on Thursday in Tokyo, Japan.
A time-keeper mistakenly had the gong sound at about 2:30, but the referee Uratani, without any reaction to the erroneous gong, admirably had it go on, as if he had a correct biological clock. He coolly allowed them to continue swapping punches for eighteen seconds more and then declared a well-received halt. Had Uratani been the third man in the historically problematic Greg Page-Gerrie Coetzee heavyweight title bout in South Africa in 1984, he would have avoided a bizarre KO at 3:50 of the eighth round (though recorded as a knockout at 3:03 in the record books). Uratanifs interior clock might be more correct than the electronic time-keeper then used in Sun City (not made of Japan, hopefully).
(11-12-09)