March 27, 2010
TOKYO, JAPAN
Unbeaten Thailander Oleydong Sithsamerchai (38-0, 13 KOs), 103.75, very barely kept his WBC 105-pound belt by a hairline unanimous verdict (113-112, 114-113 and 114-112) as Japanese challenger Yasutaka Kuroki (23-4-1, 15 KOs), 105, kept stalking him all the way though receiving occasional counters, finally dropped the champ with a solid combination in the eleventh and had him at bay in the final session on Saturday in Tokyo, Japan.
It wasn’t a technically excellent fight, as Oleydong kept backpedalling and Kuroki kept hitting the air rather than the opponent, sometimes absorbing the champ’s counters. But as the champ visibly began fading and slowing down from the eighth, it was all Kuroki. The champ was penalized a point because of his repeated clinches in round ten. He hit the deck in the eleventh, and absorbed a very solid left of Kuroki in the final stanza to have a narrow escape. Kuroki may deserve a rematch.
(3-27-10)