February 11, 2011
OSAKA, JAPAN
Unbeaten 21-year-old Japanese prospect Kazuto Ioka (7-0, 5 KOs), 105, very impressively captured the WBC strawweight belt as he landed a beautiful left to the belly and flattened previously undefeated defending champ Oleydong Sithsamerchai (39-1-1, 14 KOs), 104.5, to prompt the referee’s intervention at 1:07 of the fifth round on Friday in Kobe, Japan.
Ioka took the leadoff from the outset and quickly floored the southpaw champ with a short left hook midway in round two. Despite the 25-year-old champ’s retreating and countering strategy, Ioka gradually accelerated his attack and seemingly controlled the fight, sometimes showboating in the third. The Japanese challenger maintained his pressure and scored with a double right to the elusive southpaw champ with precision in the fourth.
After the fourth, the WBC open scoring system indicated that Ioka was leading on two judges’ tallies 38-37 and 40-35, while another then favored the counterpunching champ with a 38-37 score.
The fifth witnessed Ioka block the champ’s overhand left with the glove and dig a vicious left uppercut to the midsection, dropping the champ in agony. The referee Bruce McTavish realized he would be able to count more than one hundred, so promptly declared a stoppage in favor of the jubilant winner.
The official tallies before the newly crowned champ’s TKO victory were as follows: Samuel Conde (Puerto Rico) 40-35, Douglas Belton (New Zealand) 38-37, both for Ioka, and Eric John Gillett (New Zealand) 38-37 for the dethroned Oleydong.
Ioka looked patient and prudent against Oleydong whose usual strategy had been to have his opponent stalk him and then counter with his southpaw left hand. The Japanese youngster, advised by his Cuban trainer Ismael Salas, cautiously kept the pressure to the champ without recklessly stalking him, and waited for openings to score counters in opposition. It well paid off. It was the Thailander that lost his composure, forgot his usual fight plan and occasionally came on fighting in the close quarter. Then Ioka’s wicked left uppercut to the midsection exploded to sink the champ onto the canvas.
The boyish Ioka said, "I thank all people that have supported me; uncle Hiroki, my father, Mr. Salas and great many fans. I was confident of this victory, but followed our fight plan to counter the counterpuncher Oleydong. I wish to win four belts in as many different classes in the future."
His manager and uncle Hiroki Ioka, ex-WBC 105-pound and WBA 108-pound champ, congratulated his nephew’s triumph, jubilantly saying, “Kazuto is much more talented than I. I believed in his coronation even before the fight. He’ll be a good champ.”
Kazuto coolly reflected his victory, “My uncle Hiroki lost the WBC 105-pound belt to Thailander Napa Kiatwanchai, so I wished to win back the same title from the Thai champ Oleydong. It’s ironic.”
Oleydong, who tasted his first setback in his forty-first game, said, “Ioka was strong. I couldn’t breathe after his final shot to the body. I’ll move up to the next category to keep fighting.”
Ioka started to learn how to box at the age of thirteen, and won six national championships to show his remarkable talent while he was a high school student. He entered Tokyo Agricultural University to pursue his amateur career, but failed to become a Japanese representative for the Beijing Olympic Games, losing in the tournament semi-final only by a point (the decision was castigated as controversial). The disgusted and crestfallen Kazuto quit university to return to his native Osaka to turn professional from his uncle’s Ioka Gym with his father Kazunori as trainer.
It may be a question how long Kazuto will stay in the 105-pound division because he is a legitimate 108-pounder and is still physically growing up. He may defend his belt once or twice prior to returning to the light-fly category.
There had been four Japanese challengers who had ambitious but unsuccessful cracks at the world belts. Kenji Yonekura lost to Argentine flyweight “Little Giant” Pascual Perez by a 15-round decision in 1959. Light-fly Hideyuki Ohashi was stopped by “Korean Hawk” Jungkoo Chang in 1986. Southpaw speedster Eiji Kojima was dispatched by WBA super-fly champ Alexander Munoz of Venezuela in just two rounds in 2002. Akira Yaegashi dropped a twelve-round decision to Japan-based Thailander Eagle Kyowa in 2007.
You may ask why the Japanese boxing industry pays such great respects to the shortest arrival at the world throne. It might be not only the Japanese tradition but the Asian culture: the earlier, the better. The world record is still held by Thailand’s Saengsak Muangsurin who gained the world junior welter belt?in his third pro bout after his Muay-thai career?by dethroning Perico Fernandez in 1975.
It might be a good contract against our impetuous tradition that even Olympic medallists Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, Floyd Mayweather took time to get accustomed to the professional warfare and grow up so physically and mentally that they wouldn’t be delicate soft-touches. But it is true that, in this country, promoters and televisions still regard the new record as valuable and money-making. We suppose, in the future, some prospects will try to win world belts in their sixth or less professional bouts, even though they aren’t so good as Ioka.
WBC supervisor: Frank Quill.
Promoter: Ioka Promotions.
(2-11-2011)