February 10, 2015
TOKYO, JAPAN
Muscular southpaw, WBO#13 super-light ex-Japanese champ Shinya Iwabuchi (24-5, 20 KOs), 140, displayed his superior power and physical strength?if not his finesse?in overpowering and overwhelming Venezuelan lightweight titlist Luis Araguayan (11-8, 6 KOs), 139.25, en route to a brutal knockout at 1:21 of the seventh round on Tuesday in Tokyo, Japan. Iwabuchi, a Bruce Lee-haired hard-puncher, had attempted to win the OPBF 140-pound belt from his compatriot Keita Obara only to be dispatched with a single left hook in the twelfth and final session last August. Fresh from a nightmare, Iwabuchi was aggressive from the outset, stalking the incessantly circling Venezuelan who looked sharp, skillful but least powerful. It looked a matter of time Iwabuchi would catch up with the lanky opponent, stop his footwork with body shots and finish him within the distance. His blueprint prevailed as planned, and Iwabuchi decked the negative dodger in rounds four and seven. In the fatal round Iwabuchi sent him to the canvas on three occasions a la Marlon Starling demolishing and dethroning Mark Breland in eleven rough-and-tumble rounds of their first encounter in 1987. Simply was Araguayan too powerless against the Japanese southpaw victor.
Prior to the main event we saw an emotional ceremony in commemoration of a latest farewell of five-time national champ Tadashi Yuba, 38, who finally made up his mind to hang up gloves for good after he suffered a bad TKO defeat at the hand of Filipino lefty Dennis Laurent in a bid for the vacant OPBF 154-pound throne last December. The southpaw six-footer had seized the national 135-pound, 140-pound, 147-pound (twice), 160-pound and 154-pound belts thanks to his advantageous physique, power-punching and fighting spirit despite his fatal vulnerability. Once world rated and highly expected to fight for a world belt, Yuba pitifully forfeited his national belt to such an unheralded challenger as Motoki Sasaki in 2003, but he always remained a real crowd-pleaser whose style of winning or losing by a knockout was greatly loved by our aficionados. Though he couldn’t fight for any world championship, he collected five national belts in as many different categories to establish the national record. Ten gongs being dedicated to his farewell, Yuba said, “I’ll establish my gym and cultivate youngsters who will follow my footstep, including my 16-year-old son Kaiki (an amateur prospect).” His 19-year career with a 46-10-2, 33 KOs mark truly attracted our fans with his do-or-die way of fighting. Goodbye, champ.
Promoter: Reason Promotions.
(2-10-2015)