April 16, 2015
April 16, 2015
OSAKA, JAPAN
Unbeaten WBC bantamweight champ Shinsuke Yamanaka (23-0-2, 17 KOs), 117.75, impressively kept his WBC bantamweight belt as he displayed an eye-catching demolition of previously undefeated Argentine Diego Santillan (23-1, 15 KOs) at 0:32 of the seventh session on Thursday in Osaka, Japan. The hard-hitting southpaw Japanese registered his eighth defense--sixth within the distance--by dropping the game challenger twice?each once in the sixth and the fatal seventh?with a lethal left called “God’s left.” Yamanaka, five years his senior at 32, exploded a devastating left to send him badly to the deck, and the bloodied Santillan made no effort to raise himself up only to be counted out by the referee Michael Griffin of Canada. It’s a picture-perfect southpaw left.
Yamanaka took the initiative from the outset, throwing southpaw jabs to judge the distance to the shorter challenger by four inches. The champ had him bleeding from the nostrils in the end of the initial round and it became worsened as the contest progressed so that Santillan, formerly WBC Mundo Hispano titlist, looked like a bloody mess in later rounds. Throwing lead rights patiently, Yamanaka, the upright southpaw, controlled the pace and occasionally released vaunted lefts, which the Argentine barely averted with his high guard. The fourth saw Santillan attempt to land quick hand punches pit-a-pat, but Yamanaka’s footwork smoothly had them miss the target.
After the fourth, all the judges had the lefty champ leading on points: 40-36 due to the open scoring system.
Yamanaka, in round five, turned more positive and busily threw southpaw jabs and solid lefts to have Santillan retreating from pillar to post. The sixth witnessed Yamanaka accelerate his attack and catch up with the elusive challenger with a vicious left following a quick combination to the face. Down he went. But Santillan quickly stood up to resume fighting gamely.
The end abruptly came in the beginning of the seventh, when Yamanaka finally landed his trademark left leather that put him down to the deck. Santillan sat down on the canvas and probably realized that the champ would be too much for him and he had better stay there rather than resume fighting. He was counted out then and there.
All the officials?Frank Garza (US), Predrag Aleksic (Montevideo) and Noppharat Sricharoen (Thailand)?tallied 60-53 in favor of the defending champ before the trick happened.
“I wish to fight a strong opponent, or engage in a unification bout with another organization’s champ,” coolly said the unmarked and unbruised champ. The crestfallen loser admitted the champ’s strength, saying, “His left was very hard. He’s a good champion. It was my pride that I fought such an excellent titleholder.”
The champ’s promoter/manager Akihiko Honda said, “I’ll look for a more meaningful matchup for Yamanaka.”
On the undercard, sensational Juiki Tatsuyoshi, 121, the son of former WBC bantam ruler Joichiro, made a successful debut as he floored Tadao Iwatani, 121.25, with a strong left hook in the first and dropped him again to halt him at 2:45 of the second round in a scheduled four. Papa Joichiro praised his son’s fine performance and wished for his 18-year-old son’s good future. Great many press people and cameramen surrounded Juiki and Joichiro after this dramatic triumph.
Promoter: Teiken Promotions.
(4-16-2015)