August 2, 2015
OSAKA, JAPAN
Unheralded Takahiro Yamamoto (16-4, 13 KOs), 118, dramatically captured the OPBF bantamweight belt when he overcame his visit to the deck and finally halted defending titlist Yu Kawaguchi (23-7, 10 KOs), 118, at 0:50 of the seventh round on Sunday in Osaka, Japan. It was such a give-and-take affair as the champ hit the canvas in the second, but the challenger was also sent to the deck in round three. The champ Kawaguchi, in round two, sustained a bad laceration over the right eyebrow, which became a great nuisance for him to go on. The seventh witnessed the champ Kawaguchi hit the deck again and bleed so profusely that the third man didn’t hesitate to declare a halt. The victor Yamamoto had lost a split duke to Kawaguchi in their first encounter with the vacant OPBF belt at stake this April, but he avenged his close defeat with such a see-saw triumph that had the crowd into frenzy.
Promoter: Green Tsuda Promotions.
(8-2-2015)