DECEMBER 23, 1997
NAGOYA, JAPAN--Tall and lanky Japanese lefty SATOSHI IIDA, 115, dropped defending champ YOKTHAI SITH-OAR, 114 3/4, with a southpaw left in the opening session, piled up good points midway in the contest and withstood the furious last surge of the Thailander to wrest the WBA junior bantam title on a close but unanimous decision over 12 hard-fought rounds. Some 7,800 partisan fans were in attendance at Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium to see the local favorite Iida's anticipated coronation. Scored--Erki Meronen (Finland) 115-112, Waldemar Schmidt (Puerto Rico) 115-111, and Rodolfo Maldonado (Panama) 114-113, all for the 28-year-old Japanese.
It was a grudge fight, as they had battled to a majority draw in Nagoya on Apr. 29. The tallies of the controversial draw were as follows: 114-114, 115-115 and 116-113 for Iida. Many people thought Iida had won their first encounter. The Japanese lefty truly deserved a rematch, having moved up to the WBA's #2 rank thanks to the drawn verdict.
The opening session saw Iida floor the champ with a well-timed left. Yokthai, 22, looked stiff, nervous and slow then. Iida, taller by an inch, kept outboxing and constantly threw southpaw jabs and right-left combinations from the 2nd round on. Iida swept the first 4 rounds, since Yokthai, a flat-footed warrior, failed to catch the Fancy Dan. The Thailander, making his 5th defense, shifted his target exclusively to Iida's breadbasket from the 5th on.
The game and hard-punching champ was penalized a point due to repeated low blows--twice--in the 6th and 9th. Yokthai, a body snatcher, had sunk Venezuelan Alimi Goitia with a single body shot in the 8th in Thailand in Aug., 1996. The unbeaten puncher successfully kept his WBA title on 4 occasions--against Jack Siahaya (KO2), Aquiles Guzman (W12), Iida (D12) and Jesus Kiki Rojas (W12). The champ frequently attempted to dispatch Iida with his specialty, a straight right to the belly, but Iida's footwork averted his lethal weapon. Yokthai looked to have dominated the 7th, but Iida, circling to the right, scored well with light but accurate one-two combos to win the 8th and 9th.
With a huge lead on points thanks to the 1st-round knockdown and 2-time deduction of a point from the champ, Iida was expected to score a lopsided victory. Yokthai, however, showed his pride and determination in the last 3 rounds, when he really hurt the fading Iida. Aware of being behind on points, Yokthai recklessly and roughly began chasing Iida with big left hooks to the head and straight rights. He accelerated his attacks to have him at bay in the 11th, when Iida could not move well, as previously, probably due to his high pace in earlier rounds. The 12th and final session watched Iida moving and grabbing the relentless aggressor all the way. Only Iida's fighting heart barely made him survive the crisis. Yokthai's attacks were such that Waldemar Schmidt scored 10-8 for Yokthai in the last 2 rounds although we saw no knockdowns.
Iida, a stylish and handsome speedster, raised his mark to 23-1-1, 11 KOs. Yokthai tasted his first setback and dropped to 14-1-1, 8 KOs. Iida fought so smartly as to avert mix-ups with the hard-punching champ. Songchai Ratansuban, Yokthai's promoter, strongly claimed against the official verdict and Venezuelan referee Enzo Montero's panalizing two points in total from his ex-champ.
It was such a total war as the newly crowned champ Iida had his nose bone broken, which will need him a treatment for 7 weeks. Yokthai strongly demands their 3rd meeting to win back the title. But Iida is supposed to be obliged to meet the WBA #1 contender Julio "Yambito" Gamboa, 21-2, 13 KOs, of Nicaragua. Yambito had acquired the Fedelatin 115-pound title on an impressive 2nd round stoppage of Puerto Rican Andy Agosto (who lately lost to Johnny Tapia with the WBO title at stake) in Caracas, Venezuela, on Sept. 27.
Iida appeared on TV prior to his debut in 1991, so he received people's attentions since he was a green boy. He won the Japanese national jr. bantam title by disposing of Jiro Matsushima with body shots in the 8th in Mar., 1994. The tall lefty beat ex-IBF champ Rolando Bohol, ex-OPBF bantam boss Ernie Cataluna, ex-world contender Hisashi Tokushima to his credit. He had an ambitious crack at the WBA title in Nagoya in Apr. of the previous year only to sink with Alimi Goitia's more powerful southpaw hooks. After his first defeat, Iida made a good comeback by stopping Payanok Sasiprapha in the 4th and lopsidedly decisioning ex-OPBF ruler Jinhyung Yuh over 10 heats.
Yokthai didn't look sharp this time. He failed to make the stipulated 115-pound limit at his first trip on the scale, and had to reduce a pound and a half in an hour. In their first encounter last Apr., Yokthai was strong in the first half but ran out of gas thereafter, while Iida completely dominated the second half. This time, however, the process of the bout was quite opposite. Iida swept early rounds, but Yokthai accelerated his pace and battered him to the punch in the last 2 sessions.
Ex-African amateur champ living here in Nagoya, ISAAC SENTUWA, 123 1/4, came off the canvas and dropped back Korean junior feather champ and the OPBF #2 contender HEUNGNAM YONG, 123, twice and scored an important KO victory at 2:32 of a scheduled 10. It's Sentuwa's 3rd pro bout since he made a pro debut in Nagoya.
Unbeaten HAYATO ASAI, 114, displayed quick combinations in blasting out Korean WOOKI LEE, 113 3/4, at 2:06 of a scheduled 10. Asai, a stablemate of Iida, is 8-0-2, 7 KOs. Lee, formerly a Korean national champ, impaired to 10-11-1, 7 KOs.
Unbeaten local prospect NAOTO TAKAJO, 133 3/4, made a fine comeback after a 1-year layoff, as he floored MAKOTO YASUYAMA, 132 3/4, twice and won a onesided decision (double 60-54 and 60-53) over 6. Takajo is 12-0, 9 KOs.
Promoter: Midori Promotions.
ERKI MERONEN (Finland)
| - | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | TOTAL |
| IIDA | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 115 |
| YOKTHAI | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9(-1) | 10 | 10 | 10(-1) | 10 | 10 | 10 | 112 |
WALDEMAR SCHMIDT (Puerto Rico)
| - | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | TOTAL |
| IIDA | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 115 |
| YOKTHAI | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9(-1) | 10 | 10 | 10(-1) | 10 | 10 | 10 | 111 |
RODOLFO MALDONADO (Panama)
| - | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | TOTAL |
| IIDA | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 114 |
| YOKTHAI | 8 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 10(-1) | 9 | 10 | 10(-1) | 10 | 10 | 10 | 113 |
REFEREE: ENZO MONTERO (Venezuela)
(12-23-97)