By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda
Old warrior but young at heart, 39-year-young Yuichi Ideta (18-16-1, 9 KOs), 153.5, eked out a hairline majority technical decision (67-66, 68-66 for him, 66-67 against him) over JBC#1 Masaki Kobayashi (9-3, 4 KOs), 153, because of the latter’s bad swelling caused by an accidental headbutt at 1:47 of the seventh round in a scheduled ten on Tuesday in Tokyo, Japan.
They began mixing it up with the challenger having the upper hand with an interim decision after the fifth on the open scoring system: 48-47, 49-46 for Kobayashi, but 47-48 for Ideta. The battered champ, in the sixth, turned aggressive and battered the fading foe from pillar to post to have the challenger’s left optic look like a black egg. Almost fatigued and exhausted, Kobayashi, fifteen years his junior at 25, was saved by the ref’s declaration of a technical decision, which, however, supported the champ who apparently won points in the sixth and seventh.
Ideta, who had suffered eleven consecutive defeats for years, rebooted his career and thus become the national champ. It’s his second defense to his credit.
Promoter: Misako Promotions.
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