Ideta, 38, dethrones Japanese 154Lb champ Kawasaki

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

It was truly a night of upsets where we witnessed four unexpected results with our great surprise on Tuesday night at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.

Unheralded Isao Aoyama (13-10-1, 4 KOs), 114.5, upset former OPBF, Japanese flyweight champ and two-time world title challenger Takuya Kogawa (32-8-1, 14 KOs), 115, at 1:13 of the fifth round in a scheduled eight.

Less experienced Japanese rookie Katsuya Yasuda (10-1, 7 KOs), 135, upset WBO AP #14 Rachata Khaophimai (12-3, 9 KOs), 133.25, from Thailand, at 2:22 of the second round in a scheduled eight.

Underdog Yuni Takada (10-8-3, 5 KOs), 105, upset JBC#1, WBO AP#2 minimum Katsuki Mori (10-2, 2 KOs), 105, at 2:45 of the fifth round in a scheduled eight. Scheduled to fight for the vacant WBO AP belt early next year, Mori was shockingly flattened with a right counter with a thud, to be carried out of the ring on a stretcher.

In the main event, JBC#6 Yuichi Ideta (16-16-1, 9 KOs), 153, upset Japanese super-welter champ Makoto Kawasaki (13-9-2, 2 KOs), 154, to halt him at 1:52 of the ninth round to wrest the national belt to our greatest surprise. The reason why his coronation became so sensational in sports media is that Ideta previously suffered no less than eleven consecutive defeats (can you believe?) but kept on fighting until thirty-eight years of age. Who on earth had expected Ideta to be a champion?

The dethroned champ Kawasaki, also 38, was also a late bloomer but was regarded as a prefight favorite. The obvious underdog Ideta had the tide turn in round three and kept on taking the initiative with his trade-mark give-and-take strategy, which eventually paid off.

Four upsets. What a night!

BoxRec: Yuichi Ideta

Promoter: Ohashi Promotions

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