Japan’s Shinsuke Yamanaka floored Belgian challenger Stephane Jamoye four times with his killer left hand on Wednesday to retain his WBC bantamweight title with a fifth straight knockout win.
Panamanian referee Hector Afu stopped the fight 11 seconds into the ninth round, when southpaw Yamanaka’s straight left to the body sent Jamoye to the canvas.
It was Yamanaka’s sixth defense of the 53.5kg-class title, which he won by beating Mexico’s Christian Esquivel with a technical knockout in Tokyo in November 2011.
Photo: AFP
His unscathed professional record improved to 21 wins, 16 of them inside the distance, and two draws. He has triumphed in five title bouts in a row by a knockout or technical knockout.
It was the fifth loss for European bantamweight champion Jamoye, the No. 3 WBC contender, who has 25 wins to his name, 15 of them by knockout.
“It was great that I could finish the fight with a knockout,” said Yamanaka, 31. “I relied too much on my left hand to throw combinations. I want to fight abroad and fight in a bout to unify world titles.”
Right-handed Jamoye, 24, said Yamanaka’s punches were “very strong.”
“I knew it would be a tough fight. I am still young and I will think about [another world challenge] after developing my skills further,” the Belgian said.
Yamanaka dominated throughout against Jamoye, who was seeking to become the first Belgian world boxing champion in his first shot at a world title.
Yamanaka’s first knockdown of the night came in the second round, when his straight left caught the Belgian’s face.
In the eighth round, the champion floored Jamoye with a straight left to the body and again with a blow to the face. The Belgian managed to tough it out, but the end finally came only seconds into the ninth round, when Yamanaka’s left body blow sent Jamoye down for the fourth time at the Osaka Castle Hall in the western city.
On the undercard, Spain’s Kiko Martinez retained his IBF super-bantamweight title by beating Japanese challenger Hozumi Hasegawa on a technical knockout.
US referee Robert Byrd stopped the fight 1 minute, 20 seconds into the seventh round, when Hasegawa was floored for the third time by the Spanish champion, who remained the aggressor throughout with one-two combinations.
It was the 28-year-old’s second defense of the title he won by knocking out Jonathan “Momo” Romero of Colombia last August in the 55.3kg division.
The right-handed fighter now has 31 wins to his name, 23 of them inside the distance, against four losses.
Hasegawa, 33, who has previously held the WBC bantamweight and featherweight titles, failed to claim a championship belt in his first world title bout in three years.
His record slipped to 33 wins, 15 inside the distance, against five losses.
Martinez chased Hasegawa, the 13th IBF contender, and punished him with both hands at close range. His onslaught started from the first round at the Osaka Castle Hall.
The Japanese southpaw fought back with counter-punches led by right jabs.
“Hasegawa could withstand my punches and was a very tough boxer,” Martinez said. “I thought my power would prevail if I fought on at close range.”
The tattooed Spaniard forced Hasegawa against the ropes early in the second round and sent him to the canvas with a flurry of left and right blows for a count of eight.
In the fourth round, Hasegawa started bleeding from a cut on his right eyebrow and the fight was briefly stopped for first aid.
In the middle of the sixth round, the rampant Martinez was slapped with a one-point deduction for punching Hasegawa’s face when the referee tried to break them apart.
Hasegawa, his face swollen, slowed down in the seventh round and buckled after taking a left hook in a flurry of blows.
After a count of eight, another left hook knocked him down again and prompted the referee to stop the fight.
By the time Cameron Menzies finally left the arena on Monday, the blood gushing from the gash on his right hand had trickled down his wrist, part of his forearm and — somehow — up to his face. Smeared in crimson and regret, and already mouthing sheepish apologies to the crowd, he disappeared down the steps, pursued by a stern-looking Matt Porter, the chief executive of Professional Darts Corp (PDC). The physical scars from Menzies’ encounter with the Alexandra Palace drinks table after his 3-2 defeat against Charlie Manby at the Darts World Championship would be gone within a few weeks.
Manchester United on Monday blew the lead three times to miss out on moving up to fifth in the Premier League as AFC Bournemouth would not be beaten in a thrilling 4-4 draw at Old Trafford. United have lost just once in their past 10 games, but Ruben Amorim would be frustrated as more points at home were frittered away despite arguably the best attacking display of his reign in charge. Amad Diallo and Casemiro gave the hosts a halftime lead either side of Antoine Semenyo’s equalizer. Two Bournemouth goals from Evanilson and Marcus Tavernier in seven minutes at the start of the
LOW-GOAL SHOOT-OUT: Of the nine penalties in the shoot-out, only three went in, with Flamengo’s Samuel Lino, and Vitinha and Nuno Mendes of PSG netting Matvei Safonov on Wednesday made four straight penalty saves in a penalty shoot-out to help Paris Saint-Germain beat Flamengo in the Intercontinental Cup final and win a sixth trophy of the year. The Russian goalkeeper was thrown in the air by his teammates after his exploits in the shoot-out, which was won 2-1 by PSG after a 1-1 draw after extra-time. It completed a trophy-laden 12 months for the French team, who had already won the Trophee des Champions, Ligue 1, the Coupe de France, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Super Cup — also on penalties against Tottenham Hotspur in
Italian Luca de Aliprandini described Saturday’s World Cup giant slalom at Val d’Isere as the hardest race of his life, coming two days after his Swiss partner Michelle Gisin suffered a heavy fall in training which required neck surgery. De Aliprandini finished 26th in the men’s event won by Loic Meillard, but the result paled into insignificance with two-time Olympic ski champion Gisin in hospital with injuries to her wrist, knee and cervical spine (neck). “It was Michelle’s wish that I race here. I couldn’t say no to her, but it was the toughest race of my entire life,” an emotional De
RSS