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WBC bantamweight kingpin Shinsuke Yamanaka rubbed out challenger Tomas Rojas with a stunning seventh round KO during an all-southpaw clash on Saturday night in front of a packed house at Xebio Arena in Sendai, Japan.
Mexico’s Rojas had won three straight after being relieved of the WBC super fly crown by Suriyan Sor Rungvisai over a year ago and the Veracruz veteran had the experience advantage going into last night’s bout, having shared the ring with a long list of luminaries such as Anselmo Moreno, Rosendo Alvarez, Cristian Mijares, Gerry Penalosa, Jorge Arce and Vic Darchinyan.
But Yamanaka, despite engaging in his 17th pro contest versus 54 for Rojas, had enjoyed a far better previous 12 months then his challenger, having won the WBC bantam belt against Christian Esquivel and defended it on points in April against Darchinyan, who incidentally had KO’d Rojas in the second round in 2009 for the WBC and WBA super fly titles.
That would prove to be something of a bad omen for Rojas, who started the fight in Sendai on Saturday evening in a very active fashion but had difficulty with the composure of Yamanaka.
The champion’s patience and compact punching style was the opposite of the challenger, who threw with abandon and often off-balance, something Yamanaka made him pay for in the first two rounds with good counters.
Rojas was rocked in the first from an accidental head clash and in the second from a hard left but managed to claw his way back into contention in the third, landing a few wild shots.
But Yamanaka soaked up the punches and managed to come back by the end of the frame. The fourth saw both fighters struggle for control, which Yamanaka had managed to achieve by the fifth round, catching up to Rojas with both hands.
The champion started to find range in the sixth, dialing in hard left hands that slowed Rojas down considerably. Yamanaka bettered his work in the seventh with sharp combination punching that set up a full blooded left that caught Rojas flush.
The Mexican was out before he hit the canvas, ending matters at 0:36 of the seventh round.
Yamanaka improves to 17-0-2 (12) with two successful WBC title defenses while Rojas drops to 39-14-1 (26), with a record of 3-3 in world title bouts.
On the undercard, WBC flyweight champ Toshiyuki Igarashi, 17-1-1 (10), retained his crown with a majority decision against previously undefeated Nestor Daniel Narvaes, 19-1-2 (9).
Igarashi started well but Argentina’s Narvaes wouldn’t give in, taking punishment but patiently waiting for the champ to wear down. That happened after eight rounds and the challenger took full advantage, sweeping the last four frames with am aggressive, high work-rate.
But in the end, it wasn’t enough to offset Igarashi’s lead as the Tokyo man won two cards by a margin of 114-112 with the third card even at 113-113.
