Akira Yaegashi, the former three-division titleholder, is retiring at 37, according to The Japan Times.
Akira Yaegashi, the former three-division titleholder, is retiring at 37, according to The Japan Times.
Yaegashi (28-7, 16 KOs) won major titles as a strawweight, junior flyweight and flyweight. He never fought outside of his native Japan in his 15-year career.
Hideyuki Ohashi, a former champion and founder of the gym at which Yaegashi has trained, reportedly told him, “You’ve done enough.” Yaegashi agreed.
“Although I haven’t ever felt the limits of my physical strength, I’m not able to continue as an active boxer all on my own,” Yaegashi said on a conference call.
The Yokohama resident won a strawweight title when he stopped Somporn Seeta in 10 rounds in October 2011. He lost it to Kazuto Ioka by a close unanimous decision in his next fight, which was a title-unification matchup.
Two fights later, in April 2013, he defeated Toshiyuki Igarashi by a unanimous decision to win a flyweight title. He lost that belt in his fourth defense against Roman Gonzalez, who stopped Yaegashi in nine rounds in September 2014.
Yaegashi then went down to junior flyweight, at which he easily outpointed Javier Mendoza to win a title in a third division in December 2015. He successfully defended twice before losing his belt to Milan Melindo by first-round knockout in May 2015.
In his final fight, he lost by ninth-round TKO against flyweight titleholder Moruti Mthalane in December.
Akira Yaegashi, the former three-division titleholder, is retiring at 37, according to The Japan Times.
Akira Yaegashi, the former three-division titleholder, is retiring at 37, according to The Japan Times.
Yaegashi (28-7, 16 KOs) won major titles as a strawweight, junior flyweight and flyweight. He never fought outside of his native Japan in his 15-year career.
Hideyuki Ohashi, a former champion and founder of the gym at which Yaegashi has trained, reportedly told him, “You’ve done enough.” Yaegashi agreed.
“Although I haven’t ever felt the limits of my physical strength, I’m not able to continue as an active boxer all on my own,” Yaegashi said on a conference call.
The Yokohama resident won a strawweight title when he stopped Somporn Seeta in 10 rounds in October 2011. He lost it to Kazuto Ioka by a close unanimous decision in his next fight, which was a title-unification matchup.
Two fights later, in April 2013, he defeated Toshiyuki Igarashi by a unanimous decision to win a flyweight title. He lost that belt in his fourth defense against Roman Gonzalez, who stopped Yaegashi in nine rounds in September 2014.
Yaegashi then went down to junior flyweight, at which he easily outpointed Javier Mendoza to win a title in a third division in December 2015. He successfully defended twice before losing his belt to Milan Melindo by first-round knockout in May 2015.
In his final fight, he lost by ninth-round TKO against flyweight titleholder Moruti Mthalane in December.
Ryota Murata is back to his winning ways after scoring a fifth-round TKO of Canadian middleweight Steven Butler earlier today in Japan.
Japanese middleweight contender Ryota Murata made short work of Steven Butler, stopping the Canadian in the fifth round today in Yokohama, Japan.
Also on the card, former four-division titleholder Roman Gonzalez shook off the rust from a 15-month layoff to blow past Diomel Diocos in two rounds in a scheduled eight-round bantamweight contest..
Murata, a 2012 Olympic gold medalist, dropped Butler with a hard left hook at the end of the final round, prompting referee Rafael Ramos to wave off the fight at 2:45.
The win caps a marked turnaround for the 33-year-old Murata, who suffered a wide decision loss to Rob Brant last year but avenged the loss with a second round knockout in a rematch in July.
“I felt good while I was in the room waiting to come out, and I thought I’d be able to end it quickly,” Murata (16-2, 13 knockouts) said.
Ryota Murata had no problem with Steven Butler on Monday. We’ll see how he does when he faces one of the big boys of the middleweight division. Photo by Kazuhiro Nogi / AFP via Getty Images
The gulf in talent was plainly evident. Butler, 24, was fighting just for the second time outside of Canada and had suffered a knockout loss to countryman Brandon Cook in 2017. Early on, Butler (28-2-1, 24 KOs) was willing to trade and had some success targeting the body. But before long, Murata’s superiority began to show as he started putting together his combinations, whipping Butler’s head back with straight rights.
“Butler packed more of a punch than I expected,” Murata said. “I caught him a couple of times with my right. It’s been a turbulent year, but I was ultimately able to fight on my own terms.”
Next year could see Murata involved in a major fight, possibly against the likes of Canleo Alvarez or Gennadiy Golovkin. Recently, Alvarez spoke of his desire to fight in Japan, while talk of a Golovkin-Murata matchup has circulated for a few years.
Gonzalez (48-2, 40 KOs) showcased his typical offensive bravura, tagging Diocis (14-6-4, 4 KOs) with a flurry of fluid combinations before referee Yuki Fukuchi waved the bout off at 2:20 of the second round.
Though clearly past his prime, Gonzalez, 32, appears capable of making another run at the top contenders of the 115-pound division. That includes former opponents Juan Francisco Estrada and Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, as well as Khalid Yafai.
In other preliminary bouts, Kenshiro Teraji (17-0, 10 KOs) retained his junior flyweight title with a fourth-round technical knockout of Randy Petalcorin (31-4-1, 23 KOs).
After a tentative start, Teraji began brutalizing Petalcorin’s body in Round 3, dropping the Filipino three times. Teraji dropped Petalcorin once more in Round 4 with a body shot combination, prompting referee Frank Garza to stop it at 1:08. Teraji has made seven successful defenses of his title.
And South Africa’s Moruti Mthalane (39-2, 26 KOs) staved off the always game Akira Yaegashi (28-7, 16 KOs) before stopping the Japanese contender in the ninth round to retain his flyweight title.
Yaegashi had some moments in the mid rounds, but the durable Mthalane turned it up late, hurting Yaegashi in Round 8 with a left hand to the body. In Round 9, Mthalane finished the job, unloading a heap of punches while Yaegashi lay on the ropes. Referee Mario Gonzalez had seen enough at that point, halting the contest at 2:54 of the ninth.
