Etsuko Tada Decisions Kokietgym To Retain WBA Title

By Ronnie Nathanielsz

Undefeated Japanese southpaw Etsuko Tada retained her WBA women’s minimum weight title in a hard-fought ten round battle with tough, previously unbeaten Thai girl Yani Kokietgym in Osaka on Sunday.

With the win Tada improved to 6-0 with 2 knockouts while Yani who at 20 was eight years younger than the champion dropped to 6-1 with no knockouts.

Tada used effective hooks to overcome Yani who threw a lot of punches and often charged in only to be caught with solid counter-punches that saw her staggered in the sixth round.

Yani was ranked No. 7 by the WBA and was also the Pan Asian Boxing Association title holder. Her trainer Jakkrit Kotsithong was quoted by Thai media as saying prior to the fight that Yani would be the aggressor from the opening bell since he expected the judges to favor the Japanese champion.

Jakkrit said if Yani wanted to return to Bangkok with the belt she would have to go for a decisive win.

Yani herself said she had trained for almost three months for the title figt and was convinced she would  win the title even though there were many who felt Tada was the superior fighter.

All three judges had Tada the winner. Two of the judges scored it 96-94 while the third judge had the Japanese girl winning by a wider 97-93 margin. The referee was respected international referee Ferdinand Estrella.

Tada won the title last April with a unanimous decision over previously unbeaten champion Son Cho Ring of South Korea, overwhelming the champion with her quickness and connecting at will.  Son dropped to 10-1 with 3 knockouts.