Shuichiro Yoshino beat a former world champion Saturday, but it was hardly easy.
Masayuki Ito gave Yoshino trouble at times in a competitive, action-packed lightweight fight between Japanese boxers on the Gennadiy Golovkin-Ryota Murata undercard at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The 30-year-old Yoshino (15-0, 11 KOs) won by technical decision because a ringside doctor determined Ito shouldn’t continue after an accidental clash of heads.
Judges Yuji Fukuchi (107-102), Akihiko Katsuragi (107-102) and Biney Martin (106-103) each had Yoshino in front by at least three points when the fight was halted.
Ito (27-4-1, 15 KOs) lost for the third time in his past five fights.
The 31-year-old Ito, a former WBO junior lightweight champion, was by far the most accomplished opponent of Yoshino’s career. Yoshino handled that challenge well, as he consistently landed hard body shots, bloodied Ito’s nose early in their bout and opened a cut above Ito’s left eye in the eighth round.
In what turned out to be the final round of their bout, Ito and Yoshino traded hard head punches with just under 1:50 on the clock in the 11th round. A thudding left to the body by Yoshino made Ito retreat with 1:20 to go in the 11th round.
Then a hard, accidental clash of heads caused Ito to bend over and necessitated a break in the action with 49 seconds remaining in the 11th round. That caused a ringside doctor to call an end to the fight.
Ito’s short left hook inside connected a minute into the 10th round. Referee Michiaki Someya called for a break in the action with 47 seconds on the clock in the 10th round, so that a ringside physician could examine the nasty cut over Ito’s left eye.
Yoshino’s overhand right landed barely a minute into the ninth round. Ito’s right hand caught Yoshino cleanly just after the halfway point of the ninth round.
Ito’s right hand turned Yoshino’s head, but it didn’t keep him from moving forward with 20 seconds on the clock in the ninth round.
Two right hands from Yoshino couldn’t stop Ito from coming forward 30 seconds into the eighth round. A right hand by Ito made Yoshino hold him with 1:20 to go in the eighth round.
Yoshino opened a cut above Ito’s left eye in the final minute of the eighth round. Ito’s nose had bled for much of the fight by that point.
Yoshino and Ito traded hard shots on the inside during the opening minute of the seventh round. Another hellacious exchange occurred with just over 30 seconds on the clock in the seventh round.
Ito’s overhand right landed a little less than a minute into the sixth round. An aggressive Ito blasted Yoshino with another right hand just before the midway mark of the sixth round.
Ito landed a right to the side of Yoshino’s head almost at the same time Yoshino hit him with a left uppercut in the final minute of the sixth round.
Less than 20 seconds into the fifth round, Yoshino nailed Ito with a right hand that made him hold. A noticeable left hook by Yoshino landed flush with just over a minute to go in the fifth round.
A right hand by Yoshino connected with about 20 seconds remaining in the fifth round. Ito showed he was still in the fight with a hard right hand a few seconds prior to the end of the fifth round.
Less than 20 seconds into the fifth round, Yoshino nailed Ito with a right hand that made him hold.
Yoshino and Ito traded right hands a little less than a minute into the fourth round. Another right hand by Ito backed up Yoshino just after the midway mark of the fourth round.
Yet another Ito right hand made Yoshino move away and reset his feet with just under 30 seconds on the clock in the fourth round.
Ito cracked Yoshino with a left hook barely 1:15 into what was a successful third round for him. A right hand by Ito backed up Yoshino with just under 1:20 to go in the third round.
With about 15 seconds on the clock, Ito drilled Yoshino with yet another hard right hand.
Ito’s right hand backed Yoshino into the ropes and made him hold 30 seconds into the second round. Barely 10 seconds later, Yoshino drilled Ito with a right hand of his own.
Yoshino owned the middle minute of the second round, when he landed an effective overhand right and multiple body shots. Ito came back to drill Yoshino with a right hand toward the end of the second round.
Ito landed a stiff jab that backed up Yoshino with just under a minute to go in the first round. A right hand by Ito connected just before the opening round concluded.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.