By Jake Donovan
Katsunari Takayama made the first successful defense of his junior flyweight belt, fending off a determined Fahlan Sakkreerin Jr. long enough to earn a technical decision Wednesday evening at home in Osaka, Japan.
The bout was stopped towards the end of round nine, when a headbutt left Takayama cut over his eye and gushing blood to the point of concern over his fighting health.
It appears from here on out that Takayama is destined to be in tough fights. The 31-year old came up just short in a 12-round war with Francisco Rodriguez last August, a bout recognized by BoxingScene.com as 2014 Fight of the Year. His bounceback fight was no walk in the park, fighting on relative even terms with Go Aidara before stopping him in seven rounds last New Year's Eve.
That particular win earned Takayama two vacant titles, though he remains with just the IBF strap heading into Wednesday's defense. The irony in the gruesome ending was that—for eight or so rounds—it was one of his more convincing showing in recent years. Sakkreerin Jr. came to fight every step of the way, but the visiting Thai boxer was outgunned from a technical standpoint.
Takayama made things easy on himself whenever he remembered to punch in combination and play defense in anticipation of the incoming. Jabs and long right hands forced Sakkreerin Jr. back, putting him out of punching range although he would score with an occasional uppercut or right hand from the outside.
Sakkreerin Jr. enjoyed his first truly good round of the fight in the seventh, forcing Takayama to play prevent defense after connecting with non-consecutive right hands. It was the best he can manage while he could still see, as both eyes were on the verge of being shut. Takayama bounced back for a strong round eight, but was all out of tricks after getting clipped with a headbutt in the deciding ninth round.
The cut was a gusher, as Takayama was forced to fight through a mask of his own blood. The local favorite did his best to land power shots, but was target practice for a suddenly revived Sakkreerin Jr.
The change in momentum was too good to be true, however; referee Katsuhiko Nakamura rightfully called time to have the cut examined by the ringside physician. Takayama was clearly in no condition to continue, a ruling confirmed by the doctor, who instructed Nakamura to halt the contest at 2:19 of round nine.
Because the fight ended due to an accidental foul and went beyond the fourth round, the action went to the scorecards with the judges scoring the partial ninth round. Takayama prevailed by technical unanimous decision, although the judges were all over the place with scores of 90-81, 87-84 and 86-85.
With the win, Takayama is now 29-7 (11KOs). The defense was his first of his second tour as a strawweight title, having fought all around the world just to earn his first title in 2013. His first reign began and ended in Mexico, outpointing Mario Rodriguez in March '13 to win a belt on his fifth try. The reign lasted until last August in his aforementioned war with Francisco Rodriguez.
A five-fight unbeaten streak comes to a close for the 21-year old Sakkreerin Jr., who falls to 27-4-1 (15KOs). The bout was his first attempt at a major title, although he managed a major upset win in stopping Ryo Miyazaki—who had just vacated his strawweight title due to an inability to shrink down to 105 lbs.—in three rounds in Dec. '13.
The fight aired via slight delay on TBS in Japan, serving as the chief support to the flyweight title fight between Juan Carlos Reveco and Kazuto Ioka.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
