Akinobu Hiranaka v Morris East

Courtesy of boxrec.com

When we talk about great Filipino punchers the name Morris East needs to be at the fore of the conversation. Although he's been forgotten by many he is one of only 3 Filipino's to claim "Ring Magazine's KO of the Year" an honour he claimed in 1992 thanks to his KO over Japanese fighter Akinobu Hiranaka.

Hiranaka (20-1, 18) entered the bout WBA Light Welterweight champion and as a serious reputation as a puncher himself having stopped Edwin Rosario in just 92 seconds just 5 months earlier. Hiranaka's power had not just seen him stopping Rosario but had also seen him twice dropping Juan Martin Coggi in what was Hiranaka's only loss going in to this bout.

East (15-2-0-1, 9), who was just 19 was a mercurial youngster. He had made his professional debut in 1989 aged just 15 and despite going the distance in 4 of his first 5 contests he would develop into a fighter with genuine concussive power, as had been shown in the fact he had stopped 4 of his previous 5 opponents. Although still young he was talented and had claimed the OPBF title less than 7 months earlier stopping Pyong Sup Kim in Korea.

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Going in to the bout Hiranaka was making the first defense of his title and was expected to defeat the somewhat inexperienced Filipino who had been unbeaten in 10 bouts, East however showed no fear of his highly regarded Japanese foe and seemed to be very confident of his own abilities.

The opening round saw the confidence of East oozing out of him as he boxed excellently using his superior hand speed to land crisp shots on the champion. The champion however wasn't just going to give the round away and in the final 80 seconds of the round both men landed some serious power punches on to each other in an excellent round. Despite the good start for East however he seemed to be stunned moments before the bell.

With Hiranaka realising his pressure was having real success late in the opening round he went on the offensive to start the second round. The game plan seemed obvious, either Hiranaka was going to force a stoppage with his power or with his pressure which was going to have to take it's toll on East. East for his part always returned fire and despite being backed up never looked panicked as he held his own.

Hiranaka continued to force the pressure at the beginning of round 3 though by now some of his work was becoming a little sloppy at mid range and he was having less success trying to get past the East jab. When he managed to get in close however the champion looked like he was having some moments of real success.

The action continued to be fought at a high pace throughout round 4 a round that Hiranaka landed some devastating blows that saw East visible bite down on his gum shield. The attack from Hiranaka through the round had take it's toll on East who's legs appeared to weakening before Hiranaka threw him to the canvas late in the bell, as if to say "I'm the man".

During the minute break between rounds 4 and 5 East appeared to clear his head and recover his legs as he had success of his own through round 5 with shots to the head and body of the champion. The champion however turned on the gas in the final 90 seconds and had East reeling on several occasions as the fans got treat to a very special round.

After the hectic fifth the pace had to drop and in round 6 with the pace just slowing slightly East had some of his best rounds as he was able to limit the work of Hiranaka who only really gained the crowd's roars once or twice as East himself landed many of the better blows. It certainly wasn't a clear round for East but he had made a solid case for it after likely losing the previous couple.

East began round 7 on his toes and again had success with controlling the distance and using his southpaw lead to great effect with Hiranaka coming in and eating counters. It was becoming obvious that Hiranaka no longer had the steam to try and break down East and would now need to box more with the challenger who had taken his best shots.

Despite East having much of round 7 in his favour Hiranaka did launch one notable attack late in the round that knocked out the gum shield of East who was forced to fight the last 40 seconds of the round with out it.

Hiranaka started round 8 very slow and although East was on the canvas, from a slip, it had started to look like Hiranaka was beginning to tire noticeably. His long series of shots from earlier rounds had been replaced by single hard shots and East was now the fighter landing the long series of shots.

Surprisingly, despite it being East on the attack for most of round 8 his gum shield was again sent flying, this time being thrown well outside of the ring as Hiranaka tried to fight him off. This gave us some amazing action in the final 40 seconds or so as both men took it in turns to land monster punches.

The start of round 9 was delayed for a few moments with East's corner man needing to sort out the tape on on the Filipino's glove. Although the crowd booed at the delay it appeared to favour the Japanese fighter who appeared to be more in need of a rest than the Filipino. Despite the elongated break Hiranaka continued to look like a fighter who tiring and his early pressure appeared to have taken more out of him than East. In fact the round was marred by Hiranaka holding after he landed a few shots showing that he was beginning to run on fumes. Despite the exhaustion Hiranaka did manage to raise the crowd to it's feet late in the round.

After Hiranaka had started the bout well it was obvious that the scorecards were becoming closer and closer as the fresh Filipino challenger was starting a charge against a slowing tiring Japanese fighter. By the start of round 10 Hiranaka was still in the lead but if the fight continued in the vein it had been going East seemed likely to just nick a decision. The Filipino continued to help his case by claiming round 10 with Hiranaka beginning to look completely spent and having next to no real success in the round. Although Hiranaka was looking all-in East didn't seem to have the power to take advantage.

Having traded bombs through out the bout it seemed likely we were either going to have a decision or Hiranaka was going to collapse from exhaustion. Surprisingly however the ending came much more suddenly than anyone would have imagined with East landing a sole left hand to the jaw of Hiranaka that sent the champion down to his knees. Although Hiranaka miraculously got to his feet he had no idea where he was and the referee rightfully called an end to the bout before East could take advantage of his zombie-like foe.

Fact Box-
Venue- Nihon Budokan, Tokyo, Japan
Date- September 9th 1992

Akinobu Hiranaka (20-1, 18)
1st Defence of WBA Light Welterweight title
v
Morris East (15-2-0-1, 9)

Referee- Carlos Berrocal
Judges-
Chalerm Prayadsab (96-95)
Wan-Soo Yuh (97-95)
Rodolfo Maldonado (96-95)

Outcome- East TKO11

Awards-Ring Magazine KO of the year 1992

The bout, in full, can be seen below thanks to TSURUGIpassB, including the eye catching KO.

Following the loss Hiranaka was unfortunately found to have suffered an intracranial hemorrhage and was forced in to retirement with a record of 20-2 (18).

Hiranaka's retirement hasn't forced him out of boxing however and he currently runs Hiranaka Boxing School Gym in Okinawa. The gym's website can be found at http://www.boxer-hiranaka.com/.

As the WBA Light Welterweight champion East himself would have a short reign losing the title in his first defense as he faced former Hiranaka opponent Juan Martin Coggi just 4 months after winning the belt.

East would fight on after the loss to Coggi and win 4 of his subsequent 5 fights which saw him winning and defending the Philippines Games & Amusement Board (GAB) Light Middleweight title.

Having become the youngest ever Filipino to win a world title it may have been fitting that East retired young though it's surprising that he was just 21 when he called time on his career with a record of 20-4-0-1 (12).

Like Hiranaka, East would also turn to training fighters and has worked at the Johnny Tocco gym helping with Zab Judah and Nonito Donaire.