November 10th

After a few poor days in history we've seemingly hit a gold mine for November 10th which has had so much happen over the last 24 years that we didn't even look further back than 1990 and yet we've ended up some cracking fights, some very peculiar defenses as well the debut of a men we truly believe is a superstar in the making.

In 1990 we had two bouts of note. One of those came in Indonesia where Abdi Pohan, who was then 3-1 according to boxrec.com, managed to get a shot at WBO Light Flyweight champion Jose De Jesus. Whilst we understand fighters in the lower weights being fast tracked this was a second successive world title shot for Pohan who had failed in IBF title fight against Muangchai Kittikasem just 7 months earlier. Unfortunately for the Indonesian fighter he was to be stopped in the 7th round by Puerto Rico's De Jesus who was stripped a few months later for failing to defend the belt in a timely manner. Pohan would get a third world title shot the following year and come up short against Thailand's Fahlan Sakkreerin before being relegated to regional title fights. He would later retire in 1996 with a record of 9-8 (2), according to boxrec.com. We mention his record here as we believe it's incomplete but we're unsure as to what his actual record should be. It should also be noted that former world champion Elly Pical fought on this card in what was his final bout before a short lived comeback in 2000.

On exactly the same day, albeit in South Korea, fans saw the brilliant Myung-Woo Yuh retain his WBA Light Flyweight title with his second successive victory over Leo Gamez. The first fight, 7 months earlier, had resulted in a split decision with Gamez losing his unbeaten record this re-run however wasn't even close with Yuh winning clearly on all 3 cards. Sadly for Yuh he would lose his title just 13 months later losing a very close bout with Hiroki Ioka in what was the only defeat of the Korean fighter's great career.

In 1996 Thai fans saw Yokthai Sithoar make the first defense of the WBA Super Flyweight title as he defeated Indonesia's Jack Siahaya. At the time Siahaya was apparently 1-2 though much like Pohan, mentioned above, we suspect his record is incomplete. For Yokthai this was the first of 4 defenses before he lost the title to Satoshi Iida in their second meeting. The Thai would then fail to recapture the title when he was given a chance by Hideki Todaka in 2000, on that occasion he was stopped in the 11th round and it was the beginning of the end for the Thai who failed to score any other notable wins.

Just last year we saw Shinsuke Yamanaka retain the WBC Bantamweight title with a 9th round KO against Mexico's Alberto Guevara. This was Yamanaka's 5th defense of the title and came just 3 months after his blow out of the hapless Jose Nieves. Since this win he has added two more defenses of the bout stopping Staphane Jamoye just 5 months later before out pointing Suriyan Sor Rungvisai in a very tough contest.

On the same day as the Yamanaka/Guevara bout Japanese boxing fans had another man to be excited about as the then 18 year old Kosei Tanaka beat the then world ranked Oscar Raknafa via decision in what was Tanaka's debut. It was clear from the performance against Raknafa that the youngster was an exceptionally talent fighter and since then he has become one of the leading contenders in the Minimumweight division with his ability being showcased recently in an outstanding win over Ryuji Hara. 

(Image of Yamanaka courtesy of boxrec.com)

---