November 13th

It was on this day in 1988 that Japanese fighter Hiroki Ioka lost his first world title. The Japanese fighter had began the day as the WBC Minimumweight champion though was unable to beat undefeated Thai visitor Napa Kiatniwanchai. This was the second fight between the two men who had fought to a draw 5 months earlier and would for a third time in Jun 1989, with the Thai stopping Ioka in the 11th round of a very 1-sided contest. Despite this loss Ioka would later go on to claim the WBA version of the Light Flyweight title unseating Korean great Myung-Woo Yuh before losing a return match just 11 months later. Future attempts at winning Flyweight and Super Flyweight world titles both fell short as Ioka attempted to become Japan's first ever 3 weight world champion. As for Napa his reign came to an end in 1989 and following that his career went down hill before his eventual retirement in 2000

In 1993 we saw Korean great Sung-Kil Moon fight for the final time. Moon, one of the greatest little men warriors the sport has ever seen, would fail to defend his WBC Super Flyweight title against Mexican visitor Jose Luis Bueno, who narrowly-over-came Moon. Going in to the bout the Korean was seeking his 10th defense of the title he had won less than 4 years earlier. Although Moon's career lasted 7 years he left a lasting impression on fans from the late 1980's and early 1990's and was involved in some of the bloodiest and most entertaining battles of the era, including his insanely entertaining scrap with Kenji Matsumura which is always worth a watch. For Bueno his reign was a short one and he would lose his belt in his first defence, suffering a decision loss in Japan to Hiroshi Kawashima. 

More recently, in 2006, we had a double header in Tokyo. The show saw the then WBC Bantamweight champion Hozumi Hasegawa retain his world title with a clear win over Genaro Garcia though the show is best remembered for the WBC Minimumweight title bout between Japanese based Thai champion Eagle Den Junlaphan and "journeyman challenger" Lorenzo Trejo who almost scored one of the biggest upsets in the divisions history. Junlaphan had entered the bout hunting the 3rd defense of his second reign as champion and things looked straight forward at times as he dropped Trejo in the early going though was dropped twice himself in round 6 and given an intensely close and competitive bout through vast swathes of the bout in a very memorable and highly entertaining contest. Sadly for the Thai he would lose the title a year later as he traveled to Thailand as was dethroned by compatriot Oleydong Sithsamerchai who began his impressive reign as champion.

(Image of Junlaphan courtesy of boxrec.com)

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