Samuel Serrano v Yasutsune Uehara I
Whether we like it or not this sport is full of surprises. Some of them are good, some are bad, but wherever we turn our heads there is bound to be an upset soon or later. Even the greats suffer them such as Sugar Ray Robinson. They are part and parcel of the sport.
One fight that really showed up just how easy an upset can occur was the 1980 clash between Yasutsune Uehara (25-4, 20) and the then defending WBA Super Featherweight champion Samuel “Sammy” Serrano (42-3-1, 14). The fight, later awarded the “1980 Ring Magazine Upset of the Year”, was supposed to be a routine defense for Serrano who had already defended his belt 10 times, for Uehara however it was a big chance to make a name for himself a chance he would happily grasp.
Although Uehara had been a multi-time Japanese champion he had fallen short in his only previous test at world level being stopped in 2 rounds by Filipino Ben Villafor almost 6 years earlier. Sure he had improved since the Villafor bout but he was now heading towards his 31st birthday, was significantly shorter than the highly regarded champion and was expected to be stuck at the end of Serrano's jab for the entire. It was also just his second bout state side, following the aforementioned loss to Villafor.
Serrano, for his part wasn't just highly rated but he often looked like a special fighter. He was slippery, very highly skilled, a fantastic pure-boxer who may have lacked power but made up for it in his technical ability to hit and not be hit. Impressively Serrano had come into the bout on a 6 year unbeaten run consisting of 24 bouts, 23 wins and a draw and he hadn't been feasting on limited challengers, like Uehara had in his Japanese title reign.
One fight that really showed up just how easy an upset can occur was the 1980 clash between Yasutsune Uehara (25-4, 20) and the then defending WBA Super Featherweight champion Samuel “Sammy” Serrano (42-3-1, 14). The fight, later awarded the “1980 Ring Magazine Upset of the Year”, was supposed to be a routine defense for Serrano who had already defended his belt 10 times, for Uehara however it was a big chance to make a name for himself a chance he would happily grasp.
Although Uehara had been a multi-time Japanese champion he had fallen short in his only previous test at world level being stopped in 2 rounds by Filipino Ben Villafor almost 6 years earlier. Sure he had improved since the Villafor bout but he was now heading towards his 31st birthday, was significantly shorter than the highly regarded champion and was expected to be stuck at the end of Serrano's jab for the entire. It was also just his second bout state side, following the aforementioned loss to Villafor.
Serrano, for his part wasn't just highly rated but he often looked like a special fighter. He was slippery, very highly skilled, a fantastic pure-boxer who may have lacked power but made up for it in his technical ability to hit and not be hit. Impressively Serrano had come into the bout on a 6 year unbeaten run consisting of 24 bouts, 23 wins and a draw and he hadn't been feasting on limited challengers, like Uehara had in his Japanese title reign.
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The bout saw Serrano start out as a big betting favourite though in the opening round it didn't reallt show why as the champion fought a messy round with a very little clean offensive work. The Japanese challenger's, decked in leopard skin shorts, intention was obvious he wasn't going to try and box with Serrano but he was going to look for the home run shots and loaded up on everything he threw. Serrano could see many of Uehara's shots coming and held when he needed. The round was close but it was a round the champion appeared to win by virtue of landing the cleaner shots.
Having seen what Uehara had in the opening round Serrano continued to move and land his long rangy shots. Although the opening round had been close the second was a clear round for the defending champion who appeared to move up a gear with his offensive work. Uehara continued to look for the occasional thudding punch though struggled to have much in terms of notable success as Serrano held whenever up close. It was far from pretty but Serrano's tactics were keeping him safe through the opening two rounds. In the third however Uehara stepped up in search of the knock out and had Serrano pinned in the corner, unfortunately for the Japanese fighter he was unable to land much of note before Serrano tied him up. The slippery Puerto Rican was certainly not setting the place on fire but he was showing an understand of the old idiom “hit and don't get hit” using a tactic he seemed to have perfected. In round four it appeared that Serrano was starting to create the distance he was comfortable with and had managed to damage the eye of the challenger thanks to his sharp accurate punches. It was still far from exciting but Serrano was beginning to make life look easier and easier and he was starting to look like the prohibitively priced favourite. Uehara, who had looked outclassed in round four came out with more vigour in round 5 though continued to struggle in landing anything of note with Serrano further damaging the left eye of Uehara. Even when Uehara managed to get Serrano on the ropes late in the fifth round he struggled to land and actually got tagged by several hard Serrano shots himself. By the start of the sixth round it appeared that Serrano was beginning to open up a large lead on the scorecards. He wasn't putting a dominant performance as such but he was winning the rounds pretty clearly with his hit and run, and hit and hold tactics. It wasn't attractive but it was easy to score. Despite having lost much of the sixth round Uehara finally managed to get some success as he again got Serrano on the ropes. Unlike in the previous round where Uehara swung and missed he connected cleanly with a right hand that seemed to stiffen the legs of the champion. For the first time in the fight Uehara had en opening. With Serrano's legs not providing a solid base pushed him again on to the ropes and looked to capitalise on his chance. Unfortunately for the Japanese fighter he was soon rebuffed by Serrano who managed to get off the ropes with his legs seemingly back under him. It was only a few seconds later however, just as the trouble appeared to pass, that Uehara would launch another attack. This time Serrano wouldn't get a chance to move away as a right hand connected solidly with his face, snapping his head back and sending him to canvas. The champion's heart saw him rising to his feet but the bout was well and truly over by the time he was up and stumbling into the corner, in fact by the time he was fully upright Uehara's team were already in the ring beginning to celebrate. |
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Fact Box
Venue-Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan, USA Date-August 2nd 1980 Samuel Serrano (42-3-1, 14) 11th Defence of WBA Super Featherweight title v Yasutsune Uehara (25-4, 20) Referee- Luis Sulbaran (scoring referee 50-45 Serrano) Judges- Harold Lederman (50-45 Serrano) Stanley Berg (50-45 Serrano) Outcome- Yasutsune Uehara KO6 Awards-Ring Magazine Upset of the Year 1980, KO Magazine Upset of the year Notable-5th time a Japanese fighter won a world title on the road. Video below is thanks to gianca60. |
The victory had seen Uehara scoring a major upset and putting himself on the boxing map. Unfortunately however the Japanese man's title reign wasn't great. He would defend the belt just once, defeating Leonel Hernandez via split decision before losing to Serrano in a rematch.
Having lost his world title just 8 months after winning it Uehara would retire, leaving behind a record of 27-5 (21). Serrano who had been lined up to face Hilmer Kenty in a Lightweight title fight saw his plans scrapped as a result of this loss. Although Serrano would regain his title in the rematch some 8 months later he never appeared to be quite the same fighter. He would defend his title 3 times in his second reign before being stopped by Roger Mayweather in 8 rounds in what would be his last notable bout. Although Serrano did fight on after the Mayweather loss it was at a much lower level as he compiled a career record of 50-5-1 (17) fighting for the final time in 1997 |
