Masamichi Yabuki retained his IBF flyweight title in impressive fashion this morning.
IBF flyweight champion Masamichi Yabuki turned in another standout performance in Aichi this morning, handing the ultra-tough Felix Alvarado his first stoppage loss in nearly 50 pro fights.
Though known for his offense, Yabuki (19-4, 18 KO) reportedly overpowered Alvarado (42-5, 34 KO) off the backfoot before sending the Nicaraguan to the mat with a vicious barrage in the 11th. Alvarado survived the round but not the fight, going down again midway through the final round and prompting the referee to stop it.
The entire bout is presently up on YouTube thanks to Twitter’s Tokkeru.
Yabuki has now stopped six consecutive opponents since splitting a pair of bouts with Kenshiro Teraji. He’s always been better than his record, his only prior losses coming to Junto Nakatani, Seigo Yuri Akui, and Daniel Matellon, but he’s truly blossomed to become one of the sport’s best and most underrated champions at the age of 33. With his mandatory obligation satisfied for the next 12 months, here’s hoping he gets a crack at unified titlist Ricardo Sandoval next time out.
Category: General Sports
