Tatsuyoshi finishes his career with TKO loss
August 29, 1999, Osaka: Former champion Joichiro Tatsuyoshi failed to regain the WBC bantamweight title in a match against defending champion Veeraphol Nakonluang promotion with a TKO in the seventh round at Osaka Dome, Osaka. It was a rematch after Tatsuyoshi lost the title last December in Osaka.
Determined to win back the title wearing
a gown that had a portrait of his recently deceased father who taught his son boxing,
Tatsuyoshi started with fast jab and one-two combos by keeping distance. However,
Tatsuyoshi lacked speed and accuracy in his punches and invited Veeraphol's sharper and
more accurate right counters to the head.
The first crisis for Tatsuyoshi came in the third. Veeraphol, who was cautious in the beginning, fired a straight right to the face of Tatsuyoshi, buckling his knees. Veeraphol followed up with a flurry of punches to the head and body, making Tatsuyoshi reeling on the ring. Tatsuyoshi almost crashed to the canvas but managed to hear the bell to end the round with wobbly legs.
In the fourth, Thai champ kept watching the seriously damaged challenger with few punches. Tatsuyoshi seemed to be trying to regain his energy by sticking jab.
Veeraphol restarted his offensive by connecting his hard right to the head and numerous combinations to the face and body, making the bout a target practice for him. Tatsuyoshi desperately tried to hit back with his wobbly legs, but his punches had no zap and speed that were easily fended off by the champion.
Although Tatsuyoshi seemed to possess no power to threaten Veeraphol in the sixth, the champion again restrained his attack against the worn-out challenger.
It took only 44 seconds to see the end of
the bout after the opening bell of the seventh. Shortly after Veeraphol glanced the face
of the referee Richard Steele, he connected a straight right to the jaw of Tatsuyoshi,
which froze the challenger in a standing position. Veeraphol intentionally backed up at
the moment without throwing follow-up punches, letting Steel stop the fight. It was the
same moment that Tatsuyoshi's handler threw a towel into the ring. Tatsuyoshi almost fell
to the canvas after being held by the referee's arms. Almost unconscious after absorbing
vicious punches, Tatsuyoshi kept asking his handlers if he really lost just after the bout
was over
Most of the spectators ( 27,000) gathered to see the hero's last fight entitled "Final Chapter" did not leave the stadium while Tatsuyoshi was graciously praising Veeraphol on the ring in the post war ritual.
Tatsuyoshi said on the following day in front of the press that he should retire because he was defeated twice by the same boxer in the same way even though he tried best to win, and admitted his physical ability had already gone down. Tatsuyoshi had promised his wife that he would quit boxing after the bout with Veeraphol win or lose.
It was Tatsuyoshi's 11th attempt at a world title, winning five of them and losing six. He captured the WBC bantamweight champion belt in his 8th bout as a professional boxer and regained the title for two times, which is the record in the long history of the bantamweight. Colored by a dramatic ups and downs including critical eye injuries that laid him off the ring, the 29-year-old charismatic boxer finished his 10-year professional career with 17 wins and 6 defeats and a draw with 12 KOs.