Antonio Cervantes Vs Lion Furuyama: Hometown robbery?

Oh man, I have to watch this tonight !! I remember you talking about this fight before and I was looking for it.....
Huge Thanks :good:

 

I see smooth Saensak totally outboxing robotic Cervantes in an embarassing (a couple of Ali shuffles here and there by Saensak) fashion.

Pambele loses this fight worse than he lost to Benitez.

Slick Thai G Muangsurin all the way.:smoke

 

No Hometown Robbery,,,,,,

The December 5, 1973 bout was held in Panama City at the Gymnasio Nuevo Panama.

Now, Antonio Cervantes (Columbia) was the WBA Light-Welterweight Champion, and the WBA was
based in Panama, but -

If anything, the Panamanian fans cheered everything that Lion Furuyama landed.
This was Ismael Laguna and Roberto Duran country, and the Panama fans were not friends
with Antonio Cervantes of Columbia.

The 28 year-old and 'prime' Antonio Cervantes clearly won a 'comfortable decision' over the 'tough, underrated and
very strong'' Tetsou 'Lion' Furuyama.

Lion Furuyama 30-5-2 (21 KO's) did present a 'difficult opponent' with his crouching
southpaw style, but in no way did he worry Antonio Cervantes or his corner during the bout -
as the winner of this WBA Light-Welterweight Championship bout was 'never-in-doubt'.

Going into this bout, the WBA was 'scrambling' for capable opponents to put in the ring with
Antonio Cervantes. Furuyama, the 25 1/2 year-old Japanese Light-Welterweight Champion
had been riding an 8-bout 'winning streak' over the past '2 years'.

And in April 1973 {8-months earlier}, Furuyama had upset the former WBC Light-Welterweight Champion,
the #5-Ranked Light-Welterweight, Filipino Pedro Adigue Jr., by a 12-Round Decision for the OPBF
Light-Welterweight Championship.

Lion Furuyama was the #5 WBA Light-Welterweight at the time of the WBA Championship bout,
and was clearly a 'Certified' Top 10 Light-Welterweight Challenger.

Though, I do have to say, all '3' scoring officials were Latin-based and WBA-approved.
Scorecards;
Referee; Jesus Celis (Venezuela)..........149-141 (9-1-5 in Rounds) Antonio Cervantes
Judge; Harmodio Cedeno (Panama)....147-141 (9-3-3 in Rounds) Antonio Cervantes
Judge; Juan Carlos Tapia (Panama)....148-140 (10-2-3 in Rounds) Antonio Cervantes

OPBF Boxing Report also scored it for the WBA Champion, albeit much closer;
146-142 (8-4-3 in Rounds)

 

Correct 'Flea Man',,,,,,

Venezuelan Referee, Jesus Celis - more than a little jaded in his scoring.

At least '3' Rounds were 'Even', and Lion Furuyama carried at least '4' of the Rounds.
Cervantes, on the other hand, did control the other '8' with cleaner punching, and effective ring generalship.

The 'surprising thing', no one thought that Lion Furuyama had a chance
of going the distance.

 

It's one of those fights where a challenger deserves an immediate rematch.

Furuyama hurt Cervantes on more than one ocassion.

Extremely tough fight for Cervantes.

Saensak beat and outboxed:yikes Furuyama far more convincingly than Cervantes.

Is there a limit to Muangsurin's awesomeness?

 

In that Cervantes vs Furuyama WBA Light-Welterweight Championship, on December 5, 1973.

Lion Furuyama did catch Antonio Cervantes with that lead straight left-hand numerous
times, as Cervantes was reaching in to land his own lead right-hand.

Lion, would move just a bit, then comeback with the hard straight left. If anything,
Lion Furuyama 'surprised' Antonio Cervantes with his 'strength, quickness, and ability to take a punch'.

Did he hurt Kid Pambele, maybe briefly at the 2:00 mark of Round 8, with his triple right-hook, and
left-hand that drove the Champion into his own corner and shook Cervantes legs, but the Champion
recovered to score with an assortment of punches.

Much credit must be given to Lion Furuyama though, as he did travel to Central America
(foreign land), to take on who many called 'an unbeatable Champion', and take the Champion
the 'full route'.

As Antonio Cervantes in recent bouts, had defeated the likes of former WBA Champion Alfonso Fraser 'twice'
(KO 10 and TKO 5), former WBA Champion Nicolino Loche (TKO 10) and #1 Carlos Maria Giminez (TKO 5)

But, it was Lion who was the one who was cheered on by the 15,000 Panamanian fans
that Wednesday Night at the Gymnasio Nuevo Panama, not the Columbian Cervantes.

In the Video Tape, check out the size of Lion Furuyama's biceps. The man had 'GUNS'.

 

:smoke Cheers for uploading this one mucker - I'll get around to watching it and weighing in with something at some point over the next couple of days. I might re-watch Muangsurin v Furuyama too....

 

The December 5, 1973 - WBA Light-Welterweight Championship Bout

That was Lion Furuyama's 'finest performance' as a Professional.

In his next bout, in March 1974, the 26 year-old Lion Furuyama labored to
stop 'a poor Japanese opponent' in Masakatsu Seike 10-9-0 (6 KO's) for the
Japanese Light-Welterweight Championship.

Furuyama won by (KO 9), over a fighter who had been stopped in 4 of his last 5 bouts,
and all stoppages were via early-round 'Knock-outs'.

Also in March 1974, Antonio Cervantes, went on to defend his WBA Light-Welterweight Championship by
stopping (KO 6) #1 WBA and OPBF Light-Welterweight Champion, Chang-Kil Lee 22-1-0 (10 KO's)

Was Chang-Kil Lee worthy of a #1 WBA Ranking,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,NO WAY.

It was another WBA 'gift' for Mr. Cervantes.