Any thoughts on this fight? Very good underrated battle. Jiro Watanabe makes his first attempt at the WBC Super Flyweight title with a record of 10-0. Although he fell short on winning the title in a spirited effort against the champ in Korea it could be argued that this was more of a hometown decision given that this took place in Chul Ho Kim's territory. Watanabe also hurts Kim badly for a brief moment in round 3 that could have been ruled a knockdown. Despite losing this fight Watanabe would go on to become an established reigning Super Flyweight Champ for 4 years before losing to Gilberto Roman. This content is protected
I remember Watanabe's name from following the boxing mags back when he was champ. 11 defenses (if you include winning the WBC title over Payao Poontarat) over a four year reign and never fought again after losing a decision to another very good champion Gilberto Roman. Not too shabby. Interestingly the WBA stripped him for trying to unify against Poontarat and he became the WBC champion with the victory. So he would have been the unified champion without the WBA's shenanigans. As for the Kim fight I haven"t sat through the whole thing but Watanabe looked to be the better boxer. Probably a hometown decision for Kim..
He also beat Gustavo Ballas who was a really good fighter. It would have been nice to have seen Jiro Watanabe and Khaosai Galaxy face each other while they were both champs.
