By Joe Koizumi Unheralded underdog Retsuri Lee (AKA Ryol-Li Lee; 17-1-1, 8 KOs), 121.75, astoundingly captured the WBA super-bantam belt as he was awarded a unanimous decision (115-113, 115-114 and 118-110) over highly regarded defending champ Poonsawat Kratingdaeng-gym (41-2, 29 KOs), 122, over twelve upset rounds on Saturday in Tokyo, Japan. Lee, a Japan-born Korean, kept moving and countering the aggressive champ who kept stalking the elusive target all the way. Poonsawat, making his fourth defense, failed to catch the Fancy Dan although he threw twice as many punches as the counterpunching challenger. (More to come) Bit of an upset there.
Anybody seen the fight?? Getting a decision in Japan against a Japanese (albeit half) is a tough proposition if you don't knock the guy out...just wondering if the cards were sound
I've not seen it, but apparently it was the right decision - although one of the cards was a bit too extreme at 118-110.
Ya know anything about this Ryol Li Lee Kos? Was he highly rated in Japan? Look forward to see this fight.
I'll be honest in saying that I know very little about him. He wasn't really well talked about, even though he holds a really good win over Hiroyuki Enoki. That was a big upset, but nothing on the scale of his win today :yep
Pretty good result for Japanese boxing following the Hasegawa loss. Does Lee have a different promoter from Nishioka?
He beat Enoki, who I was quite impressed with in his fight with John, one dimensional with a whack on him, fought with massive swelling too, but he seems to have struggled since. On Lee, I guess he's moved down, but to be honest I didn't even realise this fight was happening Fair play to him, Poonsewat is a dangerous foe.