[Crimson]

Odds of winning the 1992 Straw Weight World Championship Tournament:
7-5 Ricardo Lopez
2-1 Hi-Yong Choi
2-1 Phalan Lookimingkwan
3-1 Hideyuki Ohashi
5-1 Tamsanqa Sogcwe
5-1 Fernado Martinez
8-1 Vuyani Nene
10-1 Manny Melchor
20-1 Rocky Lin
25-1 Rafael Torres
25-1 Kermin Guardia
50-1 Danny Porter

Tokyo Metropolitan Gym; Tokyo, Japan
Thursday, June 4th, 1992
Although the Tokyo Metropolitan Arena, seating 9,000+ did not sell out, more than 7,000 Japanese boxing fans turned out in force to witness the 4 Straw Weight title elimination fights, despite only 1 Japanese fighter being on the card. That being Hideyuki Ohashi, who would face off against England’s exciting longshot Danny Porter in the main event.

The night kicked off with Kermin Guardia taking on Fernando Martinez. The 1st round went to Martinez, but after that the rest of the fight mostly went Guardia’s way. Neither fighter was down or cut, but each had some swelling around their eyes. Guardia advances to an opportunity to win the IBF title against Phalan Lookimingkwan.
Kermin Guardia Wu10 Fernando Martinez

The 2nd fight of the night featured the Philippines rising star Manny Melchor 19-1-4 (5) taking on South African Thamsanqa Sogcwe 24-9-1 (9). The first half of the fight was a nip and tuck affair, with plenty of holding and hitting. Melchor did more boxing in the 2nd half of the match and was much more successful. Both fighters left the ring with their left eye half swollen shut, but it was Melchor who went back to the dressing room the unanimous decision victor. Next up for "Cabalay” is the unenviable task of taking on the phenomenal Ricardo Lopez for the WBC title. Melchor will need to step up his game considerably if he hopes to defeat “Finito”.
Manny Melchor Wu10 Thamsanqa Sogcwe

Taiwan’s Rocky Lin emerged from his dressing to louder applause then one might expect, being that he is not from Japan. However, an estimated 2,000 of his fans flew in from Taiwan and the noise they created gave the venue the feel of a home crowd for Lin. The 32-3 (13) Vuyani Nene appeared unfazed by the crowd, however he struggled to make weight and required a 2nd trip to the scale to come in at 104 pounds.
Lin did reasonably well against his much more experienced opponent in the first 2 rounds, but in the 3rd was caught by swift right hand and was on the canvas until the count reached 7. Still hurt when the bell rang to start round 4, Lin did well enough at covering up and countering to maybe steal the round.
In the 5th Nene took a breather and held mostly, but was cut over the right eye toward the rounds conclusion. Television replays were inconclusive on if it was caused by a headbutt or a punch, but the referee ruled that it was the result of an “accidental clash of heads”. After 7 rounds Lin was exhausted. He resorted to holding and moving the rest of the fight. Nene for his part was ineffective at catching him and seemed to content to allow the fight to go to the scorecards.
Nene landed twice as many punches as Lin and this was reflected on the television announcer Joe Koizumi’s scorecard favoring him 99-92. The official cards also favored Nene, who now moves on in the tournament to face the lightly regarded WBO titlist Rafael Torres. Although Torres is undefeated, he has only had 11 fights and all of them have gone the distance.
Vuyani Nene Wu10 Rocky Lin

Japan’s Hideyuki Ohashi entered the ring as a 6-1 favorite to defeat England’s Danny Porter, who had never been expected to even qualify for the tournament. However, through toughness and grit, the native of Hitchin, England, had upset Rocky Lin and Tony DeLuca to secure himself a shot at winning the World Straw Weight Championship. The next step would be his most difficult hurdle yet, upsetting the heavily favored Ohashi in his adopted hometown of Tokyo.
Ohashi was on a mission to obtain a rematch with Ricardo Lopez, who had dethroned him of his WBC title in October of 1990. Ohashi hasn’t lost since that disappointing evening vs. Lopez and had absolutely no intention of doing so vs. the English underdog. Porter struggled mightily to make weight, as his natural weight class is at 112 pounds. He came into the ring bone dry and looking weak.
At the bell Porter came right at Ohashi fully intent upon ending the night early with a shocking kayo victory. His initial bomb landed on the arm of Ohashi, but some of the subsequent follow-ups managed to score. Round 1-Porter!
Porter kept to his game plan and came out winging all that he had in the 2nd round. Ohashi was better prepared in the 2nd for Porter’s kamikazee attack and countered with sharp punches of his own. Porter paid no mind to defense and fortunately for him Ohashi is not much of a puncher, as he was clocked full force during several exchanges. Porter got in his own fair share and never took a backward step. The main event was turning to be a far better fight than anticipated.
Ohashi was more determined in the 3rd and finally was stopping the beginning to look tired, Porter attack. With 15 seconds to go in a round he was winning, Ohashi was caught with nice combination and found himself on the canvas! Ohashi lurched to his feet at 8 and was very fortunate there was almost no time left on the clock when the referee motioned for the fighting to continue.
Porter looked exhausted coming out for the 4th round, but Ohashi was in worse condition as his legs were still not steady. Porter led with a hook that landed flush, but didn’t have enough sting on his punches to put Ohashi away. To the admiration of his fans, Ohashi fought back bravely.
Porter was dead tired, but his all out assault was winning him rounds, at least on the scorecard of the legendary Japanese television announcer and writer, Joe Koizumi. As Porter plodded forward throwing far fewer punches than he had earlier in the fight, but with the same bad intentions and Ohashi gamely replied on his still unsteady legs, it appeared that this fight would be won by who wanted it more. With a little over a minute to go in the 4th a short right from Porter dropped Ohashi in his own corner to his knees. Up at the count of 4, Ohashi managed to look disgusted and while also clearly hurt. Porter jumped right back on him with a wild overhand right that put Ohashi on the canvas again, this time for the count of 5. Somehow Ohashi survived to hear the bell.
In Porter’s corner the legendary trainer Darkie Smith implored him to forget about his own tiredness and, “FINISH HIM OFF!” That’s exactly what Porter attempted to do, but the snap was now entirely gone from his punches. Still he pushed them out there often enough to outscore the out on his feet Ohashi.
Ohashi made a fight of it in the 8th, attempting to score a knockout win himself. His efforts were derailed when a left hook sent his mouth piece flying. In the 9th both fighters looked ready to fall, but it was Ohashi who did about 1 minute in when he took a knee. He rose quickly at 3 and took a beating for the remainder of the round. Ohashi showed tremendous heart and refused to hold on or fall. Only Porter’s own tiredness kept him from being knocked out.
Most fighters, knowing they were well ahead on the cards (Joe Koizumi had Porter up 89-80) would have taken a conservative approach in the final round. Danny Porter is not like most fighters! The proud Englishman went all out yet again, in the 10th and final round attempting to score the knockout. To Ohashi’s credit this was also his plan. After touching gloves at ring center the two proud battlers stood in front of one another and let go with what they had left.
Ohashi was hurt repeatedly during the first 2 minutes, but refused to take a backward step. With only 1:10 remaining in the fight Ohashi knocked Porter down with a sizzling straight right! It was the best punch he had thrown all fight. Porter lay on his back as the referees count reached 5…6…he still hadn’t moved!...7…8…and Porter was on one knee…9… and Porter was miraculously on both feet! After dominating and scoring 4 knockdowns against Ohashi all he needed to do was make it to the final bell and the decision would be his.
There was still 1 minute to go in the fight. Porter immediately began to hold Ohashi, who lacked the stamina to push Porter off him. With 5 seconds to go in the fight Ohashi caught him cleanly again, but Porter didn’t fall. At the bell the jello legged Porter walked back to his corner. The trainers of both fighters lifted their man in victory celebration.
Koizumi had it 97-90 Porter. In a certain fight of the year candidate, the official judges all had it for Porter by a wide margin. Porter’s unlikely quest to win the Straw Weight World Championship will continue against Korea’s Hi-Yong Choi for the WBA title.
Danny Porter Wu10 Hideyuki Ohashi

Hideyuki Ohahsi vs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vmqi4rxKk4M

Hideyuki Ohashi vs. Jung-Koo Chang
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeZAH...eature=related

Hideyuki Ohashi vs. Hi-Yong Choi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xczCo...eature=related

Hideyuki Ohashi vs. Ricardo Lopez
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Micpc...eature=related