By Jim Dower: Making his fourth defense of his WBA World super featherweight title undefeated champion Takashi Uchiyama (18-0, 15 KO’s) stopped a game but overmatched 32-year-old Jorge Solis (40-4-2, 29 KO’) of Mexico in the 11th round on New Year’s Eve last Saturday night at the Bunka Gym in Yokohama, Japan. Uchiyama, 32, landed a big left hook to the head in the 11th that knocked Solis out cold flat on his back on the canvas.
Referee Roberto Ramirez Sr. then immediately halted the fight at 0:19 of the round and a medical team was rushed into the ring to assist the badly hurt Solis. He eventually came around but he was down on his back for several minutes while they got him up in stages.
Uchiyama showed excellent power all throughout the fight and constantly stalked Solis around the ring, punishing him with hard power shots. Uchiyama reminded me a lot of former light welterweight champion Kosta Tszyu with his power. He can really punch and it’s not surprising that he’s considered to be the best fighter in the super featherweight division by many boxing fans.
Solis fought the perfect fight against Uchiyama. There was nothing that Solis did that you consider wrong. He boxed beautifully, firing jabs constantly and doing the best he could to keep the shorter Uchiyama on the outside. The problem is that Solis lacked the power to keep Uchiyama away and without big power, Solis found himself getting hit with big power shots from Uchiyama when he would get in punching distance.
Solis controlled the first round of the fight by moving and jabbing and rarely getting hit. Had the fight stopped right there, you would think that Solis was unbeatable. However, Uchiyama turned up the heat a couple of notches in the 2nd round and began to land really hard left hooks and chopping right hands. Solis slipped to the canvas in the early part of the round and it looked like a legitimate knockdown but the referee ruled it a slip. Uchiyama continued to really unload on Solis for the remainder of the round and the fight became a cat and mouse type of affair from that point with Solis looking timid under the assault from Uchiyama.
In rounds three and four, the fight slipped into a typical pattern with Uchiyama stalking and landing big lefts and rights against Solis. Uchiyama often had to walk through some of Solis’ jabs to get within punching range but it wasn’t a problem for him. Uchiyama was well schooled at keeping his guard up to block jabs and Solis’ right hand lacked power. He was landing it but there just wasn’t any power or speed to speak of.
In the 5th, Uchiyama landed a big left hook that sent Solis stumbling backwards and almost falling down. He took some heavy shots for the remainder of the fight and it was no longer even slightly competitive.
Rounds 6 and 7 were mostly one-sided, as Uchiyama focused on landing with everything he had. He loaded up big time with his shots and Solis was constantly backing up and trying to get away.
Solis came back in rounds 8 and 9, as Uchiyama suddenly stopped throwing as many punches and began to look tired. Solis took advantage of this by landing a lot of jabs and right hands. Uchiyama would every once in a while land a big bomb that would get the crowd into it, but for the most part Solis was controlling the action with his jabs and right hand leads.
In the 10th, Solis was cut over his right eye and hit with a monster of a right hand that snapped his head back causing him to back up into the corner. Uchiyama then flurried on him and gave him a really bad beating in this round. It was pretty brutal to watch and it was clear that Solis wouldn’t last too much longer.
At the start of the 11th, Uchiyama backed Solis up with some stiff jabs and then connected with a short powerful left hook that knocked Solis flat on his back and out cold on the canvas. The fight was then halted immediately.
Overall, I was really impressed with Uchiyama’s power in this fight. The guy can really punch. I have my doubts he could beat Yuriorkis Gamboa or Adrien Broner in this weight class because those guys can box as well punch. Uchiyama is a flawed boxer and is more dependent on his punching power to win his fights. But if a fighter stands in front of him, he’ll likely beat anyone in the division because he’s got unnatural power.
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