Yasutsune Uehara


Yasutsune Uehara is a former professional boxer and former WBA and lineal super featherweight champion. He is one of the few Japanese boxers to have won the world title fighting outside Japan.

Biography

Uehara was born in Naha, Okinawa. He won the inter-high school boxing tournament in his senior year in high school, and moved on to Nihon University, where he won amateur titles in two weight classes, compiling a distinguished amateur record of 117–8. He was already touted as the next Japanese world champion when he announced his decision to turn professional.
Uehara made his debut on November 14, 1972, with a fourth-round knockout in Honolulu, Hawaii. He suffered his first professional loss in his second fight. He returned to Japan after five fights in the United States.
He won nine fights in a row after returning to Japan, including seven victories by knockout. Uehara returned to the United States in August, 1974 to challenge WBA super featherweight champion Ben Villaflor, but lost by second-round knockout.
Uehara won the Japanese super featherweight title on July 21, 1971, knocking out his opponent in the first round. He defended the title a total of ten times, a considerable number of defenses for a regional title.
Uehara was once again ranked as the number one WBA super featherweight challenger in 1980, and challenged Samuel Serrano for the Lineal and WBA super featherweight titles on the undercard of Thomas Hearns' win over José Cuevas in Detroit. Uehara was losing on all three judges' scorecards before connecting with a right hook to knock out the defending champion in the sixth round. Uehara's victory was named The Ring's 1980 upset of the year.
Uehara defended his title in November 1980, before meeting Serrano for the second time in April 1981. He lost the rematch by unanimous decision, and announced his retirement shortly afterwards. His record was 27-5-0.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
32Loss27–5Samuel SerranoUD15Apr 9, 1981Prefectural Gymnasium, Wakayama, JapanLost WBA and The Ring super featherweight titles
31Win27–4Leonel HernandezSD15Nov 20, 1980Kokugikan, Tokyo, JapanRetained WBA and The Ring super featherweight titles
30Win26–4Samuel SerranoKO6, 2:59Aug 2, 1980Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.Won WBA and The Ring super featherweight titles
29Win25–4Blazer OkuboKO5, 2:23Mar 18, 1980JapanRetained Japanese super featherweight title
28Win24–4Kojiro SasakiKO10, 2:39Nov 10, 1979Naha, JapanRetained Japanese super featherweight title
27Win23–4Yoshitaka IkeharaPTS10Jul 12, 1979Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, JapanRetained Japanese super featherweight title
26Win22–4Yasuhide TakahashiKO6 Feb 27, 1979Japan
25Win21–4Hideyoshi HorinagaKO2, 0:50Nov 25, 1978Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, JapanRetained Japanese super featherweight title
24Win20–4Tatsuya MoriyasuKO2 Aug 9, 1978Omiya, Japan
23Win19–4Ryu FukitaKO7, 1:50Apr 28, 1978JapanRetained Japanese super featherweight title
22Win18–4Tadashi AkiyamaRTD7, 3:00Dec 4, 1977Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, JapanRetained Japanese super featherweight title
21Win17–4Suketoshi MaruyamaKO6 Sep 9, 1977Nagoya, Japan
20Win16–4Shoji OkanoKO2, 1:33May 29, 1977Onoyama Gym, Naha, JapanRetained Japanese super featherweight title
19Loss15–4Joe LimPTS10Nov 25, 1976Manila, Philippines
18Win15–3Masa ItoPTS10Jul 29, 1976JapanWon Japanese super featherweight title
17Loss14–3Masa ItoPTS10Apr 23, 1976Tokuyama, JapanLost Japanese super featherweight title
16Win14–2Susumu OkabeKO8, 2:24Dec 9, 1975JapanRetained Japanese super featherweight title
15Win13–2Masa ItoKO5, 2:21Oct 19, 1975City Gymnasium, Okinawa, JapanRetained Japanese super featherweight title
14Win12–2Susumu OkabeKO1, 1:52Jul 21, 1975Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, JapanWon Japanese super featherweight title
13Win11–2Freddie MensahPTS10Nov 30, 1974Akita City, Japan
12Loss10–2Ben VillaflorKO2, 1:17Aug 24, 1974Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.For WBA and The Ring super featherweight title
11Win10–1Masaharu TsuchiyaKO1 May 28, 1974Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
10Win9–1Kae Shik YuhKO6 Mar 26, 1974Nagoya, Japan
9Win8–1Ricardo ArredondoUD10Nov 29, 1973Onoyama Gym, Naha, Japan
8Win7–1Tokikazu IchikawaKO3 Oct 28, 1973Japan
7Win6–1Ricky SawaKO6 Aug 4, 1973Naha, Japan
6Win5–1Noriaki YoshimuraKO5 Jun 14, 1973Japan
5Win4–1Danny CamposTKO6 Mar 12, 1973Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
4Win3–1Rogelio TulunghariTKO1 Feb 13, 1973Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
3Win2–1Shichiro SaitoPTS6Dec 12, 1972Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
2Loss1–1Mar YuzonPTS6Nov 21, 1972Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
1Win1–0Sam FraticelliTKO4 Nov 14, 1972Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.