DENNIS LAURENTE WINS OPBF LT.MIDDLEWEIGHT TITLE WITH 6TH ROUND TKO
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 19 Dec 2014
Filipino southpaw Dennis Laurente showed no signs of age as the 37 year old hammered Japan?s Tadashi Yuba into submission to win the Orient Pacific Boxing Federation light middleweight title with a 6th round TKO at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo to become a two division OPBF champion having at one time reigned as the OPBF lightweight champion.
The end came at 2:38 of the round, enabling Laurente, a strong puncher to improve his record to 49-5-5 with 30 kmnockouts while Yuba, who is also 37 years old dropped to 46-10-2 with 33 knockouts.
Laurente who is managed by Johnny Elorde, son of the late, great world junior lightweight champion Gabriel ?Flash? Elorde and his wife Liza were at ringside with an obviously elated Liza relaying the good news of Laurente?s victory to the Manila Standard/Viva Sports right after the fight ended.
Laurente is a multi-titled champion and was coming off a 2nd round TKO of Elly Pangaribuan in a defense of his WBC Asian Boxing Council title last August 22.
Laurente was also at one time the Philippine welterweight champion, the Pan Asian Boxing Association lightweight champion, former OPBF lightweight champion and Philippine lightweight champion.
He is the eldest brother of two other boxers, Pedrito and Monico Laurente.
Yuba, on the other hand was the former Japanese lightweight, light welterweight, welterweight and middleweight champion.
Asian Boxing reported that Laurente went on the offensive quickly and seemed to b able to force Yuba on the back foot at will with the Filipino giving his Japanese opponent no space to throw his powerful straights.
Asian Boxing also noted that Laurente?s aggressiveness allowed him to easily neutralize the 4 inch height advantage that Yuba had and get shots off on the inside where Yuba really couldn?t work. It didn?t help that Yuba looked heavy legged from early in the fight making it even easier for Laurente who threw a barrage of punches in round six punctuated by a vicious uppercut and a right hook that dropped the Japanese.
The referee had seen enough and stopped it right away.
The loss was almost certainly the end of Yuba?s chance to become an OPBF champion while Laurente wins his second OPBF title more than thirteen years after he won the OPBF lightweight crown with a victory over Yosuke Otsuka on November 23, 2001 dropping Otsuka three times en route to a comfortable twelve round unanimous decision.
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