Yasutsune Uehara

Japanese boxer (born 1949)

Yasutsune Uehara
上原 康恒

Born|  (1949-10-12) 12 October 1949 (age 75)

Naha, Okinawa, USCAR
(nowadays Japan)

Nationality| Japanese
Statistics
Weight(s)| Super featherweight
Height| 5 ft 5 in (165 cm)
Reach| 68 in (173 cm)
Stance| Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights| 32
Wins| 27
Wins by KO| 21
Losses| 5

Medal record

Men's Boxing
Representing  Japan
Asian Games
| 1970 Bangkok | Light welterweight

Yasutsune Uehara (上原 康恒, Uehara Yasutsune, born October 12, 1949 in Okinawa, Japan) 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

[edit]

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 (87RSC). 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.[1] 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,[2] and announced his retirement shortly afterwards. His record was 27-5-0 (21KOs).

## Professional boxing record

[edit]

32 fights  | 27 wins  | 5 losses

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By knockout  | 21  | 1
By decision  | 6  | 4
No. | Result  | Record  | Opponent  | Type  | Round, time  | Date  | Location  | Notes

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32  | Loss  | 27–5  | Samuel Serrano | UD  | 15  | Apr 9, 1981  | Prefectural Gymnasium, Wakayama, Japan | Lost WBA and The Ring super featherweight titles
31  | Win  | 27–4  | Leonel Hernandez  | SD  | 15  | Nov 20, 1980  | Kokugikan, Tokyo, Japan | Retained WBA and The Ring super featherweight titles
30  | Win  | 26–4  | Samuel Serrano | KO  | 6 (15), 2:59 | Aug 2, 1980 | Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan, U.S. | Won WBA and The Ring super featherweight titles
29  | Win  | 25–4  | Blazer Okubo  | KO  | 5 (10), 2:23 | Mar 18, 1980  | Japan | Retained Japanese super featherweight title
28  | Win  | 24–4  | Kojiro Sasaki  | KO  | 10 (10), 2:39 | Nov 10, 1979  | Naha, Japan | Retained Japanese super featherweight title
27  | Win  | 23–4  | Yoshitaka Ikehara  | PTS  | 10  | Jul 12, 1979  | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan | Retained Japanese super featherweight title
26  | Win  | 22–4  | Yasuhide Takahashi  | KO  | 6 (10)  | Feb 27, 1979  | Japan |
25  | Win  | 21–4  | Hideyoshi Horinaga  | KO  | 2 (10), 0:50 | Nov 25, 1978  | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan | Retained Japanese super featherweight title
24  | Win  | 20–4  | Tatsuya Moriyasu  | KO  | 2 (10)  | Aug 9, 1978  | Omiya, Japan |
23  | Win  | 19–4  | Ryu Fukita  | KO  | 7 (10), 1:50 | Apr 28, 1978  | Japan | Retained Japanese super featherweight title
22  | Win  | 18–4  | Tadashi Akiyama  | RTD  | 7 (10), 3:00 | Dec 4, 1977  | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan | Retained Japanese super featherweight title
21  | Win  | 17–4  | Suketoshi Maruyama  | KO  | 6 (10)  | Sep 9, 1977  | Nagoya, Japan |
20  | Win  | 16–4  | Shoji Okano  | KO  | 2 (10), 1:33 | May 29, 1977  | Onoyama Gym, Naha, Japan | Retained Japanese super featherweight title
19  | Loss  | 15–4  | Joe Lim  | PTS  | 10  | Nov 25, 1976  | Manila, Philippines |
18  | Win  | 15–3  | Masa Ito  | PTS  | 10  | Jul 29, 1976  | Japan | Won Japanese super featherweight title
17  | Loss  | 14–3  | Masa Ito  | PTS  | 10  | Apr 23, 1976  | Tokuyama, Japan | Lost Japanese super featherweight title
16  | Win  | 14–2  | Susumu Okabe  | KO  | 8 (10), 2:24 | Dec 9, 1975  | Japan | Retained Japanese super featherweight title
15  | Win  | 13–2  | Masa Ito  | KO  | 5 (10), 2:21 | Oct 19, 1975  | City Gymnasium, Okinawa, Japan | Retained Japanese super featherweight title
14  | Win  | 12–2  | Susumu Okabe  | KO  | 1 (10), 1:52 | Jul 21, 1975  | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan | Won Japanese super featherweight title
13  | Win  | 11–2  | Freddie Mensah  | PTS  | 10  | Nov 30, 1974  | Akita City, Japan |
12  | Loss  | 10–2  | Ben Villaflor | KO  | 2 (15), 1:17 | Aug 24, 1974  | Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. | For WBA and The Ring super featherweight title
11  | Win  | 10–1  | Masaharu Tsuchiya  | KO  | 1 (10)  | May 28, 1974  | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan |
10  | Win  | 9–1  | Kae Shik Yuh  | KO  | 6 (12)  | Mar 26, 1974  | Nagoya, Japan |
9  | Win  | 8–1  | Ricardo Arredondo | UD  | 10  | Nov 29, 1973  | Onoyama Gym, Naha, Japan |
8  | Win  | 7–1  | Tokikazu Ichikawa  | KO  | 3 (10)  | Oct 28, 1973  | Japan |
7  | Win  | 6–1  | Ricky Sawa  | KO  | 6 (10)  | Aug 4, 1973  | Naha, Japan |
6  | Win  | 5–1  | Noriaki Yoshimura  | KO  | 5 (10)  | Jun 14, 1973  | Japan |
5  | Win  | 4–1  | Danny Campos  | TKO  | 6 (8)  | Mar 12, 1973  | Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. |
4  | Win  | 3–1  | Rogelio Tulunghari  | TKO  | 1 (6)  | Feb 13, 1973  | Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. |
3  | Win  | 2–1  | Shichiro Saito  | PTS  | 6  | Dec 12, 1972  | Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. |
2  | Loss  | 1–1  | Mar Yuzon  | PTS  | 6  | Nov 21, 1972  | Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. |
1  | Win  | 1–0  | Sam Fraticelli  | TKO  | 4 (6)  | Nov 14, 1972  | Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. |

## See also

[edit]

* Lineal championship
* Boxing in Japan
* List of Japanese boxing world champions
* List of world super-featherweight boxing champions

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "A ROUNDUP OF THE WEEK JULY 28-AUG. 3". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
2. ^ "Samuel Serrano of Puerto Rico regained the World Boxing..." United Press International. Retrieved 2024-01-01.

## External links

[edit]

* Boxing record for Yasutsune Uehara from BoxRec (registration required)
* Yasutsune Uehara - CBZ Profile

Sporting positions

Regional boxing titles
Preceded by

Susumu Okabe

|  Japanese super featherweight champion
July 21, 1975 – April 23, 1976  | Succeeded by

Masa Ito

Preceded by

Masa Ito

|  Japanese super featherweight champion
July 29, 1976 – 1980
Vacated  | Vacant

Title next held by

Hikaru Tomonari
World boxing titles
Preceded by

Samuel Serrano

|  WBA super featherweight champion
August 2, 1980 – April 9, 1981  | Succeeded by

Samuel Serrano

The Ring super featherweight champion
August 2, 1980 – April 9, 1981
Awards
Previous:
Vito Antuofermo D10
vs. Marvelous Marvin Hagler |  The Ring magazine Upset of the Year
KO6 vs. Samuel Serrano
2011  | Next:
Roger Stafford W10
vs. Pipino Cuevas
*[No.]: Number