Tsuyoshi Hamada vs Rene Arredondo 2

René Arredondo regained the World Boxing Council junior-welterweight championship at the Ry?goku Kokugikan in Tokyo on July 22, 1987, stopping Tsuyoshi Hamada 43 seconds into the sixth round. It was a complete reversal of their first meeting, held in the same building 363 days earlier, when Hamada overwhelmed the tall Mexican in the opening round. This time Arredondo refused to be hurried, met the champion’s advances with firm, straight punching and gradually reduced him to a bloodied and unsteady figure before referee Joe Cortez intervened. Both men weighed 140lb.

Hamada was making the second defence of the title he had taken from Arredondo on July 24, 1986. The Japanese southpaw had since retained it by a split decision over Ronnie Shields, the first time in 16 contests that he had been required to hear the final bell. Arredondo, four inches taller and possessing a similar advantage in reach, had been unable to make those dimensions count in the first fight. Hamada rushed him from the outset, drove him backwards with right hooks and straight lefts and finished the matter before the end of the opening round. The return therefore presented Arredondo with a simple but difficult requirement: he had to remain composed during the champion’s early attack and prevent the contest from again becoming a short-range scramble.

Arredondo began aggressively but without the recklessness which had contributed to his earlier defeat. He stood his ground, used his longer arms and forced Hamada to work through punches before reaching his preferred distance. The champion still came forward with purpose, crouching behind his gloves and attempting to release the right hook and straight left from the southpaw position, but he found Arredondo better prepared to meet him. The challenger took the first round on all three official cards. His early success was important, for it denied Hamada the immediate command he had enjoyed in their first encounter and allowed Arredondo to settle into the contest.

The difference became more pronounced in the second round. Arredondo struck Hamada with a succession of lefts and rights and opened a cut near the champion’s right eye. Hamada continued to advance, but the wound gave him additional difficulty against a taller opponent already finding him with straight punches. Arredondo was credited with the round by judges Harry Gibbs and Arlen Bynum, while Dave Moretti scored it even. The challenger had now passed safely through the stage at which the first fight had ended and was boxing with increasing assurance.

Hamada produced his best work in the third. He increased his pressure, moved close enough to shorten Arredondo’s punches and brought his heavier left hand into action. All three judges gave the round to the champion. It was a necessary response and showed that the cut had not yet removed him from the contest, but he could not maintain the improvement. Arredondo returned to his jab and straight right in the fourth, using the champion’s forward movement against him. Moretti and Gibbs favoured Arredondo, while Bynum awarded the round to Hamada. The official division reflected a competitive session, although the general course continued to favour the challenger’s reach and cleaner punching.

Arredondo strengthened his position in the fifth. Hamada remained willing and continued trying to force the fight at close quarters, but his face was marked, and his attacks were becoming easier to anticipate. The Mexican stayed upright, punched directly and did not permit himself to be drawn into the wild exchanges which Hamada wanted. All three judges scored the fifth for Arredondo. After five rounds, Moretti had the challenger ahead by 49–47, Gibbs by 49–46 and Bynum by 48–47. The champion was therefore behind on every card, although the fight had not yet reached the halfway point.

The end came almost immediately after the sixth began. Arredondo resumed his attack, drove Hamada backwards and struck him with another forceful series. The champion, his right eye cut and his resistance diminished by the punishment of the preceding rounds, was no longer returning punches effectively enough to satisfy Cortez. The referee stepped between them after 43 seconds and awarded Arredondo a technical knockout. There was no count and no need to consult the scorecards. The stoppage gave Arredondo back the championship he had lost so abruptly and made him a two-time WBC junior-welterweight title-holder.

For Hamada, the defeat proved to be the end of his career. He initially considered attempting to regain the championship, but the right-knee injury which had troubled him before he became world champion failed to improve. Arredondo then lost the title to Roger Mayweather in his first defence, removing the immediate prospect of a third contest. Hamada retired at 26 with 21 victories, two defeats and one no-contest, having won 19 times inside the distance. Arredondo’s revenge had been obtained not through one sudden punch but by correcting the errors of the first meeting. He survived the champion’s early pressure, made full use of his superior reach, damaged Hamada’s right eye and imposed himself more firmly with each passing round until the contest could no longer continue.

I look at this rematch as a lesson in what happens when a fighter corrects his mistakes, and the champion assumes the first result will repeat itself. Tsuyoshi Hamada had demolished René Arredondo inside one round in 1986, taking the WBC junior-welterweight title with the sort of result that made him a major attraction in Japan. Hamada was a compact southpaw with serious power, while Arredondo was the taller, longer man who had allowed himself to be dragged into a tear-up the first time.

A year later, Arredondo boxed like a man who had learned the hard way. He came out aggressively but kept his shape, used the straight punches and made Hamada cross the danger area before he could let his left hand go. The cut around Hamada’s right eye in the second round mattered, but the real damage was tactical. Arredondo was controlling the range, and Hamada was being forced to follow rather than set his feet and punch.

Hamada had a decent third round, but that was about as good as it got. By the fifth, Arredondo was landing cleanly and the champion was marked up, slowing down and becoming easier to find. All three judges had Arredondo ahead after five rounds. Early in the sixth, he drove Hamada back with another sustained attack, and Joe Cortez stopped it after 43 seconds.

There was nothing lucky about it. Arredondo took away Hamada’s preferred distance and punished him for coming forward in straight lines. The first fight belonged to Hamada’s power; the rematch belonged to Arredondo’s discipline. It was also Hamada’s final appearance, with a persistent knee injury helping bring his career to an end at only 26.