Shokichi Iwata Stops Erik Badillo in Round 11

Shokichi Iwata survived the first knockdown of his professional career before stopping Erik Badillo in the 11th round at Tokyo’s Ry?goku Kokugikan, retaining the WBC light-flyweight championship in a contest which demanded rather more from him than the final result might suggest.

The end came after one minute and 13 seconds of the 11th, when Iwata drove the unbeaten Mexican backwards with a succession of right hands. Badillo remained on his feet, but his legs had stiffened, and his head was being knocked back without an effective reply. The referee had seen sufficient and stepped between them, leaving Iwata with a successful first defence and Badillo with his first defeat in 20 professional contests. Iwata improved to 17-2 with 14 stoppages, while Badillo fell to 19-1 with eight wins inside the distance.

It had not been a routine evening for the champion. Iwata started intelligently, moving in several directions and inviting the southpaw challenger to lead. He found Badillo with the right hand after the Mexican’s straight left and also drove a right into the body as Badillo stepped forward. The work was orderly, accurate and sufficient to give Iwata early control without requiring him to take unnecessary chances.

Badillo altered the argument in the third round by bringing his right hook into more regular use. The adjustment made Iwata less comfortable at his preferred range, and in the fourth the challenger struck with a sharp counter left which deposited the champion on his seat. It was not a heavy fall, but it was clean and unmistakable. Iwata rose promptly and showed no lasting signs of distress. The open scoring after four rounds had all three judges favouring him by 38-37, the knockdown having narrowed rather than overturned his early advantage.

Badillo’s confidence increased in the fifth. He edged closer and landed short uppercuts with both hands, attempting to turn the contest into a compact, awkward affair rather than allowing Iwata to operate at his own pace. The champion did not panic. He continued to move, answered with the right hand and began investing more heavily in the body. A straight right downstairs forced Badillo backwards and provided the first clear indication that the challenger might be paying for the pressure he was applying.

Iwata’s body punching became increasingly important. In the eighth, he landed a right uppercut beneath Badillo’s elbows, which caused obvious discomfort. By the end of that round the official cards read 78-73, 78-73 and 77-74 for the champion. The scores were decisive, although Badillo remained competitive and continued trying to work his way inside behind the right hook and short uppercut.

The difference was that Iwata had begun to vary the weight and direction of his right hand. He used the overhand right to the head, then dropped the same hand underneath to the body. In the tenth he employed a short right as a lead, landing it repeatedly before changing from lighter, measuring blows to heavier punches. Badillo, who had shown patience and a sound chin, was being made to defend against attacks arriving at two levels and at different speeds.

Iwata carried that work into the 11th. A quick right lead drew Badillo’s attention before a heavier overhand right landed cleanly. The challenger was plainly hurt but managed to avoid the canvas. Iwata did not rush wildly. He stepped after him, landed another right and then drove Badillo back with further clean punches until the intervention came. It was a sensible stoppage. Badillo was no longer returning enough to justify allowing the champion another uninterrupted attack.

The victory was important beyond the belt itself. Iwata had previously lost the WBO title to René Santiago in his first defence, and there had been no shortage of significance attached to avoiding a repeat. He had won the WBC championship from Thammanoon Niyomtrong in March and entered this contest against the organisation’s leading challenger, an unbeaten southpaw who had already defeated former champion Elwin Soto.

Iwata did not have matters entirely his own way, but world champions are not paid merely to look accomplished when everything is convenient. He was dropped, required to make adjustments and then steadily broke down a difficult challenger. Badillo’s early tactical change gave him a genuine foothold, but Iwata’s right hand to the body gradually took it away. By the finish, the champion had turned a potentially troublesome defence into a convincing stoppage.

I thought Shokichi Iwata showed exactly what you want from a world champion against Erik Badillo. He did not have everything his own way, he got put on his backside in the fourth round, and he had to solve a proper problem against an unbeaten southpaw. But he kept his head, adjusted his work and stopped Badillo in the 11th round rather than allowing the knockdown to knock him out of his stride.

Badillo came with confidence after beating former champion Elwin Soto, and you could see why he was the WBC’s leading challenger. He timed Iwata coming in and dropped him with a clean left hand. It was a good shot, not a flash knockdown, but Iwata recovered like an experienced fighter. He did not charge forward trying to get it back immediately. He reset his feet, started varying the right hand and gradually moved the argument downstairs. That was the clever bit.

Iwata’s body punching changed the fight. He used the straight right and uppercut underneath Badillo’s elbows, then brought the same hand over the top once the challenger began protecting his ribs. That is proper punch selection. Badillo was still game, but his feet slowed and he was spending too long in front of Iwata after throwing.

By the 11th, Iwata was controlling the distance and dictating when the exchanges happened. He hurt Badillo with the right, stayed balanced and followed with clean punches until the referee stepped in. There was no wild swinging and no wasted work.

I do not think Iwata was brilliant from start to finish, but he was intelligent when it mattered. Getting dropped exposed a defensive weakness against the southpaw left, yet the way he dismantled Badillo afterwards told me far more about him than an easy points win ever could.