Jayson Vayson holding his WBO Asia Pacific light flyweight belt along with his manager and trainers. | Photo from Brico Santig’s Facebook page
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Filipino prospect Jayson “Striker” Vayson shocked the heavily-favored former world champion Ryuya Yamanaka with a scintillating second round technical knockout on Sunday, December 17, 2023, at the Portopia Hotel in Kobe, Japan.
It was a fitting comeback for Vayson who lost his debut fight in Japan last February against Seigo Yuri Akui via unanimous decision in Tokyo.
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Vayson stops champ in 2nd round
Vayson who came into the fight as an underdog stopped Yamanaka at 1:14 mark of the second round to snatch the World Boxing Organization (WBO) Asia Pacific light flyweight title from the latter.
The 25-year-old Vayson of Veruela, Agusan del Sur landed a right uppercut that downed Yamanaka.
The former WBO world minimumweight champion tried to get back on his feet, but Vayson’s uppercut proved to do a lot of damage.
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Japan’s feet wobbly
Yamanaka’s feet were still wobbly when he got up to beat the referee’s count, instead the latter saw that the Japanese ex-world champion wasn’t fit to continue fighting anymore, decided to stop the fight.
The win improved to 11 wins with six knockouts with one defeat, and one draw.
Meanwhile, Yamanaka suffered his fourth loss with 19 wins and six knockouts. It snapped Yamanaka’s three-fight winning streak where he won the WBO Asia Pacific light flyweight title.
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Vayson second Pinoy to beat Yamanaka
Yamanaka became known for winning the WBO world minimumweight title after erstwhile champion Donnie Nietes relinquished it to move up to the light flyweight division.
Vayson is the second Filipino to beat Yamanaka. The other one was Vic Saludar who recently won the ABF regional title in Naga City last Saturday against Francis Jay Diaz.