Veeraphol Sahaprom vs. Joichiro Tatsuyoshi (II), billed as Final Chapter, was a professional boxing match contested on August 29, 1999, for the WBC bantamweight championship.
This made Veeraphol come back to the world champion again and he successfully defended the title once in Saraburi on May 21, 1999, by knocking out the Uruguayan Mauro Blanc in the 5th round. This second encounter with Tatsuyoshi was his second defense of his title.
For Tatsuyoshi, after losing by knockout to Veeraphol in the 6th round late last year, there was no more non-title fight, but returned to fight for the title again with old rival, Veeraphol.
Shortly before the fight, his father, who had nurtured him to be a boxer since he was a child, passed away. This deeply saddened Tatsuyoshi, but it also gave him the motivation to win. He announced that he would not bury his father's ashes in the cemetery until he regained the WBC bantamweight title.[1]
The fight
The fight took place at Osaka Dome (now Kyocera Dome Osaka), Osaka, amidst the huge crowd of spectators, most of whom were Tatsuyoshi's supporters. Tatsuyoshi's family, consisting of his wife, his mother, and children, sat at the ringside holding a photo of the late father. As for Tatsuyoshi himself, this time, the back of his robe also had his father's picture embroidered on it. It was worth noting that in this fight, his trunks and boots were all metallic blue, as were the colour of his gloves, which was a departure from his usual white trunks and boots. As for Weeraphon, he also wears blue gloves.
When the two actually fought with Richard Steele as the referee, Tatsuyoshi could barely do anything to Veeraphol. He was hit by Veeraphol's punches many times. When Veeraphol lunged at him, Tatsuyoshi only defended by hugging and locking him down and holding Veeraphol's neck.
Even though they knew that their favorite was at a disadvantage, the Japanese fans chanted Tatsuyoshi's name repeatedly to cheer him on.[2]
The bout finally came to an end in round 7 when Veeraphol unleashed another series of punches at Tatsuyoshi's face, which he failed to block. The final punch was a right hook that hit Tatsuyoshi's jaw hard. Richard Steele jumped in to stop the contest, and turned to support Tatsuyoshi as he looked like he was going to fall on his back. Veeraphol also rushed in to support him, having previously glanced at Steele as if to ask him to stop the fight.[3]
Aftermath
After the match, Tatsuyoshi showed his sportsmanship by raising Veeraphol hand to acknowledge his victory. They talked for a while, "you are the superb champ", Tatsuyoshi said, poking Veeraphol's chest with his forefinger. Tatsuyoshi even carried Veeraphol around the ring, and Veeraphol carried Tatsuyoshi back as well.[2]
Even after defeat, the spectators kept chanting Tatsuyoshi's name until he walked back to his locker room.[2]
Veeraphol gave an interview on the ring saying that Tatsuyoshi was stronger and more powerful this time.[2]
Years later, after Veeraphol retired, Tatsuyoshi continued to box, but in his later years. Tatsuyoshi traveled to Thailand and even went to Chaiyaphum, the province where Veeraphol's Thai restaurant was located, to visit him. The two have been good friends ever since that fight.[3]
