Omori stops ex-OPBF champ Yamamoto

By Joe Koizumi

Japanese southpaw prospect, WBC#18 bantam Shohei Omori (20-2, 15 KOs) proved too strong and sharp for ex-OPBF bantam ruler Takahiro Yamamoto (21-6, 17 KOs), whipping him so lopsidedly that the referee intervened at 2:48 of the third round in a scheduled eight on Sunday in Osaka, Japan.

Having failed to win the vacant WBO bantam belt by an eleventh round stoppage by Filipino Marlon Tapales in Kyoto in April of the previous year, Omori, a tall and stylish hard-puncher, registered a couple of fine victories to show his return to the front line. Omori, a junior to Olympic gold medalist Ryota Murata in the same high school in Kyoto, will move up to the 122-pount category to be gunning for a shot at a regional championship next year.