Yoshida loses IBF belt in rematch with Metcalf
The rollercoatser career of Miyo Yoshida (17-5) [吉田実代] continues to go up and down, as she suffered her 5th loss, ending her third reign as a world champion, on Wednesday night as she came up short against Shurretta Metcalf (14-4-1-1, 2) in a rematch between the two women.
The popular Yoshida, who made her debut in 2014, really has had an up and down time as a fighter. She started her career without much fanfare though managed to come to the fore in 2017 when she upset boxing-model Tomomi Takano to claim the Japanese Female Bantamweight title. That belt saw her using it as a springboard for the OPBF Female Bantamweight title and subsequently the WBO female Super Flyweight title, which she won for the first time in 2019.
She was 13-1 after winning her first world title, but since then has gone 4-4 Losing the WBO title in her second defense, to Tomoko Okuda, regaining it in a rematch with Okuda to become a 2-time champion, then losing it to Tamao Ozawa. A move to the US in 2023 saw her win her first bout there before losing to Metcalf in the first bout between the two, just weeks after that loss she bounced back with a career defining win, to become a 3-time, 2-weight world champion, against Ebanie Bridges, as she took the IBF Female Bantamweight title. The hope there was to build on the win, though a long lay off followed before last nights bout with Metcalf.
In the bout last night the bigger, stronger looking Metcalf looked clumsy, but regularly managed to find ways get her shots off at range, with her shots being heavier, harder and more telling than Yoshida’s, with the Japanese fighter regularly backing off, and suffering struggling to dictate the tempo or style. She had a lot of moments, but all too often it seemed like Metcalf’s moments were simply more eye catching. It wasn’t a great performance from either fighter if we’re being honest with both looking flawed, and both looking like fighters who had been out of the ring for the whole of 2024.
Sadly for Yoshida the fact she’s a natural Super Flyweight, and one without power, didn’t help her here against a natural Bantamweight with a little bit of sting on her shots.
After 10 rounds the judges were called into decide what had been a pretty close fight, though unfortunately for Yoshida all 3 judges scored it to Metcalf, with scores of 99-91, a terrible card, 96-94 and 97-93, as Metcalf repeated her 2023 win over Yoshida, who looked incredibly disappointed with the scores.
The popular Yoshida, who made her debut in 2014, really has had an up and down time as a fighter. She started her career without much fanfare though managed to come to the fore in 2017 when she upset boxing-model Tomomi Takano to claim the Japanese Female Bantamweight title. That belt saw her using it as a springboard for the OPBF Female Bantamweight title and subsequently the WBO female Super Flyweight title, which she won for the first time in 2019.
She was 13-1 after winning her first world title, but since then has gone 4-4 Losing the WBO title in her second defense, to Tomoko Okuda, regaining it in a rematch with Okuda to become a 2-time champion, then losing it to Tamao Ozawa. A move to the US in 2023 saw her win her first bout there before losing to Metcalf in the first bout between the two, just weeks after that loss she bounced back with a career defining win, to become a 3-time, 2-weight world champion, against Ebanie Bridges, as she took the IBF Female Bantamweight title. The hope there was to build on the win, though a long lay off followed before last nights bout with Metcalf.
In the bout last night the bigger, stronger looking Metcalf looked clumsy, but regularly managed to find ways get her shots off at range, with her shots being heavier, harder and more telling than Yoshida’s, with the Japanese fighter regularly backing off, and suffering struggling to dictate the tempo or style. She had a lot of moments, but all too often it seemed like Metcalf’s moments were simply more eye catching. It wasn’t a great performance from either fighter if we’re being honest with both looking flawed, and both looking like fighters who had been out of the ring for the whole of 2024.
Sadly for Yoshida the fact she’s a natural Super Flyweight, and one without power, didn’t help her here against a natural Bantamweight with a little bit of sting on her shots.
After 10 rounds the judges were called into decide what had been a pretty close fight, though unfortunately for Yoshida all 3 judges scored it to Metcalf, with scores of 99-91, a terrible card, 96-94 and 97-93, as Metcalf repeated her 2023 win over Yoshida, who looked incredibly disappointed with the scores.