Jezreel Corrales entered the ring to face Takashi Uchiyama in Tokyo in late April as a 5-1 underdog – the athletic southpaw had been priced as high as 15-1 – and was widely expected to be routine defense for the Japanese champion. It proved to be anything but.

Corrales (20-1, 8 knockouts) shocked the longest-reigning titleholder in the sport, dropping him three times to force a highly unlikely second-round stoppage in what is an early candidate for upset of the year.

The Panamanian had to endure a long journey to get to Japan. Along with his team he left Panama 10 days before the fight. They flew 10 hours to Amsterdam, stayed there one night and took a second flight of 10 hours to Narita in Japan.

He was confident of victory but didn’t expect to win in such emphatic style.

“It was a fight I wanted because I knew Uchiyama was a great champion,” Corrales told RingTV.com through promoter Rogelio Espino. “I was surprised because I know I am not a heavy puncher, but I was confident that I will win.”

Espino whose outfit, Promociones y Eventos Del Istmo, is one of the largest Promotional companies in Latin America echoes his fighter’s words: “Corrales is a very skilful, very, very fast boxer, and I knew that would be a very difficult fight for Uchiyama. I expected a fight that Corrales will win round by round, out-boxing Uchiyama and having more control of the fight as the rounds pass. I was surprised to see Corrales dominate Uchiyama from the very first round and finishing in round two by TKO.”

The fight wasn’t even shown on TV in Panama. Espino says there were three reasons for that: “First, because it was on a Wednesday at dawn, second because the costs were high since it was in Japan, and third, because not many people were confident of a Corrales win.”

When Corrales – who became his countries 30^th boxing world champion – returned home he was greeted by hundreds of well-wishers at Tocuman airport in Panama City.

“It was exciting to see all the people waiting for me, along with my family,” the 24 year old said. “That motivates me to make bigger efforts to give glory to my country.”

As a nice gesture the government pays each boxing world champion past and present a stipend of $500 a month. Corrales is the latest to join the exclusive club that also includes Panamanian greats such as Roberto Duran, Ismael Laguna, Eusebio Pedroza and Hilario Zapata.

The win will change Corrales life, though for now he’s enjoying the adulation of his people. He remains focused on boxing and feels that now he’ll be involved in bigger fights with bigger rewards.

Although it remains early days in Corrales reign, the Japanese have an option to Corrales first defense.

“I think Corrales has a great future,” opined Espino. “His style will be liked by boxing fans because he’s fast and skilful, but not elusive. We are having conversations on future fights but nothing definite yet.”

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