ASIAN BOXING
  • Home
  • Asian News
  • Champions
    • World Champions
    • Profiles
    • OPBF Champions
    • Japanese Champions
  • World Title Results
  • World Title Previews
  • Posters!
  • Female
    • Previews
    • Results
    • Schedule
  • Thinking out East!
  • Previews
  • Oriental Opinions
  • Upcoming Fights
  • Features
  • Taka's Title Shot!
  • The Asian Boxing Podcast
  • Videos
  • On This Day
  • Forum
  • Contact Us
  • Miscellaneous
  • Guest Articles
  • Interviews
  • Schedule
  • Donate
  • Japanese Boxing FAQ
  • Boxing Raise
  • Rookie of the Year
  • Champion Carnival
  • Series Break Downs
  • News Letter

Eric Armit's snips and snipes

5/28/2015

0 Comments

 
The brilliant Eric Armit has again shared his brilliant Snips and Snipes column with us, well worth a read! As always, thank you Eric!
Good to have boxing back to normal. The elephant in the room of Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao is history; well it should be that there will always be people who won’t let go. Forget about the fight of the century we are back to Saul Alvarez vs. James Kirkland, Jamie McDonnell vs. Tomoki Kameda, Omar Figueroa vs. Ricky Burns, Eden Sonsona vs. Adan Estrella, Illunga Makabu vs. Thabiso Mchunu, Gennady Golovkin vs. Willie Monroe, Roman Gonzalez vs. Edgar Sosa, Alex Povetkin vs. Mike Perez and James DeGale vs. Andre Dirrell and look forward to Kell Brook vs. Frankie Gavin, Amir Khan vs. Chris Algieri, Bryan Vasquez vs. Javier Fortuna, Javier Mendoza vs. Milan Melindo, Evgeny Gradovich vs. Lee Selby, Cotto, Wilder, Kovalev, Walters, Frampton, Quigg and so many more. None of these will generate the hype or the income of Mayweather vs. Pacquiao but start focusing elsewhere because by 2016 both “Money” and Manny will be yesterday’s men and boxing will be regenerating as it always has done.

One of the nicest gestures at the weekend was James DeGale dedicating his title winning effort to the late Darren Sutherland. The “Dazzler” seemed to have a brilliant career in front of him so it was a huge shock when he committed suicide in 2009. DeGale had beaten Sutherland at the European Qualifiers for the 2008 Olympics but Sutherland qualified at the second qualifier only to lose to DeGale at the Olympics. A friendship forged in the ring as so many are and a lovely gesture from DeGale that even during the euphoria of winning a world title he remembered Sutherland.

DeGale became the first British fighter to win a Olympic gold medal and go on to win a world title. The nearest before him was Chris Finnegan who had the misfortune to be around at the same time as Bob Foster who knocked Finnegan out in the 14th round of their 1972 fight which was crowned Ring Magazine “Fight of the Year”. Audley Harrison has his world title shot but was stopped in three rounds by David Haye for the WBA title in 2010 but in this multi-multi titled era he did actually win the World Boxing Foundation title. Now that DeGale has achieved that high water mark Brits Anthony Joshua and Luke Campbell might make it a case of “buses”- none for ages and then three come along at once.

With China dipping its toe into professional boxing the last big markets left virtually untouched are India and Pakistan. India in particular has been very strong in amateur boxing. There has been some pro boxing there but only a minimum and both they and Pakistan have approached the WBC for help in kick-starting the pro sport. It will take years for the pro sport to develop in both countries and there is no guarantee it will not wither on the vine but let’s hope not. 

As I was writing this news was coming out that Yemeni boxer Ali Raymi had died. He was a victim of one of two bomb explosion at mosques in Sanna for which the Yemeni branch of ISIS has claimed responsibility. Raymi was 41 and was a former Lieutenant in the Yemeni Elite forces back in the 1990’s and he started boxing in the military but was a controversial character in Yemeni because of his life style. He fought as an amateur but also took part in many unsanctioned bouts before his first official fight in 2011. He then set a record by winning his first 20 fights by first round kayo and all 25 of his fights ended by KO/TKO. He won versions of very minor world titles at minimumweight, light flyweight, flyweight and super flyweight but the standard of his opposition was abysmal. RIP Ali.

It looks as though a potential date problem affecting David Price’s 26 June fight in Liverpool may be avoided. Price has been nominated to fight Erkan Teper and the purse bidding was won by Z! Group. They have proposed 17 July as the date for the contest. However in the EBU Championship rules, Article 6.1.4 says that a fighter shall not box less than 28 days before a championship contest. The two contests currently on the schedule for Price are 21 days apart but the Article also allows this to be waived with the written permission of the EBU so the likely outcome is either a change of date for the EBU title fight or written authority from the EBU-I hope.

The European titles continue to hold their value even with so many other titles around. Right now negotiations are ongoing for Gavin McDonnell (13-0-2), the brother of Jamie, to put his super bantamweight title on the line against fellow Brit James Dickens (19-1). Rudy Encarnacion (34-23-4) finally gets his title shot as he meets former champion Alex Miskirtchian (25-3-1), at the end of July for the vacant feather title and negotiations for Romain Jacob (23-0) to defend his super feather title against Stephen Smith (22-1) have a deadline of 31 July to reach an agreement. Fights for vacant titles include Orlando Fiordigiglio (21-0) against Cedric Vitu (41-2) at light middle on 13 June and a real humdinger at middleweight between Michel Soro (26-1-1) (coming off a stoppage of Glen Tapia) and Emanuele Blandamura (23-1) on 20 June and Dymtro Kucher (22-1) vs. Bilal Laggoune (19-0-1) for the cruiser with purse offers closing 9 June.

For those interested in finances the standard EBU sanctioning fee is 5% of the boxers purse and minimum purse values are set at EU 4700 from fly to super fly, EU 4850 from light to middle and EU 5000 from super middle to heavy with a set figure of EU 2000 for any EU title fight at any weight. 

Fres Oquendo recently won a court case. A New York District judge awarded Oquendo over $800,000 in his suit against the promoters of his fight with Ruslan Chagaev for the WBA secondary heavy title in July last year and also put in place an injunction preventing Chagaev’s promoters from staging any Chagaev bout where the WBA heavyweight title was at stake except against Oquendo. The paper trail on this was long and convoluted but three things in there interested me. It was alleged that the purse for Oquendo was mutually agreed to be higher than that appearing in the official contract and was deliberately understated in the contract so that the WBA sanctioning fee being a percentage of the boxer’s purses would be artificially lowered. My heart bleeds for the WBA. Another allegation was that Oquendo’s management contract included a clause that said that the contract would automatically roll over as long as Oquendo was rated in the top 10 by any sanctioning body. I thought that “slave” contract went out with the Muhammad Ali Boxing reform Act but obviously I was wrong. What that effectively means is that as long as a boxer is at the peak of his career he will never be free agent. That is the type of contract Don King had with Azumah Nelson. When I was with the WBC Rating Committee at one Convention we realised that Azumah Nelson had been inactive and took him out of the ratings. When I presented the ratings and explained that we left Nelson out in line with the standard measure for inactivity both Jose Sulaiman and the Ghana representative on the Board of Governors protested that Nelson was a great boxer and should be reinstated. The Governors agreed and Don King had a satisfied smile on his face. It is an aberration of a contract clause and should not be allowed. The third thing that struck me was Chagaev is defending his WBA secondary title against Francesco Pianeta in Germany on 11 July. The WBA web site does not currently show the fight on its schedule but it seems the injunction has no teeth and the court case must have cost Oquendo a lot of money which it seems unlikely he will get back. 

How embarrassing for the sport of boxing in South Africa. With Filipino’s Rey Loreto and Jetly Purisima still not paid for their fights in South Africa on 22 March the former Governor of North Cotabato in the Philippines took the step of writing an open letter to President Jacob Zuma requesting that he get involved. Zuma is said to have instigated an investigation but that news came from a journalist not a spokesman from Zuma so it is difficult to know what value that has. There is still the matter of a number of top South African boxers who have not been paid for fighting in a Boxing League on which there has been no action at all. It appears they have no Governor to support them. As if that was not bad enough the South African Sports Minister has said the televised boxing will be returning soon and the administrative body Boxing South Africa will take control of broadcasting rights despite there being an ongoing case regarding this very issue. The Minister did not help his profile by deciding that it was vital that he attend the Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao fight. Perhaps it would have had some value if he had talked to the Nevada Commission who could have told him that they don’t own the broadcasting rights. The only advice I can give to any manager , agent or fighter or official (the IBO officials also did not get paid) going to South Africa is make sure you have the money in your hand before you get into the ring because it seems there is no mechanism in place to make sure you do get paid.

No part of the sport seems to be working effectively down there. Ring officials are a vitally important part of the sport with the referees having a high responsibility for the health and safety of the boxers in the ring. The last time there was a refresher course for officials was 2009!

Not everything there is dire and desperate. In an amusing incident a promoter staged a dinner/boxing show. The boxing was okay but the food was alleged to be so poor that the patrons almost rioted. I wonder which part of dinner/boxing the promoter did not understand.

Tomas Adamek is set to return to the ring. The former WBC light heavy and IBF cruiser champion is in training for a fight with fellow Pole Przemyslaw Saleta. Both have indicated that they do not want any drug testing involved but one of Adamek’s team has offered to pay for the tests. Adamek has not fought since losing to Artur Szpilka in November and Saleta has not fight since beating Andrew Golota in February 2013. This is more a case of bad blood than a determination to re-launch their careers.

Dennis Boystov remains in an induced coma. It seems the police now believe it was not a prearranged attack but of Boystov just being in the wrong place at the wrong time and the victim of a vicious gang looking for someone to beat up.

Bad news for the sport that SMS, the 50 Cent promotion group has filed for bankruptcy. They had Yuriorkis Gamboa, James Kirkland, Andre Dirrell and others on their books but still could not make money. The other side of the coin to the vast riches of Mayweather-Pacquiao but boxing has never been an easy business. Competition between promoters can be good for boxing-but bad for promoters.

WBA super feather champion Takashi Uchiyama will be out of action for a while as he recovers from an operation on his left elbow. He seemed to be carrying the injury during his defence of his title against Jomthong earlier this month but he is forecasting that he will be back in the gym soon.

Japan lost one of its most experienced judges with the death of Kuwata Kazumasa from prostate cancer. Kazumasa first received his licence back in 1959 and officiated at his last show in 2014 so great service to the sport in Japan.

Nice show developing for Ballerup Denmark on 20 June with Patrick Nielsen facing former CBC challenger Charles Adamu, Dennis Ceylan taking on Sergio Prado and unbeaten fighters Micki Nielsen and Anthony Yigit against TBA’s. Should be wins all the way for the promoters boys. There is talk of a Patrick Nielsen vs. Rudy Markussen fight later but nothing set yet. Two excellent fights planned for 21 June in Las Vegas will see former undefeated IBF super feather champ Rances Barthelemy take on former WBC light champion Antonio DeMarco. Second fight up at super light for the unbeaten Cuban who skipped right past the lightweight division. DeMarco is coming off a loss to Jesse Vargas for the WBA secondary title at super light. Both fighters are tall for the weight with Barthelemy at 5’11” (180cm) and Vargas at 5’10” (178cm) so now no one can tell them to pick on someone your own size. June 20 in Montreal under the David Lemieux vs. Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam fight for the vacant IBF middle title lightweight Dierry Jean will take on Jerry Belmontes and lightweight Ghislain Maduma will fight Italian Michele Focosi. June 26 in Hidalgo, Texas, Diego Magdaleno (27-1) and Puerto Rican Jose A Gonzalez (24-1) will clash at lightweight and Mexican super middle Gilberto Ramirez takes on Derek Edwards.

Mike Katsidis returns to action again in Flemington, Melbourne 8 July with his opponent not yet revealed. Will Tomlinson and Brad Pitt are also scheduled to appear with their opponents the usual TBA.

Oh how the boxing world has changed. Willie Monroe Jr fought for the world title in his 21st fight after only two ten round fights and with no big names on his record. Great uncle Willie Monroe fought from 1969 to 1981 and had 50 fights in 12 years including 35 scheduled for ten rounds and one for twelve. He beat Jose Gonzalez, Willie Warren, Eugene Hart, Stan Hayward, Billy Douglas, Marvin Hagler and so many more good quality fighters-and never once got even a sniff of a world title fight. In fact the only “title” fight he was in was for the meaningless North American title when he lost on a twelfth round stoppage against Hagler. Apart from my conviction that Sugar Ray Robinson was the best fighter who ever lived I stay well away from comparing fighters from other eras but as you can see from above there are big differences in the sport from decade to decade. 

Hidden down in a four round bout on the 22 May show in Atlantic City was Carlos Gongora. The 26-year-old from Ecuador has been one of his country’s top amateurs for the past ten years. He won gold medals at prestigious tournaments such as the Pan American Junior Championships, the Copa Romana, the Jose Che Aponte, Romanian Golden Belt the Dominican Independence Cup and the South American Games. He represented Ecuador at the Pan American Games winning a bronze medal and competed at the World Championships and Olympics. The last Ecuadorian to fight for a world title was Segundo Mercado who drew and lost to Bernard Hopkins for the IBF middle title in 1994 and 1995 and he actually had Hopkins on the floor twice in their drawn fight. They are about due another world class boxer and they have high hopes for Brooklyn-based Gongora.
0 Comments

Eric Armit's Snips and Snipes

5/13/2015

0 Comments

 
The brilliant Eric Armit has again shared his brilliant Snips and Snipes column with us, well worth a read! As always, thank you Eric!
Snips and Snipes

So much has been said about the “Fight of the Century” that I don’t have much to add. I can say that anyone who thought this was going to be a great fight was not looking at the tactical side of the fight. The only way it could have come close to living up to that tag is if Mayweather chose to stand to-to-toe with Pacquiao and trade for 12 rounds. No way! Mayweather was much too smart for that to be even a remote possibility. Could a 100% fit Pacquiao have forced him to do so? I don’t believe he could. What we needed as a minimum condition of satisfaction was a good fight, a decisive result, so that we would not have to go through all the frustration of the last five years again, and for neither boxer to suffer a serious injury. We seemed to have got the decisive victory but then the question of an injury came into play.

It is obvious now that Pacquiao was not 100% fit going into the fight. The subsequent need for an operation showed that but it is impossible to say what part it played in restricting Pacquiao’s ability in the fight but as it was a rotator cuff injury it must have been a significant impediment. He is now the subject of a class action for concealing the injury and there is no doubt in my mind that he should have owned up to it. Despite that I can understand why he did not. There was a chance, a very slim chance, the injury might undergo some partial healing before the fight so that it would not be a factor but the very thought of a postponement must have been a nightmare scenario for Pacquiao and all those involved in putting the fight on. Any postponement might have killed the chances of the fight every taking place. It took such a great effort to put this one together that there was no guarantee all of those agreements on every detail of the fight could again be reached. Pacquiao was really between the rock and the hard place. He gambled on the shoulder and lost and now faces the consequences including why he ticked the “no injury” box on the Nevada State’s form. However he should not suffer the consequences alone. If anyone at HBO/Showtime/Top Rank etc. also knew of the injury then they too put their profits first and were willing parties to the conspiracy of silence.

Pacquiao has come out of the fight with an even more enhanced reputation in the Philippines with suggestions that he may now turn completely to politics and run for President. One word of caution here. If the allegations of tax evasion are true it would be ridiculous to have a President who has avoided taxes that he would expect his government to pursue rigorously from others. Pacquiao has been a tremendous asset to the Government and people of the Philippines so there is a groundswell of opinion that says he has already done so much for the country that he should not be pursued on this matter almost as if it is a matter strictly between the Philippines Government and Pacquiao. I don’t agree. The money it is alleged he owes to the Government would be enough to build schools and hospitals for the very people he loves but I guess you need to be a Filipino to judge the balance here. My dear mum always told me not to get mixed up in politics or girls. I have just failed on the first-one the second-well chance would be a fine thing.

After all of the razzmatazz surrounding the fight (let down) of the century it was great to see Lucas Matthysse and Ruslan Provodnikov go to war, to see Saul Alvarez showing pulverising power and Jamie McDonnell and Tomoki Kameda fight hard all the way in a great little title fight. Boxing is still great entertainment and has a great future.

On money I recently read in the New York Times an excellent piece on Bulgarian Serfim Todorov. Never heard of him? Well he was the last man to beat Mayweather. Todorov took a 10-9 decision over Mayweather in the semi-finals at the 1996 Olympic Games. He was approached to turn professional but turned the offers down. Now poor Todorov has suffered depression for years and is living on a monthly pension of about $450 a month. Worlds apart.

The WBA’s decision to strip Carl Froch of their secondary title was disgraceful particularly as they disregarded their own stipulation about a Andre Ward vs. Froch fight and also showed bias. On February 28 the WBA ordered the Ward vs. Froch fight saying that the parties should negotiate and if no agreement was reached then the WBA would call for purse offers. No agreement was reached and I am not even sure that any negotiations took place. The WBA had committed themselves to calling for purse offers if no agreement was reached but instead of doing so they went right past their own commitment and stripped Froch. That action itself was bad enough but both parties were at fault over no agreement being reached but only Froch was penalised. Not only was Ward not penalised he was even given permission for a non-title fight with Paul Smith. Froch last defended his WBA title in May 2014 but Ward has not defended his Super title since November 2013. That bias is unfair and should be challenged. To make matters worse Danny Garcia has not defended his WBA Super title since March 2014 and was even given permission to fight IBF champion Lamont Peterson in what could have been a unification fight and without having his title at risk. I believe the WBA’s failure to call for purse offers and their bias in the cases of Ward and Garcia should be challenged by those responsible for seeing that Froch is not shafted but I haven’t yet see any evidence of Froch’s promoter or the BBB of C. taking any action and yet that’s what the promoter gets paid to do and the BBBof C commits to when it takes a licence fee.

So sad to read of the death of Tony Ayala Jr. his was a case of “what could have been” if ever there was one. He had a pro career record of 31-2 and that hides the ruining of a huge talent. Tony was a teenage sensation he was twice US Junior champion and at just 16 won the NGG title. There were stories coming out of Tony Ayala’s San Antonio about this 16-year-old who had badly beaten then feared WBA welter champion Pipino Cuevas in a gym war. When he turned pro fight figures such as Bob Arum and Angelo Dundee were raving over the kid’s potential. He turned pro just after his 17th birthday and was fighting in bouts scheduled for ten rounds in only his third pro outing and by his fifth had beaten former WBC title challenger Mike Baker. He beat useful fighters such as Pat Hallacy, Jerry Cheatham, Steve Gregory, Robbie Epps and Carlos Maria Del Valle Herrera in winning his first 22 fights. In the background there were some very bad stories about Ayala including an alleged rape of a 13-year-old girl with it being claimed that the girl was bought-off. Whatever the truth of that there was no doubt about his attack and rape of a woman who caught him burgle ring her house in 1983 and a potentially great fighter was deservedly sent to prison. He served 16 years of a 35-year sentence and was released in 1999. He was a shadow of the great prospect he had been and went a modest 9-2 in eleven fights before being shot when trying to break into a house. He was given 10 years’ probation but in 2004 he was pulled over for speeding, had no licence and was found in possession of drugs and was sent to jail for violating his parole. He was released in April last year and was looking to rebuild his life but was found dead at the family gym on Tuesday this week. His brothers Mike and Sammy were top level fighters. Eldest brother Mike had a 45-6 record and challenged Danny Lopez for the WBC feather title and twice fought for versions of the world super bantam title. Five of his six losses were to world champions or former world champions. Middle brother Sammy did not reach the same heights but beat some useful opposition in his 23-3 record. I had a special interest in the family as I wrote features on Mike and Tony Jr. for Boxing News when they were each starting out way back in the 1970’s and 80’s. I had an even closer involvement through a friend of Tony Snr. who trained his sons. My friend would write to me in London from San Antonio asking for information on Mexican boxers ! No internet then guys. RIP Tony Jr a life wasted.

The WBO refused to sanction the fight between their then champion Tomoki Kameda and WBA secondary champion Jamie McDonnell as a unification fight. They stated that they do not recognise titles of the “secondary” nature and as McDonnell is not the WBA Super champion it could not be a unification fight. They also refused to accept McDonnell as a challenger for their title as he is not in their ratings. The net result was Kameda relinquished the WBO title. The WBO logic is a bit convoluted. McDonnell is not in their ratings because he is the WBA secondary champion so they exclude him for holding a title they do not recognise! However it was nice to see that I am not a voice crying in the wilderness as I have finally seen someone else refer to those WBA titles as “secondary”.

Things do not get any better in South Africa. The winners, other contestants and officials in the Premier Boxing League (PBL) have not yet being paid any of their prize money or fees three months after the event was completed. The South African Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula had lauded the PBL on Twitter saying it was the future of boxing in South Africa !! I hope not for the sake of all South African boxers. The Boxing South Africa (BSA) who run boxing down there do not seem to want to take any responsibility or any action-except to take the licence fees from the boxers. It also paints a sordid picture when the spokesperson for the Sports Minister Tweets “ this month “ I understand why Mugabi sometimes says “I DON’T WANT TO SE A WHITE MAN” –the capitals are not mine. Racism is alive and stinks in South Africa just as much when it is black on white. Whilst this is all a domestic matter which might be swept under the carpet the matter of non- payment of the purses for IBO champion Rey Loreto and fellow-Filipino Jetly Purisima for the show in Mdantsane in March could have serious repercussions because no fighter is going to travel to South Africa if he fears the same thing is going to happen to him. Again the BSA seem to have done nothing and I would be interested to know what the IBO have/will do. They have recently appointed a promoter Andile Sidinile as their fight commissioner, a controversial decision but one with which they are comfortable as they see no conflict of interest” and as Mr. Sidinile had previously asked the South African Public Protector to investigate these defaults on payments he presumably will also do so with the IBO behind him. After all Loreto was taking part in an IBO title fight and the IBO must have approved the fight and by so doing endorsed the promoter to stage the fight so their reputation is also at stake. Added to all of this the BSA’s stupid idea of taking control of the broadcasting rights for fights is still rightly being contested in court so the South African Broadcasting Corporation is the South African non-Broadcasting Corporation. What a mess but that’s what happens when the government appoint people with no knowledge of boxing to head the BSA.

Johnny Gonzalez has no thoughts of retiring. The former two-division world champion is back in the gym with the aim of a fight with Takashi Miura for the WBC super feather title. His crushing loss to Gary Russell does not seem to have deterred him but he did look a bit shot in that fight.

I used to think that Frankie Gomez was a great talent who would be a world champion one day. Now I am not so sure. It escapes me how he could come in 6 ½ lbs overweight for his fight at the weekend. Discipline is a big factor in a boxer’s future let’s hope the former amateur star finds some.

At the weekend I reported on a fight on the Fedor Chudinov vs. Felix Sturm show in Frankfurt where Adnan Redzovic had won his fight against Bekim Pagga by KO. I have since been informed the the Swiss Federation had suspended Redzovic for two years after he tested positive for anabolic steroids when he fought Arnold Gjergiaj in Basle in October. After this his name was placed on the EBU suspensions list but here he is 7 months later with his name still on the suspensions list fighting on a major card in Germany. Disgraceful.

Some fights to watch out for: 15 May in Phoenix light heavy hope Trevor McCumby faces Brazilian Marcus Vinicius de Oliveira. McCumby is 18-0 with 14 wins by KO/TKO and de Oliveira is 24-2-1 with 22 wins by KO/TKO. De Oliveira’s stats look good but two fight ago he lost on points to Joell Godfrey (16-11-1) so a typical Brazilian padded record. My money is on McCumby-early. May 30 in Merida Mexican Javier “Cobra” Mendoza (23-2-1) defends his IBF fly title against Filipino Milan Melindo (32-1). June 6 Daud Cino Yordan returns to action against Ghanaian Maxwell Awuku for the Interim WBO Asia Pacific title and the WBO African title. That will be different an African champion who is Indonesian. Madness and stupidity abounds. June 12 in Chicago Erislandy Lara puts his WBA secondary super welter title on the line against Delvin Rodriguez. June 13 in New York WBA champion Nicolas Walters will defend his featherweight title against unbeaten Colombian Marriaga. June 20 sees Adrien Broner back in the ring against Shawn Porter in Las Vegas at catch weight. An interesting match. July 11 sees an even looking match at super light with Mauricio Herrera facing Hank Lundy. Both are coming off losses, Herrera to Jose Benavidez for the interim WBA title and Lundy to Thomas Dulorme. Two world title fights set for July will see Sergey Kovalev facing Nadjib Mohammedi in Las Vegas on 18 July with the IBF, WBA and WBO titles on the line and on the same night Arthur Abraham defending his WBO super middle title in series IV of his fights with Robert Stieglitz. Abraham is 2-1 up in the series. On a busy 18th the Top Rank show in Macau will have Mickey Bey defending his IBF light title against Denis Shafikov with Nonito Donaire and Brian Viloria also on the show. It could be that Donaire ends up fighting for the vacant WBC super bantam title as there are strong rumours that Leo Santa Cruz will relinquish the title to go up to featherweight.

One fight that will not take place is Grigory Drozd’s defence of the WBC cruiser title against Pole Krzys Wlodarczyk in Moscow on May 22. Former champion Wlodarczyk has been struck down by a viral infection and it looks likely that Pole Lukasz Janik will take his place. Janik is currently No 19 with the WBC. “Ding” that’s the bell for the WBC ratings elevator to take Janik up to the top 15.

Different countries have different rules when it comes to how old a boxer has to be to turn pro. I get the impression that in Thailand it is a case of if you are good enough age is immaterial. Even then I was surprised to note that the current WBC Asian Council Continental bantamweight champion Saenganan is just 15 and turned pro at 13 ½ years old. He has already gone the full twelve rounds twice in fights which would never be allowed to happen in most countries. He is still unbeaten so good enough is old enough. He boxes as Saenganan KPP, his “alias” is Saenganan Sithsaithong and his real name is Thiranan Matsali. Now you see why I only use the first name when reporting on fights in Thailand. [Note a feature on Saenganan can be read here]

Nice to see Gary Balletto involved in the celebrations for the 25th Anniversary of the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Just coming up for his 40th birthday Gary is a quadriplegic after breaking his neck in an accident. A former boxer he built a useful 31-3-2 record and was popular all across the New England States. He did not quite make it to the very top but is now working hard raising funds for the construction of a handicap accessible gym. Best of luck Gary. Unsal Arik is another working for charity. The German-born Turk is very much the rough diamond type. His mother died from cancer and Arik now works with an Association which supports cancer patients and physically disabled children. Arik is sponsoring two of the children and is active in fund raising. There are some good people out there and many of them are boxers. 

0 Comments

Divisional Overview-The Brilliant Bantamweights

5/10/2015

0 Comments

 
Earlier this year we did a number of “Divisional Overview” pieces before taking a hiatus with the Bantamweight division due to the fact there was a number of big bouts lined up one after the other the space of a few weeks. Now we've had those bouts and we can finally let loose with out “Divisional Overview-The Brilliant Bantamweights”.

To begin we look at 9 of the best from Asia, then we take a look at some lesser figures from the Asian boxing scene and then some international fighters. Hopefully we'll help to show just how interesting the division is right now.

The God of Left

Picture
Shinsuke Yamanaka (23-0-2, 17)
The top dog in the division is, by quite some margin, is Shinsuke Yamanaka. The destructively hard hitting southpaw is the current WBC champion and has been since November 2011 with an impressive 8 defenses already under his belt. Not only has he run up a number of defenses but he has also beaten notable opponents such as Ryosuke Iwasa, Vic Darchinyan, Tomas Rojas, Malcolm Tunacao and Suriyan Sor Rungvisai.

In the ring Yamanaka shows brilliant ring generalship, solid over-all skills and a rocket of a straight left hand. Sometimes he fails to really use his jab as he should to set up his left hand but it's fair to say that when he's on song he looks in a completely different league to everyone else in the division. When he's not on song he still has that left hand to bail him out of any tough situation, as seen when he dropped Suriyan 3 times to open up a big gap in the score cards.

At the moment we're unsure what Yamanaka's next step is though he has often spoken of having a big bout in Las Vegas. It seems unlikely that that will be next but it's certainly going to be interesting to see what he does and who he faces, though hopefully it will be a step up from Diego Ricardo Santillan, who he fought last time out.

The Mexican Kameda

Picture
Tomoki Kameda (31-1, 19)
We recently saw Tomoki Kameda suffer his first defeat as he came up narrowly short against Englishman Jamie McDonnell in a bout for the WBA title. Prior to that bout Tomoki had vacated the WBO belt and now sets on the outside looking in, though he does have powerful advisor Al Haymon backing him and a large Mexican fan base who supposed him in the US, where he is now based following the JBC's ban of the Kameda brothers.

Stylistically Tomoki is the most exciting of Kameda brothers with lovely flashy hand speed, fanstic combinations and great movement. Sadly however he still has the issues that the other Kamaeda's have. Not only is he banned from Japan but he also has that air of arrogance, something that was certainly on show following his loss to McDonnell. At 23 years old he has a lot of time to grow up, though he may find himself needing to realise he lost his last fight by fighting like an idiot in the 12 round.

Tomoki's next fight is almost certainly going to be in the states but who it will be against is a mystery. We suspect it'll be a world ranked opponent with the hope of getting another world title fight by the end of the year though we do wonder whether Haymon will put as much money behind him as he would have had Tomoki beaten McDonnell.

The Thai Tough Guy

Picture
Suriyan Sor Rungvisai (41-6-1, 19)
Thailand gives us some of the most bizarre records in the sport and sometimes they are all smoke and mirrors. Other times they are very legitimate, as is the case with the criminally under-rated Suriyan Sor Rungvisai. The Thai is one of the toughest and bravest fighters out there and is a real handful for anyone, despite having first made his name down at Flyweight, where he ran the great Pongsaklek Wonjongkam very close back in 2010.

Suriyan debuted way back in 2006 and yet is only 26 now. Despite that he's not got the wear and tear that one would expect, despite fighting with an aggressive pressure style and facing the likes of Wonjongkam, Tomas Rojas, Nobuo Nashiro, Yota Sato, Yamanaka. Blessed with dogged determination, a very high work rate and steely toughness Suriyan is a headache for everyone, though his lack of power is likely to prevent him from being a truly elite fighter in the division.

Ranked #2 by the WBC Suriyan is thought to be looking for a world title eliminator against Zhanat Zhakiyanov, for the right to fight Yamanaka. We know that for now however Narkonloung will look to keep their man busy and we'd not be shocked to see him out again in the coming weeks, possibly even on the under-card of Srisaket Sor Rungvisai's bout with Jose Salgado.

The top WBO contender

Picture
Ryo Akaho (26-1-2, 18)
Whilst Japan only boasts a single world champion at the weight they do have a number of top contenders, one of which is the WBO #1 ranked fighter Ryo Akaho. Akaho first made his name at Super Flyweight, where he claimed the OPBF title and challenged for a world title, though has out grown 115lbs and now sits as one of the leading contenders in the much more packed Bantamweight division.

Technically Akaho is very flawed as a boxer though he's also entertaining with his flaws making him an enjoyable to watch fighter who possess genuinely nasty power, a gritty toughness and a fighters attitude. More notably however is the fact he has linked up with Filipino promotional powerhouse ALA Promotions who have pretty deep pockets and solid trainers to help round out Akaho's flaws before putting him into a world title bout later in the year.

As alluded to, Akaho's future certainly looks like it is moving towards a WBO world title bout. At the moment the title is vacant and Akaho is the top contender so expect his next bout to be for the belt, possibly is Japan or possibly in the Philippines. Given his style and personality he could well be a sold draw as a champion even if he's a long way from being the best in the division.

The Demon of Left

Picture
Shohei Omori (14-0, 9)
Kyoto isn't a boxing hot bed though it does seem to have one of the sports most exciting Bantamweight prospects in the form of Shohei Omori, the current Japanese champion and a former Japanese Rookie of the year. Omori burst on to the scene last year with a one-sided victory over Christian Esquivel though managed to blow everyone away in April with a dominant and destructive victory over Kentaro Masuda for the Japanese title.

Omori is yet another southpaw boxer-puncher though we dare say he's the most talented of the 3 mentioned here. He's destructive with his left hand, incredibly quick, looks to be huge at the weight and is still very much a boxing baby at just 22 years old. Amazingly he wasn't much of an amateur though as a professional he has been nearly flawless hardly losing more than a few rounds through his career so far. To say he has a bright future ahead of him is merely stating the obvious though the question is how bright?

The future for Omori isn't clear though we'd like to see him either defend his Japanese title or move towards an OPBF title fight. At the moment he's only had 45 rounds and has only been beyond 5 rounds once so we'd like to see him pass some stamina tests and then make the move towards a world title. He has however looked very special so far.

ZZ The Kazakh Banger

Picture
Zhanat Zhakiyanov (25-1, 18)
Kazakhstan boxing clearly has one megastar in the form of Gennady Golovkin, below him however are a number of emerging fighters including flawed Bantamweight puncher Zhanat Zhakiyanov. The hard hitting Kazakh is promoted by Britain's Ricky Hatton and has fought all over the globe already with bouts as far afield as he UK, China, Australia, Russia and Thailand though has often left the impression of an exciting but raw puncher.

Zhakiyanov, from now on referred to as “ZZ”, has a vicious right hand, a hurtful left and an exciting aggressive style that all about come forward aggression. Sadly though watching ZZ is relatively difficult and it often appears that the aggressive fighter is stumbling in the dark looking to land his right cross without ever setting it up, his footwork is sloppy and his accuracy is appalling. But he's a hard hitting fighter who always looks for the home-run punch.

ZZ fought this past weekend, stopping the limited Hector Rolando Guzman in the 6th round to claim the WBA international tite. The future may be that he goes the WBA route though he is currently the WBC #1 ranked contender and may get a cash out offer against Yamanaka or a potential pay day to face Suriyan in Thailand. The future will be fun for the Kazak but maybe not the most amazing.

The top IBF contender

Picture
Ryosuke Iwasa (19-1, 12)
In June we will see Ryosuke “Eagle Eye” Iwasa fight in his first world title fight as he takes on Britain's Lee Haskin's in a bout for the IBF “interim” title. This was the next step up for Iwasa who has previously held both the Japanese and OPBF titles. The talented 25 year old from Chiba was on the fast track to the top before being halted in his 9th professional bout, by Yamanaka, but he has regrouped incredibly since then.

Iwasa is another southpaw boxer-puncher, like Yamanaka, and has improved markedly since his loss more than 4 years ago. At the moment he's on an excellent 11 fight winning streak with victories against the likes of Kentaro Masuda, David De La Mora and Hiroki Shiino. He has however been given a real gut check, by Richard Pumicpic, and there is a suggestion that his body is struggling with the 118lb weight limit, something he mentioned following his bout with Pumicpic.

At the moment we know Iwasa is set to fight Haskins on June 13th for the IBF title in Bristol, England. If he wins that bout he is then expected to fight with the full IBF champion Randy Caballero. It's hoped that if he wins both of them a rematch with Yamanaka could be made, possibly for the end of this year or early next year.

The Ohashi gym hopeful

Picture
Ryo Matsumoto (14-0, 12)
The Ohashi gym is rightfully bouncing right now with a wave of top former amateur talent, including charismatic 21 year old Ryo Matsumoto. Matsumoto, like Akaho, made his name at Super Flyweight before needing to leave the division due to issues making weight. So far in his career he has claimed the OPBF Super Flyweight title and scored notable wins over Hiroyuki Hisataka, Denkaosan Kaovichit and Rusalee Samor, a trio of very solid wins for a prospect.

In the ring Matsumoto really is a bit of a genius. He can fight, he can box, he can move and he can brawl. At time he makes things look too easy, as he did against Samor late last year, though he has proven he can do 12 rounds and still have enough power to finish off a guy. For a tall fighter, 5'8”, Matsumoto has shown he can both control the range of a fight or land killer body blows and he looks like he's now maturing into a fully fledged Bantamweight and filling out his large frame.

Matsumoto has been strongly linked to a potential fight with WBA “super” champion Juan Carlos Payano with that fight being rumoured “for summer”. Whilst no official statement has been released about it there is some thought that it may come in August, potentially on the same card as Naoya Inoue's return to the ring.

The other Thai

Picture
Pungluang Sor Singyu (50-3, 34)
Whilst we rate Suriyan Sor Rungvisai very highly he's not the only Thai in the mix as former WBO champion Pungluang Sor Singyu is also hovering around a title bout, in fact he's likely to fight Akaho for the WBO title later in the year. Sadly he does have a misleading record that suggests he's much better than he really is. That's not to say Pungluang is a bad fighter but he's certainly not up there with the truly world class guys.

The Thai, like many fighters from his homeland, is a basic enough come forward fighter. He's tough but predictable with a grinding mentality and a gameplay that is often based on gradually breaking down his opponents. He can be very fun to watch but against a world class boxer/boxer-mover he is made to look distinctly average. From his 50 wins the stand out is a victory against AJ Banal in the Philippines whilst his losses have come to Stephane Jamoye, Paulus Ambunda and, most spectacularly, Tomoki Kameda.

The future for Pungluang is likely to be the Akaho fight though there is the possibility that he could slip in a fight before then. Unfortunately there is little that we've seen of Pungluang that merits another world title fight so soon after the loss to Tomoki, thought he WBO do seem to have a good relationship with their former champion and that could lead to purse bids being called shortly.

Other notable Asians-
Malcolm Tunacao (35-5-5, 20)-Former Flyweight champion Tunacao is 37 and father time will certainly end his career shortly but he's still a real threat in the division and the 2-time OPBF champion still can't be forgotten about given his ability and experience. In fact he gave Yamanaka one of his toughest fights so far back in 2013.

Hideo Sakamoto (16-1-2, 5)-Japanese 29 year old Sakamoto isn't a world beater by any means but he is one of the divisions most over-looked fighters and he is currently on a 6 fight winning streak, dating back 4 years, since losing a close one to Eita Kikuchi. Among those wins are stoppages against Hiroki Shiino and Kazuyoshi Niki.

Yu Kawaguchi (23-6, 10)-Current OPBF champion Kawaguchi isn't the best fighter in Asia but he's a feel good story and his recent win over Takahiro Yamamoto was certainly career defining. We suspect he may be a target for fighters like Omori or Matsumoto if they can't secure bigger fights next time out.

Kazuki Tanaka (2-0, 2)-Japanese prospect Tanaka is viewed as one of the most exciting young fighters in Japan and his team are suggesting he could go all the way. Whilst it's hard to say for now we don't expect to need to wait too long with the view being that he will fight a JBC ranked opponent next time out.

Petch Sor Chitpattana (30-0, 19)-Unbeaten Thai youngster Petch is only 21 but has been racking up wins at an alarming pace since his 2011 debut. His competition so far has been poor to say the least but he already has a WBC world ranking.

Panomroonglek Kaiyanghadaogym (47-2, 27)-Thai veteran Panomroonglek is best known for losing to Koki Kameda though it seems he now has every intention of making a move towards a WBA title fight.

Notable non-Asians-
Jamie McDonnell (26-2-1, 12)-Englishman McDonnell recently defeated Tomoki Kameda to retain his WBA "regular" title and it now seems like we could describe him as the #2 in the division. His title might only be a "secondary" title but the win over Kameda was a big one.

Juan Carlos Payano (16-0, 8)-Dominican fighter Payano is the current WBA "super" champion and is the man who eventually defeated Anselmo Moreno, albeit it in controversial circumstances. Payano is "the man" in terms of the WBA but he's yet to defend his title and has done nothing to inspire us into believing he'll be a long term title holder.

Randy Caballero (22-0, 13)-IBF champion Caballero made a splash in Japan last year when he stopped Kohei Oba in an IBF eliminator. A fight later Caballero claimed the IBF title though unfortunately suffered a serious injury before his first defense. On his return he's expected to face Ryusoke Iwasa or...

...Lee Haksins (31-3, 13)-Haskins is another Englishman and will be fighting Iwasa on June 13th. He's a tricky southpaw who holds notable wins over McDonnell and Stuart Hall and has done everything but fight for a world title.

Julio Ceja (29-1, 26)-Big punching Mexican is a serious threat and has spoken of fighting Shinsuke Yamanaka in the past. On paper he's a major threat and a really good boxer-puncher, though he has been beaten by McDonnell and was surprisingly taken the distance by Oscar Blanquet last time out.
Images courtesy of
http://www.teiken.com
http://www.yokohama-hikari.jp
http://www.celes-gym.com
http://http://www.boxeomundial.com
http://www.wozboxing.com
http://www.diamondblog.jp/official/ohashi_hideyuki
http://www.boxrec.com
http://www.hattonboxing.com
http://www.wboboxing.com
0 Comments

    Features

    When we have some free time we're hoping to add a series of fun articles to the site. Hopefully these will be enjoyable little short features

    Archives

    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013

    Categories

    All
    2014
    2014 Fighter Of The Year
    2014 Fight Of The Year
    2014 KO Of The Year
    2014 Prospect Of The Year
    2014 Round Of The Year
    2014 Trainer Of The Year
    2014 Upset Of The Year
    2015
    2015 Fight Of The Year
    2015 Prospect Of The Year
    2015 Robbery Of The Year
    2018
    20 For 20
    Abdi Pohan
    AIBA
    Akifumi Shimoda
    Akinobu Hiranaka
    Akinori Watanabe
    Akinori Watanabe Vs Tsuyoshi Kamiishi
    Akio Konishi
    Akio Shibata
    Akira Yaegashi
    ALA Promotions
    Albert Pagara
    Alie-laurel
    Ali Raymi
    Amateur
    Amnat Ruenroeng
    Anil Kumar
    Arthur Villanueva
    Asian Games 2018
    Asian Youth Championships
    Aso Ishiwaki
    Atichai Phoemsap
    Bakhodir Jalolov
    Bantamweight
    Body Shots
    Boxingraise
    Boxing's True Golden Age
    Brian Viloria
    Byung Joo Moon
    Carl Jammes Martin
    Carlo Paalam
    Chainoi Worawut
    Chatchai Butdee
    Chinzorig Battarsukh
    Choi Chul Su
    Chris John
    Christian Araneta
    Christian Pitt Laurente
    Closet Classic
    Closet Classic - Naoto Takahashi Vs Mitsuo Imazato II
    Comeback Fighter Of The Year 2015
    Daigo Higa
    Daiki Kameda
    Daiki Kameda Vs Liborio Solis
    Dave Apolinario
    Da Won Gang
    Denkaosan Kaovichit
    Den Sithsaithong
    Denver Cuello
    Dong Chun Lee
    Donnie Nietes
    Downua Ruawaiking
    Duk Koo Kim
    Eaktawan Mor Krungthepthonburi
    Egor Mekhontsev
    Elly Pical
    Erdenbaat Tsendbaatar
    Eric Armit
    Eric Armit Snips And Snipes
    Eumir Marcial
    Fastest To A World Title
    Female Fighter Of The Decade
    Fighter Focus
    Fighter Of The Decade
    Fighter Of The Decade Honourable Mention
    Fighter Of The Year
    Fight Of The Year
    Flyweight
    FOTY
    Gakuya Furuhashi
    Galim Shagatay
    Genesis Servania
    Gennady Golovkin
    George Delis
    Giovanni Escaner
    Golden Generation
    Go Odaira
    Hasanboy Dusmatov
    Hayato Tsutsumi
    Hee Jae Cho
    Hee Jae Cho Vs Byung Joo Moon
    Hidenori Otake
    Hideo Sakamoto
    Hideyuki Ohashi
    Hikaru Marugame
    Hinata Maruta
    Hiroaki Teshigawara
    Hiroki Ioka
    Hiroki Okada
    Hironori Mishiro
    Hiroto Kyoguchi
    Hisao Narita
    Hisashi-amagasa
    Honourable Mentions - 20 For 20
    Honourable Mentions 20 For 20
    Hozumi Hasegawa
    Hwan Jin Kim
    Hyung Chul Lee
    Ieyasu Yashiro Vs Ricardo Arredondo Jr
    In Jin Chi
    In Jin Chi Vs Michael Brodie I
    In Joo Cho
    In Joo Cho Vs Masamori Tokuyama
    Interview
    Iskander Kharsan
    Iwan Zoda
    Jack Tepora
    Jaesung Lee
    Ja Ik Goo
    Japanese
    Japanese World Rankings
    Jaysever Abcede
    Jeo Santisima
    Jerwin Ancajas
    Jessie Espinas
    Jestoni Autida
    Jhack Tepora
    Johnreil Maligro
    John Riel Casimero
    Joichiro Tatsuyoshi
    Jomthong Chuwatana
    Jonas Sultan
    Jonathan Taconing
    Jose Alfaro Vs Yusuke Kobori
    Ju Hee Kim
    Ju Hee Kim Vs Jujeath Nagaowa
    Jujeath Nagaowa
    Jung Il Byun
    Jung Il Byun Vs Victor Rabanales
    Jung Koo Chang
    Jung Koo Chang Vs Katsuo Tokashiki
    Jun Takigawa
    Junto Nakatani
    Kanat Islam
    Katsuaki Eguchi
    Katsunari Takayama
    Katsunari Takayama Vs Francisco Rodriguez Jr
    Katsuo Tokashiki
    Katsuo Tokashiki Vs Hwan Jin Kim II
    Katsuya Onizuka
    Katsuya Onizuka Vs Hyung Chul Lee
    Kazuki Tanaka
    Kazuto Ioka
    Kazuto Ioka Vs Akira Yaegashi
    Kazuto Takesako
    KBM
    Keita Obara
    Kenichi Horikawa
    Kenji Ono
    Kenji Ono Vs Jun Takigawa
    Kenshiro
    Ken Shiro
    Kentaro Masuda
    Kento Hatanaka
    Kenya Yamashita
    Kerry Hope Vs Petsuriya Singwancha
    Kevin Jake Cataraja
    Kiko Martinez
    Kim Ink-Yu
    Ki Suk Bae
    Kiyoshi Hatanaka
    Knockout CP Freshmart
    Kohei Kono
    Kohei Kono Vs Liborio Solis
    Koji Arisawa
    Koji Arisawa Vs Takanori Hatakeyama
    Koji Numata
    Koji Sato
    Koji Sato Vs Makoto Fuchigami
    Koki Eto
    Koki Eto Vs Kompayak Porpramook
    Koki Kameda
    Kompayak Porpramook
    Kompayak Porpramook Vs Adrian Hernandez I
    Kongfah CP Freshmart
    Kongfah Nakornluang
    Kongfah Nakornluang Vs Den Sithsaithong
    Kongputorn CPFreshmart
    Kongthara KKP
    KO Of The Year
    Kosei Tanaka
    Kosuke Tomioka
    Kozo Ishii
    Kozo Ishii Vs Nestor Garza
    Kusuo Eguchi
    Kusuo Eguchi Vs Katsuaki Eguchi
    Kwanthai Sithmorseng
    Kyotaro Fujimoto
    Lap Cheong Cheong
    Lee Heuk San
    Light Flyweight
    Lu Bin
    Mako Matsuyama
    Makoto Fuchigami
    Mako Yamada
    Malcolm Tunacao
    Manny Pacquiao
    Marcus Bellinger
    Mark Anthony Barriga
    Mark Antonio
    Mark Horikoshi
    Mark Horikoshi Vs Naoto Takahashi
    Mark Magsayo
    Maru Jung
    Marvin Sonsona
    Masahiro Sakamoto
    Masamori Tokuyama
    Masaru Sueyoshi
    Masashi Tada
    Masataka-taniguchi
    Masayoshi-hashizume
    Masayoshi Nakatani
    Masayuki-ito
    Masayuki-kuroda
    Merlito-sabillo
    Mikito-nakano
    Milan-melindo
    Mitsuo-imazato
    Most-exciting-boxers
    Muangchai-kittikasem
    Muhammad-rachman
    Muhammad-shehran
    Muhammad-waseem
    Myung-woo-yuh-vs-oh-kong-son
    Naoko Yamaguchi
    Naoto Takahashi
    Naoto Takahashi Vs Noree Jockeygym I
    Naoto Uebayashi
    Naoya Inoue
    Nawaphon Por Chokchai
    Nihito Arakawa
    Nobuyuki Shindo
    Nobuyuki Shindo Vs Akinori Watanabe
    Noknoi Sitthiprasert
    Nonito Donaire
    Nop-kratingdaenggym
    Noree Jockeygym
    O Gon Kwon
    Oleydong Sithsamerchai
    Olympics
    Ones To Watch In 2020
    Ongen Saknosiwi
    Panomroonglek Kaiyanghadaogym
    Payao Poontarat
    Petchchorhae Kokietgym
    Petch Sor Chitpattana
    Pigmy Kokietgym
    Pinoy Problems
    Pongsaklek Wonjongkam
    Power-punchers
    Prospect Of The Year
    Prospects
    Pungluang Sor Singyu
    Qiu Xiao Jun
    Randy Petalcorin
    Rankings
    Ratchasak KKP
    Reito Tsutsumi
    Reiya Abe
    Reiya Konishi
    Review
    Review Of 2018
    Rex Tso
    Rex Tso Vs Ryuto Maekawa
    Rey Loreto
    Reymart Gaballo
    Rey Megrino
    Rikki Naito
    Robbery
    Rocky Fuentes
    Rocky Lin
    Roman Gonzalez
    Romero Duno
    Rookie Of The Year
    Rookie Of The Year 2014
    Round Of The Year
    Ryo Akaho
    Ryohei Takahashi
    Ryoichi Taguchi
    Ryo Matsumoto
    Ryo Miyazaki
    Ryonosuke Tsutsumi
    Ryosuke Iwasa
    Ryota Murata
    Ryuichi Funai
    Ryuji Hara
    Ryuji Hara Vs Kosei Tanaka
    Ryusei Kawaura
    Ryutaro Nakagaki
    Ryuto Maekawa
    Ryuya Yamanaka
    Saensak Muangsurin
    Sailom Ardee
    Satoshi Shimizu
    Schedule
    Shingo Inoue
    Shingo Wake
    Shinji Takehara
    Shinji Takehara Vs Sung Chun Lee I
    Shin Ono
    Shinsuke Yamanaka
    Shogo Yamaguchi
    Shohei Kawashima
    Shohei Omori
    Sho Ishida
    Shokichi Iwata
    Sho Kimura
    Sho Nakazawa
    Sho Usami
    Shuichiro Yoshino
    Shun Kosaka
    Shun Kubo
    Shu Utsuki
    Sirimongkol Singwancha
    Sirimongkol Singwancha Vs Joichiro Tatsuyoshi
    Snipes And Snipes 28 February 2019
    Snips And Snipes
    Snips And Snipes 13 December 2018
    Snips And Snipes 16 May 2019
    Snips And Snipes 18 April 2019
    Snips And Snipes 24 January 2019
    Snips And Snipes 2 May 2019
    Snips And Snipes 4 April 2019
    Snips And Snipes 7 February 2019
    Somsak Sithchatchawal
    Somsak Sithchatchawal Vs Mahyar Monshipour
    Sonny Manakane
    Sora Tanaka
    South Korea
    Srisaket Sor Rungvisai
    Stamp Kiatniwat
    Stephane Jamoye
    Streaming
    Sugar Miyuki
    Suguru Muranaka
    Sukthet Sarawut
    Sung Chun Lee
    Sung-Kil Moon
    Super Flyweight
    Suriyan Sor Rungvisai
    Su Yun Hong
    Tadashi Yuba
    Taek Min Kim
    Taek Min Kim Vs Sonny Manakane
    Tae Seung Kim
    Takanori Hatakeyama
    Takashi Miura
    Takashi Uchiyama
    Takayuki Hosokawa
    Takeshi Inoue
    Takuma Inoue
    Takuya Kogawa
    Takuya Watanabe
    Tatsuya Fukuhara
    Television
    Tetsuya Hisada
    Tetsuya Morisada
    Thailand
    Thanks Giving
    Thanongsak Simsri
    The 2019 Asian Youth Championships
    The Best Fights
    Theena Thayalan
    TheFightPod
    The Past Week In Action
    The Past Week In Action 10th June 2019
    The Past Week In Action 12 February 2019
    The Past Week In Action 16 April 2019
    The Past Week In Action 19 February 2019
    The Past Week In Action 21 May 2019
    The Past Week In Action 23 April 2019
    The Past Week In Action 26 February 2019
    The Past Week In Action 2 April 2019
    The Past Week In Action 30 April 2019
    The Past Week In Action 5 March 2019
    The Past Week In Action 6 May 2019
    The Past Week In Action 8 April 2019
    The Past Week In Action June 4th 2019
    Thitisan Panmod
    Thomas Americo
    Tiger Tor Buamas
    Tokyo
    Tokyo 2020
    Tomohiro Ebisu
    Tomoki Kameda
    Top Rank Ventures Into India
    Toshiaki Nishioka
    Trainer Of The Year
    Tsubasa Koura
    Tsuyoshi Kamiishi
    Tugstsogt Nyambayar
    Upcoming
    Upset Of The Year
    Veeraphol Sahaprom
    Wanheng Menayothin
    Warlito Parrenas
    WBSS
    Wongso Suseno
    World Ranked Asian Fighters
    World Ranked South East Asian Fighters
    World Rankings
    World Series Boxing
    World Youth Championships
    WSB
    Wuttichai Masuk
    Xiong Zhao Zhong
    Yamato Mitani
    Yasutaka Ishimoto
    Yasutaka Ishimoto Vs Gakuya Furuhashi II
    Ye Joon Kim
    Yodmongkol Vor Saengthep
    Yong Soo Choi
    Yong Soo Choi Vs Yamato Mitani II
    Yo Sam Choi
    Yoshihiro Kamegai
    Yoshiro Kamegai Vs Jesus Soto Karass I
    Yoshitaka Kato
    Young Ik Hwang
    Yudai Shigeoka
    Yuichiro Kasuya
    Yu Kawaguchi
    Yuki Beppu
    Yu Kimura
    Yukinori Oguni
    Yusaku Kuga
    Yusuke Kobori
    Zhanat Zhakiyanov
    Zou Shiming

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • Asian News
  • Champions
    • World Champions
    • Profiles
    • OPBF Champions
    • Japanese Champions
  • World Title Results
  • World Title Previews
  • Posters!
  • Female
    • Previews
    • Results
    • Schedule
  • Thinking out East!
  • Previews
  • Oriental Opinions
  • Upcoming Fights
  • Features
  • Taka's Title Shot!
  • The Asian Boxing Podcast
  • Videos
  • On This Day
  • Forum
  • Contact Us
  • Miscellaneous
  • Guest Articles
  • Interviews
  • Schedule
  • Donate
  • Japanese Boxing FAQ
  • Boxing Raise
  • Rookie of the Year
  • Champion Carnival
  • Series Break Downs
  • News Letter