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By - George Delis (@Delisketo )
July 13 signals the return of Japanese fan favorite Ryo Akaho, after his sudden retirement back in January of this year. Ryo Akaho (31-2-2 / 20 KOs) began fighting as a professional 13 years ago in 2005 at the age of 18. He went undefeated for 4 years, with a record of 13-0-1 (7 KOs) when he challenged world title contender Daigo Nakahiro (21-2*) for the Japanese Super Flyweight championship. Despite being the less experienced of the 2, he managed to take the champion to the limit, in a pretty close encounter, which ended in a draw. Akaho may not have won the strap that day, but he certainly proved himself to be a worthy challenger. In 2011, after 2 more KO wins, another big opportunity arrived as he was set to take on 2 division champion Fred Mundraby (12-0*) for the vacant OPBF Super Flyweight title. Ryo’s skills and power were too much for the Australian as his corner was forced to stop the fight, declaring the Japanese prodigy the new OPBF champion. Akaho defended his belt thrice against Toyoto Shiraishi (21-5*), Yoshihito Ishizaki (6-3*) and Yohei Tobe (4-0*), putting himself at the top of the division. On December of 2012, he received his first word title shot against the charismatic WBC World Super Flyweight champion Yota Sato (25-2*). Those 2 had one of the most entertaining title fights of the year. A clash of styles: the calm and collected Akaho on one hand, the cocky and flamboyant Sato on the other. The champion was fooling around the first two rounds, messing with the challenger’s mind. Ryo’s temper got the better of him, charging Yota in the end of both rounds. Sato took advantage of it, hitting Akaho with some good jabs. And then, the exciting part of the fight began as things really got heat up in the 5th round where both men were exchanging bombs, rocking each other hard, with Akaho almost dropping the champ on the 6th and 9th round. It was a back and forth affair that left the crowd at the edge of their seats. In the end, Sato may have gotten the decision but both men got the loud approval from the fans. On that day, Akaho was established as a main event player. It was then that he decided to move up a weight class and try his luck at Bantamweight. Akano piled up 7 consecutive victories, 6 of them via knock out, including wins over former Japanese Super Bantamweight title holder Masaaki Serie (25-6*), Mexican prospect Antonio Tostado Garcia (14-3*), as well as African champion Prosper Ankrah (24-4*), securing the WBA International championship in the process and another World title fight, this time for Bantamweight gold. His bout with Panya Uthok (50-3*) took place on August of 2015, at the champion’s “backyard” in Thailand. Akaho was looking strong in the opening round, delivering a few nice shots, but he was repeatedly got hit with illegal blows to the back of the head on numerous occasions. Dazed by Uthok’s dirty tactics, he was knocked out early in the next round, the first time he got stopped in his entire career. Ryo returned to action 9 months later and since then, he has been unstoppable in his last 5 bouts, even becoming the Japanese Bantamweight champion on March of 2017. At the beginning of 2018, it was announced that due to sudden illness, Akaho was forced to retire from active competition, relinquishing the Japanese title too. However, this May, the 2 time world title contender appeared at Korakuen Hall, the arena in which he made his name, and officially stated that he is coming back for good. His opponent will be Robert Udtohan (25-3 / 15 KOs), who’s mostly known for his loss to WBA International champion Xiaojun Qiu. This fight is clearly booked to give the returning champion, a hero’s welcome, as the Philippino is nowhere near his level. The most dangerous rival of Akaho here, is his health status and if or how it will affect his performance in the ring. Hopefully he has made a complete recovery and will soon start competing against top contenders again, on his quest to finally win the big one. (*denotes record of fighter pre-fight)
By - George Delis (@Delisketo )
The WBO announced today (Ed's note - This was sent to us on June 24th) their June rankings and there are some significant changes for 2 Japanese fighters. Super Flyweight: Ryuichi Funai (30-7), who recently knocked out Warlito Parrenas (26-7) to win the vacant WBO Asia Pacific Super Flyweight title, moved up from #12 to #8, finally breaking the top 10 of the division and being only one step behind from the former interim WBA World champion, Koki Eto (22-4). Currently on a 6 fight winning streak, claiming victories over Kenta Nakagawa (16-3), Takayuki Okumoto (20-8) and Shota Kawaguchi (21-10), if Funai can keep this pace up, he could be looking at a future World title shot in 2019. Super Lightweight: Hiroki Okada (18-0) the WBO Asia Pacific Super Lightweight champion, climbed to #2 from #4. Okada’s path has been a dominant one. 18 wins, 13 of them coming via KO, with 0 losses, was the Japanese Super Lightweight champion from 2014 to 2016, accumulating an impressive number of 6 title defenses (4 stoppages). He won the vacant WBO Asia Pacific title, from former WBO international champion Jason Pagara (41-3) in 2017 and on May of 2018, he defended it against Featherweight World title contender Ciso Morales (19-7). With the WBSS Super Lightweight Tournament coming up later this year, this is an important development as Okada is also highly ranked by the WBC (#3-May rankings) so this definitely increases his chances of being included in the GP. His stellar record has proven that he is a formidable fighter with KO power and that he can hang with everyone in the division. Thus far, nothing has been officially announced, considering the participants, so there’s still hope that Japan will have one more representative in the WBSS (Naoya Inoue, being the other one, will participate in the WBSS Bantamweight Tournament). https://twitter.com/Delisketo/status/1007306793817706496 Courtesy of George Delis (@Delisketo) The Japanese local scene will witness another interesting match up this Thursday on the June 14th between Hiroaki Teshigawara and Teiru Kinoshita for the WBO Asia Pacific Bantamweight title. Hiroaki Teshigawara (16-2-2, 9), the defending champion, has climbed the Bantamweight rankings quite fast, despite having to deal with a few injuries in the past. A dynamic and exciting boxer, Teshigawara won his first major championship on October of 2017 after he obliterated the much more experienced Jetro Pabustan (29-4-6*) giving the Filipino his only KO loss in the ring (video below). In just 4 months, the Japanese prodigy successfully defended his belt against another well versed opponent in Jason Canoy (27-7-2*), earning the unanimous decision after a hard fought battle. https://twitter.com/Delisketo/status/1006187025727356928 Teiru Kinoshita (26-2-1, 9) is a former Japanese title holder and the #1 contender for Hiroaki’s WBO championship, has had his ups and downs in his 10 years as a pro. He went undefeated at 13-0-1 when he beat Go Onaga (17-1-2*) for the Japanese Super Flyweight strap. Teiru accumulated 5 successful title defenses over the like of Kenji Oba (22-1-2*) and Toyoto Shiraishi (23-6-1*) before he challenged Zolani Tete in 2012 (now WBO Bantamweight champion, for the IBF Super Flyweight title). After his loss, he gathered 6 more wins, although against much inferior opponents, and in 2017 tried to capture once more the IBF title but once again came up short. https://twitter.com/Delisketo/status/1006206182443372544 This fight means a lot for both fighters. Teshigawara is currently ranked #7 by the WBO and is on a 4 fight winning streak. A win here has huge implications, considering the WBSS Bantamweight tournament that’s looming around the corner. For Kinoshita, this fight means redemption and a chance to prove himself worthy to the Japanese fans. Predicition: Teshigawara has the edge here. He’s the younger fighter of the two, has the higher KO ratio and is continuously competing against top tier opponents. While he is moving up the ladder, Teiru is struggling to keep up with the rest of the guys. The champion’s hunger to secure a world title shot or a spot at the WBSS, will give him the focus that he needs to effectively dispose of his rival. *The boxer’s record before the fight To read more of George's work follow him on twitter. |
Guests!These articles are submitted by guest writers and sites. They aren't submitted by the usual folk behind Asian Boxing and don't fall in line with our editorial stance, giving a fresh view on various boxing issues from the Asian boxing scene. Archives
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