November 20th hasn't been the busiest day in recent years in Asian boxing but we have managed to find 3 fights of note since 1980. The first of those was back in 1980 when Yasutsune Uehara defeated Leonel Hernandez to successfully defend the WBA Super Featherweight title. This was Uehara's sole defense of the title before he was defeated by Samuel Serrano, the man he had originally beaten for the belt. Although Uehara only held the world title for 8 months he had managed to make his mark on the world of boxing with a short reign and as the 1980 Upset of the Year winner. In 1992 Japanese puncher Yuji Watanabe came up short as he attempted to claim the WBA Super Featherweight title from Genaro Hernandez. Watanabe, who entered the bout 10-0 (10) was stopped in 6 rounds by Hernandez. Sadly for Watanabe he would come up short in his only subsequent world title bout, being stopped in 5 rounds by Wilfredo Vazquez in 1997. In 1994 Thai veteran Daorung Chuwatana made the first defense of the WBA Bantamweight title as he over-came the previously unbeaten In-Sik Go with a technical decision win. Daorung would defend the belt once more before losing it to fellow Thai Veeraphol Sahaprom. In 1996 Daorung managed to have a second short reign as champion before retiring in 1997. For Go this was his sole world title bout and he would go 2-3 in subsequent fights before retiring in the late 1990's. (Image courtesy of boxrec.com)
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We've got to be honest November 19th has been a quiet day through history though we have been lucky to find a few recent bouts that should perk the interest of fans, especially when we considering that one man involved in one of those bouts is expected to fight in a world title bout in 2015.
The men alluded to in that opening paragraph was Koki Kameda who made his final defense of the WBA Bantamweight title on this day in 2013 as he narrowly over-came South Korean under-dog Jung-Oh Son. Son managed to drop Kameda though was unable to convince the judges to give him the win what ended up being a split decision win for Kameda. The bout was the most recent male world title fight held in Korea and was also the bout that seemed to send Kameda down to Super Flyweight. Sadly we've not yet seen Kameda fighting a real opponent since this bout despite scoring an easy win over the over-matched Omar Salado just a few weeks ago. Just a couple of years before Kameda's struggle in Korea we saw Thailand's Nethra Sasiprapa lose a controversial and close decision in Mexico to Jose Alfredo Rodriguez in a WBA interim Light Flyweight title bout. Since the bout Rodriguez has gone 1-4 losing to both Kazuto Ioka and Milan Melindo. Sasiprapa would fight 6 more times winning all 6 before vanishing from professional boxing in 2012 with a lot of unfulfilled potential. For November 18th we've gone back 25 years and fought 3 fights that we thought were notable enough to include here. One of which features a man in action this coming weekend. We'll start with the most recent bout which came in 2006 and saw Filipino fan favourite Manny Pacquiao defend his WBC International Super Featherweight title against Mexican legend Erik Morales. This was the third meeting between the two men,who were 1-1 going into this bout, and saw the series between them ending in clinical fashion as Pacquiao beat the fight out of Morales in just 3 rounds. The loss for Morales was, in some ways, his most humiliating as he appeared to be beating into retirement and shook his head on the canvas as if to suggest he didn't want to continue. Amazingly several years later Morales would manage to carve out a small second run winning the WBC Light Welterweight title though was essentially a wreck of his former self after this bout. For Pacquiao this win further strengthened his claim as one of the best fighters on the planet and helped enhance his reputation as Mexecutioner. This coming weekend we will again see Pacquiao attempting to show his ability as he attempts to defend his WBO Welterweight title against unbeaten American Chris Algieri. In 1993 we saw Hiroaki Yakota fail in his attempt to claim the WBA Super Bantamweight title, then held by Wilfredo Vazquez. Yokota had previously held the Japanese national title and put a good account against "El Orgullo de Puerto Rico" though was unable to beat the Puerto Rican power puncher. Yakota would continue to fight on, somewhat irregularly, until 2007 with out losing another bout though this was his sole world title bout. The first of our 3 bouts was from 1992 when South Korean great Myung-Woo Yuh reclaimed the WBA Light Flyweight title and avenged his sole loss as he took a majority decision against Hiroki Ioka. Ioka had beaten Yuh the previous December but the Japanese fighter was unable to do the same as Yuh seemed to clear beat the Japanese fighter, despite one judge some how viewing the bout as an even contest. Yuh would defend the belt once more before retiring. As for Ioka he would come up short in 4 subsequent world title bouts before retiring at the turn of the century. Ioka now runs the gym that promotes his nephew Kazuto Ioka. (Image courtesy of boxrec.com) November 17th has been one of the least interesting dates, historically, that we've come across Thankfully however we have managed to some things of note.
In 2006 Thai great Pongsaklek Wonjongkam retained his WBC Flyweight title with a clear win over South African challenger Monelisi Myekeni in a bout staged in the Suranaree Stadium. This was Wonjongkam's 16th defense of the title and continued his great reign of the early 00's. Myekeni certainly isn't one of the better names on Wonjongkam's record however he did show some potential, potential that was taken from him only weeks after this fight when he suffered a serious injury in a car accident that forced him into retirement. More recently, in 2012, we had a great contest between Brian Viloria and Hernan "Tyson" Marquez. This bout saw the WBA and WBO Flyweight titles being unified as Viloria put one one of the best performances of his career and dominated Marquez before eventually stopping him in round 10. On the same show as this bout we also saw Roman Gonzalez defending the WBA Light Flyweight title in a war with Juan Francisco Estrada. Both of these bouts were great contenders for FOTY and have remained linked with a lot of talk not being about a Gonzalez Vs Estrada rematch, a dream bout for 2015. November 16th hasn't been picked with huge profile bouts however there have been some very interesting ones over the last 40 or so years, some of which have been interesting and notable as opposed to huge.
The first of those came in 1974 when Thailand's Saensak Muangsurin made his professional debut in front of 15,000 fans. Muangsurin, one of the top Muay Thai fighters of his era, destroyed Filipino fighter Rudy Barro inside a round to announce himself to professional boxing in style. The hammer fisted Thai didn't land much but what he landed really counted and a single right hand almost 2 minutes into the bout sent Barro down for the count in spectacular fashion. Just 8 months later Muangsurin would become a world champion whilst fighting in just his third professional bout, a then unequalled world record which took almost 40 years to tie! Exactly a decade after Muangsurin's debut we saw Filipino fighter Donny Boy Penalosa successfully defend the IBF Light Flyweight title as he over-came the previously undefeated Jum Hwan Choi with a 15 round decision. This was Penalosa's second fight since winning inaugural title the previous december with a 13th round stoppage against Satoshi Shingaki. The Filipino would vacate the belt in late 1986 to move up to the Flyweight division where he again claimed an IBF title. A little more than 2 years after this fight Choiu won the title that Penalosa vacated by over-coming compatriot Cho-Woon Park, he would later claim the WBC Minimumweight title with a 12th round TKO against Napa Kiatwanchai in what was his penultimate bout. In 1996 German based Uzbekistan boxer Artur Grigorian recorded his second defence of the WBO Lightweight title as he dominated the very experienced Marty Jakubowski. The bout was nigh on a shut out by the champion who would continue to defend the belt until he met Brazilian great Acelino Freitas in 2004. In the last 15 years we've seen 3 really notable fights involving Asian fighters, including a bout that helped one Filipino continue what was one of the greatest rises in the sport's history. We'll start with that Filipino who was, of course, Manny Pacquiao who stamped his foot on the Featherweight scene back in 2003 when he stopped Mexican great Marco Antonio Barrera in 11 rounds to claim the Ring Magazine Featherweight title. For Pacquiao this was his 5th fight in the US and it helped to really establish him on the world scene as he Barrera's scalp to the likes of Lehlo Ledwaba and Emmanuel Lucero. Since this bout Pacquiao has gone on to claim titles all the way up to Light Middleweight as he has established himself as one of the best fighters of his era. As for Barrera there is no doubt he will get into the Hall of Fame as a first ballot entry. On the same day as Pacquiao's first win over Barrera there were also fans in South Korea watching as the great Yo Sam Choi suffered his second loss in 4 bouts. This time it was Beibis Mendoza who over-came the South Korean fighter who had lost just 16 months earlier to Jorge Arce. Sadly for Choi this loss, in a bout for the WBA interim Light Flyweight world title, was followed by back-to-back losses to Federico Catubay and Lorenzo Parra before Choi was effectively removed from the world scene. Unfortunately for Choi his career is now best remembered for it's tragic end in 2007 when he sadly passed away following a fight with Heri Amol. The most recent of the bouts came just a year ago as Thailand's Srisaket Sor Rungvisai successfully defend the WBC Super Flyweight world title with a dominant victory over Japanese challenger Hirofumi Mukai. For Srisaket it was surprisingly his only successful world title defense and he would lose the title the following year courtesy of a technical decision loss to Carlos Cuadras in Mexico. (Image courtesy of boxrec.com) November 14th hasn't been one of the greatest days in the history of Asian boxing but we have managed to find a couple of fights that peaked our attention.
The first of those came in 2003 when the Thai great Pongsaklek Wonjongkam retained his WBC Flyweight title with a clear win over Hussein Hussein. The bout was Wonjongkam's 8th defense of the WBC title in less than 3 years as he kept an active schedule with 2 other none title bouts. Of course the Thai would later add numerous other defenses, become a 2-time world champion and become of the modern legends of the Flyweight division. More recently, in 2013, Japan fans saw female great Momo Koseki record the 12th defense of the WBC Atomweight title as she over-came Nora Cardoza with a clear decision win. This saw Koseki move to within a fight of Japanese legend Yoko Gushiken's long standing record of 13 title defenses, a record Koseki has now broken It was on this day in 1988 that Japanese fighter Hiroki Ioka lost his first world title. The Japanese fighter had began the day as the WBC Minimumweight champion though was unable to beat undefeated Thai visitor Napa Kiatniwanchai. This was the second fight between the two men who had fought to a draw 5 months earlier and would for a third time in Jun 1989, with the Thai stopping Ioka in the 11th round of a very 1-sided contest. Despite this loss Ioka would later go on to claim the WBA version of the Light Flyweight title unseating Korean great Myung-Woo Yuh before losing a return match just 11 months later. Future attempts at winning Flyweight and Super Flyweight world titles both fell short as Ioka attempted to become Japan's first ever 3 weight world champion. As for Napa his reign came to an end in 1989 and following that his career went down hill before his eventual retirement in 2000 In 1993 we saw Korean great Sung-Kil Moon fight for the final time. Moon, one of the greatest little men warriors the sport has ever seen, would fail to defend his WBC Super Flyweight title against Mexican visitor Jose Luis Bueno, who narrowly-over-came Moon. Going in to the bout the Korean was seeking his 10th defense of the title he had won less than 4 years earlier. Although Moon's career lasted 7 years he left a lasting impression on fans from the late 1980's and early 1990's and was involved in some of the bloodiest and most entertaining battles of the era, including his insanely entertaining scrap with Kenji Matsumura which is always worth a watch. For Bueno his reign was a short one and he would lose his belt in his first defence, suffering a decision loss in Japan to Hiroshi Kawashima. More recently, in 2006, we had a double header in Tokyo. The show saw the then WBC Bantamweight champion Hozumi Hasegawa retain his world title with a clear win over Genaro Garcia though the show is best remembered for the WBC Minimumweight title bout between Japanese based Thai champion Eagle Den Junlaphan and "journeyman challenger" Lorenzo Trejo who almost scored one of the biggest upsets in the divisions history. Junlaphan had entered the bout hunting the 3rd defense of his second reign as champion and things looked straight forward at times as he dropped Trejo in the early going though was dropped twice himself in round 6 and given an intensely close and competitive bout through vast swathes of the bout in a very memorable and highly entertaining contest. Sadly for the Thai he would lose the title a year later as he traveled to Thailand as was dethroned by compatriot Oleydong Sithsamerchai who began his impressive reign as champion. (Image of Junlaphan courtesy of boxrec.com) In 1990;s November 12th seems to have been "one of those dates" and in a 4 year span we had 3 major world title bouts with all 3 of them featuring Thai's and amazing all 3 of them were won by Thai's. The first of those 3 contests came in 1994 when Minimumweight great Ratanapol Sor Vorapin made his 8th defense of the IBF Minimumweight title and made very light work of first time world title challenger Carlos Alberto Rodriguez. Unfortunately for Rodriguez he would lose his following 3 bouts before retiring in 1996 with a record of 18-11. As for Ratanapol he would continue to defend the belt until 1997 when he was eventually defeated by Zolani Petelo who ended what was technically the Thai's second reign as champion. Although during that time Ratanapol did spend 2 months without a world title after being stripped for missing weight and being forced to win it back just weeks later. Exactly 1 year later fans saw Light Flyweight great Saman Sorjaturong successfully defend the unified IBF and WBC titles with a 4th round KO against Japanese challenger Yuichi Hosono. The bout was Thai's first since claiming the belts in one of the greatest contests of the 1990's against Humberto Gonzalez. The Gonzalez bout had made Samam a name for the hardcore fans with the bout coming in the US though the win over Hosono was one for his home fans as he returned to Thailand for the contest. Sadly for the Thai he would vacate the IBF belt soon afterwards however he managed to defend the WBC belt until 1999 when he eventually lost the belt to South Korean Yo Sam Choi. Samam would continue to fight until 2005 when he was stopped in a round by the then emerging Koki Kameda and with 5 losses in his final 6 bouts the Thai hung them up. Hosono on the other hand would fight just once more picking up a win over Neil Caga in 1996 before retiring. In 1997 we saw Chatchai Sasakul claim the WBC Flyweight title with a surprise win over Japanese based Russian great Yuri Arbachakov. The bout was the second meeting between the two men and saw Sasakul avenging a previous defeat to Arbachakov whilst also sending the Russian into retirement. For Sasakul however this win has over-shadowed historically by the fact he lost the belt in his third defense to a then unknown Manny Pacquiao who claimed his first world title by knocking out the Thai just 13 months later. (Image courtesy of boxrec.com) In 1971 Japanese fans saw the great Kuniaki Shibata retain the WBC Featherweight title in what was to be his final successful defense of the belt. The Japanese fighter, who had won the title exactly 11 months earlier, made the second defense of the belt with a 15 round split draw against Panamanian great Ernesto Marcel who was fighting in his first world title bout. Marcel would later capture the WBA Featherweight title and make 4 defenses of the belt however this was the only one of his 6 world title bouts that he failed to win. Unfortunately for Shibata he would lose the title on 19th May 1972 when he was stopped by Clemente Sanchez however he would quickly move to Super Featherweight and enjoy reigns as both the WBA and the WBC champion up at 130lbs before his retirement in the late 1970's. Exactly 4 years later, in 1975, fans saw South Korean Jae-Doo Yuh record his sole defense of the WBA Light Middleweight title as he stopped Japanese challenger Masahiro Misako in the 6th round of their bout. As with Shibata this would actually be his final successful defense of the belt and he would suffer a 15th round KO just 3 months later to Japanese favourite Koichi Wajima. Although Yuh lost his world title he actually continued to reign as the OPBF Middleweight champion until he retirement in the late 1970's having made an incredile 22 defense of that title! Sadly for Misako this was to be his sole world title bout. In 1982, and still in Japan, fans saw Jiro Watanabe make the second defense of the WBA Super Flyweight title with a 12th round TKO of compatriot Shoji Oguma. Watanbe would later be stripped by the WBA for attempting to unify with the WBC champion Payao Poontarat, who he stopped in 1984, as he tried to prove himself as the best Super Flyweight on the planet at the time. The Japanese great would later lose the WBC title in 1986 against the excellent Gilberto Roman and announce his retirement soon afterwards. For Oguma, a former 2-time WBC Flyweight champion, this would be his final bout. Again in Japan, in 2001, fans saw Wolf Tokimitsu fail in an attempt to claim the WBC Minimumweight title as he was stopped in 3 rounds by Mexican Minimumwe great Jose Antonio Aguirre. For Tokimitsu this would be his final bout as a professional whilst Aguirre would continue to reign as the WBC champion until 2004 when he he was out pointed by Japanese based Thai Eagle Den Junlaphan. Sadly for Aguirre he would go on far too long and his once impressive record now reads 35-10-1 (21) with 8 of those losses coming in his final 10 professional bouts. (Image of Shibata courtesy of boxrec.com) |
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