This coming week or two we don't really have any "prospects" to talk about but there is one very interesting Kazakh hopeful who deserves some attention. He might not be regarded as a prospect, given he's now 31 and will be 32 before the end of the year, but he's certainly one to keep an eye on and someone worthy of making a mental note of, before he fights this coming Saturday. The man in question is Kazakh Heavyweight hopeful Zhan Kossobutskiy (14-0, 13), who has already won his first minor title and will be looking to pick up another one on Saturday when he takes on American veteran Steve Vukosa. Born in November 1988 in Arkalyk City, which was then part of the USSR, Kossobutskiy has an interesting past. He's a Kazakh though he also boasts Belarusian nationality and has been trained by father, for the most part. Sadly it's hard to know, for sure, what Kossobutskiy's amateur career was. We know that BoxRec currently give him an amateur record of 12-4 (2), though we also know that's wrong, and incomplete. We also know that Kossobutskiy was a very, very capable amateur. We know that because we also know that Kossobutskiy is a 3-time Kazakh national amateur champion. The first of those national titles came in 2010 win, where he beat Vasiliy Levit in the Heavyweight final, before he moved up in weight and won in the Super Heavyweight division in both the 2012 and 2013. Between his national title wins was a bronze medal that he picked up in 2011. In regards to international competition Kossobutskiy won the 2012 Liventsev Memorial in Belaurs, where he beat Azeri standout Magomedrasul Medzhidov in the final. The following year, at the 2013 Strandja Memorial in Bulgaria, he took home second place, beating Guido Vianello, who Top Rank have been promoting hard, in the quarter final. Also in 2013 he won the Nikolay Manger Memorial in Ukraine and came runner up in the Summer Universiade in Russia. After his solid run in the unpaid ranks Kossobutskiy looked set to turn professional in 2015, signing with an American promoter. Sadly however the deal collapsed before it ever got going. As a result Kossobutskiy had to wait until 2017 to begin campaigning as a profession, debuting in Belarus in with a win over Edgars Kalnars, who he stopped in a round. Due to the lengthy delay to him kicking off his professional career Kossobutskiy looked to make up for lost time and within a a year of his debut he was 7-0 (6). He had been very busy, albeit against low level competition, and had racked up wins in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Only the tough Kostiantyn Dovbyshchenko had managed to survive the distance with Kossbutskiy in that early run. With some professional experience under his belt he continued to be active, and in 2019 he notched wins over Williams Ocando, Osborn Machimana and Agron Smakici, who was then 15-0. The win Smakici netted Kossobutskiy the IBO Inter-Continental Heavyweight title and saw him end 2019 with a lot of momentum on his side. Sadly 2020 hasn't been a great year for anyone and it's seen Kossobutskiy's activity drop off, though he has managed to fight twice already this year, including a very good win over the under-rated and teak tough Kamil Sokolowski. He's now looking for his third win when he returns to face Vukosa. In the ring Kossobutskiy is a very talented fighter, with solid power, a good boxing brain and a lot to like. He's also a southpaw and despite being a relatively short Heavyweight he does fight to his strengths for the most part. Sadly though he's lacking not just height, but also speed, and he certainly doesn't look like he's got an extra gear in him. Sadly Kossobutskiy's lack of speed and size are going to be big issues when he steps up few levels, but by then we expect him to have made a decent career, and potentially to have had a chance to cash out with a good payday or two along the way. For those who have looked over Kossobutskiy's record and spotted that he has had 9 fights in Belarus, we have read that he's actually a Belarusian national. We suspect that that's likely a big reason why so many of his bouts have come in the country. It's also worth noting that he has never fought, as a professional, in Kazakhstan. For those that haven't seen Kossobutskiy before we've included his bout with Kamil Sokolowski below.
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One of the key reasons for this series is to shine a light on the unheralded and little known fighters, who are typically but not always, prospects. With that in mind we feel Rei Nakajima (3-0, 0), who takes a huge step up in class in a few days time, is the perfect type of fighter for this series. He's not a big name prospect, he's not a man people are telling at us to talk about, but he is someone who is worthy of attention at this very early point in his career.
Unlike many exciting prospects making their mark on the Japanese scene Nakajima wasn't a top amateur. In fact he went 26-13 in the unpaid ranks and his best results in major national competitions were third places, which he did at the Interscholastic, National Athletic and All Japan Championships. Despite that there has been a small, but notable, buzz around him since he turned professional. As a professional Nakajima signed with the Neyagawa Ishida Boxing Club, run by Nobuhiro Ishida, and was matched relative tough on his debut in July 2019. Rather than being matched with a patsy to get an easy win Nakajima on debut, he was matched with the then 7-5-1 (2) Sosuke Sakata. Although a long way from a world beater Sakata was a decent test, on paper, for the debutant. In the end however Nakajima shined, doing everything excepting stopping Sakata in a 6 round bout. Although Sakata saw out the scheduled 6 round distances the judges didn't give him a round, in fact the scorecards here were 60-52, across the board. Interestingly Nakajima's debut came on a major card in Osaka that was headlined by the rematch between Ryota Murata and Rob Brant, and also featured Kenshiro Teraji and Satoshi Shimizu. Huge names on the top of the card. Less than 3 months after his debut Nakajima returned to the ring and took on his first international opponent as he battled against Korean for Se Yul Yang. Once again this was a clear and dominant win for Nakajima, who took a wide decision against the tough but limited Yang. Sadly footage of Nakajima's first two bouts has been almost impossible to come by, but his most recent bout, which came in December 2019, was shown on A-Sign and is, by far, his biggest win to date. That bout, another 6 rounder, saw him take on Patomsuk Pathompothong, aka Komsan Polsan. Although a huge step up in class Nakajima took the chance to show case what he could do in the ring. From the opening rounds he looked sharp, crisp, relaxed and quick. He easily out boxed his more experienced foe, who tried to show some veteran moved but but didn't have the speed to deal with Nakajima, who took another clear and wide decision win. From watching Nakajima several things are clear. He's quick, he's skilled and he's sharp. He knows his way around the ring and is very relaxed in there. Sadly he does drop his hands a lot, maybe being a bit too relaxed, he seems to lack power and, perhaps more worryingly, he's very small for a Light Middleweight. Even in Japan. Stood at less than 5'6" he's going to be giving away height to pretty much anyone he faces. Not just that but he'll also be giving away reach, which will allow fighters to keep him at range. On October 9th Nakajima will be taking a massive step up in class. He goes from taking on a fighter like Patomsuk Pathompothong, to taking on the dangerous, heavy handed and tough Shinobu Charlie Hosokawa, in what is a serious test for the youngster. If he gets through this, and it is a genuine "if", then we suspect we'll see him fighting for some form of title in 2021 or 2022. Despite being impressed by Nakajima there is a real sense that he may be biting off more than he can chew as he takes on the often under-rated Hosokawa. If he loses, and again there is a very real chance he will, this will be a serious learning experience for the youngster. Quite often when a fighter suffers a loss they get written off, especially in the west. This completely ignores the value off a loss and a performance, and can cause fans to down-rate fighters that they sometimes haven't seen, ignoring their potential, and some of their bouts. It seems silly to say due to how obvious it is, but many top fights have suffered early losses, learned from them and built their careers in part thanks to a loss. With that in mind we want to talk about 20 year old Japanese Super Bantamweight Ryuya Tsugawa (7-1, 3) today, in our latest "introducing" article. Yes he has a loss, and he may suffer more of them, but we would still suggest that he is a prospect worthy of attention, and worthy of making a mental note of for the next few years. Like many youngsters in Japan Tsugawa did martial arts when he was a boy, he then took up boxing in junior high school, following a friend who was boxing. Despite picking up the sport relatively young his amateur experience was limited, at best, and instead of changing that and getting amateur experience he turned professional in 2018, aged just 17. Tsugawa's debut came in April 2018 and saw him defeat the then 0-3 Tomoki Yamada with a well fought 4 round decision at the L-Theatre in Osaka. Despite debuting against a southpaw Tsugawa looked confident and calm, taking the clear decision without any issues. Just a month later the youngster was back in the ring and scored his first stoppage win, blasting out Reon Nakayama in less than 2 minutes. This was a really impressive performance, dropping his man 3 times in 118 seconds to advance in the West Japan Rookie of the Year. Tsugawa's journey through the 2018 West Japan Rookie of the Year continued a couple of months later, when he defeated Kaito Takeshima with a 4 round decision. This was the toughest bout of his career up to this point and turned out to be a thrilling 4 rounder for the fans at the venue. This win secured moved Tsugawa's journey on and he was again in a tough test as he narrowly squeaked past Daichi Okamoto in September 2018. Sadly for the youngster he would see his winning run end at 4 as he came up short in November 2018, losing a close decision to Yusei Fujikawa. It was a loss that will stay on his record, and many will look at Tsugawa's record and see it. They will also ignore the fact that Fujikawa later went on to win the 2018 All Japan Rookie of the Year at Bantamweight, and the loss was a serious learning experience for the then 18 year old Tsugawa. Some 8 months after suffering his first professional loss Tsugawa returned to the ring, to compete in the 2019 West Japan Rookie of the year. He impressed after his lengthy lay off and blitzed Ren Nishimura in 106 seconds. The bout saw Nishimura start aggressively but a well timed left hook dropped him and Tsugawa managed to secure the finish soon afterwards. That win was then followed by another blow out, as Tsugawa stopped Yutaka Asakura in the first round, with Asakura being saved when he was under pressure. The win over Asakura saw Tsugawa book his place in the 2019 All Japan Rookie of the year final, where he took on Takeshi Takehara. This wasn't the Rookie of the Year final but was also Tsugawa's Korakuen Hall debut. Despite being in his opponents backyard the talented youngster took control early on, using his speed and movement well to maintain distance, and picked his spots on the outside. Takehara wasn't there to lose but struggled to avoid the straight right hands of Tsugawa, which landed to the head and body of Takehara. After 5 rounds it was clear that Tsugawa had done enough to deserve the victory, and the Rookie of the Year crown, with a stellar performance. Sadly Tsugawa hasn't fought since winning Rookie of the Year, due in part to the on going climate. He had hoped to fight for the Japanese Youth title, but sadly those plans were scuppered. Instead we'll be seeing the 20 year old return to the ring later this week, when he takes on Hikari Mineta in what will be Tsugawa's first 8 round bout. It's a big step up but a win here will have him really moving his career on. In regards to his style Tsugawa is a talented boxer-mover. He judges distance well, preferring to keep action at range, has lovely hand speed and knows that when he has his opponent he should move in and put his foot on the gas. Interestingly all 3 of his stoppage wins to date have come in the opening round, and he's managed to show good stamina over 4 and 5 rounds already. Defensively there is still work to do, as he often relies too much on having distance to work with and his reflexes. Up close he doesn't seem to have a great inside game and that could be a problem as he steps into longer fights. Although he had a loss we would implore fans to keep an eye on Tsugawa, he is not someone we see raving to titles. He needs more experience and more physical maturity before getting really big fights, but in 3 or 4 years time we could see him well in the mix for a Japanese title fight. One thing we hate doing in these "Introducing" pieces is not having enough information on a fighter to really talk about him in any great detail, yet have enough to want to try and shine a light on them. That's potentially the case this week when it comes to teenage hopeful Dastan Saduuly (3-0, 3), a man who should be on the radar of hardcore fight fans, despite the fact that there's really not too much out there about him. He's more one of those fighters who appears to have a bucket load of potential and youth, and does enough in the eye test, rather than really making a mark on the amateur scene.
Unlike many prospects Saduuly really doesn't have much available at all about his amateur pedigree. In fact a lot of the early articles about him on Kazakh news sites, talk about him being the "youngest boxer in Europe and Asia", with the fighter being 16 year old at the time. Despite his age he is genuinely becoming someone to watch, with his aggressive style and power, even as a kid. Whilst we can't find a lot about his amateur background we do know that Saduuly did fight in the unpaid ranks. At least a few times. In the 2018 Kazakh Junior National Championships, in Ekibastuz, he faced off with Meyirzhan Aydar and lost a decision to his fellow young Kazakh. A few months later he lost to Olzhas Mirkhatuli at the Galib Jafarov Prizes Youth Tournament. Sadly those set backs were among the very, very few amateur details we could find about the youngster. Despite only being 16 at the time Saduuly debuted as a professional in September 2018 on a card from Tukeshov Boxing Promotions. The show, in Aktobe, wasn't a wasn't a big show, by any means, but it was a showcase of Kazakh talent, with the likes of Ruslan Myrsatayev, Bobirzhan Mominov an Aidos Yerbossynuly on the card. In the opposite corner to the teenager was 26 year old Shamil Gulobshozoda, who was also making his debut. From the opening seconds it was clear that Saduuly had something about him. He looked young, but still more mature than more teenagers. Defensively we saw some nice touches, and head movement, some lovely handspeed and a positive aggressive demanour in the ring. He was slapping sometimes in the early going, and looked a touch over excited when letting his shots go, but if you told someone he was a 16 year old debutant they'd have been genuinely surprised. He looked older than that and like a fighter who'd had a few fights, even if he was still in need of some serious polishing. Part way through the opening round Saduuly hurt Gulobshozoda and went in for the finish. To his credit Gulobshozoda withstood quite a bit of punishment, but was broken down early in round 2. It was an impressive debut, and given his age it was a sign that he could be someone worthy of attention, even at this early stage. Around 5 months later Saduuly returned to the ring, again in Aktobe, where he faced Russian 21 year old Dmitry Rakhmanov. Saduuly came out very aggressive here, backing up Rakhmanov, who tried to play the class clown. Despite some weird stuff from the Russian the Kazakh was on the hunt and stopped his man within just 55 seconds. Sadly footage of Saduuly's third bout, his biggest win to date, doesn't appear to exist online any more. It saw him forcing the veteran of 60 fights to retire, in round 2, with an injury. That win came just a month after Saduuly's second bout. Saduuly was then supposed to fight in the summer of 2019, on the under-card of Kanat Islam's bout with Julio De Jesus in Almaty. Sadly Saduuly didn't end up on that show, and has now been out of the ring March 2019, though he's now expected to fight in September in Russia, in what will be his first 8 rounder. Aged just 18 Saduuly is very much one to watch. He still has work to do, still needs time to further mature physically and certainly needs to polish his punching technique, but there's a lot to like about the youngster. With his next fight coming in just a few days time there is no better time to begin following the exciting teenage hopeful. Yes Saduuly is still a work in progress, but he's already a very promising young fighter with the potential to go a very, very long way. When we talk about the most promising Uzbek prospects one name that seems to get over-looked, a lot, is Elnur Abduraimov (5-0, 5), who seems to never get any sort of a mention at all, despite being a genuine talent. The 26 year old look fantastic in the amateurs, and is looking very promising in the professional ranks, despite taking a break from the pro-ranks over the last year, when he turned his hand back to the amateur code.
Despite being massively over-looked we thought he was a fighter deserving of more attention, and the perfect fighter to talk about his week, in our Introducing series, as we continue to shine a light on talented and promising fighters from Asia. Abduraimov was born in 1994 in Chirchik City in the Tashkent region of Uzbekistan. Like many top fighters he took to the sport at a young age, and began boxing aged just 10, being trained by his father. That early training put him on a journey through the sport and set him up for notable amateur success. Abduraimov was shining at a young age on the domestic scene and in 2009 he was starting to make an impression on some of the international tournaments, competing at the President Heydar Aliyev Cup in Baku in 2009, where he reached the semi-finals. Despite only being a teenager at this point someone were suggesting he was a youngster to keep a serious eye on. Although Abduraimov had come up short in the 2009 President Heydar Aliyev Cup it wasn't long until he had began picking up small tournament wins, with one coming in neighbouring Kazakhstan in 2010. Of course winning small tournaments as a teenager is one thing, and doing them as an adult is something different altogether. As it turned out however Abduraimov could do it at the top level, claiming bronze at the World and Asian Championships in 2015. He was in the running for a place at the 2016 Olympics, but sadly missed out to compatriot Hurshid Tajibayev, who went to Rio instead and reached the quarter finals. Having missed out on the Olympics Abduraimov managed to have a big 2017, winning the Asian Championships as part of a dominant Uzbek national team. The team won 9 of the 10 available golds and was a scarily strong team. It included the likes of Hasanboy Dusmatov, Murodjon Akhmadaliev, Israil Madrimov, Bektemir Melikuziev and Bakhodir Jalolov, as well as Abduraimov. The amateur success, particularly the success at the Asian Championships, saw Abduraimov become an attractive fighter for promoters to try and get at and in 2018 he finalised a deal with DiBella Entertainment and Max Alperovich to turn professional. Despite doing that he also kept the door open to the amateurs, allowing him to essentially compete in both codes, where he saw fit, very similar to Bakhodir Jalolov who had also switched between pros and amateurs. Originally the plan had been for Abduraimov to debut in May 2018, but sadly that debut was delayed, and instead we had to wait until September 2018 to see what he could do in the pros. Sadly we only got a glimpse of his ability as he blasted through Aaron Jamel Hollis in 104 seconds. Just weeks after making his professional debut Abduraimov was back in the ring, at the same venue in Indio, California, where he stopped Giovannie Gonzalez in 2 rounds. His busy activity in the professional ranks continued when he made his Russian debut in November 2018, and blasted away Aelio Mesquita. In the space of just 2 months he had gone from 0-0 to 3-0 (3) and seemed destined for a busy career and a rapid ascent. Sadly however Abduraimov's 2019 was much less focused on the professional ranks, fighting just twice as a professional during the year, and instead focusing on the amateurs, with his viewing being to compete at the 2020 Tokyo games. Having spent of 2019 focusing on the Olympics Abduraimov managed to book his Olympic ticket earlier this year, when he won the Asia/Oceania Olympic Qualifying tournament in Amman. Sadly with the Olympics being delayed to 2021 we won't see him fighting in Tokyo for a while still. Thankfully Abduraimov's not sitting and resting on the side, and recent reports from Uzbekistan have emerged to suggest Abduraimov will be back in the ring later this year for another professional bout, potentially in the US. It would be his first pro bout since a 4th round TKO win over Issa Nampepeche in May 2019. In regards to what Abduraimov is like as a fighter he is a southpaw with a text book style aided by excellent speed and power. He's defensively tight, come in behind his jab, presses forward and is very well schooled. Like many of the Uzbek fighters he's as comfortable going to the body as he is going up top. He is a text book fighter, but he has got a bit of that Uzbek flair we're seeing more and more of, and his style seems to have converted over to the professional ranks wonderfully. Our guess is that after the Tokyo Olympics Abduraimov will commit fully to the pro ranks, and when that happens we expect him to tear it up at Lightweight, and get into the world title mix within a year or two of the Olympics. He'll go in to the games as one of the top medal contenders and will be looking to leave a mark in Tokyo, before stamping his way through the professional ranks. In late August former Japanese amateur standout Reo Saito (0-0) became the latest in a growing line of Japanese amateur fighters announcing that they had turned professional. By announcing his decision Saito followed the likes of Rentaro Kimura, Keisuke Matsumoto and Ryutaro Nakagaki in the pros. Like a number of other top fighters turning professional he decided to turn professional under the long established Teiken Gym, and will likely be making his debut towards the end of the year.
With a real lack of fights this coming week, we thought this was an ideal time to take a look at Saito, explain why fans should be excited about him, and what he will bring to the professional ranks, as we continue to shine a light on fighters in this "Introducing" series. Sadly we've not been able to track down all the details regarding Saito's amateur career, though we have managed to track results dating back all the way to 2015 for the youngster. The first tournament we've found results for when it comes to Saito is the 2015 Japanese High School Invitational Tournament, which saw Saito win the whole thing at 60KG's. Interestingly another winner here was Yudai Shigeoka, down at 46KG's. The following year Saito continued his success, winning Japanese High School National Championships in March 2016. Other winners there included Ginjiro Shigeoka, Keisuke Matsumoto and Hayato Tsutsumi, a classy trio alongside Saito. Of coruse that wasn't Saito done for the year, oh no. Just a few months later he would claim the Japanese High School National Tournament with Ginjiro Shigeoka and Hayato Tsutsumi also taking top honours. Also in 2016 Saito competed at the Asian Youth Championships in Kazakhstan, reaching the quarter finals where he lost to Indian fighter Ankush Dahiya, the eventual silver medal winner. He also reached the quarter finals of the AIBA Youth World Championships in Russia that same year, losing to eventual winner Delante Johnson of the US. By the time we went into 2017 Saito was quickly becoming one of the fighters to keep an eye on. He was showing excellent potential, having great domestic results, and seemed to have the tools to make the move to the pros somewhere down the line. He was however still very young, and a fighter who was still improving. He wasn't close to the finished article, but was getting more and more experience under his belt. That experience lead him to success at the 2017 Taipei City Cup, where he was one of 3 Japanese winners. Despite his success in Taipei Saito actually went out at the semi-final stage in the Japanese National Championships in 2017. He was unfortunate to lose to Rentaro Kimura in arguably the toughed division in the competition. He however remained part of the amateur set up after though, though specific results are harder to come by, however he was still in his teens by this point, and still had a lot of potential to show as he went to University. When Saito announced his decision to turn professional he took to social media, explaining that he had dropped out of University this past July and had signed with Teiken as a professional boxer. He said he was starting from scratch and it seems clear that he does have the potential to be a massive star in the sport. To go along with the results we of course need to talk about his style and this is the most exciting thing when it comes to Saito. His style is very much made for the professional ranks. He likes to get inside, he likes to have a fight, go to the body and throw short sharp combinations. His style is one that will be exciting to see in the professional ranks, but certainly needs work. Back in 2018 we did see him being stopped in the amateurs by Ri Jinu and it was his defense that let him down there. That needs to be tweaked, but if he can sort that out, which should be done at the Teiken gym, there is huge potential for this one hotly tipped youngster. Now aged 22 there is no reason to think that Saito can't be a force to be reckoned with on the domestic and regional scene. World titles may be out of his reach, but we would be shocked if he never manages to claim some form of title before his career ends. Last year we were really entertain by the Rookie of the Year tournament, and the various fighters involved. Whilst certain fighters impressed for their talent and skills others impressed due to their excitement. One such fighter was Light Welterweight puncher Yasutaka Fujita (5-1, 5), who lost in the final but left us craving more of him thanks to a crude but thrilling all action style. It was a style that essentially cost him the bout, but won him fans and attention. Since then things have changed massively for him, and the hope is that he can temper his aggression, improve his defense and rebuild from that loss. Born in Aichi in 1994 Fujita only had a short amateur career. In total he fought just 10 times before turning professional, and went 7-3 (4). Given his lack of amateur experience he began his career in 4 rounders and debuted in November 2018, fighting out of the Nagoya Ohashi Gym. On his debut it was clear Fujita could punch, taking just 59 to stop fellow debutant Keiichi Suzuki. The bout saw the two unloading on each other, with the power, strength and physicality of Fujita being too much for Suzuki, who was dropped once and then had to be saved by the referee. For the 23 year old Fujita this was the perfect way to make his debut. Just 4 months after facing off with Suzuki for the first time the two men clashed again, as part of the Central Japan Rookie of the Year. This time things were over even quicker with Fujita needing just 37 seconds to see off Suzuki, who was dropped twice by the hard hitting youngster. After blowing apart Suzki twice we then saw Fujita face his first test, as he took on Kosei Kataoka. Unlike Suzuki we saw Kataoka show some real toughness and resilience. Suzuki started fast before the tempo took a toll on him, and he slowed notably in round 3 as Kataoka tried to turn things around. Sadly for Kataoka it wasn't to be enough and in round 4 Fujita dug deep and forced Kataoka's corner to throw in the towel after just over a minute of round 4. Fujita would then continue to advance towards the All Japan Rookie of the Year with second round TKO wins over Ryota Uno and Takuya Takahashi, who had made his way to the final based on a bye in the West Japan final. Those wins had seen him move to 5-0 (5) and book his place in the All Japan final in December. Although we had serious questions about his stamina, due to his performance against Kataoka, we were impressed by his intensity, work rate, stamina and destructive power. He had caught our eye, been exciting, and looked like a flawed warrior worthy of following. Sadly for Fujita his power and aggression wasn't enough when it came to the All Japan final, in what was his Korakuen Hall debut. It was there that he met the young, determined Kodai Honda. The bout was a war from the off with Fujita being rocked in the opening seconds before dropping Honda moments later. He then went on to put Honda down a second time in a round that had the Korakuen Hall chanting "Fujita". It seemed he was on the verge of another quick win but Honda refused to quit whilst Fujita continued to unleash bombs until the tables were turned in the dying seconds. It was a truly sensational opening round. Sadly for Fujita his inability to put Honda away when he had his man hurt turned out to hurt him big time, as Fujita had essentially emptied the tank. He lacked the defense needed to protect himself from Honda's bombs and he looked like he was running on fumes by round 3. Sadly for Fujita there was no second wind and he was stopped in 4 round, as Honda's heart and determination took him a huge win over the aggressive and exciting Fujita. Earlier we mentioned that Fujita had began his career at the Nagoya Ohashi Gym. That gym and the Ohashi gym lead by Hideyuki Ohashi are completely unrelated, with the Nagoya Ohashi Gym being run by Hiromasa Ohashi. Following the loss to Honda we saw Fujita change his life and in June he transferred from the Nagoya Ohashi Gym to the much more well established Misako Gym. Since transferring he's had the chance to train with much better fighters and has rounded off some of the defensive flaws, and stamina issues that cost him against Honda. Fujita will be fighting his first bout as a Misako gym fighter on September 3rd as he goes up against the durable, but light punching, Kensuke Nakamura in a 6 rounder. The hope here is that we'll see a mentally improved Fujita in this bout. Few can doubt his fire power and excitement factor, but there is clearly work that needs doing in terms of his defensive work and pacing. If the training at Misako can help there then we genuinely see Fujita making his way up the rankings and, one day, getting in the mix for domestic or regional honours. Fujita doesn't have world class potential but he had the potential to be a very TV friendly fighter and that is what the sport needs more of. With that in mind we hope you all stay around and Fujita in mind going forward because he is very, very fun to watch. With not too many fights yet set in stone for the next few months trying to talk about fighters in the week or so before they fight is a little bit tricky at the moment. That means that this "introducing" series has spent the last few weeks covering fighters who haven't necessarily got their next fight, or in some cased their debuts, scheduled. Thankfully things are starting to return to some form of normality and today we do get to talk about a fighter who does have a fight pencilled in, though that is set for later this month. The fighter in question is the talented teenager Kosuke Tomioka (2-0, 2). Tomioka, who was featured in our honourable mentions for "20 for 20" last year, turned 18 a few days ago and is pencilled to have his third professional bout on August 31st, as part of a show streamed by the A-Sign Youtube channel. That bout will be a Rookie of the Year bout, with Tomioka regarded as one of the favourites to win this year's tournament at Super Flyweight. Of course, as we usually do, we need to roll the clock back and look at what Tomioka did as an amateur before talking about his professional journey so far. Before that however we want to roll back even further, and look at his family. Tomioka is part of a small but notable boxing family. He has two brothers who have had professional careers, with Tatsuya Tomioka running up a 5-3 (2) record between 2015 and 2017, and Tetsuya Tomioka, who is currently 6-4 (5). His cousin Izuki Tomioka, who currently sports a 7-3-1 (2) record and has been very competitive at OPBF and Japanese title level in his career, is also a boxer and a very talented one at that. Of the 4 members of the Tomioka fighting family it does appear that Kosuke is the most promising, and along with Izuki the most talented. So on to his amateur achievcements. As ab amateur Tomioka managed to pick up 6 national titles, ranging from an elementary school tournament in 2014 to a junior high school tournament in 2017. This was then followed by him beginning his professional carer in 2019, getting a C class license in January that year. Aged just 17 when he made his professional debut Tomioka immediately impressed, stopping Shinobu Wakagi in just 42 seconds. What made this win all the more impressive was that Wakagi had reached the All-Japan Rookie of the Year in December 2018, losing a decision to Tetsuro Ohashi in the final. That was a statement of what Tomioka could do, and just 3 months later he notched his second win, stopping Asato Mori in the final second of a 4 rounder, having been well up on the cards. Although he is still very much a novice professional Tomioka has the tools to go a very long way. He's athletic, charismatic, a solid puncher with a good boxing brain. He looks a natural in the ring, and it's clear that his years of ring experience has helped him understand the sport brilliantly. He has a good jab, good movement, and is very quick and crisp with his punches. He does look like a kid, but a very, very advanced one. There are, of course, areas where he needs to improve, and his defense is an obvious area that does need work as he steps up. Saying that however his potential and performances so far have left us really excited for what his future in the sport. For Tomioka's next bout we'll see him take on fellow novice Shota Hara (2-2-1). Tomioka is regarded, clearly, as the favourite, and a win here will see him progress to the next round of the Rookie of the Year, which we now know will run into early 2021 due to the on going global situation. For those who want to see Tomioka in action, we really do suggest you make an effort to watch this bout live at the end of August, especially given the free stream that will be available for the entire show. The wave of notable amateur fighters turning professional continues this week, with a trio of Kazakh fighters all making their professional debuts on Sunday. We have already covered two of those fighters in this series, Tursynbay Kulakhmet (0-0) and Talgat Shaiken (0-0), who were both meant to debut earlier in the year but their debuts got delayed due to the on going global situation The third however wasn't supposed to be on that previous card and has actually just recently turned professional and is Heavyweight hopeful Kamshybek Kunkabayev (0-0).
Kunkabayev, like Shaiken and Kulakhment, was a true amateur stand out, or more specifically still is. In the unpaid ranks he had been picking up major medals for years before heading to the professional ranks earlier this year and signing with MTK Kazakhstan. Born in Kyzylorda in the south-central region of Kazakhstan back in 1991 Kunkabayev began to make a name for himself in the amateurs in his early 20's. This was enough to see him battling in an international team tournament in 2012, where he battled Tony Yoka of all people, and took a win on count back over the future Olympic Gold medal winner. That same year he also came runner up in the Akhmat-Khadzhi Kadyrov Memorial, in Russia Just a year later Kunkabayev had become a staple on the International stage, losing in the semi final of the 2013 Great Silk Way Tournament where he lost in the semi final to to Azeri great Mahammadrasul Majidov. In 2014 he again showed progress, winning the Gold medal at the CISM Championships, took a Bronze medal from the President's Cup. Interestingly in that year's domestic championships in Kazakhstan he managed to reach the semi-final, where he lost to Ruslan Myrsatayev In 2015 Kunkabayev's success continue to build and won the notable and highly regarded Strandja Memorial, scoring a very notable TKO1 win over Bakhodir Jalolov in the final. That same year he also picked up a tournament win at the Vllaznia Memorial was was the runner up in the World Military Games in South Korea. Having proven himself as a very good fighter in the international tournaments Kunkabayev was then able to move on to the bigger and more notable amateur competitions. In 2016 he competed in the WSB, fighting for the Astana Arlans, where he lost in the semi-finals to Englishman Frazer Campbell, who was part of the British Lionhearts. In 2017 he showed what Kunkabayev could do against the very best and won Silver medals at both the World Amateur Championships in Hamburg and the Asian Championships in Tashkent. In the Asian Championships he lost in the final to Bakhodir Jalolov, though got revenge of the Uzbek in the World Championships a few months later, before losing to Azeri nemesis Mahammadrasul Majidov. It's worth noting that Kunkabayev also beat Bakhodir Jalolov in the WSB in another chapter to their long amateur rivalry that crossed from amateurs to WSB and now looks likely to continue in the professional ranks. Kunkabayev's last major amateur success so him against doing the silver double in 2019, when he again took Silver at both the World Amateur and Asian Championships. Once again he clashed with his two great rivals, though sadly lost in the finals of the World Championships to Mahammadrasul Majidov and to Bakhodir Jalolov in the finals of the Asian Championships. With 4 major silver medals to his name Kunkabayev will try and change that at the Tokyo Olympics, which he does still intend to compete in despite turning professional. Those 4 medals are a sign of what he can do, but also, potentially, that he falters when things get to the big stage. Losing in 4 finals is perhaps a sign that he can't get it done, but getting to 4 finals shows how good he is. In regards to his style Kunkabayev is a rather slippery looking southpaw boxer-puncher. He's a big bloke, a real big bloke, but very light on his feet, with quick hands, lovely movement, a very sharp left hand and the ability to go to either head or body. Stylistically has has shown a willing to box on the back foot, move, and counter. It's not the most exciting style, but it has been a successful one for him. In fact when he has has changed things up and been more aggressive, as he was in the 2019 World Amateur Championships final last year, he has looked less polished. That however may have been more down to facing his old rivalry and bringing out the red mist rather than a real sign of what he can do coming forward. Notably on his debut the talented Kunkabayev will be facing off with fellow Kazakh Issa Akberbayev (20-1, 15) on August 23rd in Almaty. A win there, despite the tough match making, is expected from Kunkabayev who is expected to fight another bout or two as a professional before the Olympics in Tokyo. We're really excited about what Kunkabayev can do joining the professional ranks, even if his career will be truncated by the Tokyo games. He has the tools to go far, and with MTK behind him he has a backer who can open doors for him. We're not sure if he has "World Champion" written all over him, but he certainly has the skills and the long amateur pedigree to get into the title mix and should be no worse than a future world title challenger. This coming Thursday we'll see fans back at Korakuen Hall for the first time for a boxing event since February. The return of fans is welcome, and another sign that boxing is, gradually, getting back to normal in the Land of the Rising Sun. The card's main event is a Japanese title fight, featuring domestic Featherweight champion Ryo Sagawa, but there are other bouts on the card and if you're able to get a ticket those other bouts will be worth getting there early for. One of those bouts will feature 25 year old Super Bantamweight prospect Takeshi Takehara (5-1, 1), who we're going to try a shine a light on today as he looks to bounce back from his sole loss and rebuild has career going forward. Unlike most fighters featured in this series he wasn't an amateur stand out, but is some one we are excited to follow over the coming years, and a nice addiction to a deep domestic division in Japan. As an amateur Takehara didn't have a long or successful career. In fact his 21 fight amateur career saw him go 11-10 (4) in the unpaid ranks before heading to the pros in 2018. As a professional he signed with Kyoei and was supposed to debut in a Rookie of the Year bout in April 2018, just days before his 23rd birthday. Sadly Takehara's debut plans were cancelled when he was forced to pull out of the fight, which would have seen him take on Shota Ogawa. As a result of that cancellation Takehara had to wait until October to make his debut, and completely missed out on the chance to compete at the 2018 Rookie of the Year. When Takehara finally made his debut it was in a small C Class tournament put on by Dangan and saw him take on Naomichi Yaginuma. Despite being in his debut Takehara looked calm and confident, pressing forward with sharp footwork, and his jab looked really quick. Despite his lack of high level amateur experience it was clear that he knew his way around the ring and knew how to box. He ended up taking a decision win here and progressed in the tournament. Sadly however Takehara was unable to shine in the tournament final as his opponent pulled out of the bout. In April 2019 Takehara actually did enter the Rookie of the Year, making up for the issues he had had a year earlier. In his first bout as part of the competition he out pointed Kaisei Nakayasu to progress to the next stage. Just 2 months later he would return to action and defeat Shohei Yamanaka. That win would move Takehara further in the competition and his success kept rolling with a win over Mizuki Akima in July 2019. The win over Akima was supposed to lead Takehara into the East Japan Rookie of the Year Semi final. Takehara however got a bye as Tsubasa Narai was forced to pull out of the bout. That resulted in Takehara fighting in the East Japan Rookie of the Year final, where he impressively stopped Kotaka Umemoto. After scoring 4 decision wins before this bout Takehara actually showed a bit of spite here, forcing the referee to save Umemoto after a series of head shots in round 3. Having won the East Japan Rookie of the Year Takehara progressed to the All Japan final, where he faced Ryuya Tsugawa. Before we talk about the final we need to quickly touch on what happened between Takehara's win against Akima but before his bout All Japan final. The Kyoei Gym closed, temporarily, and left the Kyoei fighters scrambling to to be transfered to a different gym for the final. That ended up with Takehara and Kyonosuke Kameda transferring to the Hanagata gym for their Rookie of the Year final. In the All Japan final, in December 2019, Takehara faced off with Tsugawa in what ended up being a very technical and competitive match up. It wasn't the most exciting bout from the finals, but was among the most compelling and competitive and there wasn't much to pick between the two men, who were really did match each other incredibly well. Sadly for Takehara all 3 judges went with Tsugawa and as a result Takehara suffered his first professional loss. We began this by talking about how Takehara will be back in the ring later this week. Just to extend that a little but, the youngster will be looking to bounce back from the loss to Tsugawa as he takes on Beverely Tsukada (3-4-2. 2) in his first 6 rounder. |
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