The end of July is upon us and we see another surge in action, especially in Japan, with tournaments, titles, prospects and a touted debutant!

July 23rd
On July 23rd we get something a little bit different as Dangan put on the quarter final bouts for their God's Left Bantamweight tournament:

Gaku Aikawa (9-7-1, 3) Vs Kenya Yamashita (13-5, 10) - Tokyo, Japan
Kazuki Nakajima (6-0, 5) Vs Kenichi Watanabe (8-4-1, 4) - Tokyo, Japan
Jin Minamide (3-0, 3) Vs  Tetsu Araki (14-1-1, 2) - Tokyo, Japan
 
The three matches above are all part of the God's Left tournament and on paper the stand out match up is the Minamide Vs Araki bout, pitting one of the most touted prospects against the man with the most success at title level, with Araki having been a Japanese Youth champion. It's hard to imagine anything but a win for Kazuki Nakajima in his bout with Kenichi Watanabe, with Aikawa Vs Yamashita has the potential to be an all out thriller.

• Shogo Yamaguchi (11-4-3, 6) vs Masanori Rikiishi (5-1, 3)- Tokyo, Japan

Once beaten prospect Masanori Rikiishi looks to continue his climb through the rankings as he takes on Shogo Yamaguchi in a very interesting match up. The talented Rikiishi is tipped for big things and despite an early career loss he is rebuilding brilliantly and a win here would put him in the mix for a title fight. Yamaguchi has been on the verge of a Japanese title fight for a while, and although he's come up short in his biggest he will feel he has a solid chance to over-come Rikiishi. This may not be part of the God's Left tournament, but this is still an excellent match up, and one we're really excited about.
 
July 26th

• Juiki Tatsuyoshi (11-0, 8) vs Takuya Fujioka (9-9-1, 1) - Osaka, Japan

Second generation hopeful Juiki Tatsuyoshi look to continue his development as he goes in with the limited, but tough, Takuya Fujioka. Although Tatsuyoshi was, for quite a long time, considered just his father's son he has now started to generate some buzz of his own, and is starting to look like a legitimate prospect, at least on the Japanese level. He'll be expected to move to 12-0 but it may well be more about how he wins, rather than if he wins. If he shines his next bout will almost certainly be against a Japanese ranked opponent, though a poor performance might see his team continue to work on things before taking the inevitable step up.

• Yusuke Mine (0-0) Vs Jesel Guardario (8-3-1, 4) - Osaka, Japan

Former amateur stand out Yusuke Mine, who went 51-12 (10) in the unpaid ranks, looks to kick off his professional career as he takes on Filipino visitor Jesel Guardario. The talented Mine has come to the professional ranks with very big expectations on his shoulders and should he shine here against Guardario we wouldn't be surprised to see Mina raced towards titles, much like Nobuo Nashiro, who he has been compared to in recent weeks. Filipino fighter Guardario will know he's up against a special talent, but won't have travelled to just pick up another loss and could prove to be a very, very good test for the debutant.
 
July 27th

• Hironori Mishiro (7-0-1, 2) vs Ryo Takenaka (18-5-1, 11) - Tokyo, Japan 

Unbeaten OPBF Super Featherweight champion Hironori Mishiro will be seeking his third defense as he takes on former OPBF Featherweight champion Ryo Takenaka. Mishiro has looked solid and like an improving fighter since winning the title last year, but still has a lot to work on before thinking about a world title fight and bouts like this will do his development the world of good. On the other hand the 34 year old Takenaka can't afford another set back and will be coming into this bout knowing another loss is likely the end of the line. A man who has his career on the line, can be incredibly risky as an opponent.

• Yuta Saito (12-9-3, 9) vs Yusuke Suzuki (10-3, 7) - Tokyo, Japan

A potential barn burner sees Japanese Bantamweight champion Yuta Saito defending his belt in a mandatory defense against the hard hitting Yusuku Suzuki, who has waited a long time for his opportunity. Saito won the belt left year and will be seeking his second defense here, after scoring his 2 best wins to date. Suzuki, at his best, would be favoured over Saito, though has had only one bout since the start of 2018, whilst suffering injuries and seeing opponents forced to pull out of bouts on health issues. Given the aggressive styles of both men, expect something special here.

• Ginjiro Shigeoka (3-0, 2) Vs Clyde Azarcon (15-2-1, 5)- Tokyo, Japan

Talented and highly touted youngster Ginjiro Shigeoka goes for his first professional title in just his 4th bout, as he takes on Filipino Clyde Azarcon for the WBO Asia Pacific Minimumweight title. The title might not have the reputation of the OPBF belt but it's clear that Watanabe see they have a prodigy on their hands with Shigeoka and this is a great step in the right direction for him, against a beatable opponent, but one should ask questions of the youngster. Azarcon has lost just once since an early career defeat, so is coming in with high confidence but will be up against a little monster here in what could be the official crowning off the next Japanese sensation.

Earlier this year we did an "Introducing..." on Kadoebi prospect Yuki Nakajima. He has an older, a similarly promising, brother who fights out of the Ohashi gym. That is Bantamweight prospect Kazuki Nakajima (6-0, 5), who's a couple of years older than Yuki and a little further along with his career. Like Yuki big things are expected from Kazuki, though he has gone through a little bit of a career stagnation recently and hasn't fought since December, and we're hoping to see him back sooner rather than later.
 
Nakajima was born in May 1993, in the city of Yamatokōriyama, Nara prefecture and would run up an impressive amateur record of 72-15 (30) before turning professional. Whilst that record isn't an mind blowing one he was highly regarded and had competed on the national scene and was crowned the Kansai League MVP. That amateur pedigree excited those at the Ohashi gym and in 2017 Nakajima signed with the Hideyuki Ohashi lead gym.
 
On June 25th 2017 Nakajima made his debut, taking on fellow debutant Alangkan Worakhut from Thailand. The Japanese southpaw needed just 109 seconds to see off the Thai, who was dropped twice in the bout, once from a straight left and once from an uppercut. Although not badly hurt from the shots Alangkan knew he was beat and held his shoulder whilst being counted out, as if to suggest he had injured himself and although it seems hard to belive he did seem in total agony in his corner after the bout.
 
Just a couple of months later Nakajima would secure his second win, stopping Indonesian Resnu Sundava in 26 seconds. Nakajima would finish this one with a left hand to the body of the visitor. It's worth noting that Sandava had never previously been stopped, but didn't look like he wanted to be in the ring with Nakajima and looked like a man wanting to get out of the ring as quickly as possible.
 
Thankfully in December 2017, as part of the under-card to Naoya Inoue's win over Yoan Boyeaux, Nakajima was actually tested, as he went up against the criminally under-rated Taiga Higashi. Higashi, who really is a nightmare for a prospect, gave Nakajima a really good 6 round test. Not only did Nakajima get taken 6 rounds, for the first time, but he also lost a couple of rounds to Higashi, who also dropped Nakajima with a right hook, and was forced to fight through adversity. Although it had taken 6 months Nakajima had now been shown what professional boxing was about, and showed could dig deep when he needed to.
 
After having had such a good test the hope was for Nakajima to be given another test straight away. Sadly he was matched with Thai foe Siripong Prasroedpong, who lasted just 85 seconds. Thankfully it wasn't long before he stepped back up in class and stopped the tough Takuya Fujioka, who retired between rounds and took his first stoppage loss. Fujioka never looked like he was able to get into the bout as the skills, speed and power from Nakajima were simply too much and Fujioka's corner did well to save their man from additional punishment in the later rounds. Nakajima would again step up in his follow up bout, beating Yoshihiro Utsumi in 7 rounds, in what was his most impressive performances to date.
 
As mentioned Nakajima hasn't fought this year, with his win against Utsumi coming back in December. He's still young enough to take some time off, but we'd hope he fits in a couple of fights this year and makes up for lost time. He was looking really good at the end of 2018, and certainly has the potential to find himself in the title mix at Bantamweight, at least domestically and regionally, and it would be a massive shame if that potential went to waste.
 
Nakajima is a sharp punching, well school, heavy handed southpaw with high level skills. He still needs development, which experience will help him with, but the tools and team are in place for him to have an excellent career.