Having seen Momo Koseki recently defend her WBC Atomweight title against Nora Cardoza it now seems we have just one stumbling block before a possible all-Japanese WBA-WBC Atomweight title unification. That stumbling block is Filipino Gretchen Abaniel (13-4, 4) who challenges Japan's WBA champion Ayaka Miyao (15-5-1, 1) for the WBA title on November 28th. Abaniel, who comes in to this bout highly regarded and with the reputation of hitting harder than her record indicates, is a real banana skin for someone like Miyao. Aged 28 and stood at 5'1" the Filipino challenger is younger, taller and rangier than the champion. As well as those physical advantages she has proven to be a credible world level fighter having previously shared a ring with Cho-Rong Son, Samson Tor Buamas, Katia Gutierrez and Teeraporn Pannimit. Whilst Abaniel is 0-3 is world title fights recognised by "the big four" she has previously won a secondary title, the WIBA Minimumweight title, suggesting she has the ability to be a world champion in the future and in all honesty "on her day" she could possibly beat anyone at 102lbs. Japan's Ayaka Miyao is, at 30 years old, probably coming into the later years of her prime physically. Whilst some female fighters have managed to find success in their later years, such as Naoko Fujioka who is almost 40 yet looks to still be improving, it's fair to say most are beginning to slow by their 30's, especially in in the smaller divisions. Although not a big puncher Miyao has proven to be tough, talented and a fighter who has improved massively since she began her career. Saying that it is worth noting that Miyao began her career 4-4-1 before going 11-1 in her following 12 as she went from talented but inexperienced fighter to world champion. Those 12 fights that Miyao has fought in since her poor start have included 8 straight victories. These have seen her claiming the WBA Atomweight title and subsequently defending it twice and she's become another notable member of the Ohashi stable which also over-sees the careers of Naoya Inoue and Akira Yaegashi. For us this bout comes down to two things. Can Miyao get the respect of Abaniel with her light punching? If she can't, does she have the skills to out boxing Abaniel? We feel that Miyao won't be able to get Abaniel's respect but will have the skills to win enough rounds to win a decision. It won't be decisive and dominant but the right woman will win for use. Thankfully for Abaniel we don't think this will be her last chance. Of course no matter who wins we would love to see the winner fighting Koseki in a major unification bout. It would, of course, be bigger if it was an All-Japanese bout though even if it wasn't it would still be a major bout and the most important in the Atomweight division's history. Note-This bout is the headline contest from Ohashi gym's "47th Battle Phoenix" which also features a contest between Kayoko Ebata and Nancy Franco.
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Just over 2 and a half years ago it seemed Asian fans had seen all they were going to get to see of Mexican Anabel Ortiz (12-3, 2). She had just been stopped by the excellent Naoko Fujioka and lost her WBC Minimumweight title in what was just her second defense of the title. Since then however Ortiz has proven her ability and found a way to get back on top of the boxing world and back in the mind of the boxing public. Ortiz did that in her last bout, a bout in which she upset the previously unbeaten Etsuko Tada for the WBA Minimumweight title, a title Ortiz defends for the first time on November 19th in Jeju, South Korea. Fighting for the second successive time on a Koki Kameda undercard Ortiz will be fighting South Korea's very own Hye-Soo Park (3-6-1, 1) in what, on paper, appears to be a mismatch. Despite the record of Park being appalling for a world title challenger there are some things that oddly make this bout at least a little bit interesting. Firstly is the fact Park is on a 3 fight unbeaten run, the longest unbeaten streak of her career. In fact when you consider she lost 6 of her first 7 contests it's a somewhat impressive career turn around. One that becomes more impressive when you consider she has won the PABA Super Flyweight title. The fact Park has claimed any title at Super Flyweight brings some intrigue into this contest considering that she'll be the bigger women going in to this contest. Sure she is the less skilled but the size advantage may be able to help her somewhat against a fighter who did struggle in her most notable bout against a naturally bigger foe. The final thing Park has in her favour is the fact she's fighting in Korea where she may get favourable crowd reactions. Unfortunately for Park the positives are very limited and it'd be a genuine shock if the talented Ortiz gives away her title here. We don't expect the light hitting Ortiz to force a stoppage but we do expect this to be incredibly one sided in favour of the Mexican who will be fighting in her fourth bout in Asia. As mentioned above this will be one of the chief support bouts for Koki Kameda's up coming title defense in which Koki fights Korean Jung-Oh Son in what will be the first male world title fight in Korea in a number of years. Female boxing isn't full of fighters that look like models, though one that certain does is Russian blonde bombshell Svetlana Kulakova (8-0, 1). Kulakova, the current WBA interim female Light Welterweight champion not only possesses stunning good looks but stunning skills which have seen her climbing from obscurity to a world title in the space of just 8 bouts. The unbeaten Russian will look to make the first defense of her title as she takes on teak tough Kenyan Florence Muthoni (8-2-1, 3), a fighter who was unfortunate not to claim the IBO Welterweight title in her most recent contest, a draw with Jennifer Retzke. Kulakova, who won her world title last time out when she took a clear decision over Judy Waguthii, may not be expecting much of a challenge in Muthoni though the Kenyan is a genuine threat to her crown here. In fact Muthoni is easily the toughest opponent Kulakova has faced so far in her short career. The 30 year old Russian who has boxed just 44 rounds as a professional has had a year to remember. She started the year with a record of 5-0 though has ran up three victories to take her to a world title with two of those three fights appearing on major undercards. Although skilled the Russian has never faced anyone nearly as good as Muthoni who is tough, skilled and on a 9 fight unbeaten run, in fact Muthoni hasn't lost since her second professional contest way back in 2007. Of course Muthoni doesn't have many notable victories though she proved against Retzke that she was able to compete with talented fighters and was widely regarded as unfortunate not to have taken a victory in that contest. If Kulakova can use her boxing skills to keep some distance between herself and Muthoni it's hard to bet against the Russian, however if Muthoni can turn this into a war then it really could be a very hard night for the talented though somewhat unproven champion. It's not often that female boxing has a boxrec "5 Star" bout. It's even rarer that those "5 star" female bouts are in the east. On November 13th however that's just what we we get courtesy of Shirai-Gushiken Gym. The show, dubbed "The Kanmuriwashi Fight vol.47", features arguably the most anticipated bout in Japanese female boxing history. That's because two well known championship level fighters collide as WBA Super Flyweight champion Naoko Yamaguchi (22-3-3, 18) takes on former WBC Minimumweight champion Naoko Fujioka (10-0, 6). Some bouts have an aura of excitement and danger and this is one of them. The defending champion, the 35 year old Yamaguchi, is seen as one of the hardest punching females in boxing right now. Her left to the body is a vicious winding puncher whilst her straight right upstairs is one of the most devastating shots in female boxing. Not only does Yamaguchi posses serious power but she's also very willing to let her hands go, especially when she smells blood. When she has her prey injured she will throw the kitchen sink at them and attempt to finish the bout there and then. Although the champion has three losses on her record, including two by stoppage, only one of those defeats has come in the last 5 years and that was an excusable loss to the amazing Ana Maria Torres, a protege of the Morales camp in Mexico. Since the loss Torres we've seen Yamaguchi go 7-0 (5) including 3-0 (1) in world title fights and 5-0 (3) in title fights. A scary thought for any opponent. Although Yamaguchi genuinely scares us, it's fair to say that the unbeaten Fujioka won't be scared in the slightest. At 38 years old she is the older of the two fighters and also the naturally smaller jumping from Minimumweight to Super Flyweight. Those two disadvantages are genuinely huge though she has a few tricks of her own. Firstly Naoka is a very talented boxer-puncher. Her movement is not only quicker than Yamaguchi's but it also looks a lot more natural and she appears to be able to box on the move, something that couldmake Yamaguchi look silly. She's not only got fast feet bust also fast hands and is technically a better boxer than Yamaguchi. It's also worth noting that Fujioka, whilst coming up 3 weights from where she has made her name, is taller than Yamaguchi and likely has a longer reach. Two surprising bits of information considering the fact Yamaguchi would have been expected to be bigger, taller, longer. Whilst Yamaguchi is certainly on a great run following her loss to Torres, Fujioka is herself on a great run. Not only has she gone 10 fights unbeaten be she has also gone 3-0 in world title fights and 5-0 in all title bouts. Those victories have seen her defeating notable names such as Naoko Shibata, Anabel Ortiz and Victoria Argueta three very good fighters. Sure they weren't as good as Torres but they were all very credible opponents. This is effectively a match up between a naturally bigger and more powerful destructive fighter and a smaller but very highly skilled boxer-puncher. When a fighter tends to jump several divisions they struggle. No matter how skilled they are, they struggle. We imagine that Fujioka will be the next fighter to find that jumping up too many weight classes at once is different. She'll certainly have her moments but we think that sooner or later Yamaguchi's power will connect and Fujioka will slowly be worn down in what promises to be a genuinely memorable contest.
Courtesy of Boxrec.com
To kick off the new "Female" section of Asian boxing we couldn't have picked a more interesting female "world" title bout. In one corner we have Japanese veteran Fujin Raika (25-7-1, 10), pictured below, and in the other other corner is unbeaten Korean Hyun-Mi Choi (7-0-1, 2), pictured opposite. Both are former world champions and both are looking for a chance to stamp some authority on the Super Featherweight division as they battle for the WBA "interim" title, Of the two fighters it's fair to say that Raika, 37, is the more tested fighter having been a professional for more than a decade. Her career, a legendary one, has seen her sharing the ring with a veritable who's who such as Chevelle Hallback, Jelena Mrdjenovich and Ann Saccurato. Although she is seen as being on the slide Raika does bring real experience a genuine toughness and a natural size advantage having competed regularly at the Lightweight limit in recent years and also having fought as high as Light Welterweight. These qualities will always make her a tough fighter to deal with and if she gets inside she can let her hands fly. At just 22 years old Choi is by far the younger, fresher fighter. Of course she is trading that off against her relative lack of experience though she has been a WBA Featherweight champion, in fact this will be her 9th straight contest for a world title though it will also be her first bout at the Super Featherweight limit having been a career Featherweight. Stood at 5'7" Choi will have a height and reach advantage over Raika though it's incredibly important that shes uses it and stays on her toes. She's a lovely straight puncher when she gets in to a rhythm though it can sometimes take a few rounds for her to get her boxing going and this could see her having some problems. Courtesy of Boxrec.com This fight really does seem a bit of a boxer v brawler contest. The brawler, Raika, in this case is the bigger fighter and a bigger puncher though is several years removed from a notable victory. She has proven, against really good fighters, that she's a handful and has shown a willingness to do what it takes home or away to try and win. The boxer, Choi, on the other hand is a fighter who is developing from a young girl to a fully grown woman. Her move up in weight is as much down to her frame filling out. She may have been fighting at Featherweight but she always looked big at 126lbs. As with many fights of this stylistic match up the boxer will need to have the power and speed to keep the brawler from just walking in and unloading. Inside Raika will be able to bang away at the long midsection of Choi and will be a real danger woman. For Choi this is about what does with her feet just as much as her hands. She'll be quicker with her feet and hands though she'll need to have the awareness to avoid walking herself into the corners where Raika will be able to have a field day. Choi hasn't the power to put Raika away, very few have, though she'll need to get her attention early and make sure Raika respects her. If she can't get the respect of Raika this will be very difficult. Although Choi will find this bout very difficult, her toughest since her split decision victory over Claudia Andrea Lopez, we imagine she'll just have enough down the stretch to take a close and very competitive decision against the Japanese veteran. |
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