On November 16th we'll see Japanese Light Flyweight champion Tetsuya Hisada (32-9-2, 19) return to the ring for his next defense, as he takes on the unheralded Akihiro Toya (8-4, 1). On paper this is a mismatch, but the pressure is on the 34 year old champion to continue his reign and make a successful 5th defense as he hunts a world title fight in 2019. For Toya on the other hand the bout is an unexpected at a belt, and a great chance to him to instantly gain notoriety after a career that has faltered, despite Rookie of the Year success in 2016. The champion is rightfully the favourite. He is a world class fighter, with top 4 world rankings from the IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO, and is in great forum with 11 straight wins following a 2015 loss at Flyweight to Kenta Sugimoto. At the age of 34 however he will know that he cannot afford any sort of slip up, and he will also know that father time is against him, after all a 34 year old Light Flyweight who has been a professional since 2003 is ancient in boxing terms. Despite the age he is an experienced fighter with a very misleading record and has really aged like a fine win, with recent wins against the likes of Kenichi Horikawa, Atsushi Kakutani and Koki Ono. In the ring Hisada is a fighter with a great engine, he comes forward with a lot of activity, really lets his hands go and is surprisingly heavy handed. Despite only scoring 19 stoppages in 43 career bouts he has stopped 8 of his last 11 and has certainly developed more belief in his boxing, his power and his strength. At just 23 years old Toya is a relative boxing baby compared to the champion. Despite his youth he hasn't had an easy career and actually lost 2 of his first 3 bouts, before finding his groove and reeling off 6 straight wins. Those wins saw him claim the All Japanese Rookie of the Year at Light Flyweight but he has since gone 2-2, with a notable loss last time out to Takumi Sakae. The challenger is a long way from a puncher, having only scored 1 stoppage so far, but he is a quick with smart upper body movement, sharp footwork and good hand speed. Sadly whilst he's quicker he lacks the ability to get respect from his opponents, and lacks in terms of both power and physicality, with fighters not likely to back off from him. Rather worryingly for Toya is the fact he can often be seen with his hands down, and against a fighter like Hisada that is going to be a major problem, as is the fact that Hisada will be able to walk him down and go to work up close. This is a huge chance for Toya, but we can't help feeling like he has nothing to offer against Hisada who will be too energetic, too sharp, too heavy handed, too good and too busy for the challenger. Toya might have moments, particularly early on, but he'll be very lucky to last the distance with the champion. If Hisada wins, as expected, we wouldn't be surprised to see him dropping the title to fight for a world title in the new year.
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The Japanese scene today is very much one focused on young fighters and prospects, with many of the old guard having retired. The are however some of the old guard continuing their careers, two of whom are set to face off on October 12th in a Japanese Light Flyweight title eliminator, with the winner to get a shot at the title next year. The fighters in question are 38 year old Kenichi Horikawa (37-15-1, 11) and 35 year old Koji Itagaki (18-12-3, 7). Between them they are 73 years old with a combined record of 55-27-4 (18) and 566 career rounds, and both know that this really could be their last notable bout if they lose. If they win however they open up the door to another big fight in the first half of 2019. Not only are they experienced but they know each other, having had a great battle against each other in early 2017. Of the two men Horikawa is the older, more experienced man and the one who has hit the higher highs. He is a former Japanese Light Flyweight champion, having won the title in September 2015 when he beat Shin Ono, and actually beat Itagaki in February 2017 to claim the WBO Asia Pacific title. As well those wins he has mixed against great competition, losing to the likes of Akira Yaegashi, Florante Condes, Edgar Sosa, Kenshiro, Noknoi Sitthiprasert and Tetsuya Hisada, who he is 2-1 against. In the ring Horikawa is a rough around the edge fighter who can box but often elects to fight, biting down on the gum shield and going toe-to-toe. This can make his bouts exciting, but they can also become sloppy and messy, and his third bout with Hisada became a bit of a bloody mess after several hard head clashes. Itagaki's record looks dire, he has won just over 50% of his bouts and at 35 is getting no better. The reality however is that he too has been matched hard. He would fight to a draw with future world champions Yu Kimura and Tatsuya Fukuhara and suffer losses to Suguru Muranaka, Warlito Parrenas, Rey Loreto, Horikawa and the aforementioned Hisada, in a Japanese title fight earlier this year. It's worth noting that he has also scored some notable wins, including a stoppage over a then debuting Rangsan Chayanram, aka Palangpol CP Freshmart, and wins over Benezer Alolod and Koki Ono. Like Horikawa we tend to see Itagaki getting dragged into brawls. He's a better boxer than Horikawa, has good foot work and speed, even at his age, and uses a busy jab whilst on the move. He showed against Hisada that even in his mid-30's he's a bundle of energy. However he can be made to stand his ground and fight fire with fire. It makes for great action but his lack of power is an issue when that happens. When these two get in the ring on Thursday we suspect we'll see an energetic display from Itagaki, who will use his movement and try to avoid getting involved up close with Horikawa. Eventually however the fresh feet of Itagaki will slow and allow Horikawa his inside fight. When that happens the crowd will be given some thrilling action. The real question however is how long can Itagaki bounce around the ring. If he can do it for more than 4 rounds he should take the decision, but if Horikawa can cause a fire fight early on then he has a real chance of doing enough to take decision. We suspect Itagaki should be able to take the decision, and avenge his previous defeat to Horikawa, but he will have to work incredibly hard for it. *Please note this super early preview is due to the fact that the October 12th card has a staggering 6 different Japanese title eliminators so we are posting them a little earlier than usual.
The Light Flyweight division is arguable the best in the sport right now, with so much fantastic talent and so much depth. It may not have the allure of the Welterweight division, the Lightweight division, the Middleweight division or the Heavyweight division, but for hardcore fans it's a division with a lot of intrigue and interest right now. Below the world level there are a number of rising contenders, hopefuls and prospects. One of those is OPBF champion Edward Heno (12-0-5, 5) who looks to make his second defense this coming weekend. Heno's challenger will be fellow rising contender Jesse Espinas (19-2, 11), in what looks like another in a growing line of brilliant all-Filipino match ups. The champion won the title last September, stopping Seita Ogido in their second meeting, though he was very unlucky not to have won the belt May that year when he was judges to have been held to a draw against Ogido after a tabulation error originally had him announced as the winner. Prior to winning the title Heno's best win had been a stoppage over Chris Ganoza. Since winning the belt he successfully defended the belt once, defeating former world champion Merlito Sabillo. In the ring Heno is speedy yet hard hitting fight, who certainly hits a lot harder than his record suggests. At the age of 25 he's moving into his physical prime, and has filled out his frame into that of a powerful Light Flyweight, rather than a small one. His career began with 3 straight draws and he was 6-0-4 (1) but has really turned that around with 4 stoppages in his last 6 wins. That sort of form is impressive and he has shown he can step up to the plate, as he did in his win over Sabillo, and can perform on the road, as he did twice against Ogido. This however will be one more solid test for Heno, and if he wins he really will be deserving of a world title fight. Espinas made his debut at 19 years old and he won his first 3 bouts before being upset by Ronelle Ferreras. A second winning run saw Espinas reel off 8 wins before losing by stoppage in a very tough match up against the unbeaten and hard hitting Christian Araneta, also a rising Filipino prospect at Light Flyweight. Since that loss Espinas has gone 8-0 (4) scoring notable wins over the likes of Joey Canoy, Paipharob Kokietgym, Elias Joaquino and Lester Abutan. Those wins have have made Espinas a fixture in the world rankings, and he is moving his way towards a world title fight. Although somewhat unknown outside of Asia Espinas is an accurate straight punching fighter who is sharp with his shots, defensively aware and fights like a confident fighter with a lot of self belief. There is a bit of a “strong but basic” look to him at times but that's getting results and there is tools in his arsenal that he doesn't always show, because of how accurate and heavy handed he is. It also helps that he has a solid chin and good work rate, able to turn up the pace when he has his man hurt. We're expecting to see Espinas try and keep Heno at the end of his straight shots, sadly for Espinas we suspect the power, self belief and speed of Heno will be the difference and the champion will out box the challenger en route to a decision win. Espinas will certainly have moments, but we think the quality of Heno will be too much over the 12 round distance, and the champion will take up a close, but clear, decision win. This coming Monday Japanese fight fans in Osaka will get the chance to see national Light Flyweight champion Tetsuya Hisada (31-9-2, 19) make his 4th defense, as he takes on Koki Ono (12-4, 5). For Ono the bout is a huge opportunity to fight for his first title, a chance that looked like it had vanished when he lost in a Japanese title eliminator last year to Koji Itagaki, whilst Hisada will see the bout as a chance to continue his good form, and keep pressure on the world champions to give him a shot at a world title. The champion won the title last year, after more than 13 years in the sport, as he took a decision victory over Kenichi Horikawa. The win over Horikawa saw Hisada over-come a man who had previously beaten him twice and score a career defining win at the age of 32. That career defining win has has since been followed by successful title defenses against Atsushi Kakutani, Takeru Kamikubo and Koji Itagaki as he's climbed up the world rankings and moved to within touching distance of a world title shot. In the ring Hisada is an aggressive fighter who has a high output, under-rated power and impressive stamina. He desire to win is genuinely impressive and although he's not the most skilled fighter at 108lbs he is a hard man to beat. In fact his current winning run of 10 fights is impressive and he has developed a lot from the fight who was once 20-8 (10) and had been beaten in 4 of his previous 6 bouts. Talking about his losses is it worth quickly looking at those, with 2 having come to Horikawa and others coming to Hiroyuki Kudaka and Ryoichi Taguchi, and 4 of the other 5 have been by split decision. He's proven through his career that he's a very hard man to beat. The challenger is a 27 year old who made his rebut in 2009, as an 18 year old. Despite making his debut more than 9 years ago his career has been a slow burner. He took more than a year out of the ring between his first 2 fights and failed to really have any career momentum until 2015, when he went 3-0, marking it as the busiest year of his career so far. That was then followed by a frustrating 2016, in which he fought just once, and a 2017 that saw him go 1-1, losing by split decision to Itagaki in an eliminator. Whilst Ono did lose to Iagaki he does hold notable wins over Aiki Koto, Yamato Uchinono and Ryoya Ikema, decent domestic fighter but unspectacular ones. In the ring Ono isn't much of a puncher, with just 5 stoppage wins from 16 bouts, but he does have a solid out put and does enjoy unloading to the body, which he does in volume. That should make for a stylistically fun encounter with Hisada, who is also happy to let his shots fly. Given that he his only 27 Ono should have the edge in youthful energy but does lack in terms of experience, and that is something that could prove to be an issue here. We're expecting these two to enjoy an all out war in the centre of the ring. Unfortunately for Ono we feel that that sort of fight will favour Hisada, who we think will wear down and stop Ono in the later rounds. The fight will be action packed, but with Hisada having the edge in experience and power we think that'll be the difference here, and will be what leads him to victory. The depth at Light Flyweight is really impressive right now, with so many world class fighters plying their trade at 108lbs. The depth is so extreme that a number of very good fighters get totally over-looked, one of whom is Japanese national champion Tetsuya Hisada (30-9-2, 19) who is having a great few years and really proving at the age of 33 that he deserves to be in the mix for a world title fight. To keep his dreams of getting that shot a reality however he will have to extend his domestic reign and on April 14th he'll be defending his title in a mandatory title fight against Koji Itagaki (18-11-3, 7). The champion won the belt last year, defeating fellow veteran Kenichi Horikawa for the title which had been vacated by Ken Shiro. He went on to defend the title twice last year, beating former world title challenger Atsushi and youngster Takeru Kamikubo. In all 3 of his title victories Hisada has shown an amazing engine, getting better as the fights get one, consistent power and a real desire to prove himself. That desire has also seen him totally turn his career around, and just 3 years ago he was 21-9-2 and floundering as a professional. The reason for a lot of Hisada's problems, before his current 9 fight winning run, was the fact he kept fighting at different weights. He regularly fought at Flyweight and even fought a few times at Super Flyweight. At those higher weights he has really struggled but at Light Flyweight his record is genuinely impressive at 8-2 (7), with those losses coming to Ryoichi Taguchi and Kenichi Horikawa, with the loss to Horikawa being avenged. Above Light Flyweight he is 22-7-2 (12). Even if the winning %'s aren't starkly different, 80% and 71%, the difference in his power at the lower weight is telling. On paper Itagaki has the record of a journeyman, losing in 11 of 32 bouts. He has however been matched incredibly hard on the domestic and regional scene facing the likes of Yu Kimura, Suguru Muranaka, Palangpol CP Freshmart, Warlito Parrenas, Tatsuya Fukuhara, Rey Loreto and Kenichi Horikawa among others. Given that level of competition there is little surprise to see him having losses pile up, though unfortunately he has also come up short against weaker opponents, and at 34 it's unlikely he'll manage to turn things around and score a career best victory. In the ring Itagaki is a tough battler. He's not much of a puncher, he's not quick and he's not a defensive master. He is however a gutsy fighter. He will take the fight to Hisada and refuse to give anything but his all. Sadly for him that won't be enough here and despite his determination and effort we can't see past a late stoppage for Hisada, who will make Itagaki look his 34 years. It is worth noting Itagaki comes into this on the back of one of his best wins, a decision over Koki Ono, but he won't have enough to over-come Hisada here. Over the last year or two we've seen Jerwin Ancajas break out as the Filipino fighter who has managed to catch the eye of fans world wide. With Ancajas's rise it's easy to over-look some of the contenders rising from the country which has given us a fantastic history or fighters. One of those other contenders making a name for himself is Edward Heno (11-0-5, 5), who claimed the OPBF Light Flyweight title last year, and it now looking to build on that title win. This coming Saturday we see Heno make his first defense of the title, as he takes on former world champion Merlito Sabillo (27-4-1, 13). A win for Heno will fast track him to a potential world title fight, whilst a win for Sabillo will resurrect his faltering career.
OF the two men it is the challenger who is more well known. He claimed the WBO Minimumweight title in 2013 and made a notable, albeit controversial, defense against Carlos Buitrago before being smashed by Francisco Rodriguez Jr and losing the title to the Mexican warrior. Since the loss to Rodriguez we've seen Sabillo go 4-3, losing in notable bouts to Riku Kano and Ryuya Yamanaka in bouts for the OPBF Minimumweight title, which Sabillo had previously held before winning the world title. At his best Sabillo was a rough boxer-puncher. He wasn't a huge banger but at 105lbs he had respectable power, was a decent boxer but nothing exceptional and had more rough edges than a typical piece of sand paper. He was however a tough, rough fighter who was happy to get into a fight. Sometimes that came at his expense, which was certainly the case against Rodriguez Jr, but it was also something that he felt was his best tactic, and did net some notable results. At 34 however that style won't be the best for him, and he's a very old fighter for the lower weights, and will not be wanting too much of a war with a heavier handed and younger fighter like Heno. Instead he should be looking to make the most of his experience and his ring craft. Aged 25 Heno has turned around a bizarre 0-0-3 start to his professional boxing career by winning 11 of his following 13, and remaining unbeaten. Many of his wins have been at the lower level of the Filipino domestic scene but he managed to stopped Cris Ganoza last March in a noteworthy win before a draw with Seita Ogido, in a bout that many felt Heno had deserved. A rematch with Ogido saw Heno score a 7th round TKO over the Japanese fighter to claim the OPBF title and show that he was a legitimate puncher. Heno is naturally bigger than Sabillo, much younger and is riding an unbeaten record with a trio of good performances against Ganoza and Ogido. He might not be as proven as Sabillo, but he has all the momentum coming in to this bout and looks to be on his way up the rankings towards a world title fight. Whilst he is clearly some way behind the likes of Ken Shiro and Ryoichi Taguchi he is certainly on his way to mixing with that type of fighter, if he can get past Sabillo here. We're expecting a bit of a slugfest here, as the two are flawed but aggressive fighters, but an entertaining one that sees the younger naturally bigger and stronger fighter come out on top. Whilst Sabillo might have that “one last hoorah” we don't see it happening here against someone with the hunger and drive of Heno. Earlier this year we saw Japanese veteran Tetsuya Hisada (29-9-2, 18) score a career defining win, as he took a decision over Kenichi Horikawa, and claimed the Japanese Light Flyweight title. The win for Hisada saw him score a 7th straight win, avenge a couple of his losses and claim his first professional title, more than 13 years after his debut. It was the crowning effort of a long and hard career that had had plenty of ups and downs, but nothing of this magnitude. Hisada would record his first defense just over 3 months later, stopping Atsushi Kakutani in 8 rounds. He's now set to return to the ring for his second defense, as he takes on Japanese youngster Takeru Kamikubo (13-2, 8), who once looked like one to watch before seeing his career stumble. In the ring Hisada really is a grizzled veteran. He's a almost a 14 year professional and at 33 he's certainly no spring chicken. He is however a fighter who has developed into a better fighter as he's aged and he's currently on an 8 fight winning streak, following a 21-9-2 start to his career. There has certainly been stumbles early in his career, but he has been fighting at a good level, sharing the ring with the likes of Kakutani, Horikawa, Hiroyuki Kudaka, Junichi Ebisuoka and current world champion Ryoichi Taguchi. Not only has Hisada gone 8-0 but he's done so with 7 stoppages, showing an improvement in how he goes about business, and his willingness to turn the screw later in bouts, making the most of his high work rate and his consistent offense. He has also been getting more fights a his natural Light Flyweight, as opposed to Flyweight where he has suffered most of his losses. In 2014 Kamikubo made his debut, and by the end of the year he had raced out to an impressive 8-0 (5), fitting in 8 bouts in just over 10 months of super activity. Sadly in 2015 the youngster would suffer back to back stoppage losses as he came up short against Atsushi Aburada and Toshimasa Ouchi, ending his rise and hype in just his second year as a professional. Thankfully Kamikubo he has started to rebuild his career and has won his last 5, all against Japanese domestic opponents including Takahiro Murai and Masashi Odaira. Early in his career Kamikubo looked like a great prospect. He was boxing at range and had a style similar to other Ioka gym fighters, like Sho Shida and Masayoshi Nakatani, since that early start however fighters have been more willing to take a shot from him to come forward, and have given the youngster issues. Those issues have been worsened by the fact the youngster appears to be relatively fragile, even at domestic level, and going in there with someone like Hisada will really expose any cracks that Kamikubo may have. With Hisada having stopped so many opponents recently and Kamikubo being questionable in terms of his durability, we can't see anything but a stoppage for Hisada. We are however expecting some fun action before the champion stops the challenger, likely in the middle rounds. The Light Flyweight division might not be getting much attention in the Western boxing world right now, with even the Mexican interest in the division seemingly on the wane a little. But it's a division that is really interesting, with a trio of Japanese champions who have all spoken about unification and a Filipino champion who is set to make his first defense against a really highly regarded challenger. Below world level there are a host of contenders and prospects looking to make their mark and earn a world title fight of their own. Two of those hopefuls are Edward Heno (10-0-5, 4) and Seita Ogido (11-2-3, 3), who will be fighting for the OPBF title, and essentially looking to distinguish themselves as a top contender. Not only will this be an OPBF title fight, but it will be a second meeting for the title between themselves this year, after the two fought to a draw way back in May. Originally Heno was declared the majority decision winner of that contest, before a judging error was found, resulting in the decision being reversed to a draw. In their first fight it seemed like Heno was the better fighter. He was more aggressive, seemed like the boss and was really unlucky not to get the win. Whilst he was a complete unknown going in he really proved himself as a potential nightmare on the regional scene. It'd take a lot of improvement for him to become a world champion, but at the age of 24 he does have time on his side. Fighting from the southpaw stance and with both a good work rate and unexpected power Heno is a real handful. His KO win over Cris Ganoza is a really impressive win and although he was held to a draw by Roque Lauro that really says more about how under-rated Lauro is. Heno is a prospect, but an incredibly good, and over-looked, one. As for Ogido his career was a slow burner and he was 6-2-1 (1) after 9 bouts, though those set backs included a draw with Seigo Yuri Akui and a razor thin loss to Kenii Ono. Since that “weak” start he has gone 5-0-2 (2) , with his most notable win coming against Jeffrey Galero last year. That win proved there was some real quality with him,but overall the rest of his record is somewhat limited with little to get excited about. At the age of 24 there is potential for Ogido to improve, but the reality is that draws in his last two bouts, to Jonathan Refugio and to Edward Heno really suggest that he's fortunate, with both results arguably losses. He lacks fight changing power, and doesn't appear to have the aggression, or work rate to really come on strong and turn fights around, with his next looking like it's around the corner, and could well come to someone like Heno in a bout where his opponent is just too hungry. Coming in to this one Heno will feel aggrieved by his draw in the first meeting with Ogido. He deserved the win, he knows he deserved the win, and this time we suspect he will be even more aggressive and determined, and will come out there hunting a stoppage. Whether he gets the early win or is a hard call,depending on how tough Ogido is, but we struggle to see anything but a win for the visitor. The Light Flyweight scene is one of the most interesting, with Asia and Latin America have a number of really great fighters in the division right now. Sadly with the top fighters being so good it can leave those at regional or domestic level looking a long way behind the leading pack, and that is clearly the case with the Japanese domestic scene. Despite that the Japanese level is giving us some good fights at the weight and this coming Thursday we get the next Japanese Light Flyweight title fight, pitting two grizzled veterans against each other. The match up will see 32 year old champion Tetsuya Hisada (28-9-2, 17) attempt to make his first defense of the title as he takes on fellow 32 year old Atsushi Kakutani (19-5-1, 12), who is getting his third shot at a Japanese title. Of the two fighters it's the challenger who is the better known. He's a tall and wiry fighter who debuted back in 2008 and fought between Minimumweight and Super Flyweight, as he's looked for opportunities. That has seen him sharing the ring with a bit of a who's who, and he's suffered losses to Warlito Parrenas, Teiru Kinoshita, Adrian Hernandez and Ken Shiro whilst scoring a very notable win against Rey Loreto. At his best Kakutani is a solid boxer-puncher, but unfortunately his lack of durability is a real issue and he has been stopped in 4 of his 5 losses, and was taken out in a round by both Parrenas and Ken Shiro. Although “only” 32 and with “only” 25 bouts on his record the reality is that Kakutani is an old fighter. He has had a lot of damaging bouts and really has aged more than most fighters who have his raw “numbers”. He has also struggled to score wins of note, often facing Thai journeymen to stay active, and that's hard helped when he's had to move up through the levels and faced of the more notable names in his career. With 39 bouts on his record Hisada would “seem” like the older and more worn man but the reality is that his career, whilst is has been hard, hasn't really had the damaging fights, and that's depsite having more than twice as many rounds as Kakutani. His only stoppage defeat was more than 5 years ago, to Hiroyuki Hisataka, and although he has suffered losses they haven't been the break damaging beatings that Kakutani has had, where he has been dropped multiple times. Instead they have been decisions. Those losses have included defeats to the likes of Ryoichi Taguchi and Kenichi Horikawa, as well as a string of lesser names. In recent years however he has found his rhythm and got things going his way, with a 7 fight winning run, punctuated by a decision over Kenichi Horikawa in April to win the title. Although Hisada has got power, and has stopped 6 of his last 7, he's more of a gutsy fighter, looking for a fight rather than a punch out. His engine is solid, and he can take a shot, two things we suspect could be a key here, along with his confidence and the fact he is riding the crest of momentum. At their best this really could be a thriller. However we do believe that Kakutani has seen better days and that this version of Kakutani won't be able to last the distance with a hungry and driven Hisada, and that's despite the fact he's going to be coming in to this as a man knowing he's in last chance saloon. This coming weekend is a huge one in Japan in 6 world title fights taking place over the two days. As well as those world title fights we will also get an OPBF Light Flyweight title fight, as unbeaten Filipino Edward Heno (10-0-4, 4) takes on Okinawan Seita Ogido (11-2-2, 3) for the currently vacant title, which was vacated recently by Ken Shiro ahead of his world title bout. The bout might be massively over-shadowed by the world title bouts, it does actually look like a really solid match up it's self. Of the two men the more proven is Heno, a PBF champion at 108lbs with notable stoppage wins over Roque Lauro and Cris Ganoza, and he has gone 10-0-1 after 3 successive draws to begin his career. Although relatively unknown outside of his homeland Heno has proven his ability at home and looks like a genuine prospect, with power, toughness and an ability to go 10 rounds, having gone 8 or more 5 times in 14 fights. He has fought as high as Super Flyweight and is certainly a strong and tough fighter, even if there is still a lot of questions for him to answer, with some expecting him to be able to answer those questions with ease. In fact some in the Philippines do see him as one of their hidden gems, as his 9th round KO of the previously unbeaten Cris Ganoza showed. Aged 24 Ogido is a fighter looking to score a break out win and establish himself as one to watch. He lacks power, but is a gritty and determined fighter who has stepped up well following a loss in the 2014 Rookie of the Year final to Kenji Ono. He was last seen fighting to a fortunate draw against Jonathan Refugio, in a WBC Youth title fight and before that scored a very good win over Jeffrey Galero. Sadly for Ogido he's in arguably the most stacked division in Japan. He's well behind the likes of Kosei Tanaka, Ryoichi Taguchi, Kosei Tanaka and Akira Yaegashi, and there are plenty of others who would be favoured to beat him as well, such as Ryo Miyazaki and Tetsuya Hisada. Sadly his lack of power will likely hold him back from ever reaching the pinnacle of the sport, but he has the potential to leave a real mark at Oriental scene, in the future. Although Ogido is talented we're feeling that Heno will come out on top. He will out work and out muscle the Japanese fighter on route to a clear but competitive decision, which will perhaps be closer on the cards than the reality in the ring suggests. |
Previews
Having canned the old "Full Schedule" of Asianboxing we have instead decided to concentrate more on the major bouts. This section, the "Preview" section will look at major bouts involving OPBF and national titles. Hopefully leading to a more informative style for, you the reader. Archives
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