Every year the Champion Carnival throws out some amazing fights, well worthy of being for a Japanese title. Sadly the Champion Carnival also gives us some relatively uninspired contests that struggle to get the hopes of fans up too much. One of those less than great bouts will be taking place this coming Thursday and will see Japanese Lightweight champion Shuichiro Yoshino (6-0, 4) defending his title against Masaki Saito (14-12-6, 5), in what appears to be a huge mismatch. The talented Yoshino was highlighted as a potential star as soon as he announced his intention to turn professional, following a successful amateur career. He went on to make his debut back in December 2015 and progressed incredibly quickly with notable wins in 2016 against Chaiyong Sithsaithong and Kenta Onjo. Those wins helped him prepare for a break out bout against Yoshitaka Kato in March 2017 and after winning that he had proven that he had the potential to go a very long way. In October last year Yoshino faced off with Spicy Matsuhsita in a bout that was originally part of the Strongest Korakuen but later became a Japanese title fight when Kazuhiro Nishitani vacated the title. Yoshino was too good for Matsushita and stopped him in the 7th round, despite Matsushita giving a very good account of himself. In the ring Yoshino is a very talented boxer puncher with a very strong amateur background, solid skills, an understated composure and the stamina to pick up the pace after the first few rounds. He hasn't yet proven himself over the 10 round distance but with an 8 round decision over Kato and a7th round TKO over Matsushita it seems clear he can handle the longer stretches. There is still a few rough edges, given he's only been a professional for a little over 2 years, but his talent is undeniable and he he has the potential to go a very long way. Aged 32 Saito is a 12 year veteran of the Japanese domestic scene and although his record isn't the greatest he does pose some interesting challenges at this level. He's a very tall Super Featherweight-come-Lightweight, and stands at 5'11”. He's not only a rangy and tall fighter but also a tough one and in his 32 fight career he has he has only been stopped once, way back in May 2006 by Kenta Kato up at Light Welterweight. Since then he has faced off with notable domestic fighters like Moon Hyon Yun, Daisuke Sakamoto, Masashi Noguchi, Tsuyoshi Tojo and Dai Iwai, without any of them stopping him. Whilst Saito is a tough warrior he does lack in terms of notable wins. His best win to date is a 2015 win over former Japanese champion Seiichi Okada and he is 1-2-1 in his last 4 bouts, having been widely beaten by Masashi Noguchi in a Lightweight bout back in June 2016. He's not proven to be a nearly man of Japanese boxing, with this being his first title bout, and despite being better than his record suggests there is little to really make anyone think that he can hold his own with a talent like Yoshino. We believe that Saito will ask questions of the champion, poke some holes in the inexperience man, but in the end Yoshino will take over, and claim a clear cut and wide decision, if not a late stoppage, over Saito. The challenger will be game for the most part, but in the end he will simply lack the skills and fire power to test the champion's chin, or heart.
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This coming weekend is a huge one for Japanese boxing fans. There is, of course, a trio of world title fights taking place on Sunday but before that will be another big show, albeit at the domestic level, which takes place on Saturday. That card will decide a lot of mandatory challengers for the domestic titles next year, but also a Japanese Lightweight title fight, with the unbeaten Shuichiro Yoshino (5-0, 3) taking on veteran Spicy Matsushita (17-9-1, 2) for the vacant title. Of the two men it's fair to say that Yoshino has been the one getting the the more attention during his career. He was a former amateur standout who has been on the fast track since beginning his professional career, which began in 2015, and has already seen him defeat the likes of Chaiyong Sithsaithong, Kenta Onjo and Yoshitaka Kato, three very good opponents for such a novice. In the ring Yoshino is a fighter who has got amateur skills to rely on, but can also brawl and fight. When he's needed to box, such as against Kato, he's done that whilst he has also been able to brawl with the likes of Onjo. During his short career he has shown good stamina, having already gone 6 and 8 rounds, solid power, good speed and a very good boxing IQ. As with many novice professionals there is a lot left for him to prove before we begin to talk about world title bouts, but from what we've seen it's obvious that the potential is there for Yoshino to go very far, if his mind stays on the sport. It is worth noting that the 26 year old did walk away from the boxing once before, long before turning professional, and he has questions to answer about his commitment to boxing. He also has to answer questions about hos serious he is, having began his career at Welterweight before dropping down the weights. He's gone about it properly, but there is perhaps a possibility that a fully committed Yoshino would be fighting at Super Featherweight and not Lightweight. Aged 34 Matsushita is pretty much in a must win situation, as he's almost certainly not going to be getting another shot at a title, if he comes up short here. It is worth noting that this is actually his second title fight in less than a year, though he did come up very short in his previous title fight losing a decision to Chinese hopeful Can Xu. Notably that loss was the first clear fight, win or loss, that Matsushita has had since a 2013 stoppage loss to Jun Hamana. The trouble with Matsushita is almost every fight he has had has been close. He lacks the power to stop opponents, with just two stoppages, and the skill that he possess have rarely been significantly better than those he has faced. Going through his record shows this with bizarre regularity, including 7 split decisions, in which he has won 3, lost 3 and drawn one, 2 majority decisions, both wins, and a further 9 bouts which could be considered razor thin either way. He's a battler at heart, and that will to battle, has kept him in bouts he should have lost by wider scores, but has also shown a reliance on fighting hard, rather than smart. Given his age and frustrating career it's hard to see what Matsushita has to really challenge Yoshino, who we think will really shine here, and will see off the veteran, likely sending him into retirement, in the middle rounds here. Matsushita might have some early moments but his lack of power and limited skills are made to order for a fighter like Yoshino, who is going to be too quick, too strong, too hungry and simply too good. The Lightweight division in Asia is relatively frustrating at the moment, despite a lot of depth just a few pounds lighter at Super Featherweight. That frustration has been highlighted in some ways by the long OPBF title reign of Ioka gym's Masayoshi Nakatani (14-0, 8), who won the title back in January 2014 and has racked up 7 defenses already. Despite making so many defenses he hasn't really been able to prove himself as a credible future world title challenger and his last few defenses have felt like he's a fighter who's been going through the motions. This coming Sunday we see Nakatani return to the ring for his next defense, as he takes on 29 year old Filipino challenger Ryan Sermona (20-8-1, 13), another under-whelming foe for Nakatani. The champion won the title by defeating Yoshitaka Kato, and made his first defense against Ricky Sismundo. Two solid wins, which actually followed a stoppage victory against Shuhei Tsuchiya, and at the time it looked like Nakatani was going to be fast tracked to a world title fight. In those bouts he good speed, power and ring IQ, to keep opponents at range and box to his strengths. Since then however he beaten lesser quality foes like Kazuya Murata, Allan Tanada and Tosho Makoto Aoki. At his best, and when he's really on it, Nakatani looks like someone who can step up to fight pretty well at world level. He's heavy handed, moves well, has solid stamina, fights to his strengths and is huge for a Light, standing at just shy of 6'. Unfortunately if Ioka can't break the bank to get him a major fight there is a real risk that Nakatani will stagnate, if not regress, and fail to reach the heights once expected of him. Sadly Sermona won't be expected to provide any sort of a test for Nakatani. The Filipino has been a professional since 2008 and has had very mixed success. His best wins to date have been over Roberto Gonzalez, Balweg Bangoyan, Matt Gartlett and Taek Min Kim. Sadly those wins have been over-shadowed by losses to the likes of Masayuki Ito, Corey McConnell, Viorel Simion and Jose Ocampo, among others. The mixed results have come with 4 stoppage defeats and given how hard Nakatani hits, it's hard to see anything but another stoppage loss for the Filipino here. Japanese Lightweights rarely make much noise outside of the Orient, however the last few years we have seen Ioka gym's Masayoshi Nakatani (13-0, 8) slowly moving up the world rankings, and moving towards a world title fight. Nakatani, the OPBF champion, will be back in the ring this coming Sunday to make the 7th defense of his Oreintal crown, and will be up against Thailand's Kaewfah Tor Buamas (23-1, 16). On paper the bout looks like a good defense for the champion, but the reality is that this should be little more than a stay busy fight for the talented Nakatani. Stood at just under 6' and with a huge wingspan Nakatani is a relative giant at Lightweight. He knows how to use his size well to fight from the outside, keeping good fighters at range with his jab and movement. When forced to fight on the inside Nakatani has proven capable of doing that, and throws brilliant uppercuts for such a rangy fighter. Although not the fastest, or the most destructive, he isn't slow by any means, and he certain earns the respect of his opponents. On the subject of Nakatani's opponents he has a mix of good wins and less than great wins. He has really notable victories over Shuhei Tsuchiya, Yoshitaka Kato and Ricky Sismundo, with all of those wins coming in the space of 10 months. Sadly the last 5 wins on Nakatani's record all appear to have been lesser foes than 3 big wins he has. It's a shame that he never really built on the good wins, but he has been gaining valuable experience with 2 full twelve rounds, bringing his total to 4, and experience against fighters of different styles and sizes. World ranked already it does seem like Nakatani is wanting to tip-toe himself towards a world title fight. Whilst that makes sense, given that competition in the region won't prepare him for the likes of Jorge Linares, Mikey Garcia or Robert Easter, one of the very few fighters in the division who match Nakatani for size, it's not exciting way to see his team develop him or his skills. He's a good fighter, he can fight at world level in the future, but his match making in recent times has been poor. That poor match making continues here against a Thai with a nice looking record, but the reality is that Kaewfah is a very poor fighter. The Thai debuted back in 2009 and went 19-0 (13) with out facing a fighter with a winning record. Whilst that's not always an issue with Thai's, it does set alarm bells ringing. His first win over a fighter with a winning record came in 2015, and saw him take a narrow decision over 37 year old Australian based journeyman Andrew Wallace, after failing to make weight. Whatever alarm bells were ringing at 19-0 were now going crazy. Since then he has scored 3 low key wins and suffered a 7th round TKO loss to Czar Amonsot, the only fighter of real note that he has faced. From the footage of Kaewfah there is little to be impressed by. He's a basic fighter who is one paced, looks awkward fighting off the back foot and although there is some nice basic movement there is nothing outstanding about him. In all honesty against a fighter as talented and as natural as Nakatani it's hard to see how Kaewfah will have any success at all. The reality is that this could well looking like a public sparring session with Nakatani going through a few things, before turning the screw and eventually forcing a stoppage, as and when he pleases. It's a shame that such a talented fighter is wasting time against the likes of Kaewfah or Kazuya Murata. It's time Ioka looked at moving Nakatani towards a bigger fight, and stopped wasting everyone's time with this type of mismatch. In December 2016 we finally saw Shuhei Tsuchiya (22-4, 18) fulfil some of his early promise and claim the Japanese Lightweight title, eventually building on his 2010 Rookie of the Year crown. This coming Saturday Tsuchiya will return to the ring as he attempts to make his first defense of his title, and takes on mandatory challenger Kazuhiro Nishitani (16-4-1, 8). Whilst the bout is Tsuchiya's first as a champion it will be the second time Nishitani will have challenged for the title, having previously come up short in December 2015 against Kota Tokunaga. Tsuchiya made his debut in 2009 but really burst on to the Japanese scene the following year, when he claimed the All Japan Rookie of the Year crown. On route to that title he beta a number of unbeaten opponents, including Masanobu Nakazawa in the East Japan final and Yuki Miyoshi in the All Japan final. Not only did Tsuchiya claim the Rookie of the year title but he did so with a perfect record, and was 8-0 (8) following the win over Miyoshi. Tsuchiya's power saw him advancing his record to 12-0 (12) before finally being taken the distance by Indonesian Heri Andriyanto. Sadly for Tsuchiya the win over Andriyanto was the start of some career issues for the heavy handed Japanese fighter, who would suffer a number of losses as his record fell to 16-4 (14). Whilst those 4 losses were genuine set backs, they all came to decent fighters in the form of Shoji Kawase, Masayoshi Nakatani, Leonardo Zappavigna and Ricky Sismundo. Those losses could have been the start of the end for Tsuchiya but instead they were the start of Tsuchiya's rebuilding process, which has since seen him go 6-0 and defeat Kazuki Matsuyama and Masashi Noguchi, with the win over Noguchi netting Tsuchiya the Japanese title. In the ring Tsuchiya is an aggressive fighter who relies on his power. He's not a world class puncher, but he is heavy handed and on the domestic level not many will take his power. Whilst he is a big puncher he does has defensive flaws, which Nakatani really took advantage of, and he also has question marks over his own durability, with 3of his 4 losses being by stoppage. Although his limitations are known, and it's very unlikely that he will compete above domestic level, he a very solid Japanese level fighter and could potentially be a long term champion at this level. The 29 year old Nishitani has also been a professional since 2009, though hasn't had the success of Tsuchiya and didn't manage to make a name for himself in the Rookie of the Year competition. Despite that he got off to a good career start, winning his first 7 bouts and there was some hope put on his shoulders. Sadly that winning run came to an end in 2011, losing to Tetsuya Nishinaga and then Yuhei Suzuki in 2012. An unbeaten 8 fight run, which saw Nishitani go 7-0-1, followed before Nishitani lost to Yusuke Tsukada in 2015. The loss to Tsukada wasn't a huge setback as Nishitani got a Japanese title fight just 6 months later, and gave a very good effort as he came up short against Kota Tokunaga. Although Nishitani has suffered 4 defeats they have all been by decision, and they have all been pretty competitive in all honesty. Whilst he is beatable he is certainly not limited and can put up a good fight the top of the domestic level. He has respectable power, good work rate and decent skills. Nothing out standing, but certainly nothing terrible and he can certainly make life difficult for a fighter like Tsuchiya. Notably Nishitani has fought just 2 rounds since his loss to Tokunaga, and is coming in to this bout as one of the least active fighters to be involved in the 2017 Champion Carnival bouts. He might enter this bout refreshed and hungry or rusty and with his inactivity showing through the bout. Given his status at champion, as well as higher level experience and activity it's hard not to favour the champion, but we don't think it'll be easy for him. We do think Tsuchiya will be too good, but we think Nishitani will make it competitive through out with the bout really being an entertaining one for the fans in attendance, and those tuning in on G+. The Japanese Lightweight scene has never been the most interesting, or exciting, of the domestic divisions in the country but it has long been an under-rated one. That's certainly the case now with the likes of OPBF champion Masayoshi Nakatani, former world title challenger Nihito Arakawa, the under-rated Hurricane Futa the fast rising Shuichiro Yoshino, and the promising Masaru Sueyoshi. Despite a rising number of interesting fighters of names it does seem like we aren't getting the best of bouts, however we do still get some interesting bouts. The next bout of note comes this coming Monday as the heavy handed Shuhei Tsuchiya (21-4, 17) faces off off with the under-rated, but in form, Masashi Noguchi (12-5-1, 6) for the currently vacant Japanese Lightweight title, a title that was recently vacated by Arakawa. Of the two men it's certainly Tsuchiya who is more well known and in fact he has been on the radar of fight fans since way back in 2010, when he won the Lightweight Rookie of the Year and moved his record to a very impressive looking 8-0 (8). Not only had he won the Rookie of the year, but he had beaten 7 unbeaten fighters in his first 8 bouts and needed just 12 rounds to rack up those wins, including a win over future Japanese interim Light Welterweight champion Masanobu Nakazawa. Tsuchiya's KO run would end up moving to 12-0 (12) before he was taken 8 rounds by Heri Andriyanto and then 10 rounds by Stevie Ongen Ferdinandus, with some of his momentum being lost, but others seeing the positive from those wins. Sadly since being 14-0 (12) things have been a struggle for Tsuchiya who has since gone 7-4 (3) suffering stoppage defeats to Shoji Kawase, Masayoshi Nakatani and Leonardo Zappavigna as well as a decision loss to Ricky Sismundo. Whilst none of those losses are embarrassing there is certainly a lack of a major win recent bouts, with wins over Kazuya Soma and Kazuki Matsuyama being the most noteworthy wins in the last 4 years for Tsuchiya. Despite the less than great form Tsuchiya is regarded as a very decent fighter with nice skills, nasty power and a developing skill set that has been helped by experience. Whilst Tsuchiya is relatively well known the same cannot be said of Noguchi, however Noguchi cannot be over-looked coming into this bout. The 27 year old lost 3 of his first 4 and was 2-4 after 6 bouts but has buit his career amazingly well over the last 5 years and built a 4-5 (3) record into a 12-5-1 (6) one. That has seen him going 9 fights unbeaten and generate some real confidence and momentum. That's included going 2-0-1 with Masaki Saito, scoring a decent win over Kazuya Soma and a notable victory over Tomoya Yamada. Whilst Noguchi is in good form we'll be honest and admit that his competition hasn't been the most testing and that this is a huge step up for him. It is however one he will come into with the knowledge that he might not get another shot at a belt if this one doesn't go his way. He'll also be aware that he's not the fighter who struggled to get going early in his career, those losses aren't a negative but instead part of his development. Although it's clear that Noguchi is an improved fighter we don't think he will have the power to keep Tsuchiya honest and as a result we suspect he'll be broken down in the second half of the fight with Tsuchiya coming out on top courtesy of his more developed skills and his more destructive power Japanese, and even Filipino fighters, rarely make a mark above Super Featherweight with only a handful of world champions above 130lbs between the two countries, who are both power houses of the lower weight classes. This coming Friday however we'll see two notable names trading blows for the OPBF Lightweight title, one of those names is a world ranked fighter looking to move towards a world title bout whilst the other is looking to gate crash the world rankings and build some international success several years after his career best win. The fighters in question are current OPBF Lightweight champion Masayoshi Nakatani (12-0, 7), who is looking for his 6th defense of the title, and former OPBF Super Featherweight champion Allan Tanada (14-5-3, 6), who is looking to become a 2-weight OPBF champion and get his career back on track after 3 losses in his last 4 bouts. Of the two men it's certainly Nakatani with the more promise and more potential. The Ioka gym fighter is 27 years old and despite only having a 12 fight professional career he already holds notable wins over the likes of Shuhei Tsuchiya, Yoshitaka Kato and Ricky Sismundo, 3 really good wins. Sadly however since beating Sismundo we've seen Nakatani's career has stagnate with 4 domestic level bouts dressed by as OPBF title bouts. In the ring Nakatani is a freakish Lightweight, stood just shy of 6” and with freakishly long arms. Those dimensions of Nakatani make him a nightmare to outbox, and he is an exceptional boxer at range, using his size brilliantly well. As well as fighting at range Nakatani can also fight on the inside, and his win against Tsuchiya saw him using body uppercuts with remarkable success. Not only is Nakatani really promising but he's also spent a lot of time in the gym with world class fighters, like Kazuto Ioka and Sho Ishida, developing skills that many 12 fight professionals won't have. Tanada is younger than Nakatani but some have written him off as damaged goods. At his best he was a handful and he holds notable wins over Richard Pumicpic, Jose Ocampo and most importantly Rikiya Fukuhara, who he beat in 3 rounds for the OPBF Super Featherweight title. Unfortunately since beating Fukuhara back in September 2010 he has gone 4-5-3 (1) suffering losses to Masao Nakamura, Gamalier Rodriguez, Sonny Katiandagho, Soslan Tedeev and former Nakatani foe Accel Sumiyoshi. He's also unfortunately fighting in weight classes that sees him as the smaller fighter, and he'll be a very diminutive fighter against Nakatani. In the ring Tanada is a fighter who has more sting on his shots than his record suggests, he's also proven to be tough with only a single stoppage against his name. He's a smart puncher, with good timing, but unfortunately he's a fighter who is fighting well outside of his best weight classes, he's a fighter who is travelling for fights and at times can be found to be a bit lazy. If he puts his stuff together he could really trouble Nakatani, but the reality is that he'll never quite into the fight, he'll not put things together and will instead be found wanting at the end of Nakatani's jab. Whilst we know Tanada is better than his record suggests we also think he's a fight who peaked at a young age and is now heading downwards, and quickly, picking up paydays on the way down. This is likely to be a payday, but a painful one with Nakatani being too big, too heavy handed and simply too good for anyone who isn't at the top of their game. With that in mind we see Nakatani easily retaining his title, and probably stopping Tanada in the later rounds, with a steady stream of clean blows from the under-rated champion. If he wins, as expected, we suspect he'll look to move through the world rankings in 2017 and build towards a world title fight towards the end of the year. This coming Saturday is a hectic day for fight fans with bouts all over the place, ranging from low level nothing bouts all the way up to world title bouts. One of the bouts, somewhere in the middle of all the contests, is a Japanese Lightweight title bout between defending champion Nihito Arakawa (27-6-1, 16) and little known challenger Yusuke Tsukada (8-5, 3). For Arakawa the bout will be his first defense, of his his second reign, whilst Tsukada will be fighting in his first title bout. The exciting and teak tough Arakawa came to the attention of international fans back back in 2013 when he engaged in a memorable FOTY style bout with Omar Figueroa Jr. On that occasional Arakawa impressed less with his skills and more with his determination and toughness, walking through hell to try and break down the then destructive American. Following that loss Arakawa went 1-3 and it seemed like his career was over. In the last 2 years we have seen a resurgent Arakawa transfer to the Watanabe gym and claim the Japanese Lightweight title, with a notable win over the then champion Kota Tokunaga. As we all know Arakawa is as tough as they come. The loss to Figueroa would have finished off most other fighters but Arakawa, at the age of 34, appears to be having an Indian summer. He is also a man with the desire to not only win the title, for the second time, but now to retain it and move towards exciting fights in 2017, potentially with slugger Shuhei Tsuchiya. Whilst Arakawa is known, to some degree, by pretty much every fight fan the same cannot be said of Tsukada who is really unknown outside of the hardcore Japanese fans. Those hardcore fans however will remember him from multiple Dangan shows at the Korakuen Hall in recent years. Having been a professional for close to 6 years Tsukada has had mixed results. He was 3-3 after bouts, having suffered two stoppage losses. In those early bouts Tsukada looked uncoordinated, and under-trained. He was defensively very open and offensively his work was wild, open and crude. Whilst he has tempered his wildness in recent years he is unable to take a good shot and has now suffered 5 stoppage losses, including a defeat last year to Ribo Takahata. That loss ended a 3 fight winning run, including a good decision win over Kazuhiro Nishitani in June 2015. Unfortunately for Tsukada his inability to take a shot is likely to be a major issue here. Arakawa isn't a big puncher but he is a steady puncher who will land a lot on Tsukada and force a stoppage, likely with the referee needing to save the challenger in the middle rounds. Hopefully, with a win, Arakawa will move on to the anticipated bout with Tsuchiya in early 2017. On April 17th Japanese fans will get a real treat in Osaka with 4 title fights, one of which is an OPBF Lightweight title bout between unbeaten champion Masayoshi Nakatani (11-0, 6) [中谷 正義] and the heavy handed, but limited, Tosho Makoto Aoki (20-13-2, 17) [闘将 青木 誠]. On paper it's the “most significant” of the title bouts, with the OPBF title ranking above the Japanese and WBC Youth titles, but in reality it should be little more than a mismatch. At 26 years old Nakatani is a man coming into his prime and at close to 6 foot he's a tall, rangy and clever boxer puncher who has matured well under the guidance of the Ioka gym. He's been a professional for around 5 years and actually won this OPBF title more than 2 years ago, with this being his 5th defense of the title. For many Nakatani's first win of note came back in July 2013, when he stopped Shuhei Tsuchiya. Since then he has added the notable scalps of Yoshitaka Kato and Ricky Sismundo to his record whilst showing improvement in his boxing, stamina and ring IQ. That's not to say he's flawless, but he's becoming a very hard fighter to beat, and has scarcely lost a round since winning the OPBF title. At range Nakatani is a nightmare, he's taller and longer than almost anyone else in the division and although not a huge puncher he has very respectable power which will keep any opponent honest, with even his jab being a stinging shot. Whilst the champion is a fighter about to hit his prime the challenger is a veteran at 36 and is a man who knows that this bout will potentially be his last, though it's fair to say he has had a relatively remarkable career which has seemingly gotten better as he's aged. In fact back in 2011 it seemed Aoki's career was done, following a 2nd round TKO loss to Ryo Nakajima, a loss that saw Aoki's record fall to 13-12-2 (10). Since then however he has gone 8-1 (7), claimed several regional titles and genuinely managed to make a name for himself. Whilst Aoki was a good run he did actually lose last time out, suffering a first round loss to Thailand's Chaiyong Sithsaithong, who was subsequently schooled by novice Shuichiro Yoshino. Sadly that loss was probably the result that sums up his chances against Nakatani. There is a chance that the heavy handed power of Aoki could catch Nakatani, but the reality is that the champion should be too smart, too good, too powerful, too quick, too big, too long and too young. Although Aoki does have power, he's a crude puncher and we suspect Nakatani will pick him apart, before forcing a stoppage, likely in the middle rounds. Hopefully a win for the youngster will be followed by a serious test later in the year, perhaps against Daud Yordan for example, however should we see an upset it really would shake up the Lightweight scene in Asia Internationally we don't tend to see many Japanese Lightweights make a name for themselves, however one man has done just that, Nihito Arakawa (26-6-1, 16) [荒川 仁人]. Arakawa did so by putting on an incredibly gutsy display against the then touted Omar Figueroa. Since that bout however he has faded somewhat from the attention of boxing fans and gone 2-3 in subsequent bouts, whilst also returning to Japan. Despite his current form he is still regarded as a top Japanese Lightweight and he will be looking to reclaim his seat atop the domestic table on April 16th when he faces incumbent Japanese champion Kota Tokunaga (17-2, 11) [徳永 幸大]. When it comes to Arakawa we all remember his performance against Figueroa. It was gutsy, brave and exciting. He wasn't technically the most sound fighter, the quickest, the most defensively intelligent or the biggest puncher but his heart was incredible and his toughness was off the charts. Even the bout was, in all honesty, a lost cause he refused to back down and continued to bring the fight in the later rounds, trying to secure a remarkable turn around. Arakawa will be hoping to use that energy and toughness later this week against Tokunaga, as he attempts to become a 2-time Japanese champion, at the age of 34. He first held the national title in 2010 and vacated it in 2011 as he chased a world title. As we all know Arakawa can be out boxed. It happened against Figueroa, it happened against Jorge Linares and more recently it happened against Rikki Naito. He does however seem like the sort of fighter who will only be beaten against men capable of going to the final bell and have the energy to stay out of a fire fight. Going to war with Arakawa is often a mistake. The 26 year old champion comes in to the bout as on of the more questionable Japanese domestic title holders. He won the belt a year ago, stopping Yuya Sugizaki in 8 rounds, and subsequently defended it twice, scoring a come from behind stoppage win over Yuhei Suzuki and a thin decision win over Kazuhiro Nishitani, both relatively limited challengers. The champion is a fun to watch fighter. He has very respectable power at the domestic level, throws some lovely combinations and can use his height, 5'10”, very well. Sadly for all that goes in his favour he is a seriously flawed fighter and has been stopped twice, suggesting a poor chin, and has been rather fortunate in some ways that his challengers have been poor so far. They have worn themselves out whilst Tokunaga has been patient and used his energy reserves in the second half of bouts. With questionable toughness, a low work rate and a lack of higher level experience Tokunaga has a lot of question marks over him. He is a much improved fighter to what he once was, but he has yet to prove he's anything like the best Lightweight in Japan. We suspect that Tokunaga will start the bout cautiously, boxing on the back foot and using his reach. Arakawa however will have the know how to slip the jab, get in Tokunaga's face and make life very difficult for the champion. As the rounds go on Arakawa's will to win will over-come Tokunaga who we think will be stopped in the second half of the bout. Tokunaga will likely show signs of being a good fighter, but simply won't be able to handle Arakawa's pressure or toughness. |
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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