In recent years Japanese prospects have been fast tracked with alarming regularity. It's become almost the done thing in Japan, with promoters knowing that if a fighter can fight against good fighter's there no point in keep them busy and padding their records for years. The latest Japanese youngster to be headed on the fast track to the top is Hinata Maruta (5-0, 4), who was long tipped to be a star for the Morioka gym. This coming Friday Maruta will take a huge step up in class and look to prove that he belongs to be regarded as the next in the line of super talents, like Naoya Inoue and Kosei Tanaka, as he takes on OPBF Super Bantamweight champion Hidenori Otake (29-2-3, 13). Of the two men it's probably Otake who is better known. He is a former Japanese national champion, the current OPBF champion and a former world title challenger, who showed his toughness in a wide loss to the then WBA champion Scott Quigg in the UK. Aged 36 he is in the twilight of his career, but has looked good recently whilst running up a 7 fight winning run, following the loss to Quigg. Those wins have included his OPBF title victory over Jelbirt Gomera and a stoppage win over Kinshiro Usui in his first defense. At his best Otake was a teak tough fighter who was insanely tough and had incredible energy. He's now likely on the slide, but still appears to be incredibly tough, and know how to bring the relentless assault that can cause fighters to mentally crumble. Over 12 rounds very few fighters will look to have a toe-to-toe war with him. On the other hand Otake is technically flawed, crude around the edges. He's not a very accurate fighter, or a very heavy handed one, but he's very physically strong and fighters to his strengths, making fights a trench war and simply breaking down opponents with his relentlessness. It should be noted that some cracks have appeared in Otake's toughness recently. He was cut a few fights back by the little known Alexander Espinoza, and he also struggled with Gomera, who has subsequently lost two more bouts. The Japanese warrior does like to set his feet before throwing, and against a mover, or a fighter with high ring IQ he can have his flaws taken advantage of. Whilst Otake is probably the better known it's fair to say that fans in Japan do see Maruta as a star of the future. He's a handsome and fresh faced youngster, who has the looks to become a crossover star, he has the frame to move through a number of weights and more importantly he has the skills to go to the top. Aged 20 he is a prodigious talent, but one who has been known about long before his professional debut, with a solid amateur background and a team who regularly take him over to the US for training camps, building on his skills and experiences. Although still a boxing baby he won the WBC Youth Bantamweight title, and defended it twice, whilst also making a statement on debut by beating the then world ranked Jason Canoy. In the ring Maruta is a slick, boxer-mover who has solid power, enough so to drop the teak tough Jason Canoy, one of the best jabs in the sport, a lovely ability to switch between head and body, good footwork and a very high ring IQ. He has been shown to turn off at time, but it often seems like he's doing so to get more experience and learn more about the sport and his opponents, rather than truly switching off. As a result he has lost a few rounds, but never come close to losing a fight. One place where Maruta is perhaps a little “weak” is his experience. He has only had 26 professional rounds, compared to Otake's 219, but as mentioned he has held a number of training camps in the US, and that has seen him take part in long sessions, and share the ring with a number of other styles. Those training camps will help him fight over the longer distance, but we're still interested in how he will fair in the later rounds, especially with Otake's relentless forward march. Interestingly he has already been chin checked, taking some bombs from Canoy, and appears to have a very sturdy chin, but hasn't been tagged when he's tired yet. We have seen Murata answer more questions in his first 5 bouts than most fighters, but it's clear that this bout has been made to allow him to prove even more. It's a chance for him to prove his stamina, and to prove his power, if he stops Otake it would be a huge statement, whilst a decision win would “just” be a big statement. This is certainly dangerous match making, but that seems to be the way they go with the top young talents in Japan, and it's part of what is making the Japanese scene so exciting right now. Young fighters are told to prove themselves, almost straight away. We can see how Otake could win. We can see him just refusing to go away, taking Maruta in the deep water and drowning him, with either a late stoppage or a close decision. But our view is that Maruta's speed, skills and movement will be too much for Otake, and we even go as far as to say that a stoppage for Maruta isn't out of the question. The old adage “speed kills” is likely to play a factor here, and Maruta will be too quick and too sharp for the veteran, who will be made to look his 36 years of age, and will be finished off late into the bout.
0 Comments
The Super Bantamweight division is one of the most interesting around Asia, with Japan in particular having a very strong base for fighters. At the moment the country boasts two world champions, Shun Kubo and Yukinori Oguni, along with a host of contenders, like Ryosuke Iwasa, Tomoki Kameda, Hidenori Otake and Shingo Wake. Below those men are a number of rising fighters, looking to make their mark and move themselves into global contention. Among those rising fighters is heavy handed Japanese champion Yusaku Kuga (14-2-1, 10) who looks to make his first defense of the title this coming Saturday, as he takes on the under-rated Ryoichi Tamura (8-2-1, 5). On paper the bout is “just” a Japanese title defense for Kuga, but an impressive win could see him jumping into the fringes of the world rankings, whilst Tamura will be looking to score a career best win and get his career rolling with a big win. Earlier this year Kuga won the Japanese title stopping the popular Yasutaka Ishimoto in 2 rounds, announcing himself as a real dangerman. Prior to that he had been on the radar for a while. For most that was due to a loss to Ishimoto in 2015, though for others it was back in 2013 that he started to capture the imagination with a good win over former amateur standout Yusuke Suzuki and an unfortunate draw against Naoto Uebayashi. Those bouts began a run of solid performances that lead to Kuga getting his first bout with Ishimoto, which he lost narrowly. The rematch with Ishimoto came after an impressive stoppage win over Jonathan Baat in 2016 and saw a more mature and more aggressive Kuga fight with the intention of taking Ishimoto out early, and he did drop him very quickly. With that aggression and power Kuga is a handful for many, and although he's flawed, with rough edges, he's a really dangerous fighter and not someone to have a war with. Tamura made his debut back in May 2013 and lost to Wataru Miyasaka in a very competitive debut bout. That loss could have been it but instead Tamura's team showed their belief in him and kept putting him in hard fights. That resulted in a few early set backs, with Tamura being 3-2-1 (1) after 6 bouts, but developing massively into a solid professional during those early set backs. The tough love and hard development paid off and in 2015 Tamura beat Yusuke Suzuki, before following it up with stoppages against domestic foes like Yuki Matsuda, Ryoji Okahata, and Renji Ichimura. Those wins saw Tamura shoot up the rankings, and earn a shot at the title. Although not the smoothest fighter Tamura is a strong and powerful fighter, with a very heavy right hand which he constantly looks to set up. Like Kuga he's more on the “crude” side of the spectrum, more so than Kuga in fact, and he can certainly be out boxed, but he does have some nice boxing skills and knows how to use his jab well, even if he under utilises it. Although he can jab and move he does seem to prefer fighting at close to mid range, and often looks like a fighter looking for a war. With both fighters being crude, heavy handed sluggers this really could be a fire fight, and we'll admit that's what we're hoping for. If it is a fire fight we do suspect that Kuga will come out on top, making the most of his edge in speed and better accuracy and timing, , but with Tamura's power there is danger there that Kuga himself will be hurt. We don't see anyway this one can go the scheduled 10 rounds, but we also have no idea how this one can be anything but explosive given the two men involved. The Super Bantamweight division is one of the most interesting in Japan right now, with two world champion, a really exciting national champion, a number of rising prospects and some top class contenders. This coming Wednesday we'll see two Japanese Super Bantamweights trading blows for the OPBF title, and the potential to meet one of the world's best prospects. The bout in question will see OPBF Super Bantamweight Hidenori Otake (28-2-3, 12) defending the title for the first time, as he defends the crown against veteran Kinshiro Usui (27-5, 11) in a well matched all-Japanese bout. Whilst it's clear neither man is a spring chicken, with a combined age of 73, it's also clear that neither fighter can really afford a loss at this point in their career. Of the two men Otake is the more well known. In 2012 he claimed the Japanese title, beating Takafumi Nakajima, and he went on to defend that title 4 times before vacating it in 2014, as he got a crack at Scott Quigg and the WBA world title. Although Otake came up short against Quigg, scarcely winning a round, he proved his toughness and his incredible engine going 12 rounds against the Englishman and rarely taking a backwards step. Since losing to Quigg we've seen Otake go 6-0 (3), with a win over Jelbirt Gomera last time out for the OPBF title. During his 6 fight winning run that was the only win of real note, and the only bout at Super Bantamweight, following a short flirtation at Featherweight. At his best Otake is a tough, rough and energetic fighter. He's not the quickest, the heaviest handed or the most skilled, but his will to win is second to none and it will take something very special to slow his charge forward. Aged 37 Kinshiro Usui is a name many won't be familiar with, at all, despite the fact he's had a 15 year career and holds wins of note against the likes of Mike Tawatchai, Nobuhisa Coronito Doi, Masaaki Serie and Hikaru Marugame. He fought regularly between 2002 and 2011 before walking away from the ring for more than 3 years. In 2014 he began an unexpected comeback and reeled off 6 straight wins before losing last time out in a razor thin decision to Hisashi Amagasa, in a bout many felt he deserved. Talented, and with a steely toughness, Usui is a solid boxer. Sadly at 37 his time is running out, and it's a shame it's taken more than 8 years for him to get his second shot at a title. He's got under-rated skills, decent speed for someone his age and real hunger, with it being clear that this could be his final shot at silverware. On paper it's really against Usui here. He's older, smaller, less proven, less experienced and the lighter puncher. However he's coming in with little pressure on his shoulders and he will clearly be the under-dog. We'd love to see Usui win here, it'd be a great way for him to end his career. Saying that however it's hard to bet against Otake, who has proven his title ability and will likely be too busy and too physical for the smaller, Usui. Interestingly the winner of this is booked in to defend the title later in the year, against the very highly regarded Hinata Maruta in what could be the coming out party of the next Japanese boxing superstar. In late 2014 Hidenori Otake (27-2-3, 12) came to the attention of the wider boxing world as he travelled to the UK to take on WBA Super Bantamweight champion Scott Quigg. The bout saw the Japanese fighter go from being a relative unknown outside of Tokyo, where he had fought all 26 of his previous bouts, to a man widely applauded for his toughness and stamina in going 12 tough rounds against Quigg. Since losing to Quigg we've seen Otake score 5 wins, almost against less than notable competition, as he's moved back into title contention, and this coming Friday we'll see him return to title action to take on Filipino foe Jelbirt Gomera (12-1, 6). For Otake it's a chance to add an OPBF title to his collection, which also include a Japanese title from earlier in his career, whilst Gomera looks to announce himself on the Oriental scene. The 35 year old Otake made his debut back in 2005 and was unbeaten in his first 8 bouts, going 6-0-2 (1) before suffering a loss to Manabu Koguchi in the 2007 East Japan Rookie of the Year final. That loss would be Otake's only defeat until his 2014 bout with Quigg. During the 7 years between losses Otake went on to score wins over the likes of Kentaro Masuda, Takafumi Nakajima, Mikihito Seto and Nobuhisa Coronita Doi as he won the Japanese Super Bantamweight title and recorded 4 defenses of the belt. Sadly since losing to Quigg it does seem like Otake has slowed. Although he is 5-0 (3) since his bout with Quigg he did fail to shine when he took on Hernan Cortez and genuinely struggled past Alexander Espinoza. Although it might be unfair to say it but it does seem like Otake's body, at the age of 35, is slowing down and his once incredible stamina is wearing away. His toughness can't be question but there are cracks showing and his relative lack of power has seen him rack up close to 200 rounds of professional action in his 32 fight career, averaging a little over 6 rounds a fight. His stamina is undeniable but he lack of power has seen him stopping only 38% of his opponents so far. Filipino fighter Gomera debuted back in April 2013 and has been a professional for close to 4 years. He won his first 4 bouts by stoppage and moved out to 10-0 (6), with a notable win over Ryan Rey Ponteras, before being stopped in 8 rounds by Mark Anthony Geraldo in November 2015. that has been Gomera's most notable bout to date but since that loss he has racked up two wins, with a win last time out over Eduardo Mancito to claim the Philippines Boxing Federation Featherweight title. Other than his record little is really known about Gomera,though footage does suggest that he's a southpaw who likes to come forward, though isn't the most aggressive or the quickest. Although the footage is limited we have read fight reports suggesting that Gomera's last bout, against Mancito, was an exciting and bloody affair with Gomera getting up from a 2nd round knockdown to defeat Mancito. It's also worth noting that newspaper reports have given Gomera as being 19 when he lost to Geraldo, suggesting he is 20 or 21 at the moment, reports from that fight also suggest that Gomera is a gutsy fighter and pulled himself off the canvas a number of times against Geraldo. Although he's the “unknown under-dog” Gomera is the youngster with a point to prove and we suspect he will give Otake a lot of problems here, especially with Otake showing his age in recent fights. Despite that we still think Otake's experience will be too much over the distance, but it will be a very close contest with Gomera proving himself as one to watch from the Philippines. Although the Super Bantamweight division isn't that attractive internationally at the moment, with the division's best fighter being the much avoided Guillermo Rigondeaux, the division is actually really interesting in Asia, particularly in Japan. The country boasts current IBF champion Yukinori Oguni as well as notable world level contenders like Ryosuke Iwasa, the returning Tomoki Kameda and Shingo Wake. Domestically the division is also red hot with fighters like Shun Kubo, Kazuki Tanaka, Daisuke Watanabe, Sho Nakazawa and Shohei Kawashima all breaking through the ranks. At the top of the domestic table is veteran Yasutaka Ishimoto (29-8, 8), who won the title in late 2015 and has recorded two defenses of the title so far. On February 4th he will take on the man he originally beat to claim that title, Yusaku Kuga (13-2-1, 9), in a highly anticipated rematch. Of the two men Ishimoto is the better known fighter, both domestically and internationally. On the international scene he is best known for defeating Wilfredo Vazquez Jr in Macao in 2013 and then losing, in the same venue, to Chris Avalos in 2014. In Japan however he is long serving veteran of the sport, who debuted back in 2002 and fought a number of top domestic fighters. His career on the domestic scene saw him fight for the Japanese title in 2012 and 2014, losing to Masaaki Serie and Yukinori Oguni, before finally winning the title against Kuga in 2014. Promoted by Teiken Ishimoto has long been a staple of the Tokyo scene, with 34 fights at the Korakuen Hall. Those fans have been given some real treats thanks to Ishimoto, with his two bouts against Gakuya Furuhashi being particularly fun to watch. In the ring Ishimoto is technically well schooled, has a great engine, a gritty determination and a very fun style. He's not a big punch, as is clear from his record, but he's a consistently active fighter who fighters well both at range and up close. At his best Ishimoto is a handful, and a fringe world class fighter. He has notable victories over the likes of Shingo Wake, Yu Kawaguchi, the aforementioned Vazquez and Furuhashi, He has also suffered razor thin losses to current world champion Oguni and a then rising Yota Sato, who would claim his title around 4 years after beating Ishimoto. At 35 years old and with 37 bouts, 237 rounds, under his belt Ishimoto is likely on the slide, and given his style he's certainly taken punishment through his career. Despite being on the slide he is still a fantastic fighter and is on a good run having won his last 5. The challenger, the 26 year old Kuga, has been a professional since late 2010 and impressed early. In 2012 he took part in the Rookie of the Year, though was defeated early in the competition by Nobuhiro Hisano. Despite the set back against Hisano it was clear that Kuga's team didn't feel they had to protect him and he was quickly put in against decent opponents, beating both Takumi Takahashi and former amateur stand out Yusuke Suzuki. Kuga was unfortunate not to follow up the win over Suzuki with another win over an amateur standout as he was controversially held to a draw against Naoto Uebayashi. Following the draw over Uebayashi we saw Kuga score a series of good domestic wins,beating the likes of Taishio Torimoto, Yuki Iwasaki and Koji Aoki as he moved towards his first title bout. Sadly for Kuga that title bout would come against Ishimoto and he would come up narrowly short, losing 96-94 and 96-95, twice. That loss was a heart breaking one for the youngster but one that seemed to fire him up, and since then he has been a wrecking ball smashing Sukkasem Kietyongyuth in 5 rounds and flattening Jonathan Baat in 4 rounds, in a Strongest Korakuen contest. The win over Baat saw the Filipino veteran suffer just his third loss and put Kuga's name along side Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym and Rodrigo Guerrero. In the ring Kuga is a “rough around the edges” puncher. He is flawed, a bit open and a bit defensively naive, but he's also a nasty puncher with a physical style. His punches all hurt and although not the most naturally smooth fighter his boxing ability can't be over-looked. At 26 he is coming into his prime and is still clearly improving fight after fight. With his power he's a huge danger man at the domestic level, and potentially has the power to go much further. Although Ishimoto won the first clash we actually favour Kuga here. Since the first fight Ishimoto has had 20 really hard rounds and turned 35 whilst Kuga has developed into an even hungrier fighter and the win over Baat was incredibly impressive. We wouldn't be massively surprised if Ishimoto scored a repeat, but we do favour Kuga to win here in a genuinely thrilling contest. If there is one divisions that is looking amazingly deep in Asia at the moment it's the Super Bantamweight division with notable fighters from all across the region, such as world champions, like Hozumi Hasegawa to world ranked contenders like Shingo Wake, Yukinori Oguni, Ryosuke Iwasa, Qiu Xiao Jun, Yasutaka Ishimoto, Genesis Servania, Ye Joon Kim and recently deposed champion Nonito Donaire. With so much depth in the region it may well be the weight class that really comes to the fore in 2017. Given the depth it does seem a lot of fighters are all lining up to get a shot at a world title and taking small steps to get there. One such fighter is OPBF Shun Kubo (10-0, 7) who returns to the ring this coming Friday to defend his title, for the second time. In the opposite corner to Kubo will be little known Korean Jin Wook Lim (8-4-5, 2). Kubo has been long ear marked as one of the rising stars of the Shinsei gym. That was clear in his third fight, when he beaten experienced Filipino Monico Laurente, and again in 2014 when he beat Luis May to first claim a world ranking. He wasn't on the hyper-speed track to the top, like Naoya Inoue and Kosei Tanaka, but he was clearly on a faster track than many others. That was again shown at the end of 2015 when he claimed the OPBF Bantamweight title with a 5th round TKO win over Lloyd Jardeliza. Sadly his rise sort of slowed after that win, with his only subsequent bout being a narrow decision win over Benjie Suganob back in May, with that performance leaving some to question whether he was ready for a bigger step up. Given Kubo's competitive encounter with Suganob it was no surprise to see his team look to him to make another “safe” defense of the OPBF title, rather than move through the world rankings and that's why we have his upcoming bout with Lim. In the ring Kubo is a rather peculiar fighter. He has skills, speed and power, and fighters from a southpaw stance, a stance that is made doubly infuriating or opponents due to just how awkward and unique his actual stance is. Not only is he awkward but he's a talented fighter, with an air of confidence and a strong team behind him, with a clear mentor in the form of 3-weight world champion Hozumi Hasegawa who is also a member of the Shinsei Gym. On paper the Korean visitor looks really limited, in fact with just 8 wins from 17 bouts he has a sub 50% rate and only has a 12% stoppage rate. Poor numbers by any measure for a title level fight. He has however had a long time to prepare for this bout, with Korean sources reporting it as a done deal weeks before the Japanese had, and he's also not been easily matched facing a variety of Ket Korean fighters in and around the Bantamweight division. That has seen him claim a win over Sa Myung Noh and fight to a draw with Ye Joon Kim. He has also gone 10 rounds in a somewhat competitive loss to Shohei Kawashima, who impressed recently against Cristian Mijares. Sadly though he is 0-1-2 against Japanese fighters. Given the lack of stoppages on his record it will come as no surprise to hear that Lim is the type of fighter who rarely sits on his punches. Instead he likes to use the ring, move a lot and use his speed of hand and foot. He's relatively basic in regards to what he does in the ring but he's fast enough to use his jab and move out of range. There is potentially a good boxer here, and one who looks comfortable in the ring, but his total lack of power is a problem and the way he was out boxed by Shohei Kawashima does suggest that against good fighters he's going to come up short. Although we've got a lot of questions to ask about Kubo he shouldn't really struggle too much with Lim, though there is a chance he will look bad at times chasing the Korean moved around the ring and being countered at times by the shorter man. The first title fight of a new month takes place as the month kicks off and as we suspect fight fans will be in for a major treat. The bout in question sees Japanese Super Bantamweight champion Yasutaka Ishimoto (28-8, 7) looking to defend his belt against the limited but exciting Gakuya Furuhashi (18-7-1, 8), in a second bout between the two men. These two fought last year, fighting in an 8 rounder, with Ishimoto winning a close but thrilling decision in a bout that was a bit of a hidden gem from 2015. Despite being under-watched it was streamed online for free and has got a cult following with hard-core Japanese fans who saw a really engaging and high tempo domestic level contest. Since their first meeting we've seen Ishimoto go 2-0, winning the Japanese title in Decemeber 2015, out pointing Yusaku Kuga,and defending the belt once, with a wide decision against Yosuke Fujihara. Both of those bouts were tough bouts for the Teiken fighter but both were enjoyable for fans, and it's clear that whilst Ishimoto isn't a “star” he is very popular for a domestic level fighter. As for Furuhashi he has gone 1-1 since losing to Ishimoto almost 14 months ago. He lost to the under-rated Daisuke Watanabe and defeated Rokuhei Suzuki. Neither of those bouts were at the top of the domestic level, and neither really saw Furuhashi impress, but Furuhashi has proven himself in the past fighting to a draw with Yukinori Oguni. Of the two men the men the champion is the better known. Not only is he the champion but he has also fought on a pair of the Top Rank Macau cards, where he scored a career defining victory over Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. In those Macau bouts we saw Ishimoto prove to be a technically solid guy, and he has proven since that he has a high tempo in the ring. Sadly against Chris Avalos, in a bout Ishimoto was stopped in, we also saw that Ishimoto lacks the power and physical strength to cut it at the world level, though of course that's nothing to be hugely ashamed of. In the ring Ishimoto's style is very fan friendly. He's a high tempo boxer who uses movement well, has a high output and is a tough guy who enjoys a fight. Yes he lacks power but makes up for it in terms out output and that makes him so much fun to watch in action. Aged 34 there is a chance that his energetic style will desert him, but he's looked great in recent wins and has a very strong and vocal support base willing him on every time he's in a Japanese ring. Whilst Ishimoto has fought a few bouts against international names of note the same cannot be said of Furuhashi,who is really an unknown outside of Japan. Even in Japan he's relatively unknown, despite his title fight, though those who do follow the domestic scene know that with Furuhashi they get action and excitement. Like Ishimoto he lacks big power but fights with a high tempo, albeit not quite as high as the champion, and gets in the ring for a fight. Technically he's limited but he has the determination and style to be very exciting. Sadly for Furuhashi he has gone 1-2-1 in his last 4 and is more than 3 years removed from his last notable win, a victory over veteran Toru Suzuki. That's not to say he's bad but he's not quite been able to get over the line in his biggest bouts, including the Oguni bout or a 2011 clash with Ryuichi Funai. He will however come in to this one with the mentality that a loss could be the end of his career, despite the fact he's only 28. He can't avoid another set back and is perhaps already looking like an old fighter. With both men knowing their days are numbered, Ishimoto due to age and Furuhashi due to recent performances, we suspect we'll see both put it on the line here in an absolute tear up for the ages. The bout will be action packed but unfortunately it'll be career shortening and we don't think either will be the same man afterwards. We do however think the champion will retain his title, and move on to face the winner of the Strongest Korakuen next year, showing the lingering effects of this bout, and other tough ones, in that one. Over the last few years we've seen a lot of Japanese hopefuls begin to make their name around the 122lb division. Some of them have already suffered shock losses, with Ryo Matsumoto, Sho Nakazawa and Shohei Omori all being upset recently. One man looking to avoid a similar fate is OPBF champion Shun Kubo (9-0, 7), who looks to make the first defense of his title this coming Monday as he faces Filipino challenger Benjie Suganob (10-4-1, 5). The 26 year old champion is widely viewed as the next potential star from Hyogo and has been groomed as the spiritual successor to Hozumi Hasegawa at the Shinsei Gym. Like many promising Japanese fighters he has been on an accelerated learning curve, fighting in 8 rounders as soon as his third bout, and last December he claimed the OPBF crown with a stoppage win over Lloyd Jardeliza. In the ring Kubo is a fast handed and highly skilled fighter with spiteful power. Whilst a very promising youngster he is also a flawed fighter with a very wide stance and some punches that could certainly be straightened out. Saying that however he is still a fighter coming through the ranks and he has been a professional for less than 3 years, progressing at a very respectable speed. When it comes to the challenger, dubbed “Wild Beast”, things haven't been straight forward. Suganob drew on debut, against Julian Abines, and subsequently suffered set backs against Randy Braga, twice, Cristian Abili and Patomsith Pathompothong. Whilst those losses are notable he is known in Japan for scoring a win over Seizo Kono last year, with that win, along with victories over Vergil Puton and Rey Juntilla, showing that he can score notable upsets. Whilst Suganob can be an upset minded fighter he has suffered in the past with bouts being marred by headclashes and although he has only been stopped once he has been dropped several times. Given that Suganob has been involved in headclashes, and that Kubo is a southpaw. We could see heads coming together here, however we're expecting to see Kubo's wide stance work to his advantage and we're expecting to see him make the most of his speed and power, to force a mid round stoppage of a game but limited challenger. One of the most interesting division right now, especially for Asian fight fans, is the 122lb Super Bantamweight division. At the world level fighters like Nonito Donaire rules the roost with the WBO, Shingo Wake looks set to get his long awaited shot at the IBF title whilst Albert Pagara and Ryo Matsumoto are both on the verge of getting world title fights before the year is over. Whilst the world scene is certainly interesting at 122lbs it's also a division that has really intriguing on the Asian regional and Japanese domestic scenes. Part of that intrigue comes down to the prospects in and around the weight, like Kazuki Tanaka, Hinata Maruta and Daisuke Watanabe. Another part however is the great match ups that can be made at the top of the domestic scene. The next bout at the top of the Japanese scene scenes Japanese champion Yasutaka Ishimoto (27-8, 7) defending his Japanese title, for the first time, against mandatory challenger Yosuke Fujihara (16-3, 4). For Ishimoto this is first defense of a title that took him 3 shots to win and it's a chance to strengthen his claim as the king of the Japanese domestic scene. For Fujihara the bout is a chance to continue his development as a fighter and record a third successive win of note. Of the two men it's Ishimoto who is the better known fight. He's been a professional since 2002 and has mixed with several notable names. That has included Masaaki Serie, twice, Yota Sato, Shingo Wake, Yu Kawaguchi, Wilfredo Vazquez Jr, Chris Avalos and Yukinori Oguni. Whilst no one will act like Ishimoto is a world beater he's got a number of very good wins on his record, including victories over Wake, Kawaguchi, Vazquez Jr, Gakuya Furuhashi and Yusaku Kuga. In the ring Ishimoto is a busy, well schooled fighter with a sharp jab, solid work on the inside and although he lacks power he is a real handful combining speed, heart and work rate. So far he only has one stoppage loss, to Avalos, and could well have had wins in a number of his losses. In fact in another world he'd have about 4 less losses. When it comes to Fujihara much less is known with footage being scarce, though he has faced some notable fighters of his own. Sadly for him he has suffered losses to many of those notable fighters, including Kentaro Masuda and Ryuta Otsuka. He has however scored wins over Teppei Kikui, Kenji Kubo and Yukunoi Hisanaga. Interestingly he is 3-3 in his last 6, but the 4 most notable wins have come in his last 7 bouts and he has also looked good since moving to 122lbs, in fact his only losses have come at Bantamweight as opposed to Super Bantamweight. Notably Fujihara went 8 rounds with Kentaro Masuda, back in 2011, before taking 2 years off. In his second bout back he was stopped inside a round by Yuta Nakagawa and was then stopped against by Ryuta Otsuka, before taking a year out and returning to score back-to-back wins. Although clearly not the busiest of fighters it's plausible that the breaks have helped him develop significantly as a fighter, both mentally and physically. Although Fujihara is in good form it does seem like he's stepping up, in a big way, for this bout and we suspect that whilst he'll be game against Ishimoto he won't be able to keep it up for the 10 rounds and will either be broken down for a late stoppage, or suffer a clear, but competitive, decision loss to the talented champion. Recently Japanese fans saw Hozumi Hasegawa look like an old man as he struggled past Carlos Andres Ruiz Machuca. The talented Hasegawa, a staple of the Japanese scene for the last decade, was the star of Kobe and one of the leading figures in Japanese boxing. Thankfully for local fans, and for Hasegawa's promoter Shinsei, it seems like they have another star in the making, Shun Kubo (8-0, 6). On December 26th, just a day after Christmas, Kobe fans get to see Kubo in his most notable bout to date, a contest against Filipino puncher Lloyd Jardeliza (7-2-3, 6) for the vacant OPBF Super Bantamweight title. Despite Christmas coming just a day earlier it's fair to say that the fighters will be focused on this bout, which really will allow the winner to burst out and take a huge step towards much more notable bouts. Kubo, as mentioned, is meant to be the next Kobe star and the next mane from the Shinsei Gym to be worth follow. He really came on to our radar in late 2013, when he beaten Monico Laurente in an 8 round decision and has since scored a very notable win over Mexico's Luis May. The 25 year old Kubo is a strange fighter to watch. He's a fast and hard hitting Southpaw with a lot of natural talent but a very wide stance, as he showed against May. Despite the stand he really does look like a diamond in the rough. There is great speed and power to Kubo when he attacks, and like Hasegawa he has often found a way to draw mistakes from opponents and then punish them with accurate punches. Unfortunately he does still look very much like a fighter he needs some more work, however there is a lot to like already. With just 8 bouts, and 35 rounds under his belt Kubo obvious lacks experience. He can seen reaching and making simple mistakes. So far he hasn't been punished too much for those mistakes but with experience those mistakes will be sorted. It's just a question of whether this bout has come a little bit too soon for Kubo who probably needs another 4 or 5 fights before really correcting some of those simple issues. Whilst we have seen a few of Kubo's fights, we have yet to see Jardeliza in action, however we have seen some training footage of the 20 year old, and he already looks very promising, with fast hands and nice movement, whilst his record suggests he's a serious puncher. The footage however did suggest another fighter who made novice like mistakes, especially with his footwork and defense. Jardeliza debuted back in June 2012 and has slowly climbed through the ranks, despite suffering losses to Jimmy Aducal, an 8th round TKO loss, and Nathaniel May, a 10 round decision losses. Those losses were, clearly, set backs but he has bounced back from both and certainly didn't embarrass himself in either of the losses, in fact he pushed May very close. The Filipino, who has shared the ring with Denver Cuello among others during training, is heavy handed. He has scored 6 KO's in his 7 wins. Sadly though those wins have come against relatively limited Filipino level opponents, none of whom have really shown the ability to go further themselves. Notable of course he also has 3 draws on his record, including two against Felipe Cagubcob Jr.. On paper it looks really interesting, two young fighters facing off in the hope of becoming an Oriental champion. Sadly however it does look like we have a semi-proven man, Kubo, up against a totally unproven, yet still promising, fighter. We always need to side with the proven man and as a result we suspect Kubo takes home the win here. |
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
October 2022
Categories
All
|