This past Saturday wasn't the biggest day in Asian boxing but it was an interesting one with a lot of fights and plenty of recognisable names in action
Davao Del Sur, Philippines The bulk of the Asian action on Saturday came from the Philippines where Sonshine Sports promoted a very deep and long card with numerous big names on it. Sadly a lot of those bigger names were matched very softly. The biggest mismatch, at least on paper, saw former WBC Minimumweight title challenger Denver Cuello (34-5-6, 22) have a field day with Thailand's horribly over-matched Jaipetch Chaiyonggym (3-2, 2). Cuello, fighting for the first time since his loss to Xiong Zhao Zhong last year, repeatedly tagged the Thai with lefts upstairs which left some nasty damage on Jaipetch's face and everntually forced him to retire. The bout was a mismatch but it was a clear tune up for Cuello who has been inactive and injured recently and needed a soft touch in all honesty. Cuello was one of 3 fighters expected to take part in title bouts next time out. Another was IBO Light Flyweigth champion Rey Loreto (19-13, 11) who did what was needed to stop Indonesian journeyman Heri Amol (34-20-4, 14). Amol, fighting for the 58th time, was stopped for just the 7th time as Loreto scored a tune up win ahead of his first title defence, scheduled for December. The third title level fighter was former IBO Super Flyweight champion Edrin Dapudong (30-6, 18) who scored a 5th round TKO against Wisanlek Sithsaithong (11-6, 6). We're now expecting Dapudong to rematch Lwandile Sityatha in an attempt to regain his IBO title, possibly before the year is out. A third big puncher in action in a 10 rounder was Lorenzo Villanueva (27-1-0-1, 24) who forced a doctors stoppage victory over Gadwin Tubigon (10-11-2, 5) with Tubigon's face looking a real mess from a suspected broken nose. The only other 10 rounder saw Rolando Magbanua (24-2, 16) quickly get rid of Joel Escol (8-16-3, 5) in just 113 seconds. Cuello wasn't the only former world title challenger on the show and former WBO Minimumweight title challenger Rommel Asenjo (26-3, 21) was also in action. Surprisingly however Asenjo really struggled as he took a majority decision over Powell Balaba (8-12-1, 5) in a very narrow 8 rounder. Another 8 rounder to go the distance saw Jelbirt Gomera (7-0, 4) out point Jhun Ryan Quimbo (4-6-1) whilst Jake Bornea (7-1, 3) out pointed Rogen Flores (13-25-5, 6). The only 8 rounder not to go the distance saw Robert Udtohan (22-1-2, 14) take out the over-matched Renz Llagas (6-7-1, 4) in the 3rd round. We also saw just a single stoppage in the 6 rounders as Ryan Lumacad (7-0-1, 4) returned from a notable break and took out Robert Awetin (5-18-2, 5) in 3 rounds. In the other 6 rounders we saw Roskie Cristobal (9-0, 7) get taken the distance, unexpectedly, by Rolly Llino (5-13-1, 2) whilst Jamie Quitariano (2-2, 1) took a decision over Bryan Samson (4-4, 2) In the 4 rounders we saw the debut of the much touted Jade Bornea (1-0, 1) who needed just 123 seconds to welcome himself to professional boxing with a quick and impressive victory over the previously unbeaten Mark Baribar (2-1-1). The other 4 rounder saw Michael Bravo (6-1, 1) take a decision over Saddam Barambangan (3-7-1, 2). Victoria, Australia Down under we saw two other Asian fighters in action and unfortunately both were defeated inside the distance. The more recognisable of the two was Filipino journeyman Aswin Cabuy (14-48-4, 7) who suffered his 21st stoppage loss after retiring at the the end of the second round of his bout with Mitchell Middleton Clark (3-0, 3). From what we under-stand Cabuy was dropped in round 2 and suffered an injury that forced him to retire at the end of the round. The other bout seems to have been more interesting as Iranian debutant Rezvan Khasmafkan (0-1) was stopped in 6 rounds by Steve Attard (5-0-2, 2). Prior to the stoppage we've been told that Khasmafkan landed a MMA style knee was deducted a point. Incidentally Attard has been scheduled to fight in Macau on November 22nd against the Macau Kid Kuok Kun Ng in what appears to be a very interesting contest. London, United Kingdom In the UK we saw Russian Heavyweight journeyman Denis Bakhtov (38-10, 25) being stopped in 2 rounds by Olympic champion Anthony Joshua (9-0, 9). Bakhtov was too small, too slow and too old to make Joshua really work for the win and stopped by the referee part way through the second round as Joshua wailed away with heavy looking shots.
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Not every day is a great day for Asian boxing and it's fair to say this past Friday wasn't a great one with more lows than highs, despite some interesting action all over the word
Kobe, Japan The most significant of the shows came at the Portopia Hotel in Kobe. The venue, making it's professional boxing debut, looked stunning though sadly couldn't help Japan's Teiru Kinoshita (19-1-1, 3) over-come South African puncher Zolani Tete (19-3, 16) in a bout for the IBF Super Flyweight title. Kinoshita did impress, in some ways, with his toughness but that was the about all the positives he could take out of the bout that he clearly lost. The fight, Kinoshita's first world title bout, could well be his last and we'd not be shocked if he fell back to Japanese domestic level following this loss. In the chief support bout to Kinoshita's contest fans got to see a rematch between Shinichiro Morikawa (16-4-1, 11) and Ryota Kihara (6-9-4, 5). The two men fought last year with Morikawa taking a close decision over 8 rounds. This time around the judges weren't needed as Morikawa saw off Kihara in just 4 rounds as he dominated his limited foe. A third bout of note on this same card saw Jonathan Baat (26-5-3, 12) dominate Yubon Kanayama (10-5, 3) to inflict Kanayama's 5th loss in 8 bouts. For Baat this was a bounce back victory follow a loss last time out to Qiu Xiao Jun, in what was a third bout between the two men. Lower down the card Naoki Yamamoto (5-7-2, 3) managed to out point Ryoki Hirai (3-2-1, 1) over 4 rounds in a very competitive contest. Another 4 rounder saw Hayato Shimosakoda (1-1) take a decision over Yosuke Goto (1-5) whilst the hard hitting Takuya Hashimoto (4-4, 4) upset Masashi Wakita (4-2, 2) with a 2nd round KO. Tokyo, Japan A second card in Japan took place at the Korakuen Hall. Although the supposed main bout, a Japanese Super Bantamweight bout between Hidenori Otake and Daisuke Furuhashi, was cancelled the card it's self went on with some interesting contests. After the main event was cancelled the previous chief support became the new main event and that saw Ryuto Oho (6-1-1, 2) fighting to a very competitive majority draw with Shuji Hamada (12-6-4, 2). Sadly for the 19 year old Oho this was a second successive set back following his sole loss to Jo Tanooka and we dare say that he's not matured into a Super Flyweight,yet. Oho did impress us last year when he was fighting at Flyweight, where he won the Rookie of the Year, and maybe he needs to try and return to 112lbs. In the chief support bout on this card fans got to see the return to the ring of Spice Matsushita (12-8, 2) who returned to the ring after more than a year out of action. Matsuhsita not only returned to the ring but did so with a hard fought decision over Toshimitsu Goto (12-11-1, 5) A third bout on this card saw Takuma Okada (5-9, 2) take a 6 round against the light hitting Tsuyoshi Nishimura (4-7-1, 1). The win for Okada saw him ending a 2 fight losing streak though it did extend Nishimura's losing run to 2 fights. We know at the moment that we have more results to come from Japan though for now these are the only ones we have. Pathum Thani, Thailand On a televised card in Thailand fans got to see the world ranked Nawaphon Por Chokchai (22-0, 16) successfully defend his WBC Asian Boxing Council Flyweight title for the 9th time! Nawaphon defeated Thailand's usually durable Jay-ar Estremos (10-8, 4) inside the distance the retain his title and inflict just the second stoppage loss on to Estremos. Interestingly Estremos had, earlier this year, pushed Kwanpichit OnesongchaiGym all the way in a bout many felt Kwanpichit had been gifted a win in and with that in mind you need to realise just how good this win was. There were other bouts on this card but at the moment we aren't sure on the specific results. What we do know however is that Suriyan Sor Rungvisai (37-5-1, 16) won a decision and Kongfah Nakornluang (14-0, 8) took a stoppage. Hopefully we'll be able to fill in the full results in the coming day or two. New South Wales, Australia In Australia we had more disappointment as former Japanese and OPBF Bantamweight title challenger Jerope Mercado (26-7-3, 9) suffered a very debatable split decision loss to Valentine Borg (7-1, 4). Jerope, best known for his fights with Rolly Lunas, Ryosuke Iwasa and Kohei Oba, was judged to have been shut out on two of the cards though it's doubtful that anyone else could possibly have had the bout a shut out. Notably for Borg this was his first bout since his stunning stoppage loss to Joebert Delos Reyes and it appears that loss has damaged the confidence of Borg who was previously unbeaten and tipped to move on to bigger and better things. East Cape, South Africa It was also a disappointing day in South Africa as Filipino Edrin Dapudong (29-6, 17) lost the IBO Super Flyweight title in a controversial split decision to South Africa's very own Lwandile Sityatha (17-3-1, 7). The bout was the first defence of the title by Dapudong, who took the belt with an opening round KO against Gideon Buthelezi, though unfortunately this is his second controversial loss in South Africa following a split decision to Buthelezi back in 2012. With 2 split decision losses in 3 bouts it's fair to question whether or not "The Sting" will ever return to fight in South Africa. New York, USA The disappointment for Asian fighters continued in New York where "Mongolian Mongoose" Bayarn Jargal (17-5-3-1, 11) saw his bout with Cletus Seldin (13-0-0-1, 10) end in a No Contest. Jargal was injured around the eye from a clash of heads and was unable to continue forcing the bout to a No Contest. Prior to the ending Jargal was making Seldin look limited, though we're not sure if he was managing to over-come the naturally bigger American fighter. California, USA It wasn't all bad for Asian's however and in California we had the chance to see the impressive debut of Chinese Heavyweight giant Taishan Dong (1-0, 1). The 6'11" giant managed to drop Alex Rozman (2-7, 1) several times before he told the referee that he couldn't go on. Dong didn't have things all his own way though he he'll have learned more by fighting Rozman, who came to win, than fighting someone who was happy to fold the first time they were hit. For those who missed this fight it's now on our video section. Also on this card was a victory for popular Filipino Mercito Gesta (28-1-1, 16) who looked genuinely sensational as he beat up and broke down the experienced Luis Arceo (28-13-4, 18) who was stopped by the doctor late in the fight. Arceo came to fight but Gesta was too good, too fast, too talented and too powerful, in fact this was possibly the most complete performance we've ever seen from Gesta who looks to be finally be reaching his potential. No one doubted how good Gesta could be but they had questioned whether he would ever fulfil his promise, this performance suggests he can. |
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