One of the busiest days so far this for us came this Saturday with great action across Asia. Macao, China The major action of the day came from Macau where we really got a bit of everything. There was nothing lacking in a show that will have gone over-looked by many fans who really did miss out in some ways. The headline bout was supposed to be the fairy tale for Chinese boxing as their Olympic hero was supposed to become a professional boxing icon. In the end however is was a disaster as Zou Shiming (6-1, 1) failed to do much of anything against the relaxed, accurate and frustrating Amnat Ruenroeng (15-0, 5). Ruenroeng, defending his IBF Flyweight title for the 3rd time, hardly got out of first gear as he made Shiming look like a novice. The jab of Ruenroeng was effectively the key punch of the fight however it was the footwork of Ruenroeng that made Shiming look terrible, embarrassing in fact. This is the end of the Shiming hype, though we hope it's not the end of the Macau shows which have delivered action on a regular basis. Talking about action the show had a brilliant 4 rounds as the upset minded Paul Valenzuela (3-2-1, 2) managed to take a split decision over China's previously unbeaten Zhou Yun Fei (4-1, 1). The bout lacked skill but also lacked defense, with the commentary team joking about it being banned, which made for a really exciting 4 round war. The deciding fact was an opening round knockdown by the visiting Mexican. Another action packed bout saw Macau's very own Kuok Kun Ng (7-0, 3) score a 3rd round KO against Chingchai Kiatpracha (7-3, 3). Ng hit the canvas in the opening round but came back well to drop Chingchai twice in the 3rd round, with the Thai staying down after the second knockdown. This was short but sweet and highly entertaining. Another entertaining affair saw the Heavy handed Ik Yang (19-0-0-1, 14) put on a memorable bout against Thailand's Patomsuk Pathompothong (29-3-1, 18). The bout, an IBF Light Welterweight eliminator and Pan Pacific title bout, saw Yang start well before slowing down and taking a few rights hands from the Thai which cut him. Despite being cut Yang put on a show with show boating and a destructive finish that left the Thai needing to be saved by the referee. In terms of action however one fight stood out. That was the insanely fun Super Flyweight bout between Hong Kong's Rex Tso (16-0, 9) and gutsy Filipino Michael Enriquez (10-3-1, 6). Tso, who recently signed a professional deal with Top Rank, fought with pressure on his shoulders, a smile on his face and action through his veins as the two traded shots, round after round. The bout was an action war sadly decided by a knock down early on by Tso who again showed his excitement fact and flaws. The win saw the “Wonder Kid” claim the WBA International Super Flyweight title and although the aim is to get him a world title fight later in the year, he simply isn't yet ready for a bout at that level. One man who really did impress was Filipino puncher Aston Palicte (17-1, 15) who forced a mercy stoppage of gutsy Mexican Ismael Garnica (13-6-1, 5). Garnica looked out-sized and out powered but gave his best for 6 rounds before being stopped in the 7th by a man we want to see a lot more of. This was the 7th successive stoppage win for Palicte who holds a very notable blow out win against Gerpaul Valero. We'd suggest watching out for this kid as he is exciting. Sadly not all the bouts were exciting. One of the worse was the 106 blow out win by Jose Felix Jr (29-1-1, 24) who easily saw off the over-matched Raymond Sermona (17-5-5, 8) in a massive mismatch. Sermona landed little of note before being dropped and taking the full count. Another mismatch saw popular American Glen Tapia (23-1, 15) score a 3rd round TKO over Australian Daniel Dawson (40-5-1, 26), who has now suffered back-to-back losses. Tokyo, Japan Whilst the biggest action was in China there was notable action across Asia with title action in Japan where two national champions retained their belts, albeit in very different manners, and fans also got a bit of everything on the undercard. The most impressive performance on the card came in the main event as the heavy handed Hiroki Okada (10-0, 8) retained his Japanese Light Welterweight title with a 3rd round TKO victory against Hayato Hokazono (18-5-1, 11). Okada looked on fire from the opening bell and was ultra-aggressive with sharp, fast and accurate shots that quickly took their toll on the challenger who was bloodied earlier on. The blood however wasn't the end for Hokazono who was dropped hard in the 3rd and failed to recover to his feet in an orderly manner. The other title defense was less certain as Suyon Takayama (22-1, 7) narrowly over-came a spirited effort from Nobuyuki Shindo (16-3, 6) and retained the Japanese Welterweight title. Takayama was dropped hard in the opening round, cut early on and behind at the half way mark before fighting back hard to take a clear but close decision over Shindo. Unfortunately for Shindo this was his second loss to Takayama however he did give a credible performance in a bout that broke down into be a stinker after his good start. In a bloody contest Hisao Narita (9-1, 4) took a split decision over Yusuke Konno (8-2, 3) in a very competitive match up. In a minor shock Takumi Takahashi (7-4-1, 2) scored a 2nd round TKO over Yukinori Hisanaga (16-6-2, 9) as Takahashi resurrected his faltering career. The 33 year old victor had suggested he was going to return if he lost but this performance seems to show there is life left in his career. Sadly for Hisanaga, who came up short in a Japanese title bout in 2013, this was a painful loss and his first stoppage loss. Popular puncher Shuhei Tsuchiya (17-3, 15) bounced back from his loss to Ricky Sismundo last year in style as he destroyed Thailand's Singphayak Kokietgym (6-6-1, 5). Singphayak, fighting under the name “John Ford” has now been stopped in 3 straight. One other bout from this card saw Hideaki Yamaji (5-7, 2) score an upset win over Masayuki Ichikawa (5-2, 2) in a hard fought 6 round decision. Ichikawa had lost in the East Japan Rookie of the Year final last year and was expected to bounce back here. Unfortunately for him Yamaji was hungry for a win which was very well deserved. Bukidnon, Philippines In the Philippines ALA put on a small show of prospects. The most notable prospect in action was Jess Rhey Waminal (6-0, 4) who scored a 2nd round TKO against professional loser Rowel Garcia (6-17-3, 1). This was Garcia's 13 stoppage loss and his 4th in a row. We wonder what Garcia is really teaching a kid like Waminal who padded his record a little bit with a relatively pointless win against a man known as “Merciless”, we must admit we're unsure if that name was intentionally sarcastic. Another equally poor match up saw Gerard Suico (4-0, 3) blow away Sonny Boy Dasan (0-2) inside a round. This was Suico's 4th bout in as many months but the opposition so far has been pathetic for the promising 21 year old. Melvin Jerusalem (5-0, 4) was another man who scored an opening round stoppage as he stopped Rodante Suacasa (1-10-2, 1), who has now been stopped 5 times. Another opening round stoppage was scored by Michael Estrella (3-0, 1) who stopped Jessie Suacasa (3-5, 2). Another early win was scored by the hands of Mardie Muana (1-0, 1) who took 2 rounds to see off the win-less Sonny Basanez (0-4). In bouts that did go the distance fans saw Elmo Traya (8-1, 6) defeat Rodel Wenceslao (8-11-1, 2), who was fighting for the first time since he was stopped by Keita Obara, and Junder Gregorio (3-0) extend his winning run with a decision over Ronald Garcia (2-7). (http://www.boxeomundial.com)
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A champion really should defend their belts as often as they can. What is the point in being viewed as the best in your particular area or field if you don't prove it, right? Well this past Monday saw 4 champions all defending their belts in successful fashion on a relatively busy start to the week. Tokyo, Japan Of the 4 titles up for grabs 2 of them were fought for in Japan and although both were national titles they were probably the most significant, and competitive, bouts of the day. The first of the title fights saw the unbeaten power-puncher Hiroki Okada (9-0, 7) successfully defending his Japanese Light Welterweight title for he first time with a very hard fought decision victory over Shamgar Koichi (18-6-1, 11). Koichi, challenging for a belt for the first time in his career, brought the pressure and Okada was forced to answer back in what was a genuinely enthralling contest between two well matched fighters in terms of both skills and styles. For Okada, who was cut late, this was his toughest bout and his best win though for Koichi it was another set back following previous losses to the likes of Shinya Iwabuchi. Following the Light Welterweight clash we then moved up for a Japanese Welterweight clash between reigning champion Suyon Takayama (21-1, 7) and Koshinmaru Saito (20-6-1, 11). The two men were meeting for the second time and many may be calling for an immediate rematch given how competitive this was. Takayama had, in the first meeting, claimed the vacant Japanese title in a competitive but comfortable win but this time around things were anything but comfortable for Takayama who narrowly kept his title with a majority decision. Sadly Takayama's struggles to retain his belt here like take any lustre off a meeting between him and Yoshihiro Kamegai in what actually looked a tasty bout going in to this contest. As well as the title bouts Japanese fans also got treat to 5 under-card bouts, two of which featured recognisable names. One of those "names" was the heavy handed and very fun to watch Shuhei Tsuchiya (16-3, 14) who made light work of Thai visitor Fonluang Sor Singyu (6-5, 4). Tsuchiya, fighting for the first time since his entertaining loss to Leonardo Zappavigna in Australia, needed just 103 seconds to get rid of Fonluang. The other was former OPBF Super Bantamweight champion Yukinori Oguni (13-1, 4) who scored his second successive stoppage as he over-came Thai debutant Ryan Sor Tanacho (0-1) in 4 rounds. In more competitive action Keita Nakano (11-9-3, 2) scored an 8 round split decision over Masahito Igawa (12-8-1, 4) and Tonko Nakagawa (12-6-1, 4) took a 6 round majority decision over the more experienced Junnosuke Nagayasu (12-11-1, 3). The one remaining bout on this card saw Junki Kobayashi (1-0, 1) claiming a 3rd round TKO victory over Eiji Miyamoto (0-1) in an all debutant contest. Bangkok, Thailand In Thailand it was the PABA interim Super Flyweight title that was being fought for. The belt, just like the Japanese titles, stayed where it was at the start of the day as Nop Kratingdaenggym (9-0, 1) retained with a 6th round technical decision against the highly experienced Hendrik Barongsay (26-18-3, 15). Nop looked sharp from the off before a headclash caused a sadly early ending to the bout. Laguna, Philippines In the Philippines fans got the chance to see a Filipino national title being fought for as Benezer Alolod (15-5-5, 5) retained his GAB Light Flyweight with a 5th round stoppage over Jomar Fajardo (14-5-1, 7). Alolod is now 3-0-1 (3) following his stoppage loss to Nkosinathi Joyi and has now lost just once in his last 16 bouts, a great run for a man who started his career with 3 losses in his first 5 bouts. We only saw 2 other early finishes on this card. One of those was an opening round blow out for Jonel Alibio (17-18-5, 9) who swiftly took card of the usually tough Desson Cag-ong (14-15, 8). The loss for Cag-ong was his quickest in 29 fights and saw him suffer his first stoppage loss to a fellow Filipino having previous been stopped by a trio of Japanese fighters including Takashi Miura. The other stoppage on this show saw Lester Abutan (6-2-2, 3) defeating Dexter Dimaculangan (3-5-5, 1) in the 4th round of their scheduled 8 rounder. One of the best wins on the card was for the unbeaten Justo Bornilla (5-0-2) who over-came the experienced Ronald Postrano (7-20-2, 3) in a very 1-sided bout. Postrano was down in round 3 and later suffered a cut from a clash of heads leaving him bloody and beaten. Aged 18 we'd suggest keeping an eye on the young Bornilla even if he does seem to lack power so far in his career. In the only uncompetitive 6 rounder Jesame Dela Cerna (5-2-3, 1) took a clear win over Jay-Ar Diama (1-4-4). Thankfully the other two 6 rounders were much more competitive and saw Menard Abila (5-1-4, 1) taking a split decision over Fidel Cuyno (2-4-2) and Marlon Arcilla (5-2, 1) taking a majority decision over the previously unbeaten Crisanto Contemprato (2-1-1, 1). The only 4 rounder on the show saw the debuting Benjie Baron (1-0) get off to the perfect start with a win over Alberto Pentecostes (0-3). The win, by decision, saw Baron dropping Pentecostes early before effectively shutting down the win-less fighter. (Image courtesy of Boxingnews.jp) It's rare for a Tuesday to be a big day in boxing but this past Tuesday was a major day in Asia with a trio of title fights and two major shows. Bangkok, Thailand The first of the shows was in Thailand and televised, at least partly, on Thai Channel 7. Not only was the Thai card the first show to get under-way but in terms of significance it also had the "biggest" bout of the day as WBA "interim" Flyweight champion Yodmongkol Vor Saengthep (34-2, 20) defended his title for the first time. Yodmongkol had genuinely impressed when he won the title ripping it from the hands of Japan's exciting but limited Koki Eto. Unfortunately though this time he disappointed us. Fighting against Takuya Kogawa (22-4, 13) we knew this was set to be a good fight and proved every bit as good as anticipated though it was Kogawa making much of the action and bringing the fight with amazing combinations and bundles of energy. Unfortunately for him however the judges weren't impressed and it was Yodmongkol, pictured, who controversially retained his title. Whilst Kogawa had impressed there was some suggestion after the fight that he's considering retirement. We're really hoping that he doesn't as he proved himself here and he belongs in other top fights amongst some of the best at 112. Another man who impressed on the show was Thai novice Palangpol CP Freshmart (2-0, 2) who scored a hugely impressive stoppage over Indonesia's experienced Jack Amisa (20-30-2, 14). Whilst Amisa is beatable and has regularly lost through his career he rarely gets stopped and very rarely gets beaten by such a novice. Excellent win by Palangpol. The only other bout on the show that we have the result for saw former world title challenger Panomroonglek Kaiyanghadaogym (39-2, 22) stopping Rick Paciones (6-17-2, 3) in 3 rounds. Tokyo, Japan Over in Japan we had two national fights on an excellent domestic show. The first of those title fights saw the excellent and unbeaten Hiroki Okada (8-0, 7) managing to over-come his toughest so far. Okada, fighting against Masayoshi Kotake (9-8-1, 5), was taken the distance for the first time though did more than enough to secure the Japanese Light Welterweight title. The second title fight saw a slight upset as Tadashi Yuba (45-9-2, 32) lost his Japanese Light Middleweight title to Takayuki Hosokawa (25-10-3, 8) via a majority decision. Yuba, aged 37, now seems likely to retire and hang up his gloves after a memorable and historic career. As well as the title fights there were a further 5 bouts on the card. These included a 6th round KO victory for Masahiro Ishida (14-5-2, 8) who saw off the over-matched Ryuta Wakamatsu (9-9, 6). Ishida's victory was one of two stoppages on the card alongside one scored by Hideto Miyoshi (7-2-1, 5) who stopped Hitoshi Ando (4-6-1, 3). The biggest name on the under-card was Dai Iwai (14-3-1, 5) who managed to win a competitive 8 round decision over Shogo Ishikawa (10-6, 3). Another victory on the under-card was scored by Yoshiyuki Takabayashi (7-3, 3) who managed to score a 5 round victory over Ryuto Araya (5-2-1). The only other bout on the show show saw Mitsumasa Takahashi (8-4-1, 2) fighting to a draw with Takeshi Goda (7-2-1, 2). (Picture courtesy of WBAnews.com) |
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