Tokyo, Japan There was more action in Japan this past Thursday as fans at the brilliant Korakuen Hall had the chance to see yet another great show. Fans in Hyogo have certainly had a week to remember. On Wednesday they saw two of their local stars, Kota Tokunaga and Shohei Omori, retain their Japanese national titles, with both men stopping local foes. That success seems to have bred more success and just a day later we saw another Kyoto fighter became a Japanese champion. Here it was the turn of the highly experienced Kenichi Horikawa (30-13-1, 7) who claimed a Japanese title in his 4th attempt and scored a career defining victory over former world title challenger Shin Ono (18-7-2, 2). Horikawa set off trying to force the pace and tempo and in round 6 had Ono ready to go before the bell saved the Watanabe man. Ono however couldn't survive the 7th round as Horikawa completed what a fairytale rise to climb to the top of Japanese scene after several razor thin losses. Sadly for the new Japanese Light Flyweight champion it does seem likely that he will have Ken Shiro sniffing around his new title in early 2016. Whilst the main event saw a new champion being crowned the chief support bout saw a former begin his climb back up the mountain. Here it was the turn of Kentaro Masuda (22-7, 11), who was fighting for the first time since losing the Japanese Bantamweight title to the aforementioned Omori. Masuda, who had been in damaging back-to-back fights managed to be given a good 8 round work out here by the under-rated Wataru Miyasaka (9-4-1, 2), who's record really doesn't show what a good test he is. For Masuda this win will have shook off some rust, before a November showdown with Hideo Sakamoto whilst Miyasaka should have kept himself in the proverbial “shop window” to have another notable fight next time out. Another supporting bout saw the once touted Kazuma Sanpei (12-2, 4) take a razor thin win over Ribo Takahata (11-5-1, 3). Sanpei, who had won his first 11 bouts, came into this one following back-to-back stoppages and the 20 year old may well have waved good bye to the sport with a third successive loss, and he was lucky to avoid that fate. Takahata, a 36 year old veteran, will likely feel aggrieved by the judging but the competitiveness may lead to a rematch in 2016. It's a shame to Sanpei looking a shadow of the fighter that some thought he'd have become by now. Yet another intriguing support bout saw the talented, but light hitting, Jo Tanoka (12-2-3) take a clear win over the limited but gutsy Mako Matsuyama (7-10-2, 3). Tanoka, a genuinely promising young talent, ran a clear winner on the cards but it's likely he'll fall short when he steps up given his lack of power. As for Matsuyama he'll be involved in some exciting fights down the line but is unlikely to be more than a fun-to-watch loser. In another 8 round Sho Kimura (8-1-2, 2) took a 6th round TKO win over Ryo Narizuka (7-6), with Narizuka retiring at the end of the 6th round. On the under-card there were two more bouts. In a 6 rounder Masaya Kohama (6-2-1, 3) took a razor thin decision win against Shogo Yonenaga (6-3, 3) whilst in a 4 rounder Kazunori Yorimasa (2-1, 2) scored a 2nd round win over the debuting Kosuke Hasegawa (0-1). (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)
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Tokyo, Japan It was in Japan that we had the most significant show of the day. The main event featured a potential world title challenger whilst other bouts on the show featured a number of interesting Japanese contenders and prospects. We'll start with the main event which saw the highly ranked Shingo Wake (18-6-2, 11) score the 5th defence of his OPBF Super Bantamweight title courtesy of an opening round knockout-out against Filipino Challenger Jimmy Paypa (16-3-1, 6). Paypa, who had never been stopped, had managed to land some of his own right hands but they had little effect on Wake who landed a perfect counter uppercut very late in the round that sent Paypa down. The Filipino managed to make it to his feet but wasn't able to continue. Following the win Wake said he wanted a world title fight and was happy to travel. Recent hints however suggest that he may be able to get a world title fight at home with Cuban Guillermo Rigondeaux likely to travel to Japan again, following his successful world title defence against Hisashi Amagasa at the end of last year. In the chief support bout fans saw former OPBF, Japanese and NABF title challenger Toyoto Shiraishi (25-8-2, 12) score a 2nd round KO over the over-matched Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi (8-8-1, 4). This win keeps alive Shiraishi's hopes of one day becoming a title holder, though Yamaguchi really was a limited opponent. In another support bout Kota Sato (10-6-2, 5) managed to score a late stoppage of Toshikuni Wake (8-15-3, 2), with just 96 seconds of the bout left. Sato's record is under-whelming though he is much better than the numbers suggest and the fact he had gone 3 fights without a win prior to this bout really is misleading. For Wake this was a second successive stoppage loss, following a 4th round defeat to Ryichi Funai last October. A really interesting support bout, in fact one of two outstanding bouts on the under-card, saw Jo Tanooka (9-2-3) score a clear decision over the previously unbeaten Kenya Yamashita (7-1, 4). Tanooka was the East Japan Rookie of the Year in 2013 and although he has lost 2 of his last 5 he is a genuinely promising fighter. As for the 18 year old Yamashita, himself the 2014 All Japan Rookie of the Year, this was a case of stepping up a little too much too soon. Despite the loss we wouldn't rule out Yamashita from being a champion somewhere down the line. The other really interesting bout saw the really exciting Masaru Sueyoshi (9-1, 6) score a 7th round TKO over 2013 Rookie of the Year winner Kazuma Sanpei (11-2, 4). Sanpei started his career 11-0 though has now suffered back to back stoppage losses and the 20 year old has been “exposed” as lacking a chin to match his talent. As for Sueyoshi this was his 6th straight win following a razor thin loss to Masayuki Ito back in July 2012. Don't sleep on Sueyoshi. The least notable bout on the card saw unbeaten female fighter Jun Yabuki (2-0, 1) score a clear decision win over Chie Higano (3-2). Sadly for Higano this was a second successive loss. California, USA Whilst the significant action came form Japan there was another bout of note which took place in the USA as Chinese Heavyweight giant Taishan Dong (3-0, 2) was surprisingly given his first test. Dong, a 7” giant who seems to get a lot of attention merely due to his size, was expected to blow away 42 year old Roy McCrary (3-3, 3) but was instead taken the 4 round distance en route to taking his first decision victory. The win was a clear one for Dong but it will almost certainly have provided him with a bigger learning experience than either of his previous bouts, both of which were relatively farcical. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp) Amagasa retains OPBF belt, Johnson upsets Takano whilst Sanpei and Maekawa remain unbeaten6/24/2014 Tokyo, Japan For the second successive day Japan fans had notable action at the Korakuen Hall. Whilst yesterday's show was mostly about the Japanese Featherweight title today was about the OPBF Featherweight title, as defending champion Hisashi Amagasa (27-4-2, 18) took on Thailand's Maxsaisai Sithsaithong (14-5, 3). Unsurprisingly the defending champion made relatively light work of his smaller, less skilled, less powerful opponent who was stopped in round 8 when Amagasa began hammering home with power shots and forced the referee to save the Thai. Whilst Amagasa was certainly the main event fighter he wasn't the fighter who got the most attention going in to the show, that honour was instead bestowed on Tomomi Takano (5-1, 4) who stole the show at the weigh in, as seen in the video below. Unfortunately for the stunningly attractive Takano her looks and pre-fight antics weren't enough to defeat the more determined and more experience Kai Johnson (5-5-3, 2) who wore down Takano and stopped her in the 5th round to inflict the first loss on to Takano. Takano was was one of a trio of notable unbeaten fighters going in to the show, she wasn't the only one to lose but not the only one given a tough time. Another given a very hard fight was Ryuto Maekawa (9-0, 5) who narrowly over-came Takushige Sato (5-5-1, 2) by winning a 6 round majority decision. Aged 18 we understand that Maekawa is a youngster though he's also an experienced one having made his debut more than 3 years ago in Thailand. Whilst he's now 5-0 in Japan he has struggled against Japanese opponents and he's certainly not as good as his record suggests he is. The other unbeaten fighter was Kazuma Sanpei (11-0, 4) who maintained his unbeaten record in an 8 round unanimous decision that saw him only just out pointing Jun Hamana (9-2, 3). The loss for Hamana ended a 5 fight winning streak though his performance did suggest that both he and Sanpei will be worth following over the next few years. The Sanpei/Hamana fight was one of two contests that were scheduled for 8 rounds, in fact it was one of two hotly contest 8 round affairs with the other resulting in a draw between the experienced Mikihito Seto (34-11-3, 18) and Takenori Ohashi (11-3-1, 7). The bout was really close and fairly scored a draw which will be a disappointment to both, but was a fair result. In the show's opening bout fans saw another well contested contest as the debuting Masamine Oyama (1-0) narrowly over-came fellow debutant Kohei Hasegawa (0-1) in a 4 round contest. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp, video courtesy of Kyoei Boxing) Tokyo, Japan The first set of titles for the new week took place in Japan on Monday with with a brilliant card from the legendary Kyoei Promotions. On paper the card was one of the highlight shows of a very busy week in Asian boxing, though it did prove to be a little bit more one sided than expected with only 1 of the 5 bouts really ended up being competitive. The card began by showcasing young prospects. The first of these was teenager Ryuto Maekawa (8-0, 5) who recorded his first stoppage on Japanese soil as he swiftly defeated Thai debutant Namchai Sor Tanachor (0-1) in 2 rounds. Maekawa, who actually started his career in Thailand, began his career with 4 stoppages in his first 4 bouts though has been taken the distance since setting up camp in Japan. This bout was a step backwards for him though proved that he has still got a finishers instinct. The second promising youngster on the show was All Japanese Rookie of the year Kazuma Sanpei (10-0, 4) who stopped the usually durable Thai Anuntachai Sor Por Lor Krungthep (6-7, 4) in the third round of a scheduled 8. Prior to this fight the Thai had only been stopped once in 12 fights, by the very very experienced Yuta Nagai in 6 rounds, suggesting that Sanpei hits harder than his record indicates. Although few came to see the two young prospects on the show the first major attraction was model boxer Tomomi Takano (5-0, 4) who, like the other unbeaten fighters on the card, made light work of her over-matched Thai foe. Fighting against Kulabkhao Por Preecha (0-2) we saw an improved Tomomi who finished the fight with a beautiful body shot that crippled the Thai for the full 10 count. Whilst Tomomi isn't nearly world class yet she is developing excellently and is showing vast improvement after every fight. With that in mind we'd not be shocked to see her competing for an OPBF title by the end of the year. Follow the unbeaten fighters the show then turned to the title action which kicked off with a Japanese Super Bantamweight title fight between the world ranked, and current Japanese champion, Hidenori Otake (22-1-3, 9) and determined challenger Takafumi Nakajima (22-7-1, 9). Nakajima, who had previously lost a split decision to Otake, brought the fight to the champion early on and really forced Otake to answer back in an excellent encounter. Unfortunately for the challenger is was the champions stamina late on that helped him retain his title via a very narrow decision. Otake had been forced to defend his title against a man almost his equal, the second title fight however saw the significantly taller and rangier Hisashi Amagasa (26-4-2, 16) easily defending his OPBF Featherweight belt against Filipino challenger Vinvin Rufino (34-16-3, 16). Rufino came to fight though all too often he was eating hard counters from the champion who managed to score an early knock down before gradually forcing a stoppage in round 8. This loss for Rufino, his second in an OPBF title fight, likely ends his dream of being an Asian champion. For Amagasa, who was making the first defense of his belt, this was impressive and his thoughts surely have to turn to world title fights sooner rather than later. (Photo, of Amagasa standing over a knocked down Rufino, courtesy of boxingnews.jp) |
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