Tokyo, Japan The only Asian show this past Monday came from the Korakuen Hall where reason put on the latest in the “Dangan” series of shows. On paper the card was one of the most mouth watering so far and it had everything, prospects, veterans and fighters tipped to go a long way. It also had action and shocks. The show opened with a 4 round bout that saw Masaharu Kaito (2-0) take a narrow decision against the previously unbeaten Ryota Toyoshima (2-1-1, 2). The bout was a close and very competitive bout which acted as the perfect opening for the fans who got to the venue early. Those same fans also got a treat in the second bout as the much touted Daigo Higa (6-0, 6) continued his perfect run. Higa took on his stiffest test to date in the form of Filipino Cris Alfante (11-5, 4), who was stopped in the 4th round of the scheduled 6 rounder. For Higa this was his longest bout to date and it seems very clear that he has the power, style and ability to go to title level in the coming years. Another man who will be looking to compete in title bouts in the coming years is Yusaku Kuga (11-1-1, 6) who recorded a 2nd round TKO against Kojiro Takada (13-9-3, 9). For Kuga this bout may serve as his final bout before a potential fight for the Japanese Super Bantamweight title and although it was a mismatch on paper it was good to see Kuga getting back in the ring after having been out of action since November. The big shock on the card was a wide loss for the touted Koki Koshikawa (4-1, 2) who was effectively shut out by veteran Koshinmaru Saito (21-7-1, 11). This was supposed to be Koshikawa's coming out party and a bout that saw im claiming a Japanese ranking but instead the previously unbeaten man struggled to ever get in to the bout. For Saito his movement was key but Koshikawa was very disappointing. At the top of the show was a co-main event. The first of those main bouts saw OPBF Flyweight champion Koki Eto (17-3-1, 13) record the second defense of his title as he took an 8th round TKO against Yuki Fukumoto (17-10, 5). Eto did struggle early in the bout, losing 2 of the first 4 rounds, but found his rhythm in the middle portion of the fight before stopping Fukumoto. After the bout the champion hinted strongly at dropping the title to fight for a world title, and from what we understand his likely route is going t be the IBF title. The other main event saw Japanese Super Featherweight champion Rikki Naito (13-0, 5) take a hard fought win over former world ranked fighter Nihito Arakawa (25-6-1, 16). The bout saw Naito need to battle hard after a poor start though ended up becoming a really excellent bout between two very good fighters. For Naito this win will likely help move him towards a world title fight, though we're now unsure if his future lies at Super Featherweight or at Lightweight. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)
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Koki Eto retains OPBF title, Taiki Eto scores decision win, Robert Yamamoto claims debut win11/27/2014 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan On Wednesday in Tokyo fans were treat to the latest Shirai Gushiken Sports show which was streamed live on the Gushiken Ustream channel. The main event of the card was an OPBF Flyweight title bout that saw the usually exciting Koki Eto (16-3-1, 12) scoring a 10th round knockout against Filipino challenger Cris Paulino (14-2, 4). Paulino had given himself a fantastic account of himself, despite the score-cards, though his lack of championship level experience did cost him as he began to run out of steam late in the bout. In the chief support contest Yuki Fukumoto (17-9, 5) scored a 5th round technical decision over the tough Hyobu Nakagama (17-12-4, 12). Nakagama had entered this bout as a Japanese ranked fighter so we suspect that Fukumoto will enter the rankings shortly. Another of the main support bouts saw former Japanese title contender Taiki Eto (14-3, 10) take a clear win over the tough but limited Zoren Pama (6-12-3, 3). This was the second time this year that Pama impressed us having also taken the best shots from Srisaket Sor Rungvisai before losing a technical decision to the heavy handed Thai. The remaining 6 bouts on the card were all 4 rounders though it was just one of those bouts that really caught the attention. That was the debut of entertainer Robert Yamamoto (1-0, 1) who scored a 4th round stoppage of fellow debutant Riku Takahashi (0-1). Yamamoto is best known for comedy work in Japan though genuinely looked like a promising fighter here, just a shame he's at an advanced age. From what we understand Yamamoto is considering competing in the 2015 Rookie of the Year and we wish him the best as he's shown genuine commitment to try and make a name for himself in the ring and it's good to think that this won't be a 1-off. Other stoppages on this under-card saw Daigo Higa (3-0, 3) score an opening round stoppage against Keisuke Fujii (3-6, 2) whilst Hokuto Kawana (4-0, 3) scored a second round KO against J Soul Maeda (2-2-2, 1). In bouts that went the distance Shun Wakabayashi (2-1) took a very close unanimous decision over the well matched Takeshi Yamagata (1-3-1) whilst Daichi Yamamoto (2-2-1, 1) took a razor thin split decision Naoki Inaba (2-3) and Resierto Nagaike (3-1-1) also took a split decision as he over-came Naoki Morooka (2-2, 2). (Image courtesy of boxmob.jp) Koki Eto claims OPBF title in thriller whilst Chalermpol Singwancha narrowly retains his ABF belt6/17/2014 Although Tuesday's aren't typically big boxing days this Tuesday was an exciting day with fights in both Japan and Thailand with some big names, big action and promising youngsters all coming together to give us a day to remember in the boxing world. Tokyo, Japan For us the most notable of the two shows was in Japan as the Korakuen Hall played host to "Dangan 104" a show that was co-promoted with Shirai Gushiken Sports Gym. The card began, like most cards, with a low level bout between novices. This saw the 21 year old Minimumweight prospect Naoki Morooka (2-0, 2) scoring his second successive stoppage as he took out the win-less Naoki Yoshimura (0-1-1) in the second round. This was followed by another low level undercard bout as the debuting Kiyoshi Utsumi (1-0) over-came Oshima Keigo (0-5). Keigo came close to securing a draw but couldn't quite to enough losing 38-37 on all 3 cards. Utsumi wasn't the only successful debutant on this card and the much touted Higa Daigo (1-0, 1) made an almost instant impact on the sport as he stopped his Thai opponent, who we believe was Saengkeng Saknarong (0-1) inside a round. Daigo was a stand out amateur and from what we've been told there is a lot of expectation on this youngster who could be one of the hottest teens in Japanese boxing. The expectation seemed to take over Daigo a little bit as he looked nervous but he ended the bout with a crushing body combination KO. For those wanting to see this fight, in full, it's featured on our new video section. The 4th bout from this show saw Fujikita Seiya (7-1, 1) out point Koya Sato (7-2-1, 1) in a narrow contest that was decided by just a point on all 3 cards. It was a highly competitive contest between two men who both came to win and we'd certainly not complain about a rematch being made later this year. Although the Seiya/Sato bout was competitive another of the mid card bouts really wasn't as Tatsuro Kawabata (6-5, 2) dominated Hideo Mikan (6-7-1, 2) over 6 pretty 1-sided rounds. The first ranked fighter in action was Valentine Hosokawa (17-4-3, 8) who helped his chances of getting another title fight as he over-came Toshihiko Adachi (13-8, 6) in an 8 round contest. Hosokawa had lost back to back titles fights prior to this contest, coming up short in a Japanese title fight to Shinya Iwabuchi and an OPBF title fight with Min Wook Kim, despite those losses he did look like a fighter who is hungry for a third title fight. The second ranked fighter in action was Yasuhiro Okawa (12-11-3, 3) who continued his hunt for an unlikely title bout as he over-came Takuya Fujii (6-5, 2). Although Okawa doesn't have a pretty record he is a capable fighter, as seen in his victory over Hidekazu Matsunobu, just sadly he's had inconsistent results which have lead to his relatively poor record. The main event of this card was an OPBF fight that may well be included in the end of year conversation for FOTY. The bout, for the OPBF Flyweight title, saw Koki Eto (15-3-1, 11) and Ardin Diale (23-9-3, 10) put defence to the back of their mind as they proceeded to beat 6 shades out of each other in a bout that really showed how fun boxing can be when you have two equally limited and equally braves fighters in there together. Eto, a former WBA interim world champion, was dropped twice before mounting a major comeback in round 8 and eventually stopping an exhausted Diale to complete a real really major turn around and once again prove what a warrior he is. Unfortunately the repeated wars that Eto has been in will take it's toll on him sooner rather than later and he may never be the same fighter after this one, likewise Diale probably won't be the same either. As with Daigo Higa's debut we've managed include this bout in our video section with the video ready to be watched here. Samut Sakhon, Thailand As well as the show in Japan we also saw action in Thailand as Naris Boxing Promotion put on a show. Like the Japanese card this show was also headlined by a title bout as the unbeaten Chalermpol Singwancha (8-0, 6) retained his ABF Welterweight title with a surprisingly competitive victory over Filipino journeyman Amor Tino (14-17-4, 4). Although Chalermpol retained his title many fans were less than impressed with him and the score cards, which were 116-112, 118-110, 118-110 were said to have been very generous. Chalermpol started like a house on fire but slowed drastically and whilst the fight was close in the end we're suspecting that it'll serve as a great lesson to the Thai prospect who will build from the experience. Chalermpol had two stable mates on the same show who were also successful. These included veteran Sirimongkol Singwancha (79-2, 51) who saw off the debuting Victor Nunez (0-1) in the 4th round. The other Singwancha fighter was Petchsuriya Singwancha (10-8, 5) who took a 6 round decision over the debuting Petchpalangchai Sor Saksriprai (0-1). For Petchsuriya this was little more than a warm up before his arranged fight, in Japan, with Ryosuke Maruki on July 20th. The only other bout on this card saw Mohamadreza Hamze (4-5-1, 1) stopping Kongsuk Patanakan Gym (3-2-1, 1) in the third round of a scheduled 6. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.com) |
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