This past Friday was a busy day with Asian's in action around the globe along with a couple of Asian shows. Tokyo, Japan For us the most significant of the two Asian cards came from Japan where fans saw an OPBF title fight, a couple of world ranked fighters and some interesting action. The main event was the aforementioned OPBF title bout which saw Lightweight champion Masayoshi Nakatani (11-0, 6) retain his title with a 5th round TKO win against Kazuya Murata (11-5, 5). This was Nakatani's 4th defense of the title and saw him get back to scoring stoppages after 4 straight distance bouts. The talented Ioka gym fighter took control early in the bout with his jab and movement and began to turn up the heat in round 4. At the end of round 5 the bout was stopped follow a doctor's inspection of the challenger who stopped the contest with Murata suffering a suspect eye injury. In the chief support bout fans saw world ranked Super Bantamweight Shun Kubo (8-0, 6) make very light-work of Thailand's Jakarachlek Sor Wankaew (0-5). Kubo, who we had heard good things off through most of 2014, looked brilliant though the bout lasted just 54 seconds and it was hard to get a real read on just how good the Shinsei gym fighter really is. Another world ranked fighter on this card was young Minimumweight hopeful Reiya Konishi (9-0, 4) who claimed a clear decision win over Naoya Haruguchi (7-6, 2). Konishi, who claimed the 2015 Rookie of the Year crown at 105lbs, showed some really nice touches in his work but he's a long, long, way from thinking about challenging for world honours. Saying that however he showed enough to suggest that he will be ready in 2016 for a Japanese title fight and we were genuinely impressed by his left hook to the body. Konishi wasn't the only 2014 Rookie of the Year winner in action as Super Bantamweight winner Shohei Kawashima (11-0-2, 3) also picked up a victory. The relatively light hitting Kawashima managed to see off the limited Tatsuya Miyamoto (11-13-1, 7) in the 6th round following a lovely burst of shots. Although certainly not a puncher we do like Kawashima's combinations and he does look like a fighter who is going to grow in to his man strength in the coming years. Really one to keep an eye on. In another bout at Super Bantamweight fans saw Yuta Uetani (17-5-1, 9) put in an impressive performance against the limited Serichai Nonpitayakom (0-2). On paper this was a mismatch but it was hard not to be impressed by Uetani's body punching, which put the Thai down for the count in roudn 2. Uetani might not be a top class fighter but he's going to be a handful for many fighters in and around the domestic level. Another Japanese fighter to see off a Thai foe was Yasunori Kishigami (10-2-1, 6), who scored a 7th round KO against the win-less Kraithong Mansongkhram (0-3). Kraithong had made it to round 70 though was blasted with a vicious body shot in the opening seconds of the round. The Thai beat the count but was in no state to continue. Re-watching the shot it's amazing Kraithong didn't throw up on impact. Bangkok, Thailand The other card from Asia came from Thailand and was televised on Channel 7. The card was, for all intents, supposed to feature a couple of bouts that were warm up bouts for world ranked Thai's. Unfortunate for one of them the bout turned out to be less of a warm up and more of a nightmare. One of those world ranked fighters was Paipharob Kokietgym (30-0, 23), who defended the WBO Oriental Light Flyweight title with an easy blow out win against Fanther Ndahiuw (7-4-1, 3). Ndahiuw, who had never been stopped, lasted just 105 seconds here as Paipharob kept up his hunt for a world title fight. The other world ranked fighter was former challenger Pigmy Kokietgym (57-8-2, 23) who was surprisingly stopped in the 11th round by unheralded Filipino Jaysever Abcede (10-3, 6). The bout, for the WBO Oriental Minimumweight title was supposed to be a warm up for Pigmy before a showdown with Japan's sensational Kosei Tanaka. Instead it turned out to be a coming out party for 20 year old Abcede who finished the bout with a wonderful right hook in round 11. Whilst this is probably the end for Pigmy it's fair to say that Abcede may be worth keeping a serious eye on going forward. On the under-card fans saw two unbeaten prospects extend their unbeaten runs. One of those men was the exciting Manachai Banchamek (7-0-1, 6), who stopped Singdech Laos PDR (0-1) in the 2nd round. The bout was a mismatch and although Singdech showed some heart he was battered by the aggressive and exciting Manachai. The other prospect was Petchmanee Kokietgym (9-0, 4) who also picked up a 2nd round TKO as he beat Taosaifah Laos PDR (0-1). This was another mismatch in favour of the unbeaten man who showed touches of class, though was always far too good for Taosaifah. South Africa Another major shock involving a Filipino fighter occurred in South Africa where Rene Dacquel (15-5-1, 5) claimed the IBO International Super Flyweight title. The under-rated Dacquel scored two knockdowns on route to a split decision over local fighter Thembelani Nxoshe (13-6-1, 3). Coming into this one Dacque was 3-2-1 though this win will act as a major boost in New South Wales, Australia On a JNI promoted card in New South Wales fans saw two Asian fighters come up short. One of those was Thailand's Paitoon Jaikom (5-16, 2) who was widely out pointed by the unbeaten Ahmed Dib (16-0, 9). Although the bout was scheduled for just 6 rounds one judge had Dib winning by 9 points, 60-51. Sadly for the Thai this defeat ends a 2 fight winning run. The other Asian being beaten here was Aussie based Filipino veteran Aswin Cabuy (15-53-4, 7), who was shut out over 4 rounds by the unbeaten David Toussaint (6-0, 4). New South Wales, Australia A separate card in New South Wales saw Thai veteran Plaisakda Singwancha (38-22, 32) suffer an opening round TKO loss to Kariz Kariuki (26-11-2, 20). District of Colombia, USA In the US fans saw unbeaten Kazakh hopeful Shyngyskhan Tazhibay (2-0, 2) continue his perfect start with a 2nd round TKO win against the debuting Coleman Phelps (0-1). Tazhibay has been tipped as “one to watch” in some quarters though we must confess that his competition so far has told us very little about his ability or his true promise. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)
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This past Sunday was a hectic day in Asia with 3 notable shows in Japan as well as a small Filipino card. Tokyo, Japan The best of the 3 Japanese shows came from Tokyo where reason, along with Shirai-Gushiken-Sports, put on a very good looking “Dangan” card. The card, in total, had 9 bouts with 4 of them being genuinely notable. The main event saw former Japanese Super Featherweight title challenger Shingo Eto (16-3-1, 9) take a close and competitive decision victory over Tomoya Yamada (12-6, 3). This, on paper, was supposed to be an easy win for Eto but he was pushed all the way in a bout that would have been great to keep Eto on his toes and help prepare him for another, eventual, title shot. In the co-feature we saw Filipino warrior Ardin Diale (28-9-3, 14) take a split decision win against Yuta Matsuo (7-2-1, 4) in a fantastic bout that showed Diale at his best. The Filipino was fighting in Japan for the first time since his dramatic 8th round TKO loss to Koki Eto last year and seemed to quickly shake off any issues he had with that loss as he notched his 5th straight win. For Matsuo this loss sees him dropping to 2-2-1 in his last 5. A third 8 round bout saw Spice Matsushita (14-8, 2) take a competitive decision victory over the hard hitting Takumi Koyama (9-4-1, 7) in a slight upset win. In a 6 rounder we saw the destructive Daigo Higa (5-0, 5) quickly take care of Filipino visitor Virden Rivera (8-2-1, 2). Rivera, who's only previous loss was a 7th round defeat to Rex Wao, was unable to cope with Higa who was aggressive from the opening and finally saw off Rivera in the 2nd round. On the under-card were 5 bouts, two of which ended early. The quicker of those ended in the 2nd round as Taisei Hayashi (1-1, 1) defeated Toshihiko Saito (0-2), the other saw Sho Nagata (4-1, 2) upset Hokuto Kawana (4-1, 3) with a 4th round KO. In a more competitive under-card action Hideaki Onuki (2-0) claimed a majority decision over the win-less Koji Fujimoto (0-2) whilst Taiga Higashi (2-1, 1) took home a split decision victory as he over-came Yusuke Moriya (1-2). The only clear decision on the under-card saw Yoshimitsu Kimura (1-0) take a victory over Yuki Nishikawa (0-1) in an all-debutant affair. Wakayama, Japan In Wakayama fans has an interesting show with 3 notable bouts as well as a relatively forgettable under-card. The main event saw former OPBF Super Bantamweight title challenger Eita Kikuchi (17-4-4, 7) take a decision win against Keita Ito (8-20-2, 4). For Kikuchi this was a third successive win after back-to-back stoppage losses in 2013, including a loss to Shingo Wake. Interestingly Ito managed to surpass expectations and gave one of his best performances in recent years, unfortunately however it was his 8th straight loss. The unbeaten Shohei Kawashima (10-0-2, 2) continued his unbeaten run with a clear decision victory against Yuta Sasaki (6-7, 1). This was Kawashima's first 8 round bout and the 23 year old will have learned so much from the experience, even if Sasaki wasn't a top tier opponent. The third main bout saw Kazuki Hashimoto (11-4, 7) take a very quick victory over Chikashi Hayashizaki (6-5-1, 2). Hashimoto saw off his foe after just 97 seconds. The under-card, surprisingly, all went the distance with all 5 bouts completing their schedules. The most competitive of those saw Yosuke Shimagawa (5-5-1, 2) take a very narrow split decision victory over the win-less Koichi Sumiya (0-2-1), who proved to be better than his record suggested. Another very competitive bout saw the debuting Shintaro Ukezono (1-0) take a majority decision over Shinen Nakayasu (0-3). Even the “non-close” decisions were close. These saw Ryo Sumiya (2-1-1) take a thin unanimous win over Kazuaki Okada (3-4) and Koichi Wakita (2-1) take an even slimmer win over Kazuki Koyanagi (3-9). The only clear decision from the under-card saw Katsushito Kudo (2-2, 1) over-come Teruyuki Nogami (0-2) Hiroshima, Japan In Hiroshima there was a 10 bout card which featured 2 main bouts alongside 8 under-card bouts, each of which was scheduled for 4 rounds. The main bout saw Koji Itagaki (14-9-2, 6) take a wide decision against Filipino visitor Benezer Alolod (16-7-5, 5). This was Itagaki's second win following an horrific 0-4-1 run whilst Alolod has now lost back-to-back fights after having a good string of results in 2014 The other main event saw Ryuji Ikeda (9-2-1, 5) blow away journeyman Kosuke Iwashita (14-18-2, 8) in just 160 seconds. We didn't expect this one to be so one-sided and it perhaps spells the end of Iwashita who is now 1-8 in his last 9 bouts The under-card featured a bit of everything, with a number of competitive bouts as well as a number of stoppages. One of those stoppages came in an all debutant bout as Katsushi Shiga (1-0, 1) scored a 4th round TKO against Hiroyuki Tsujimura (0-1). Another 4th round TKO came at Lightweight as Satoshi Yamamichi (4-3, 4) took out Takahiro Maeda (1-2, 1). A third 4th round finish saw the unbeaten Kazuya Okubo (3-0, 1) extend his perfect record with a victory against Kota Hama (2-1, 1), who lost his unbeaten record. One other stoppage on this card saw Ryoya Ikema (4-1, 4) stop the win-less Hayata Komen (0-2) in the 3rd round. In more competitive action J Soul Maeda (3-2-2, 1) took a split decision over the previously unbeaten Riku Inokuchi (1-1), another split decision saw Takahiro Morisaki (3-1, 1) defeat Takumi Konod (1-1-1, 1), who also lost his perfect record. Another close bout saw Hiromichi Kurokawa (4-2-1, 1) take a majority decision over Masashi Kamon (1-2). The only clear under-card bout saw Hironori Miyake (4-3, 1) take a wide decision over Masafumi Suda (1-2, 1) Siquijor, Philippines In the Philippines there was a small card with no major bouts on it though the main event did feature an unbeaten prospect taking a step up in class. That aforementioned main event saw Jayr Raquinel (5-0, 3) take a 3rd round DQ win against Jimboy Haya (7-2-1, 4), who was unable to keep his shots above the belt against the unbeaten man. The 18 year old Raquinel may be worth making a note of, though unfortunately this bout failed to really tell us how good he is. In both the under-card bouts fans saw early blow outs. One of those saw Marjun Pantilgan (5-2, 4) blast away with Rajah Jetro Tulod (0-1) inside a round whilst the other saw Filjun Taneo (3-1, 1) defeat Salvador Crispin (0-1), also inside a round. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp) This past Sunday was a very busy one with fights across Asia. Tokyo, Japan In Tokyo we had the 2014 All Japan Rookie of the Year finals which featured 10 bouts in total, following bouts at 135lbs and 140lbs both being cancelled due to fighters pulling out. In the Minimumweight division fans saw the unbeaten Reiya Konishi (7-0, 4) continue his winning streak as he over-came Yuki Kubo (6-2, 2) with a clear decision. The talented 21 year old from Kobe just seemed to have too much of everything and we're really looking forward to seeing him in the mix with the ranked domestic contenders. At Light Flyweight things were highly competitive as Kenji Ono (7-1, 3) took a razor thin decision over Seita Ogido (6-2-1, 1). The cards, which ended in a split decision, all read 48-47 showing just how competitive it was round after round. The Flyweight division saw a battle between unbeaten men though saw the Koguchi promoted Kenya Yamashita (7-0, 4) defeat Shun Kosaka (9-1) with a clear decision. The talented Yamashita, an 18 year old with real promise, has now beaten 3 successive unbeaten men and we suspect his recent sparring with the likes of Suguru Muranaka has helped him develop into yet another promising Flyweight prospect. Don't be shocked if we see both of these guys fighting in the domestic title mix in the coming years. Masayoshi Hashizume (7-0, 4) continued his success as he won in the Super Flyweight tournament with a 3rd round technical decision against Shogo Yonenaga (6-2, 3). Sadly a clash of heads forced the bout to an early conclusion though it did seem like the exciting Hashizume was in charge prior to the conclusion. Sadly it seems likely that both men will be inactive for the next few months as the cuts they each suffered looked very nasty at the end of the bout. In the Bantamweight division we saw Ryohei Takahashi (5-1-1) continue his winning run as he over-came the heavy handed Keisuke Tabuchi (8-2-2, 6) with a very clear decision victory. Takahashi's lack of power will likely limit him when he steps up a level. Although Tabbuchi came up short there is a chance he'll go further in the sport given his heftier blows which will likely help him as he steps up in class. At Super Bantamweight we saw a slight surprise as the light hitting Shohei Kawashima (9-0-2, 2) scored just his second stoppage in 11 fights. The light hitter managed to stop Yuki Matsudo (8-2, 4) in the early stages of round 4 with a huge right hand that sunk Matsudo who was unable to beat the count. This win for Kawashima saw him winning the Skills Award for the tournament. In the Featherweight division Reiya Abe (8-1, 4) took home the crown as he out pointed Kyohei Tonomoto (5-2, 2) in a clear decision. Another clear decision saw Yuichiro Kasuya (6-0, 1) out point Masashi Wakita (4-3-1, 2) in a bout that won Kasuya the “Fighting Spirit” award. Aged 18 Kasuya looks likely to be involved in a lot of exciting bouts in the future, hopefully he can develop some power to go with his exciting style. The winner of the MVP award was the heavy handed Yuki Beppu (8-0, 8) who stopped Hironobu Matsunaga (6-1, 3) in the 2nd round in the Welterweight bout. Beppu, an exciting and heavy handed fighter had to take some hard shots himself in this thrilling contest though his belief in his own power was well founded. Matsunaga was down late in the opening round and never seemed to really recover before being stopped very early in round 2. At Middleweight Hisao Narita (8-1, 4) won a very tight one with Toshihiro Kai (4-7-2, 1). We had expected Narita to win this one easily but Kai really gave a great effort and made things very competitive. Metro Manila, Philippines In the Philippines fans saw one of their most exciting local fighters in action. That was OPBF Light Flyweight champion Jonathan Taconing (20-2-1, 17) who made light work of Oscar Raknafa (12-8, 5). Raknafa retired in the 4th round after having taken a bit of a beating. On the undercard here results have been scarce, though we do know that Abraham Bullagay (1-0-1, 1) fought to a draw with the win-less Manny Mamacquiao (0-4-1). Batangas, Philippines A second show in the Philippines had equally as interesting action. In the main event here fans saw Jhon Gemino (12-3-1, 5) take a very narrow split decision win over the previously unbeaten JR Magboo (16-1-2, 7) to claim the GAB Super Bantamweight title and record his most significant win to date. For Magboo this will a bad loss concede, even if it was close. In the co-feature fans saw Roberto Gonzalez (25-2, 16) score an 8th round TKO over Jose Ocampo (17-9-1, 12) in a bit of a blood bath. Gonzalez was cut early from a headclash before he battled back and cut Ocampo on the right eyelid with a punch in round 8. The cut on Ocampo's caused an early conclusion to the bout with the doctor ruling him unfit to continue. Another of the support bouts that ended early saw Bonjun Loperez (9-2-1, 5) score a victory over Oliver Gregorio (9-4-2, 5) after Gregorio retired with a damaged shoulder. A third support bout saw Renz Rosia (11-2, 5) take a majority decision over Jayson Rotoni (13-15-1, 7), though the cards were a bit all over the place here. In the sole 8-rounder Reneria Arizala (12-1-1, 5) made very light work Lowell Saguisa (7-18, 3) with Saguisa being stopped after just 83 seconds. A bulk of the undercard was made up of 6 rounder,of which we had 3. One of those saw Michael Rosal (5-3, 3) take a very close win over Jesson Inso (9-5-1, 3) in a bout that was essentially decided by a knockdown scored by Rosal in round 3. Another of the 6 rounders saw Balweg Bangoyan (19-9, 8) score a 5th round KO against Rey Ramos (6-7-2, 3) whilst Philip Luis Cuerdo (6-1, 3) made very light work of Juanito Hondante (2-5, 1). The show also featured a pair of 4 rounders. One of these saw the debuting Edlin Sese (1-0) score a decision win over Jerwin Mejes (1-1, 1) whilst the other saw Ariel Arevalo (3-1-2, 1) score a very clear win over Jeffrey Garcia (0-3). Seoul, South Korea The lowest profile show was in South Korea as fans had 9 bouts, including several international bouts that saw Koreans battling against Japanese fighters. Interestingly from the 6 bouts between fighters from the two countries Korea won 3 bouts, whilst Japan won 2 and 1 resulted in a draw. Of the 9 bouts on the show 4 of them were 4 rounds. These saw Chae Yong Lee (1-0, 1) score an opening round stoppage against Sung Il Jo (0-1). Another of the 4 rounders saw the previously win-less Do Hyung Kim (1-2) take a clear win over Jung Yul Lee (0-2). The other 4 rounders both ended in draws with Kyung Hee Han (0-0-1) drawing in an all debutant bout against Min Young Kim (0-1) and Gang Hoon Lee (1-1-2, 1) being held by Ryo Nakano (1-2-1) in the first of the 7 South Korea Vs Japan bouts. The most impressive win for Japanese fighters saw Akira Ono (6-3, 5) quickly see off Jae Man Kim (2-1, 1) who was dropped 3 times in the opening round. The only other Japan win saw Ryosuke Hayase (5-1, 1) take a split decision over Hyun Woo Lee (5-2, 1). For Korean fighters there 2 stoppage wins with the most impressive of those being a 75 second blow out by Jae Ho Kim (5-1, 1) who swiftly saw off Kenji Fujiyama (5-5, 3). The other stoppage win for Koreans saw Woo Min Won (6-1, 3) score a 3rd round win over Shingo Yabu (4-4-2). The only decision win for a Korean fighters over a Japanese visitor saw Jong Hwa Lee (9-2-2, 1) easily defeat Katsunori Imai (5-6-1). (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp) All Japan Rookie of the year Finals set, Osawa scores a quick one and Ye Joon Kim takes another win!11/10/2014 This past Sunday was a hectic day in Asian boxing with numerous cards held on the same day including the final set of Rookie of the Year regional finals which have now set up the All-Japan finals and interesting card in Korea. Osaka, Japan The biggest show this Sunday was in Japan as fans saw the second of the Rookie of the Year semi final shows. The show, which decided the west representative at this year All-Japan Rookie, featured 12 bouts and was really great throughout. The winner in the Minimumweight division was Reiya Konishi (6-0, 4) who narrowly over-came Jun Takigawa (5-1, 3) in a battle of unbeaten men. The bout was genuinely close through out with Konishi taking the decision with scores of 47-45, 46-45 and 46-45. The win for Konishi secures him a fight with Yuki Kubo in the All-Japan final. At Light Flyweight Seita Ogido (6-1-1, 1) fought to a draw with the still unbeaten Seigo Yuri Akui (2-0-1). Although the bout was a 4 round split decision draw we've been told that Ogido qualified for the All-Japan final who will now find himself up against Kenji Ono in that contest. In the Flyweight contest the unbeaten Shun Kosaka (9-0) took a very clear decision win over the experienced but limited Naoki Shoda (4-8-1). The bout was scored 50-44 by all 3 judges as Kosaka progressed to the All-Japan final where he will fight against Kenya Yamashita in a very interesting battle of unbeaten men. The bout at Super Flyweight was won by the very promising Ioka gym hopeful Masayoshi Hashizume (6-0, 4) who made surprisingly light work of the previously unbeaten Eita Sakurai (4-1, 1) with a win after 2 just minutes of the bout. The win netted Hashizume a place in the All Japan final against Shogo Yonenaga and also earned him the MVP for the card adding to his West Japan MVP award. We've got to be honest and say that this kid looks a little bit special and we think he'll prove that in his upcoming bout. At Bantamweight there was another stoppage as Keisuke Tabuchi (8-1-2, 5) took the unbeaten record of Morihisa Iju (5-1, 4) courtesy of a 2nd round TKO. Tabuchi's All Japam Rookie of the Year final bout will see him up against Ryohei Takahashi in what should be a thrilling encounter given how good Takahashi looked in his East Japan Rookie of the Year final last weekend. One of the show's closest bouts saw Shohei Kawashima (8-0-2, 1) take a split decision over the heavy handed Shisato Okuma (8-2-2, 6) in a bout scored 48-47 by all 3 judges. As a result of this win Kawashima will battle against Yuki Matsudo in the All Japan final. In a relatively one sided bout Kyohei Tonomoto (5-1, 2) clearly over-came the previously unbeaten Takashi Igarashi (5-1, 1) in a clear cut bout at Featherweight. Tonomoto will be fighting Reiya Abe in the All Japan final in what looks a great contest in the making. In the Super Featherweight division we had a razor close bout that ended in a split decision draw between Masashi Wakita (4-2-1, 2) and the unbeaten Yuya Shimakura (3-0-1). The draw will see Wakita moving on to the next round where he will fight against the very exciting Yuichiro Kasuya who won the MVP from the East Japan Final's last weekend with a thrilling win over Yutaka Ekawa. In a battle of unbeaten fighters at Lightweight fans saw Shogo Yamaguchi (6-0-1, 3) took a decision over Takahiro Shinoda (1-1, 1). This win sets up a really intriguing final bout between Yamaguchi and the highly touted Andy Hiroaka. The Light Welterweight division saw the heavy handed Tetsuya Morisada (4-3, 4) scoring a very quick victory over Chocoboy Oizumi (4-3-2, 2), with the bout lasting less than a minute. The win for Morisada will see him fight Naoharu Kida in the All-Japan final. The heavy handed Yuki Beppu (7-0, 7) continued the very impressive start to his career as he claimed a place in the All-Japan Welterweight final with a 53 second victory over Shota Yamamoto (5-2, 3). Beppu will now risk his unbeaten record, and KO streak, against fellow unbeaten Hironobu Matsunaga in a bout that looks like a real highlight for the All Japan Rookie of the Year. At Middleweight Toshihiro Kai (4-6-2, 1) scored his first stoppage win as he stopped Ryota Ikawa (1-6) in the third round to set up a very tough bout for himself against Hisao Narita. For those wondering about the All Japan Rookie of the year Finals they will happen on December 21st at the Korakuen Hall. Osaka, Japan A second show in Osaka was headlined by former OPBF Featherweight champion Hiroshige Osawa (26-3-5, 15) who predictably made light work of the horribly over-matched Nongdear Sor Bangkhru (0-5) who suffered his 4th stoppage loss. For Osawa this was too easy however it was his first bout since changing gyms earlier this year and it seems that his new gym just wanted to give him a work out more than anything else. In the sole 8 round contest fans saw a much more interesting looking contest as Kosuke Saka (9-3, 6) scored an 8th round TKO against Tetsuya Nishinaga (11-10-1). It wasn't the greatest match up but it was significantly better than the main event of the card. Although Osawa was the biggest name on the show we were mostly interested in Ioka youngster Takeru Kamikubo (7-0, 4) who did what he had to do to shut out the tough Masaki Hirai (4-12-3, 2) over 6 rounds. For the 18 year old Kamikubo this was a perfectly good test and it seems that Ioka have a real diamond on their hands here if he's developed properly, like we suspect he will be. The other 6 rounder on the show was just as interesting as the unbeaten Terumi Nuki (5-0, 2) took a hard fought decision over Kai Johnson (5-7-3, 2) who's win over Tomomi Takano now looks like it was a long, long time ago. In 4 rounders on this card fans saw two men record their first career wins. One of those was Katsuhito Kudo (1-2, 1) who took his first win with a 96 second KO against Keisei Nishiwaki (0-3-1) whilst the other was Keita Yamamoto (1-2) who took a very close decision over debutant Hikaru Iwasaki (0-1). The only other undercard bout saw Takuya Yamamoto (4-3, 2) take a clear win over Noriyuki Imamura (2-3) Hiroshima, Japan A third Japanese card came from Hiroshima and it's fair to say this was the smallest and least interesting of the three Japanese shows. Of the 9 bouts on this card 6 of them were 4 rounders and interesting only a single one of them failed to go the distance. The one bout that failed to go 4 completed rounds saw Takahiro Morisaki (2-1, 1) take a 3rd round technical decision over the debuting Tasuku Matsunoshima (0-1) with the bout called after 92 seconds of round 3. The other undercard bouts all went the scheduled and saw some very interesting and competitive bouts including a a majority decision draw in an all debutant bout between Toshiya Kawauchi (0-0-1) and Tomoya Yonehara (0-0-1). We weren't far from getting draws with Riku Inokuchi (1-0) narrowly defeating Takahiro Maeda (1-1), the limited Hinonori Miyake (3-3, 1) only just out pointed Yuya Kondo (2-1, 1) and Masashi Kamon (1-1) defeating Yoshiki Tatsukami (0-1) in a third bout that could easily have ended up in a draw. The only clear undercard bout here saw debutant Tamaki Miwa (1-0) clearly beat Maito Fujii (0-3) in a hotly contested bout, though one that was a clear win for Miwa on the cards.. The card, advertised as being a triple main event show, saw the 3 main bouts lasting just 13 rounds. The shortest of those bouts was a second round blow out win for Ryuji Ikeda (8-2-1, 4) who made light work of Thailand's Eaksayarm Mor Krungthep Thonburi (0-2), it took just 1 round longer for Yuya Okazaki (11-7-1, 4) to see off Shinichi Tsukaha (8-7-3, 3). The remaining bout saw Koji Itagaki (13-9-2, 6) struggle to see off Yamato Uchinono (5-3-5, 3) in the most competitive and interesting of the 3 main events. Seoul, South Korea In a small, and supposedly "unsanctioned" South Korean show fans saw several Korea Vs Japan bouts. The main event from the show saw WBC Youth Super Bantamweight champion Ye Joon Kim (10-1-2, 5) stopping Yoshiyuki Takabayashi (4-5-3) in the 7th round of their contest. Kim, the star of South Korean boxing, appears to be on a great roll at the moment and has now scored 4 successive stoppages. In the co-feature Nak-Yul Park (6-2, 3) scored a 6 round split decision over Kentaro Endo (4-5, 3) in a very closely scored bout. We've been informed that Japanese boxers on this show went 0-6 however we've not managed to get all the results from it unfortunately. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp) |
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