Pathum Thani, Thailand
There wasn't much action this past Tuesday though Thai fans did get a televised show courtesy of Channel 3. In the main event of the show fans saw unbeaten Thai prospect Jirapan Nakornluang (14-0, 10) retain his WBC Youth Silver Featherweight title with a decision victory over limiter, but game, Filipino Nathan Bolcio (12-9-2, 4). Bolcio, despite his record, came to win though lacked the skills to over-come his promising foe. Whilst Bolcio gave it a go and wasn't good enough the same could not be said about Mohamed Larabi (4-5, 2) who gave it a go and was good enough as he battled Sirimongkol Singwancha (85-2, 54). The Frenchman may have been one of the biggest under-dogs this year though more than did enough to deserve a win against the former 2-weight world champion, unfortunately however the judges failed to agree and gave Sirimongkol one of the most contentious decisions of the year. Larabi showed his disgust at the decision immediately and was right to do so. One bout that didn't need the judges saw another former world champion in action. That bout saw former WBC Super Flyweight champion Srisaket Sor Rugnvisai (36-4-1, 33) mow down Indonesian visitor Hendrik Barongsay (28-23-3, 17) in just 2 rounds. Srisaket is now eyeing up an opportunity to reclaim his old title from Mexican fighter Carlos Cuadras. Another man who didn't need the judges was Pongsaklek Sithdabnij (4-3, 3) who scored a 3rd round KO against Khaosod Lookklongbangklang (0-1). This win sees Pongsaklek finally move to a “winning” record and is his 4th straight win, following a shock upset of the then 22-0 Kongfah Nakornluang just over a month ago. One other bout on this card saw Veerasak Himalaigym (1-0) take a debut win against Peemai Por Kobkua (0-1), with a decision victory.
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Tokyo, Japan This past Friday there was 3 Asian shows with 2 in Japan. For us the more noteworthy of those came form the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. The most notable bout on this card saw the always exciting Takuya Kogawa (24-4, 13) reclaim the Japanese Flyweight title to begin his second reign. The all-action warrior managed to out point the tough Hiroki Saito (9-5, 5) in an entrancing 10 round battle that brought the best from both men. Kogawa, who lost the title in 2013 to Suguru Muranaka, has now got a lot of exciting options in front of him, including a possible rematch with Muranaka or a chance to move into another world level bout with some really big names for the lower weights. Whilst the main event was brilliant there was also 3 very good supporting match ups. One of those saw fringe Super Featherweight contender Shingo Eto (17-3-1, 9) move a step closer to fighting for the OPBF title as he out pointed Filipino veteran Edgar Gabejan (27-32-6, 9) in a very competitive bout. Although Gabejan's record is far from impressive he's actually a very solid fighter and showed that once again here. Another supporting bout saw Hideo Sakamoto (16-1-3, 5) suffer an unfortunate draw with Hiroki Teshigawara (9-1-2, 4). Some at ringside felt this was a political decision that cost Sakamoto what should have been a clear but competitive decision win though the draw does keep the under-rated Bantamweight in the hunt for a title fight in the next few years. Although talented Sakamoto doesn't belong in the ring with the likes of Shohei Omori, though will be a good opponent for anyone at the domestic level. The third of the noteworthy support bouts saw the under-rated Ryoichi Tamura (4-2-1, 1) take a split decision over heavy handed southpaw Yusuke Suzuki (6-2, 4) in an enthralling contest between two novice professionals putting it all on the line in what was a perfect example of what boxing is about. We won't pretend this was the highest skilled fight in history but it exemplified the fight game perfect. As well as the 4 main bout this card also featured 5 lower level bouts, all scheduled for the 4 round distance. Of those under-card bouts just a couple went this distance. These both saw wins for debutants with Kazuki Naya (1-0, 1) out pointing Daisuke Uchikawa (2-2-1, 1), in a competitive Featherweight bout, while Rikiya Ono (1-0) easily saw off Shogo Isaka (0-1). A bout that almost saw the final bell ended with more than a minute of round 4 gone as 17 year old prospect Junto Nakatani (2-0, 2) stopped Akira Kokubo (1-6-3), giving Kokubo his first stoppage loss. The remaining bouts both ended in the opening round with Welterweight Shunsuke Nakamura (2-0, 1) stopping 34 year old debutant Akio Uwajima (0-1) at the end of the opening stance whilst Junki Kobayashi (2-1, 2) stopped Ryo Kato (1-2) midway through the opening stanza. Osaka, Japan The other Japanese card came from Osaka where Harada Promotions put on an 8 fight card. The main event here saw Japanese domestic contender Tetsuya Hisada (23-9-2, 13) score a 2nd round TKO against fellow contender Atsushi Aburada (10-8, 6). Hisada came out swinging with bad intentions and a big flurry dropped Aburada early in the second before a follow up attacked forced the referee to step in. Coming in Aburada had, just 2 fights back, fought in a Japanese title fight against Yu Kimura but this loss ends any chance of him getting another any time soon. It does however open the door to Hisada getting a well deserved shot, something he's amazingly never had before. The co-feature bout here saw Riichi Kawase (7-6-3, 2) score a 2nd round KO against Hiroki Yoshimura (7-12, 4), who has now been stopped 10 times. Yoshimura beat the 10 count but was waved off by the referee. Another early win saw Kyohei Tonomoto (7-2, 3) take out Paisitong Muangsima (0-1) in 161 seconds. In a 6 rounder Hiroshi Takagi (5-4, 1) took a decision win over the very light punching Takahiko Nakajima (4-7-1). This win for Takagi was his third in a row and it's fair to say he has turned his career around after a 2-4-1 start. He is however unlikely to progress far given that he's already 29 years old. Like the other card this one had a number of 4 rounders, all of which went the distance. The most notable of those saw the unbeaten Tuki Takahashi (5-0, 1) extend his perfect start with a decision win against Yosuke Shimagawa (5-6-1, 2). Another unbeaten picking up a win here was Yuna Hara (2-0) who out pointed the debuting Joken Takaoka (0-1). It wasn't all good news for people who came in unbeaten however as Maya Uegaki (1-1, 1) suffer a decision loss to Minayo Kei (1-1). The remaining bout saw Takashi Oura (4-4, 1) level off his record with a decision win over Takahiro Horio (1-1). Pathum Thani, Thailand In Thailand we saw a number of Nakornluong fighters in action as they continued their march towards numerous world title bouts. In the main event of the card the WBC #1 ranked Flyweight contender Nawaphon Por Chokchai (29-0, 22) successfully defended his WBC Asian Boxing Council Flyweight title with a 3rd round KO over over-matched Filipino Wiljan Ugbaniel (13-5-1, 4). Nawaphon, who has set his eyes on Roman Gonzalez, was too big and too strong for Ugbaniel and although he landed a massive low blow in round 2 it was a culmination of shots that eventually forced Ugbaniel to take the count in the corner. A huge mismatch saw the always fun to watch Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (35-4-1, 32) put in a stay busy performance as he stopped Indonesian visitor Jack Amisa (21-36-2, 14) inside a round. The always aggressive Srisaket now has eyes on a rematch with Carlos Cuadras, as it seems likely that that bout may come before the year is over. Notably Amisa was unhappy at the stoppage but he did seem to take his time getting up and had been given a slow count as it was. Another mismatch saw the criminally under-rated Suriyan Sor Rungvisai (44-6-1, 22) took a straight forward win over the much taller Ibuki Tanaka (0-2). On paper this was a total mismatch, as it proved to be in the ring, but it seemed that Suriyan was working on how to deal with a tall fighter and how to make the most of his “shortness”. Whilst it's not a given it could be that he's looking to get a title fight with a champion later in the year, and many of the top champions in the division are taller than him. Tanaka, to his credit, show real grit and toughness, but was never competitive before being stopped. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp) Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand
There wasn't much action this past Thursday, but it did include one of the best looking bouts, on paper, for the weekend. That bout was a WBC Super Flyweight world title eliminator between former champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (34-4-1, 31) and former world title challenger Jose Salgado (34-3-2, 27). On paper it was genuinely mouth watering. In the ring however things were one sided with Srisaket essentially breaking down his Mexican foe through 3 and a bit rounds, all of which were one sided. Salgado had his moments but they were fleeting with Srisaket instilling his pressure, intensity and strength on Salgado who seemed unable to prevent himself from being bullied before being stopped part way through round 4 as Srisaket landed bombs at will. A second former world champion in action on this card was Suriyan Sor Rungvisai (42-6-1, 20) who kept busy with an easy win against the horribly over-matched Khunsuk Chaiyonggym* (0-1). Suriyan really did as he wished before finishing his foe with a sickening body shot very early in round 2. The nose of the shot was disgusting and it was little wonder that that the waved was swiftly stopped, though Khunsuk did manage to get back to his feet in an impressive showing of toughness. Another notable fighter on this card was highly ranked Flyweight contender Nawaphon Por Chokchai (28-0, 21) who saw off an opponent, believed to be Chatpetch Sithsaithong* (0-1), with flurry. Although none of the shots looked particularly big Chatpetch was looking done a long time before the finish. We know Nawaphon is wanting a world title fight with Roman Gonzalez but he really shouldn't be wasting his time on fights against this level of opposition which is doing little for his development. This card also featured 2 “unknown” bouts. Neither boxrec, our Thai friends at tko.in.th or ourselves have managed to identify. Hopefully their names will become available soon however there is a worry that the bouts, like many others form Thailand, will go relatively unreported. *Names are guesses based on the Thai transliterations of the names we were given. Kamegai comes up short, Srisaket swats Sada, Kongfah, Kaewfah and Pharanpetch remain perfect3/21/2015 This past Friday was a busy day for Asian boxing with fighters in action in both the west and the east, including two Thai shows.
Bangkok, Thailand In the most significant of two Thai shows fans got the chance to see some of the more notable fighters from the Nakornluang stable of fighters. The most notable fighter in action was former WBC Super Flyweight world champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (33-4-1, 30) who made light work of the horribly matched Madit Sada (9-21-1, 3). Sada was the proverbial lamb to the slaughter, and like a lamb he put up little resistance before being stopped in the 3rd round by Srisaket, who did little more than sharpen his tools. Another somewhat notable fighter on this card was Kongfah Nakornluang (20-0, 12) who retained his WBC Youth silver Super Flyweight title as he easily beat Indonesian challenger Ricky Morales (4-1-1) who looked under-sized, inexperienced and was generally no match for Kongfah. As is common Kongfah looked huge in comparison to his foe and we really are curious as to how he makes Flyweight Another early finish on this show saw Denchai Por Korbkua (2-2, 1) score his first stoppage win as he took out Petchboon Sithsaithong (2-2, 2) in the 3rd round. This was a high tempo and enjoyable affair though Petchboon seemed unable to cope with the pressure and aggression of Denchai, who was sloppy but fun to watch. The only bout on the show that went the distance saw the previously win-less Toto Lookmuangbangklang (1-1) over-come the debuting Songkramchai Etinakorn (0-1) over the 6 round distance. Chachoengsao, Thailand A second Thai show, televised on Channel 11, featured a couple of unbeaten Tor Buamas prospects who both continued to advance their perfect records. One of those prospects was Kaewfah Tor Buamas (18-0, 12) who over-came Indonesian visitor Boido Simanjuntak (18-28-1, 7) in 4 rounds of their Lightweight encounter. Simanjuntak has now lost 10 in a row and is win-less in more than 2 years however he is the best fighter Kaewfah has beaten so far. Although unbeaten Kaewfah has had a very uninspiring career thus far, and it's time he kicked on and stepped up a level. The other prospect was Pharanpetch Tor Buamas (15-0, 11) who defeated the Chaosamut Padjaigym (0-1) in 3 rounds. Pharanpetch has faced better opponents than his stablemate but, just like Kaewfah, he really needs to begin stepping up his opposition as bouts like this are relatively pointless for such a talented fighter. Chiba, Japan In Japan we had an equally low level show in Chiba where fans had 7 bouts, unfortunately though only one of those bouts had any noteworthy quality. That one notable bout saw Japanese hopeful Tsukasa Saito (20-3, 15) make light work of Thailand's win-less Fasanghan Or Benjamad (0-8) who continues his run of stoppage defeats. Fasanghan was stopped in the 2nd round by Saito who will be hoping to move towards a Japanese title fight later in the year. In the main support bouts fans had a couple of 6 rounders. One of those saw Corrales Kawashima (5-5-1, 2) level off his record with a 2nd round stoppage win against Hiroshi Miwa (4-7, 2) with Miwa suffering his 7th stoppage loss. The other 6 rounder sadly ended in unsatisfactory fashion with a 2nd round technical draw in a bout between Haruka Itakura (4-1-1, 1) and Katsunori Imai (5-6-2). The 4 under-card bouts here were all 4 rounders. One of those bouts saw Yoshihiro Furukawa (1-1, 1) claim his first win as he stopped the still win-less Kazuya Nomura (0-4-1) in the 3rd round. Another early win was scored by Ken Matsuzawa (1-0, 1) who stopped Hiroki Arakawa (0-2) in round 2 of their contest. A more competitive bout saw Toshiaki Akimoto (1-0) take a narrow win over Mirai Imagawa (0-1) whilst Atsuhsi Suzuki (0-0-1) and Yuki Ishikawa (0-0-1) fought to a split decision draw in an all debutant affair. California, USA The most significant bout of the day was also the last and came in the US where the popular Yoshihiro Kamegai (25-3-1, 22) battled against former world title challenger Alfonso Gomez (25-6-2, 12) in a bout that was highly entertaining and action packed. Early on Gomez was too smart and won a number of early rounds on his movement. As the bout progressed Gomez slowed and Kamegai managed to come back into it. Sadly for Kamegai much of his efforts were ignored by the judges who had the bout scored far too wide. Victoria, Australia In Australia there were several Asian fighters in action, including an all-Asian fight. That all-Asian bout saw Australian based Filipino Czar Amonsot (27-3-3, 17) over-come Thai visitor Padjai Yongyuthgym (18-2-2, 12) in a 6 round bout. The world ranked Amonsot was effectively staying busy here though hopefully next time out he will face a stiffer opponent. The other Asian on this card was Filipino journeyman Rodynie Rafol (12-7-2, 5) who lost a 6 round bout against the popular though faded Michael Katsidis (31-7, 24). Although Katsidis won he did struggle and it's clearer than ever that he needs to walk away from the sport before he gets beaten by a fighter at this level. Bangkok, Thailand
On Friday Thai fans got treat to a televised card, unfortunately however it was a card that consisted primarily of mismatches. The biggest of the mismatches, at least on paper, was a clear stay busy fight that saw former WBC Super Flyweight champion Srisaket Sor Rugnvisai (32-4-1, 29) make light work of the game but thoroughly out classed Ardi Tefa (6-3, 4), who was stopped in the 3rd round. Srisaket is lining up a WBC world title eliminator with Jose Salgado and this bout literally a tune up bout prior to that one which is expected in late Spring. Srisaket wasn't the only former world champion in action here as his close friend Suriyan Sor Rungvisai (39-6-1, 18), himself a former WBC Super Flyweight champion, defeated the debuting Daoden Sithsaithong (0-1), also in the 3rd round. Suriyan is expecting to be moved towards a WBC Bantamweight title fight later in the year and this was, like Srisaket's bout, a stay busy contest. The main event of the card wasn't a stay busy fight, but was an interesting development in the career of the limited but incredibly fun Kongfah Nakornluang (19-0, 11). Kongfah is among the most limited 19-0 fighters you'll find but he made light work of the badly matched Rendi Stone (3-4-1, 2). Stone, an Indonesian journeyman, was battling for the WBC Silver youth Super Flyweight title but was stopped in the 3rd round by Kongfah. Another promising unbeaten fighter on this card was Jirapan Nakornluang (2-0, 2) who stopped Ratchasi Himalaigym (0-1) after 3 rounds. We were impressed by Jirapan on his debut and it seems like the talented Thai is going to be one to keep an eye on for the long term, especially given his big stablemate. As for Ratchsai he appeared to have a lot of promise though was retired with what appeared to be a damaged hand One other bout on this card saw Jaipetch Chaiyonggym (4-3, 1) score a 6 round decision win over Denchai Por Korbkua (1-2) in what was a second meeting between the two men who first fought last November. Camarines Sur, Philippines In the Philippines fans also got some action though, as with the Thai show, much of it was mismatches. The main trio of bouts went a combined 9 rounds an all went to the expected winner. One of those bouts saw former world title challenger Bernabe Concepcion (33-6-2, 19) quickly take care of Indonesian visitor Rasmanudin (18-8-3, 9). Rasmanudin was stopped in the 2nd of a scheduled 10 rounds and suffered his 5th stoppage loss as a result. Sadly for the Indonesian "Lost Boy" this was his 4th loss in 5 bouts and it seems any hope he had of fighting for a major title are now dead and buried. A second of the main bouts saw Al Sabaupan (24-2-1, 19) pull himself off the canvas in the opening round en route to stopping Geisler AP (6-5, 3) in the 3rd round. Geisler is probably best known for being stopped in a round by IK Yang in Macau last year and it's clear that also Sabaupan is exciting he's never going to reach the top. He will however always be fun to watch. The remaining main bout saw saw Jestoni Autida (7-2, 2) score a 4th round TKO over the experienced Pit Anacaya (9-25-2, 2). As well as the 3 headline bouts there was also 5 other bouts. The weakest of these was a 4 rounder which saw Jerwin Mejes (2-1, 2) pick up his second win as he stopped the debuting Ali Francisco (0-1) in the 3rd round. Mejes's win was one of just two stoppages on the under-card with the other one being scored by Philip Luis Cuerdo (7-1, 4) who took out Ryan Bajala (3-2-1, 1) in the second round. The remaining three undercard bouts all went the distance. Of the three bouts only one of them ended in what we would describe as an upset as Gabriel Royo (10-11-2, 8) managed to overcome Michael Rosal (5-4, 3), though it was a minor upset with Royo taking an 8 round split decision. The other undercard bouts saw Ariel Arevalo (4-1-2, 1) over-come Diover Mangaya-ay (1-6-1) with a 6 round unanimous decision and JayAr Diama (3-5-4, 1) defeat Alberto Pentecostes (1-4-1), also by 6 round unanimous decision. California, USA In the US we saw Cruiserweight hopeful Murat Gassiev (20-0, 13) take a stay busy win over Terrance Smith (8-18-3, 5) with Smith being disqualified in the 4th round. Gassiev was well in charge and Smith knew it as the out classed American did all he could to prevent a fight, eventually being DQ'd for his holding. This past Friday was a busy day in the world of Asian boxing, both regionally and internationally. Mendoza, Argentina In Argentina fans saw a WBA Flyweight title fight that saw interim champion Yodmongkol Vor Saengthep (34-2, 20) attempt to unify his title with “regular” champion Juan Carlos Reveco (35-1, 19). Sadly for Yondmongkol he was stopped in the 5th round as Reveco unloaded on his and forced the referee to step in. Prior to the stoppage both men had scored knockdowns with Reveco going down in round 2 and Saengthep down just prior to the stoppage. Quebec, Canada In Canada was saw several Russian's in action and all of them seemed to have very different nights. The most disappointing of the Russian's was Dmitry Sukhotsky (22-3, 16) who looked awful, genuinely awful, as he challenger Adonis Stevenson (25-1, 21) and put up a nothing effort. Sukhotsky did little more than follow the champion who landed left hands at will before stopping Sukhotsky in round 5 after scoring a trio of knockdowns in the round. Another notable Russian on the card was the unbeaten Artur Beterbiev (7-0, 7) who over-came Jeff Page Jr (15-1, 10) with a 2nd round TKO. Whilst on paper the result was a good one the performance was terrible from Beterbiev who was dropped in the opening round and showed little more than crude power as he came out swinging for the fences whilst setting nothing up. It was, in many ways, a humbling performance from one of the most touted up-and-comers in the sport and will hopefully serve as a reminder that he needs to use his boxing ability as well as his power. A third Russian was the debuting Vislan Dalkhaev (1-0) who scored a clear win over journeyman Csaba Toth (13-25-1, 8). Samut Prakan, Thailand The feature bout in Thailand saw former world champion Suriyan Sor Rungvisai (28-6-1, 17) bounce back from his recent loss to Shinsuke Yamanaka with a very easy win over the horribly over-matched Tony Arema (3-6). Arema was never able to put the That under any pressure and midway through the opening round Suriyan landed a nasty left to the body which put Arema down in agony, where he stayed for the count. Strangely this bout was for the WBC Asian Boxing Council Bantamweight title and see Suriyan getting immediately back into the mix for a world title fight in 2015. In a stay busy fight we saw former WBC Super Flyweight champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (31-4-1, 28) score a straightforward win over limited journeyman Jemmy Gobel (18-16-5, 13). Srisaket tried to pick his shots in a controlled opening round as it appeared he was attempting to get some rounds under his belt though Gobel didn't take the chance to test the Thai, despite landing some clean uppercuts in the opening round. In round 2 Srisaket went to work and broke down Gobel with steady and hurtful body shots that quickly had Gobel in trouble, a follow up attack up top dropped the visitor who stopped soon afterwards. Another bout on this card saw the limited, but unbeaten and exciting, Kongfah Nakornluang (18-0, 10) over-come the win-less Vichannoi Chaiyonggym (0-3) with a 6 round decision in what was an unexpectedly close fight. As is often the case Kongfah made life very difficult for himself but very entertaining for us and we don wonder how many times he can get away with having such damaging fights though we can't complain about the entertainment as he is great value every time he's in the ring. Possibly the stand out performance came from debutant Jirapan Nakornluang (1-0, 1) who dominated fellow debutant Toto Lookmuangbangklang (0-1) en route to securing a 4th round TKO. If we were to suggest that Jirapan was the most complete Thai prospect we've seen recently we wouldn't be lying and he looks like he has the potential to be the real deal. He showed a nice sharp jab at range and really great body work up close, that body was eventually what ground out Toto. This guy is one to watch. The remaining bout on the show saw Denchai Por Korbkua (1-1) claim his first professional win as he over-come the more experienced Namphol Sithsaithong (7-9, 5) to take home a 6 round split decision. The scoring was a bit all over the place here unfortunately. Hyogo, Japan We're sorry it's taken us a while to get all the results from this show, which was the only Japanese show last Friday and came courtesy of Shinsei Promotions. In the main event fans saw the very promising Shun Kubo (6-0, 4) score his best win to date as he took a decision over the world ranked Luis May (15-8-1, 7). Both men had knockdowns rules against them, though the one against Kubo did seem harsh, and May had a point deducted to leave us with weird looking scorecards but it was a clear win for Kubo who has announced himself with this win. Although clearly a novice Kubo has called out Japanese champion Yukinori Oguni and has made it clear that the domestic title is his aim for next year. An interesting co-feature saw Toshiya Yokogawa (7-7-1, 6) score a shock win over Tokiya Nishioka (9-4-2, 5) with a 2nd round KO. Another bout from the top of the card saw Takahiro Shigee (12-1-1, 10) score a 5th round TKO against Petchfankaen Keelanakornpatom (0-1), this was Shigee's first bout since he was stopped by Rodrigo Guerrero. The least interesting of the 8 rounders saw Kenta Sugimoto (8-7-1, 1) score his first stoppage as he over-came Saengpetch Lukmatulee (0-1) in the 2nd round. The undercard here featured 5 bouts scheduled for 4 rounders with only a single bout failing to go the distance. The one bout that didn't go to the final bell saw Makoto Mizoshita (3-1, 2) score an opening round blow out against Hiroki Yatomi (2-1, 1). In bouts that went the distance we saw Shintaro Yano (1-0) take a debut win with a split decision Shin Tomita (1-1-2), another close decision saw Taichi Sugimori (3-1) take majority decision over Ryusuke Tanaka (3-3, 1). The closest bout saw Ryo Sumiya (1-1-1) fighting to a draw with Shohei Matsuo (1-1-1). The only clear decision saw the unbeaten Kenta Sakata (2-0-1) take a clear decision over Kodai Nakashoya (0-2) (Image, from the Kubo fight, courtesy of boxingnews.jp) Wow, wasn't Friday a busy day with shows in Thailand, Japan and Russia...and here we go with all the results! Nonthaburi, Thailand Today there was two Thai cards, one on channel 7 and one on channel 3. Of those cards it was the Channel 3 one that caught the attention with former world champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (30-4-1, 27) in action as he was defending his WBC Asia Boxing Council Super Flyweight title. Srisaket, who was listed on some sources as fighting Mateo Handig, scored his 27th stoppage as he over-came Filipino Bobby Concepcion (11-6-1, 5). The bout was straight forward enough for Srisaket who is now hoping to secure a rematch with WBC Super Flyweight champion Carlos Cuadras. On the same card in Thailand we saw the exciting but limited Kongfah Nakornluang (17-0, 10) score a second round stoppage over Indonesian visitor, and professional loser, Safwan Lombok (1-27-1). Kongfah started the bout by boxing but in the second round went into fight mode and swiftly saw off the Indonesian fighter. Although Kongfah against us wondering just how far he will go we've got to admit we're going to love following his career and for the second time this year we were really entertaining by this young and exciting Thai warrior. Ayutthaya, Thailand On the channel 7 show fans saw Palangpol CP Freshmart (6-1, 4) in the main event as he defended his WBA Asia title against former foe Heri Amol (34-20-4, 14). Palangpol took a decision over the Indonesian veteran though still didn't look ready to take the next step up, we suspect that Palangpol will take a big fight next year and if he wins that he'll be moved towards a world title contest though it's hard to see him beating any of the top Light Flyweights at the moment. Thai veteran Noknoi Sitthiprasert (51-4, 30) scored his 30th stoppage victory, as he over-came Dechai PetchasemfourGym (0-1) in just 2 rounds. Other bouts on this card saw Petch Sor Chitpattana (28-0, 18) extend his winning run with a decision over Petchchumpol Sor Visetkit (4-3, 2) whilst Ratchasak KKP (25-3-1, 11) over-came the tough Joel Kwong (1-7, 1) in what was a second meeting between the two men. Tokyo, Japan At the Korakuen Hall, the holy land of Japanese boxing, there was 8 domestic bouts with several of them being of genuine interest. The main event saw Japanese based Filipino Ricky Sismundo (27-8-1, 12) narrowly over-come heavy handed Japanese fighter Shuhei Tsuchiya (16-4, 14) with an 8 round split decision. Although the bout went the distance it certainly wasn't a dull one with Tsuchiya down twice and Susmundo down once in a great contest between two men who knew just how much this bout meant to their careers. For Tsuchiya this is his second loss of the year, following a stoppage loss to Leonardo Zappavigna, and seems to hint that he's never going to be a domestic champion however he will always be a lot of fun to watch. For Sismundo this win should move him towards a Japanese title fight. In an 8 support bout Yuya Sugizaki (20-9-1, 6) managed to take a fifth round technical decision over Filipino Gabriel Royo (9-11-2, 8), who has now lost 4 in a row. Royo is a heavy handed fighter but is clumsy and it showed against the more skilled Sugizaki. Another 8 rounder saw Yuta Nakagawa (14-4-1, 8) take a clear 8 round win over Yuta Saito (7-5-2, 6) in a Bantamweight contest. The first of the 4 bouts scheduled for 8 rounds was the only one that saw a knockout as Kazuya Nakano (8-3, 7) lived up to his reputation as a heavy handed fighter and stopped Takahisa Nayuki (11-12, 2) in the 5th round of their bout with an eye catching shot that immediately caused the referee to wave off the bout. On the under-card there was one man we were particularly interested in, Koki Koshikawa (3-0, 1). Koshikawa is tipped as a prospect with real potential having been a stand out amateur and he showed that class as he dominated Ryoji Miyagi (7-5-1, 4) to take a 1-sided decision win. Another unbeaten fighter in action was Hiroyasu Shiga (4-0, 3) scored a 4th round TKO victory over Takuo Watanabe (2-8-3), an impressive victory considering that Watanbe has got a reputation as being somewhat durable. Another unbeaten man extending his run was Daisuke Yamada (2-0, 1) who scored a second round KO against Kosuke Tsunoda (1-3). In the opening bout Takuya Kurata (1-2, 1) defeated Yuta Ouchi (0-1), also by second round TKO. Moscow, Russia We had another show in Russia as the capital city, Moscow, played host to a show that got more interest than many Russian shows have in recent years. The card began simple enough with two debutants scoring low profile wins. One of those was Dmitry Bivol (1-0, 1) who scored a 6th round TKO against the limited but experienced Jorge Rodriguez Olivera (25-11, 12) the other debutant was Heavyweight hopeful Sergey Kuzmin (1-0, 1) who blasted out Nicholas Buule (3-1, 3). Another of the undercard bouts saw the very promising Sergey Lipinets (5-0, 4) score and 8th round knockout against Filipino visitor Ernie Sanchez (14-6-1, 5) in a bout that saw the unbeaten Russian claim the WBC International silver Light Welterweight title, Lipinets's first title as a professional boxer. Another man in title action was Andrey Klimov (19-1, 9) who took a very wide decision over Gabino Cota (16-3-1, 14) to defend his WBO Inter-Continental Super Featherweight title. One of the more interesting under-card bouts saw Olympic champion, and former amateur stand out, Egor Mekhontsev (7-0, 6) take hid first decision win as he completely shut out Joey Vegas (17-10-1, 10) in an 8 round bout. Mekhontsev will likely feel disappointed that he didn't score the stoppage here but will certainly feel happy to get some professional rounds under his belt given that his first 6 opponents lasted a combined 16 rounds. One man who didn't need to go any rounds was the heavy handed Eduard Troyanovsky (20-0, 17) who scored a beautiful knockout out as he took out Jose Agustin Feria (16-2-1, 10) inside a round. Another man who scored an opening round KO was Cruiserweight crusher Dmitry Kudryashov (16-0, 16) who took just 22 seconds, yes you read that correctly, to wipe out former world champion Juan Carlos Gomez (55-4-0-1, 40). Gomez might be well beyond his prime but no one would have expected this from Kudryashov who is now ready for a top contender. Another Cruiserweight contest saw Rakhim Chakhkiev (21-1, 16) make relatively light work of Brazilian Light Heavyweight Jackson Junior (15-2, 13) with a fourth round TKO. Although the bout was relatively straight forward for the big punching Russian he did seem to have problems the few times Junior did catch him. Towards the top of the card, in fact in the chief support slow, we ended up with a contest that many dubbed a freakshow. The bout, supposedly an exhibition, saw Mickey Rourke (6-0-2-1, 4), yes the Hollywood actor, score a knockout against the frankly hapless Elliot Seymour (1-9-0-1, 1). Seymour may well have put in the worst performance of a professional fighter this year and fought such an incredibly tame effort that it appears he was the actor pretending to be a boxer. For what it's worth we're unsure if this bout will feature on either man's record though we've noted it as a “no contest” on both records. In the main event of the card we saw former world champions colliding as Russian slugger Ruslan Provodnikov (24-3, 17) took on Mexican veteran Jose Luis Castillo (66-13-1, 57). The two men, from completely different eras, were never on an even keel as Provodnikov took control of the bout in the opening round and was never really under any sort of pressure before Castillo was eventually stopped in round 5. Barnaul, Russia A second Russian card came from Barnual and attracted much less attention from the boxing world. Theunder-card hear features 3 bouts with one of those being an all debutant 4 rounder that saw Mahir Pashayev (1-0) out point Abbas Turgunbaev (0-1). The show's sole upset came in an 8 rounder as Vladyslav Yeromenko (2-1) out pointed Artem Merzlikin (5-1-1, 3). The show's sole 10 round bout saw the unbeaten Yury Kashinsky (5-0, 5) continue his stoppage streak as he stopped Yuriy Barashian (27-8, 18) in the 7th round The main event here saw PABA Light Middleweight champion Pavel Mamontov (10-1-2, 1) retain his title with a 12 round decision win over Oscar Roberto Medina (24-7-2, 9). (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp) It's not often we can openly say this but, what a great day Friday was with free to watch action in Japan and Thailand. Tokyo, Japan We're used to having televised Friday morning fights from Thailand so they were nothing new however what was a very unexpected treat was the fact Dangan 112 was streamed live, over Ustream, by Miyata Gym who streamed the show from start to end in what was genuinely a treat for the fans. We know Miyata aren't the first to do it, SGS have done it several times, but that didn't stop it being a treat from the opening bout to the final contest. The opening two bouts were both C Class tournament final bouts and both proved how much the tournament meant to the fighters in action. The first saw Wataru Takeda (3-0-1, 1) take a well earned 4 round victory over Taiga Higashi (1-1, 1). Although this was a clear under-card bout it showed how much difference there is between a lot of the undercard bouts in Japan and their equivalents in the west. Both guys wanted to win, both gave it their all, and both helped put on a very good bout, even if Takeda did look the better fighter, as evidenced clearly in round 4. The second of the C class tournament bouts saw Ryusei Ishii (4-1, 2) really impress us with his fan friendly style, Sergio Martinez like movement and hands down stance as he out pointed the dangerous Kenta Yamada (3-1, 3) with ease. Ishii dropped Yamada to show his dominance in power and in boxing in a really, really stunning performance by the 18 year old southpaw hopeful. The third bout saw another promising youngster catch out eye, Ryota Ishida (2-0, 2). Ishida, another 18 year old, dropped his previously unbeaten foe Yusuke Moriya (1-1) late in the opening round before tearing into him at the start of the second and eventually forced the referee to save a tired looking Moriya who tried to fight back but was unable to stop the onslaught from Ishida who really looks like an exciting and promising young fighter for the future. The surprise performance of the show came from Masaya Kohama (2-2-1) who didn't look likely to catch our attention considering his record. Kohama however took his chance and boxed beautifully to get past Keisuke Ogino (2-6, 1) in a bout that what was one of the most pleasant surprises we've seen in a ring for a very long time. A closer look at Kohama's record has convinced us that he's much better than his record indicates and we'd suggest keeping an eye on him for the long run, if he progresses as he could do then he may be another of the late bloomers of Japanese boxing. We saw a second stoppage on the show when Ryosuke Takami (5-1, 4) stopped the busier but less skilled Tsubasa Matsudo (4-9-3, 1) in 4 rounds. Matsudo had started fast but was eventually broken down when he began to slow in what was another interesting bout despite the differences in the records between the two men. In the chief support bout we saw Wataru Miyasaka (9-2-1, 2) out point Yuki Iwasaki (11-6, 6) over 8 rounds. The bout did have a few competitive rounds but there was no argument over who the winner was with Miyasaka looking the more complete fighter in a majority of the rounds. It was a clear decision but still an entertaining contest. The highlight of the show was, as expected, the main event which pitted former world title challengers against each other in what was viewed as a must win contest for both men. The bout saw Takuya Kogawa (23-4, 13), a man coming in on the back of a very controversial loss to Yodmongkol Vor Saengthep in Thailand, battle against Hiroyuki Hisataka (22-13-1, 10), who came in to the bout following losses to Ryo Matsumoto last time out via decision and Omar Andres Narvaez, via stoppage in a world title bout. On paper it was close to a domestic super fight and turned out to be a super fight watch with Hisataka trying to impose himself on Kogawa with his natural size and strength whilst Kogawa used his skill and speed to win rounds, land hurtful counters and generally do enough to win the rounds, including a 10-8 second round. Going into the final round Hisataka needed a knockout though both men fought as if they each needed to finish it and we got a final round to remember as the two slugged it out in a thriller. We suggest you give this one a watch if you have the time. We won't say this was the card of the year, but it was incredibly good from start to end and for a domestic card shown over Ustream for free it put to shame a lot of the big US cards on premium TV. Well done to all involved for this very enjoyable show. Ratchaburi, Thailand As well as the Japanese action there was also a show from Thailand than seemed to end quicker than anyone had suspected with a host of blow outs. The quickest of those saw Kongfah Nakornluang (16-0, 9) dispatch the over-matched Santos Kwanjaisrikod (0-2) inside a round in what was little more than a mismatch to help rebuild Kongfah's confidence following his struggle with Den Sithsaithong last time out. The most eye catching victory was scored by former WBC Super Flyweight champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (29-4-1, 26) who stopped the naturally bigger Boido Simanjuntak (18-24-1, 7) in the opening seconds of the 6th round with a very eye catching 1-punch knockdown. Boido did get up from the knockdown, somehow, but was unfit to continue continue and probably needed a few moments to know where he was. In the main event of the show we saw Nawaphon Por Chokchai (24-0, 17) successfully defend his WBC Asian Boxing Councuil Flyweight title with a 4th round KO of the usually tough Filipino Donny Mabao (21-23-1, 4). On paper this was a mismatch but it become more so when Nawapon appeared 3 if not 4 divisions bigger than the Filipino visitor. Western Australia, Australia "Down under" we did a trio of Thai's in action and they had mixed fortunes. Whilst veteran Sapapetch Sor Sakaorat (31-16, 20) was defeated in 4 rounds by Luke Sharp (10-2-2, 3) and we did Yingtai Sithdara (0-7-1) defeated in 2 rounds by Jacob Santoro (2-0, 1) we also saw Thonthai Rajanondh (17-19, 5) take an unexpected 2nd round TKO against Dan Carter (0-2). (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp) There aren't many days where action is non-stop but this Saturday was one of those days with more notable fights than we see in most weeks. Macau The highlight of the boxing weekend for us was in Macau with an excellent Top Rank card dubbed "Featherweight Fury". The card, which featured 3 world title fights, began with a serious of low level bouts which included the second successive stoppage victory for Macau's very own Kuok Kun Ng (4-0, 2) who stopped Muhammad Imam (9-5, 3) inside a round. Ng's victory was in one of two 6 round bouts with the other one seeing a victory for Olympic silver medal winner Esquiva Falcao (3-0, 1). Falcao, who lost in the Olympic final to Ryota Murata, defeated Korean Super Middleweight champion Eun-Chang Lee (7-4, 3) via a 6 round decision. Falcao at times looked very good though we can't see him ever developing into a super prospect like Murata, which is actually unfortunate considering that's a bout we'd love to see in the professional ranks. The first major bout on the Macau card saw Yasutaka Ishimoto (24-7, 7) suffering the first stoppage defeat of his career as he was stopped by the hard hitting Chris Avalos (24-2, 18). This bout, an IBF Super Bantamweight eliminator saw Ishimoto give his all but unfortunately not have the toughness to stand up against the heavy hands of Avalos who appears to have set up an excellent bout with Kiko Martinez. Ng wasn't the only Chinese fighter on the card as Ik Yang (15-0-0-1, 10) quickly wiped out Indonesian Geisler AP (5-2, 3), needing less than a round to claim the victory. Although Ng and Yang both took easy and quick victories things were much harder for Hong Kong's "Wonder Boy" Rex Tso (13-0, 8) who was twice dropped by Ratchasak Kokietgym (22-3-1, 10). Although he was dropped twice Tso fought back excellently and took a clear decision in a bout that really tested Tso's character. Sadly the scare for Tso here likely stops him from getting his mooted bout with Kohei Kono, after all Tso is not ready for a guy like Kono. Following the undercard contests we then moved into the world title bouts, the first of which saw Evgeny Gradovich (19-0, 9) defend his IBF Featherweight title against the game but out matched Alexander Miskirtchian (24-3-1, 9). Gradovich was dropped once in the middle of the fight but dominated much of the contest and was the clear winner as he retained his title. The second Featherweight title fight saw Nicholas "The Axeman" Walters (24-0, 20) retain his WBA Featherweight title in eye catching fashion against the shop worn Vic "The Raging Bull" Darchinyan (39-7-1, 28). The bout was quiet though always looked like it wasn't gong the distance and in round 5 it ended suddenly when Darchinyan was knocked out by the powerful Jamaican. The great finish in the Walters/Darchinyan fight was a stark contract to the anti-climatic ending of the shows final world title bout which saw Nonito Donaire (33-2, 21) take a technical decision over Simpiwe Vetyeka (26-3, 16). Donaire, who was cut in the opening round, was in charge of the bout but the ending left a nasty taste in everyone's mouth, including Donaire's. The Filipino showed his classy side by offering a rematch though we doubt we'll see it with Donaire certainly having bigger fish to fry at 126lbs. London, UK As well as the trio of world title fights in Macau we also saw a title bout in London as Thailand's Tabtimdaeng Na Rachawat (52-3, 34) put up a great effort against England's very only Jamie McDonnell (24-2-1, 11) in a WBA Bantamweight title fight. Unfortunately for Tabtimdaeng his great effort was for naught as he was knocked out with a single shot in round 10. Although he lost Tabtimdaeng did impress and helped show that Thai boxers can be very exciting fighters with their pressure heavy styles. Distrito Federal, Mexico It was a bad day for Thai boxers in all honesty and in Mexico we sadly saw Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (27-4-1, 25) lose his WBC Super Flyweight title as he dropped a technical decision to Carlos Cuadras (30-0, 24). Srisaket's slow feet saw him chasing shadows against the fast moving Cuadras who, sadly, refused to stand and trade with the Thai as we had been hoping. It was a good win, on reflection, for Cuadras but the bout did feel like a let down in all honesty. On the same show in Mexico we also saw Japanese based Filipino Honey Mae Bermoy (6-4, 6) suffer a defeat as she was stopped by the world class Irma Garcia (10-1-1, 2) in just 4 rounds. This was the second successive stoppage loss for Bermoy who was stopped earlier this year by Tenkai Tsunami in an OPBF title fight. Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany Whilst things weren't good for Thai's on the world scene they were no better for Korean's and fans in Germany saw Susi Kentikian (33-2-0-1, 17) dominate South Korea's tough but limited Dan-Bi Kim (9-3-1, 2). Kim took a real beating and was saved by her corner sadly learning the hard way what it's like to compete with real world class opponents. Aichi, Japan Whilst much of the action was fought at a high level on the international stage there was also a card in Japan which saw several notable fighters in action. The main event on the Japanese card featured recent world title challenger Daiki Kaneko (20-3-3, 13) who returned to the ring with a bit of a gimme against Shogo Ishikawa (10-7, 3). Kaneko, who was last seen in the ring on New Year's Eve losing to Takashi Uchiyama, was too good, too big and too strong with Ishikawa. Kaneko's victory followed another by a former world title challenger as Ryo Akaho (23-1-2, 16) defeated Thailand's Songseanglek Phosuwangym (1-11) in just 82 seconds. This was Akaho's 4th straight stoppage since his sole loss to Yota Sato in a WBC Super Flyweight title fight back in 2012. It wasn't all good news for "name" fighters on this show as former Japanese Middleweight champion Tomohiro Ebisu (12-4, 12) was stopped by French man Kevin Thomas Cojean (14-5-1, 5). Ebisu was dropped in roudn 2 and failed to beat the 10 count in another fight that sadly showed that he can't take a shot. Earlier on the same card there was a good win for Hayato Yamaguchi (12-4-1, 2) who surprisingly stopped Tatsuya Kaneko (7-10-1, 1) in 5 rounds. On the under-card fans also got to see two rookie bouts as the unbeaten Takashi Igarashi (3-0, 1) defeated Tameji Ito (1-1, 1) in a 4 round majority decision and Yu Kinjo (4-3, 3) took a unanimous decision over Naoya Nishimura (3-6-1, 2). Guangzhou, China One, overly-late result, that we now have was that the unbeaten Chinese Heavyweight Zhang Junlong (7-0, 7) continued his winning run with a 5th round stoppage over Indonesia's Nico Toriri (27-17-3, 12). This result saw Junlong claiming the International Boxing Organization Asia Pacific Heavyweight title. Going into the weekend we had expected Junlong to be fighting Japan's Kotatsu Takehara though we're unsure why Junlong ended up fighting the much worse Indonesian fighter. (Image, courtesy of Pepe Rodriguez, is from the Srisaket/Cuadras result) This past Tuesday saw a card under-the radar in Thailand despite having some of the biggest Thai names of it. Unfortunately we weren't made aware of it until afterwards though thankfully we do have the result from it. Pathum Thani, Thailand The main event on the show saw the very promising and still unbeaten Nawaphon Por Chokchai (21-0, 15), pictured, successfully defend his WBC Asian Boxing Council Flyweight title as he over-came former OPBF Minimumweight champion Michael Landero (16-12-4, 5) in 3 rounds. Landero was once a very good fighter though at the moment those memories are rather distance and he has now lost 8 of his last 9 including 3 stoppages. Whilst Nawaphon was the main event he probably wasn't the main attraction, that honour seems to have fallen to current WBC Super Flyweight champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (27-3-1, 25) who scored his 4th win of the year as he stopped the over-matched Ngaotawan Sithsaithong (10-14-1, 5) in 4 rounds. This bout was little more than a stay busy contest for Srisaket who has a world title fight arranged for next month with Carlos Cuadras, a bout we're more than licking our lips in anticipation of. That should be special. Former world champion Suriyan Sor Rungvisai (35-5-1, 15) was surprisingly taken the 6 round distance by the over-matched, but tough, Samuel Tehuayo (17-20-2, 3). Suriyan seems to be staying active but not going anywhere with his career at the moment. Hopefully promotional outfit Nakornluang can move him into a meaningful fight soon. Also on the card was the unbeaten Kongfah Nakornluang (12-0, 6) who quickly got rid of the debuting Yutthana Sor Ratidech (0-1), inside a round, whilst stable-mate Namphol Sithsaithong (5-7, 5) was extended into the second round by Nanfah Saksamrong (0-1). (Image courtesy of boxrec.com) |
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