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)
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This past Friday was a busy one for boxing fans in Asia with notable fights in both the Philippines and Thailand. Bueng Kan, Thailand The most notable bout of the day was in Bueng Kan in Thailand as the world ranked and very highly regarded Teerachai Kratingdaenggym (25-0, 19) successfully defended his PABA Welterweight title, super version. Teerachai, ranked #7 by the WBA, continued his rise by stopping former foe Behzod Nabiev (22-8-1, 16) in round 7. This was the second meeting between the two after Teerachai was forced to take a decision over Nabiev last year. The first bout saw the Thai being knocked down and forced to struggle to a decision this time though an improved Teerachai did what was expected and became just the second man to stop the Uzbek fighter. Bangkok, Thailand As well as the Thai card with Teerachai on their was a second Thai card, this time in Bangkok. This card was a much deeper show with 4 bouts on it as opposed to just one though for us none were as notable as Teerachai/Nabiev II. The shows opening bout on the broadcast saw the very highly ranked Tabtimdaeng Na Rachawat (52-2, 34), the WBA #3 Bantamweight, take an 8 round decision over the game but completely out classed Shark Mac (0-2). Mac, who was on the receiving end of a controlled beating, hardly landed a punch of note during the 8 round contest though he will likely be welcome to return to Thailand for more fights like this given his proven toughness. The main event on this show saw the unbeaten Thong Sithluangphophun (8-0, 5) defend his PABA interim Featherweight title for the first time. Thong, who won the belt back in January, made very light work of the over matched Tony Arema (3-5). Arema was down twice in round 2 before being down again in round 3 as the towel came in. From what we saw of Thong here he looks very promising and at 21 years old he has a lot of time to develop into an excellent fighter. Technically he has a fantastic jab that he likes to throw and although he needs to step up he does look a little bit special. The third fight on the show saw baby faced southpaw Hanuman Sithluangporphun (2-0) take a decision over the more experienced Thaminkhao Sor Tharnthip (3-9-1, 2) before Yodsingdaeng Jor Chaijinda (4-0, 2) stopped the debuting Kaewkangwan Sithporkae (0-1) in 4 rounds. Metro Manila, Philippines In Metro Manila MAG Pacman put on a very interesting 8 bout card at the San Juan Arena. The main event here featured 2-time world title challenger Michael Farenas (38-4-4, 30) who scored a controversial cut stoppage over Mexican veteran Hector Velazquez (56-21-3, 38). Velazquez, who suffered a genuinely nasty cut, was ruled to have been damaged by a punch though replays seem to show it was a clash of heads that forced the early conclusion to the bout and the bout should have been a 2nd technical draw. In the chief support bout fans got to see the promising Giovanni Escaner (11-2, 7) score a 7th round KO over the usually tough Jaymart Toyco (14-5, 10) who suffered just his second stoppage defeat. The show's only 8 round contest saw the unbeaten John Vincent Moralde (8-0, 4) struggle past his toughest test so far. The touted Moralde was genuinely given a great work out by Roman Canto (8-4-2, 3), who some felt may have deserved more respect on two of the score cards. Whilst Moralde struggled fellow unbeaten Dave Penalosa (8-0, 5) did as he was expected to and clearly beat the game but out classed Alem Robles (6-5-2, 2). A third unbeaten prospect, Jake Bornea (6-0, 3) was given an unexpectedly tough contest from Felipe Cagubcob Jr (1-2-4) who showed why he gets so many draws with his ability to keep things close and competitive. The only other 6 rounder on the show saw Jestoni Autida (4-1, 1) out point Eric Pansa (3-2-1) in what looked like a very competitive bout on paper though proved to be very one sided in the actual ring. In the 4 rounders Mark Macabales (1-2) defeated the debuting Jocel Calantos (0-1) whilst fellow debutant Jiffy Castaneda (1-0) out pointed the win less Felipe Suyom (0-3). (Photo courtesy of Boxrec.com) For the the third time this week we had televised fights from Thailand to keep us entertained early in the morning. This one, like the one on Wednesday, was courtesy of Channel 7. Unlike the previous channel 7 show we actually went in to this show blind with no idea, at all, about what was going to be screened.
Thailand, Nakhon Ratchasima The first bout that was shown was a genuine mismatch in the Bantamweight division. What we saw was a Thai, wearing the now famous M150 shorts, beating up on what we believe was a Filipino visitor wearing Twins shorts. The domination of the Thai was obvious and he dropped his foe numerous times before the referee called a halt to proceedings early in round 5. By then there was no questioning who would win, just how badly the loser would be allowed to be beaten up. We have since learned that this opening bout was a contest between Tabtimdaeng Na Rachawat (51-2, 34) and the debuting Tanongsak Kiatsornram (0-1). We had assumed Tabtimdaeng would be on the card though weren't sure who he would be facing As is usually the case with Thai shows, the second bout on the card was the main event and the "mystery bout" which we were thinking was potentially an interim world title bout in the Bantamweight division. As it turned out the main event wasn't a world title bout but instead it seems the bout was for a PABA Featherweight title. The contest, like the opening bout on the show, saw a Thai fighting a Filipino and as with the opening bout it was a mismatch. The fight started in a technical manner though it seemed obvious that the Thai had a bit too much for the Filipino fighter. This was proven to be the case in the second round as the Thai opened up and dropped the Filipino 3 times to record the stoppage victory. Despite the relatively easy victory the Thai did suffer a minor mark under his left eye. It was nothing major but still needed to be noted with possible issues effecting him later in his career. For the names of these fighters, the Thai was Thong Sithluangphophun (7-0, 4) whilst the Filipino was Rick Paciones (6-16-2, 3), with Thong claiming the previously vacant PABA Featherweight title. The action continued with a bout in the 108lb division as we again got a Thai against a Filipino. This fight, the most competitive of the show, was again won by the Thai though he was given a good session by a game Filipino opponent who served his purpose. This fight, which was between Hanuman Sithluangporphun (1-0) and Jimmy Masangkay(4-4-1, 1) was the sole bout to go the distance. In the fourth televised bout the action was fought at a much higher weight (we believe a 150lb contract weight). The Thai fighter, who was giving away notable height and reach to his opponent needed less than a round to score a stoppage. The Thai scored 2 knockdowns with the bout being stopped after the second. We've been lead to believe that this botu was between Pankorn Mor Poowana (3-0, 3) and the debuting Yodsing Sithmanop (0-1), though we're not certain with this one. We then moved back down the weights for a Bantamweight contest and saw the most devastating KO of the day as we got a vicious knockout. Unfortunately the fighter on the receiving end of a devastating right hand he was left in a very serious state with serious worries about his health for a few moments. He did leave the ring under his own steam but the KO was vicious. The man scoring this KO was Yodsingdaeng Jor Chaijinda (3-0, 1) whilst the poor victim was the debuting Daoden Sithporkae (0-1) USA, New Jersey Over in the US the Russian born and world ranked Ilshat Khusnulgatin (11-1, 6) was exposed by Pueto Rico's Roberto Jose Acevedo (8-1, 5) who took him out inside a round. Khusnulgatin, who was ranked #14 by the WBA, really was shown to be inept here and one must wonder what the WBA had seen in him to have ranked him so highly. Spain, Comunidad de Madrid Things were no better in Spain for Iranian Fatah Baghban (8-6-3, 5) who, like Khusnulgatin, lasted less than a round. Baghban, fighting Spanish based Argentinian novice Pablo Sosa (3-3-1, 2), was dropped twice inside a round in a hugely disappointing display that sums up Baghban's career. This was a second successive first round defeat for Baghban who was fighting for the first time in over a year. |
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