On December 21st we'll see Japanese Heavyweight, yes they do exist, Kyotaro Fujimoto (21-1, 13) take on rising English fighter Daniel Dubois. TheEnglishman is regarded as one of the top Heavyweight prospects on the planet, but much, much less is known about Kyotaro, who, outside of Japan, is really unknown. We know people will have looked him up on boxrec, but that doesn't really give anything than the most basic of information about the 33 year old.
Given his up coming bout, and how unknown he is by an international audience, we felt now was the perfect time to be bring 10 facts you probably didn't know about... Kyotaro Fujimoto. 1-Kyotaro first made his name in K1, where he was a frustrating but talented fighter. Unlike many Japanese fighters he fought with a very negative style, looking to counter. This style caused real issues with fans and TV channels, with his 2008 fight against Mighty Mo being a particularly notable bout that ended up genuinely annoying viewers due to his negativity and accusations of running. 2-Until August 2009, when he was still in K1, Kyotaro fought under various monikers. It was only in 2009 that he began to fight as Kyotaro, ignoring his surname for fighting purposes. 3-In 2010 Kyotaro took part in a K1 rules exhibition bout against professional wrestling Shinsuke Nakamura, who would later go on to be a major star in New Japan Pro Wrestling and is current a WWE Superstar. 4-Staying with K1 Kyotaro was the first Japanese Heavyweight fighter to win the K1 Heavyweight title, doing so in 2009 when he beat Gokhan Saki. That win also saw him becoming the organisation's second ever Heavyweight champion. 5-In 2011 Kyotaro tried his hand at Professional wrestling, and had matches for All Japan Pro Wrestling. This was, however, a very short lived thing and he quickly decided to turn his hand to boxing, signing up with the Kadoebi Gym, who have guided his entire boxing career so far. 6-Kyotaro made his debut on a New Year's show! The show was headlined by the then 8-0 Kazuto Ioka, who successfully defended the WBC Minimumweight title, and also featured former world champion Nobuo Nashiro, future world champion Ryo Miyazaki and current world title contender Sho Ishida. On his debut Kyotaro beat Australian Cruiserweight Michael O'Donnell, taking a clear 6 round decision win. 7-In 2012 Kyotaro made history, as he became the first ever Japanese Heavyweight to be world ranked as a boxer. He achieved the feat by beating Chauncey Welliver and getting a WBC ranking as a result, slipping in at #15. At the time he had also managed to become the OPBF #2 ranked contender. 8-Having managed to make a bit of a buzz and increase interest in the Japanese Heavyweight scene the Japanese Boxing Commission (JBC) reactivated the Japanese Heavyweight title in 2013, 56 years after the last Japanese Heavyweight title fight. Kyotaro would go on to stop Okello Peter in 6 rounds to take the title, making him the second ever Japanese Heavyweight champion. 9-As the Japanese Heavyweight champion Kyotaro would defend the title twice, with the second defense being a split decision against Nobuhiro Ishida. Yes that Nobuhiro Ishida, the one who stopped James Kirkland! In fact that was the second bout between Ishida and Kyotaro, following a razor thin win in an 8 round bout a year earlier. Despite scraping two wins over Ishida Kyotaro would later unify the Japanese titles with the OPBF and WBO Asia Pacific Heavyweights titles, making him the first Japanese fighter to hold those titles and a triple champion. 10-According to an interview in Japan Kyotaro started his combat sport life at the age of 3, when he began Karate after his parents saw him being bulled by his two older sisters. Extra fact - Kyotaro became a professional fighter because he wanted to become famous.
0 Comments
Over the last few years the Japanese boxing scene has witnessed an incredible rise through the ranks by the "KO Dream Boy" Kosei Tanaka, who has gone on to become the star of the Chubu region of Japan. He's had a number of fights shown internationally through streams with CBC and has become one of the most notable figures in Japan boxing. Today we take you on a journey in our latest Six Degrees of Separation, starting with Tanaka and ending with Chartchai Chionoi. 1-Kosei Tanaka fights out of the gym lead by former WBC Super Bantamweight world champion Kiyoshi Hatanaka, the man who had been the face of boxing in Nagoya in the late 1980's and early 1990's. 2-Although Kiyoshi Hatanaka wasn't the most successful fighter of his era he certainly had a good local following and was regularly in great fights, thanks to his engine and toughness. Hatanaka's young son Kento Hatanaka is currently carving out a respectable career of his own, despite still being in the shadows of his father. 3-Another youngster stuck in the shadow of his father is Juiki Tatsuyoshi, who's father was more of a national star than Kento's father. Juiki's father Joichiro Tatsuyoshi was regarded as one of the most exciting fighters of his era and the most popular in Japan, by some margin, due to his enigmatic personality and his thrilling, in ring style which lead him to 2 reigns as the WBC Bantamweight champion. 4-Another WBC Bantamweight champion was the legendary Fighting Harada, who defeated Eder Jofre for the belt. Harada's significance to Japanese boxing is legendary and he is generally regarded as Japan's greatest ever boxer, and one of the finest fighters the lower weights have ever seen. 5-During his long and successful career Fighting Harada was only beaten by 1 Asian fight, Pone Kingpetch. Kingpetch was the first ever Thai world champion, and became a 2-time champion by beating Harada in 1963, before finally becoming a 3-time champion in 1964. 6-Thailand hasn't had many 3-time world champions. One was Kingpetch and another was Chartchai Chionoi, who, like Kingpetch, had 3 reigns at Flyweight taking the WBC belt from Walter McGowan in 1966 for his first reign, reclaiming it from Efren Torres in 1970 and then beating Fritz Chervet for the then vacant WBA title in 1973. Former 3-time IBF Super Flyweight champion Elly Pical isn't a name every fan will be aware of, but if you follow Indonesian boxing, or the Super Flyweight division, the odds are you will be aware of him. He was the first Indonesian world champion and would hold the IBF Super Flyweight title on and off through much of the 1980's winning the belt for the first time in 1985 and holding it on and off until 1989. His career only lasted 26 professional bouts, but was a remarkable one that put Indonesia on the boxing map.
Whilst Pical is known for his place in Indonesian boxing history there is a lot that isn't widely known about him, so here we delve into Elly Pical and bring you 10 facts you probably didn't know about...Elly Pical. 1-As a child Pical suffered damage to his hearing due to working as a pearl diver. 2-Pical became a boxing fan due to Muhammad Ali, and would watch Ali's fight on Indonesian channel TVRI. Notably Pical would fight 9 times at the venue that Muammad Ali fought Rudi Lubbers at, the Bung Karno Stadium. This was the venue that Pical won the IBF world title at, 3 times. 3-When he first began boxing Pical didn't tell his parents because they didn't approve of the sport and wouldn't have let him train had they been aware. 4-As an amateur Pical had quite a lot of success, and a 2-time winner of the President's Cup, winning in 1980 and 1981. 5-Not only was Pical the first Indonesian world champion but in 1989 he also took part in the first ever world title bout in Singapore, defending the IBF Super Flyweight title against American challenger Mike Phelps with a split decision. This was also the last time Pical successfully defended the tite, losing it for good 8 months later to Juan Polo Perez 6-In 2016 Pical returned to the ring for a 1 off exhibition with former sparring partner Feras Taborat, as part of a card headlined by Daud Yordan. This event came more than 15 years after Pical's final bout, which was it's self a 1-off comeback bout 2000. 7-Following his boxing career he worked as a security guard at a night club, and later went in to work for the Indonesian National Sports Commitee, which is called the Komite Olahraga Nasional Indonesia, or KONI for short. Earliet this year it was reported that Pical, and others, had had to wait 5 months to be paid by KONI 8-Pical was arrested in 2005 for selling drugs to under-cover police officers and served 7 months. The arrested caused both shock at Pical and support for Pical, with some in the country angry that such a national sporting hero hadn't been financially supported by the government. 9-He married Ria Siahaya Pical, and they have 2 sons together, Lorinly and Matthew. 10-Earlier this year there was a biopic being produced about Pical, called "The Exocet". The project had been in the pipeline since around 2011 but took a while to get out of the planning stage due to financing issues. Recently it had seen Jefri Nichol cast to play Pical, but his involvement is now causing serious issues due to Nichol being arrested due to possession of Marijuana. He claimed he was taking the drug to help him sleep during the production of the movie. He was arrested in July and it now seems like production on the movie is off, at least for the time being. The 20 year old actor wasn't the only member involved in the movie's production who was caught with drugs as Robby Ertanto, the director of the movie, was also arrested for possession of marijuana. Extra Fact - Pical underwent surgery due to heart disease in 2017. Extra fact 2-Pical was among the torch bearers for the 2018 Asian Games, carrying the flaming torch in Bogor The second in our "What a Shock" series looks at another of the Ring Magazine Upset of the Year fights, and comes from almost 40 years ago. It was a genuinely notable result at the time, and a real surprise, though one that is now sadly ill remembered. Date August 2nd 1980 Venue Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan, USA Fighters Samuel Serrano (42-4-1, 14) Vs Yasutsune Uehara (25-4, 20) Puerto Rican fighter Samuel Serrano is one of the many forgotten Puerto Rican's from yesterday. His career began way back in 1969 and ended in 1997, when he was 44. Whilst he didn't fight consistently in the tail of his career he was certainly a man who had a very long and successful career, being a 2-time WBA Super Featherweight champion, and a very skilled fighter who went up against a number of top names. After losing 4 of his first 24 bouts Serrano had rebuilt with a 23 fight unbeaten run, including 22 wins. That win over seen him win the WBA title in his second show and make 10 defenses, travelling to Ecuador, Venezuela, Japan and South Africa, as well as defending at home before running into the little known Yasutsune Uehara. Although not a big name outside of Japan Uehara had turned professional with a lot of expectations on his shoulders following an excellent 117-8 (87) amateur record. He signed with Kyoei and took one of the largest signing fees in Japanese boxing history, with those in Japan tipping him for big things. By 1980 however and with 4 losses in his first 29 bouts few gave Uehara much of a chance of doing anything at the top level. He come up short in a previous world title fight, against Ben Villaflor, and had also suffered set backs against Masa Ito and Joe Lim. Despite the poor looking record he had won 10 in a row before getting a shot at Serrano. This was expected to be Serrano's 11th straight defense, and his first win in the US. The talented Puerto Rican did what was expected early on. He out boxed the Japanese fighter, using his skills, timing and jab to remain on the outside, landing at range and racking up the points in the early going. Through the first 5 rounds it was a shut out in favour of the champion who looked so much better than the challenger. Uehara never stopped trying, but never seemed to get going and struggled to even close to Serrano at times. When he did get close that's when Serrano clinched and forced the referee to split them. For almost 6 complete rounds things went as Serrano and his team would have wished. That was until late in round 6, when Uehara's right hand finally landed clean and gave Serrano a warning shot. It was something Serrano take heed of and he was tagged with another only a few seconds later. Then a third. This one was clean, sending the incredibly skilled Serrano down, hard. He couldn't beat the count, and was instead counted out as Uehara took the 6th round KO win at a time of 2:59 seconds. Although this was a short lived success for Uehara, who lost a rematch only 8 months later, it was still a massive upset and one of the very few big wins for Uehara, who had beaten Ricardo Arredondo very early in his career. It was also only the 5th time a Japanese fighter had won a world title outside of Japan. Last weekend we saw IBF Super Flyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas (32-1-2, 22) continue his reign and record his 8th defense in just over 3 years. On paper that sounds impressive but in reality Ancajas has been kept away from the big dogs of the Super Flyweight division since upsetting McJoe Arroyo for the title back in September and his reign has really failed to impress, and big fights have slipped by, including a unification bout a few years ago with the then WBO champion Naoya Inoue.
Thankfully there is time to turn things around, and rebuild his reputation as a true world champion. A chance to put defenses against the like Miguel Gonzalez, Israel Gonzalez, Jamie Conlan and Teiru Kinoshita behind him and get back to the point where he is on par with some of the divisions other top names. Here we give you Five For... Jerwin Ancajas. 1-Francisco Rodriguez Jr (33-4-1, 24) We've always liked a match up between Ancajas and former unified Minimumweight champion Francisco Rodriguez Jr, aka "Chihuas". The Mexican is highly regarded, and is currently ranked in the top 10 by the WBC and WBA, and despite not currently having an IBF ranking it would be out of the the realms of logic for them to place him in there soon, especially given they currently rank a retired fighter in their top 15. Rodriguez brings aggression, power, a fun style and a decent name to the ring. Sure he made his name at 105lbs, but he was always outgrow the division and has settled well at 115lbs and has won 14 in a row, with 11 T/KO's. This is a bout we'd genuinely love to see. 2-Donnie Nietes (42-1-5, 23) Nietes has been out of the ring since the end of 2018, when he beat Kazuto Ioka to become a 4-weight world champion. For whatever reason Neites gave up the title he won there, though hasn't officially retired. What better way to retire than after a fight with Ancajas? For Nietes it gives him a chance to add one more notable name to his brilliant legacy, and claim a world title in 3 different decades. For Ancajas it would be a chance to rip the torch from Nietes and carry it as the Filipino flag bearer for the lower weight classes. This is cross generational fight and one with real appeal, matching Ancajas's speed and fluid boxing against the excellent experience and ring craft of Neites. A really appealing bout for a neutral fan and a huge bout for Filipino fans specifically. 3-Kazuto Ioka (24-2, 14) Unification bouts have been absent from the Super Flyweight division for too long, and even planned unification bouts seem to fall apart for no real reason. So, how about an all-Asian unification bout at Super Flyweight between IBF champion Ancajas and WBO Champion Kazuto Ioka? It wouldn't match the height of Naoya Inoue Vs Nonito Donaire in terms of attention, another Japan Vs Philippines unification bout, but it would still be huge and give the winner a stronger claim as the best in the division. Technically this would be a joy to watch, with both being technically solid, aggressive fighters, with some of the sweetest looking punches in the division. This bout is, of course, dependent on Ioka winning his year ending bout against Jeyvier Cintron, but we do see that as a bout Ioka should win. 4-Roman Gonzalez (47-2, 39) Like Ioka we'll see Roman Gonzalez in action in December, in what looks to be a straight forward come back bout. A win there and the door opens up for "Chocolatito" to get some bigger bouts and why not a shot at Ancajas? For both men this should be seen as an appealing match up. For Ancajas it's finally a chance to take on a well known name, albeit a faded and post-prime Gonzalez, and a win over Gonzalez would do his reputation the world of good. Yes even this version of Gonzalez. As for the Nicaraguan the bout would allow him a shot to reclaim a portion of the Super Flyweight crown, and if he wins it would increase his negotiating power in a potential divisional unification bout with Juan Francisco Estrada. 5-Kosei Tanaka (14-0, 8) Another man with a fight before the year ends, but another really interesting option for Ancajas, is Japanese youngster Kosei Tanaka. Tanaka is already a 3 weight world champion and he has spoken about moving up to Super Flyweight in the relatively near future. If he retains his WBO Flyweight title on December 31st then a move up in weight would certainly be something of interesting. For Tanaka a chance to become a 4 weight world champion in just 16 or so fights must be something that's hugely appealing to a man who has tied Vasyl Lomachneko's record for fewest fights to become a 3-weight champion. For Ancajas this would be a chance to take on a naturally smaller man, but someone who has a growing fan base, and has very high standing among hardcore fans. Ancajas would be the betting favourite, but that doesn't take away from the quality of the match up, and the fact it's a genuine test for the Filipino. This might not be the best possible match up, but is certainly a very interesting bout all the same The Japanese Middleweight scene hasn't been one that has made much news internationally, though it's regularly produced some amazing fights and it's massively over-delivered in the quality stakes in recent years. Today we bring you our latest "Did You Know" article focusing on the Japanese Middleweight title...and It comes just a day before the 8th anniversary of the brilliant title fight between Koji Sato and Makoto Fuchigami, which we've included at the end of this article! 1-The first bout for the what is regarded as the Japanese Middleweight title came in 1947, when Shokichi Arai defeated Eiichi Moriwaki with a 10 round decision. This bout was held on August 31st 1947 in Tokyo, and pre-dates the JBC! 2-Hachiro Tatsumi holds three records for the title. He is the only 3-time Japanese Middleweight champion, he has the most total defenses, at 20, and the most defenses in a single reign at 13! Amazingly Tatsumi fought 111 times his 15 year career, and took part in 45 title bouts! During that time he would become a a 2-Japanese Welterweight champion, a 3 time Japanese Middleweight champion and a 3-time OPBF Middleweight champion. 3-Former champion Hajime Fuji, who held the title for 6 months, had previously been a Sumo wrestler before turning to boxing in 1966 4-Several American fighters have held the title. These include George Carter, who actually beat Hachiro Tatsumi on debut, Steven Smith, who fought as "Flasher Ishibashi" and Kevin Palmer. 5-The belt was once held by an English fighter who shares his name with that of a former British Prime Minister! That was James Callaghan, who held the title in 1980, defended it once, then retired with a 6-0 (4) record. 6-The little known known champion Katsuo Esashi ended his career with a losing record despite winning the title in 1979. In the end Esashi would retire with a 5-6 (3). He won the belt when he stopped the then 9-11-1 Nessie Horiguchi, and lost in his first defense just 7 months later. Incidentally he fought two future world champions, losing twice to Masashi Kudo and also losing in his final bout to Chong Pal Park. Surprisingly his only decision defeat was a 10 round decision loss to Kudo in their second bout. 7-Esashi wasn't the only champion to end up with more losses than wins either! Yoshiaki Eto, who retired 11-13-1 (5), had done the same in the 1960's. 8-Only 2 fighters who have held the title have ever gone on to win a world title. The first of those was Masashi Kudo, who held the WBA Light Middleweight title in the late 1980's, and Shinji Takehara, who won the WBA Middleweight title in 1995. 9-Despite the failure of Japanese Middleweight champions winning world titles several have tried, including Yoshiaki Tajima, Yoshinori Nishizawa, Naotaka Hozumi and Makoto Fuchigami. We began December with John Riel Casimero being the toast of Filipino boxing after he beat Zolani Tete to become a 3-weight world champion. The Filipino star is currently being linked to a 2020 showdown with Japanese super star Naoya Inoue in what would make for a great bout for Inoue's Top Rank debut, in front of an audience who perhaps aren't as familiar with the Super Flyweight division as they should be. With Casimero's recent win it only made sense to feature him in our latest Six Degrees of Separation, and today we take you on a journey from Casimero, to WBC Light Flyweight champion Kenshiro Teraji. 1-Filipino power puncher John Riel Casimero has made his name as a road warrior, picking up wins in countries as far apart as the UK and Nicaragua and from the US to China. Another of the sports true road warriors was Alicia Ashley, a female fighter from Jamaica who truly fought all over the globe in her 37 fight career. 2-Although not too well known by boxing in general Alicia Ashley was a fantastic fighter who who travelled the globe for fights, and she fought as far and wise China, Germany, Austria and North Korea. 3-Boxing doesn't have many North Korean fighters. It never has. Despite the poverty of the country the sport hasn't been seen a way out due to the countries political strangle hold and ideology. There has however been a handful of notable fighters who can have their roots traced back to Pyongyang, including Hyun Mi Choi. 4-Choi, who was born in Pyongyang though fled North Korea as a youngster alongside her family, has been a bit of a boxing peculiarity. Not only was she a North Korean born fighter who won a world title, but she also won a world title on her debut, winning the WBA female Featherweight title in her 2008 debut. In her 4th defense of that title, against Sandy Tsagouris, the referee was Biney Martin. 5-Although now a well established referee in Japan before that Martin was a professional fighter himself, a fairly solid one who left a decent mark on the Japanese domestic scene. In 1993 and 1994 Biney Martin would twice face off with, and lose to, Hisashi Teraji, the then Japanese Middleweight champion. 6-Before the fights with Martin Japan's Hisashi Teraji would have a baby boy, born on January 6th 1992. That boy was Kenshiro Teraji. Japan's Jiro Watanabe will remain one of the sports enigma's. He was an excellent, natural fighter, with a real mean streak through him. A strong, powerful, and skilled Super Flyweight who despite not being the quickest or the sharpest was a real nightmare. He could be dropped in any era of the Super Flyweight division and he would give anyone a tough time thanks to his heavy hands, toughness and physical strength. Of course what he did after boxing is pretty well known, being a known member of the Yakuza where he worked as an enforcer and was found guilty of various crimes as part of the criminal organisation. The whole Yakuza relationship is worthy of a book, however that's not the focus here, instead we're here to give you 10 facts you probably didn't know about...Jiro Watanabe 1-As an amateur Watanabe went 4-0, fighting out of the Osaka Teiken gym. 2-Whilst Watanbe's professional boxing career was a major success it appears he was a natural athlete and could have been a success in other sports. Notably he was a very talented swimmer before turning to boxing. 3-Unlike many fighters Watanabe doesn't come from a poor background. His father was a successful businessman. 4-Watanabe was a converted southpaw. This explains, in some ways, why he had such devastating hooks and such solid jabs. 5-In 1985 Watanabe made history by becoming the first Japanese fighter to successfully defend a world title outside of Japan, which he did in South Korea against Suk Hwan Yun. Prior to Watanabe's win Japanese world champions were 0-5 in world title defenses away from home, with losses for Fighting Harada, Hiroyuki Ebihara, Kuniaki Shibata, Guts Ishimatsu and Royal Kobayashi. It would be more than 20 until someone replicated the achievement, with Toshiaki Nishioka's win over Jhonny Gonzalez in 2009. 6-Exactly half of Watanabe's 28 professional bouts were made up with world title bouts, with the Japanese star going 12-2 in them. Similarly he would score 7 wins over people who held world titles at some point in their career's Koji Kobayashi, Rafael Pedroza, Gustavo Ballas, Shoji Oguma, Soon Chun Kwon and Payao Poontarat, twice. Interestingly in the final of the 1980 Rookie of the Year Watanabe knocked out Koji Kobayashi in the opening round of their bout. 7-In 1980 Watanabe won the Japanese Newcomer award and would later go on to claim the Best fighter award, similar to what is now the MVP award, 4 years in a row, from 1982 to 1985. Incidentally he would also win the Japanese Fight of the Year award every year from 1982 to 1985. 8-Watanabe's retirement ceremony from professional boxing came on September 17th 1992 at the Osaka-Jo Hall, sharing the stage with Joichiro Tatsuyoshi's WBC Bantamweight title defense against Victor Rabanales, an unsuccessful defense for Tatsuyoshi. 9-After retiring from boxing, but before he began to be involved in the various criminal activities with the Yakuza, he was involved in legitimate businesses. Sadly it didn't take long for his legitimate activities to turn criminal and he was first arrested in 1995 for his illegal activities, with the first arrest coming for extortion. 10-In 2007, after more than a decade of criminal links, he was banished from the Japanese Boxing Commission (JBC) despite being a former WBA and WBC Super Flyweight champion. Extra fact - According to multiple Japanese sources he was criticised by the legendary Fighting Harada for ballooning in weights between fights. He would have to lose up to 12Kg, 26.5lbs, to make weight The name Takashi Okada (6-1-1, 1) is unlikely to mean a lot to most fans, but the former Japanese fighter is certainly a man who should be better known than he is, and whilst his professional career was very short, he scored 2 wins that look fantastic on reflection, and did in the space of 13 months. He is the man who gave perennial title challenger McWilliams Arroyo and current Super Bantamweight champion Daniel Roman their first defeats.
One thing that is often asked when Okada's name is brought up in conversation is why he ended his career after his first loss, and just how did such an obscure fighter score 2 huge wins in his incredibly short career. Here we'll look to answer those two questions and more, as we bring you 10 facts you probably didn't know about...Takashi Okada. 1-Firstly we need to point out that Okada was very talented amateur, winning the 2005 All Japan Championship as a Flyweight en route to recording an amateur record of 53-15 (28). 2-According to at least one Japanese news site Okada was planning to become an interior co-ordinator before becoming a professional boxer. 3-He has 3 older brothers, who were all involved in sport whilst Okada originally took up Piano, which he played from kindergarten to elementary school. It wasn't until High school that he began boxing and was bitten by the boxing bug. 4-He made his professional debut in 2007, stopping Kiattisak Sor Proenchai, as a fighter affiliated with the MT Boxing Gym in Japan. Notably that was his only bout in Japan as his career got a lot more complicated, and he was unable to get a Japanese license, forcing him to fight in North America for the rest of his career. 5-Following his debut Okada suffered from vomiting and headaches, and was diagnosed as having a subdural hematoma. Whilst he didn't require major surgery, though did require treatment, the injury prevented him from being able to receive a Japanse boxing license. This meant he had to fight outside of Japan, and lead to him fighting in the US, and Mexico, for the rest of his career, rather than in Japan. 6-Just months after turning professional Okada had sparred with Akira Yaegashi and Eagle Den Junlaphan. Later in his career, ahead of his bout with Daniel Modad, he sparred with Giovani Segura. 7-On his US debut Okada fought to a draw against the then debuting Filipino-American Bruno Escalante. For that bout Okada was trained by Rudy Hernandez and was fighting for the first time in in 2 years and 8 months. That included the break from the ring to recover from his brain injury. 8-Whilst Okada's earlier career win over Daniel Roman stands out now, especially given Roman's success at Super Bantamweight, the bout was actually fought at a contracted 116lbs. Following that win he returned to Japan to get an extension to his Visa before fighting in his first 6 rounder, exactly 11 months after the win over Roman. He also suffered a number of injuries this bout, that would have delayed a ring return regardless of visa issues. 9-After suffering his first, and only professional loss, in 2013 Okada is quoted as having said something to the effect that if he fought Uriel Gaona 10 times he would win 8 of them. From what little detail of that bout we could find Okada had dropped Gaona before being stopped standing in round 3 by the referee. Following this bout neither man would fight again. For Okada it would seem likely that injuries, including the brain issue and injuries suffered against Roman, likely forced his decision. 10-He currently works as a trainer at the MT Gym, the gym that he made his professional boxing debut under. He's been a trainer since 2014, the year after his final professional bout. The month of November has been a strange one in many ways, with some really awesome fights, some disappointments, and some real up and down moments through out boxing. The brilliant WBSS final was certainly one of the highlights of the year but bouts falling through was an issue at times. Thankfully we do have something that is consistent with boxing, and that is that Boxing Raise will show some absolutely amazing fights. This month that was once again true, with some absolutely tremendous action being made available on the Japanese service, that once again made a great case as being the best value service for any boxing fan. As with our previous "Best of Boxing Raise" article all the fights featured here can be accessed by subscribers by logging into Boxing Raise and adding the "movie/####" to "https://boxingraise.com/". Youngsters go to war - Ryugo Ushijima (3-0-2, 2) vs Taison Mukaiyama (4-2, 3) [movie/7017/] Earlier in 2019 we had our attention grabbed by Ryugo Ushijima, thanks to a thrilling contest with Shota Ogasawara. On Boxing Raise this month Ushijima faces off with Taison Mukaiyama and this was some that possibly exceeded the Ogasawara bout, with the two men really smashing lumps out of each other, in a bout that had an opening round knockdown, and a lot wild action. This wasn't as polished as some of the other bouts from through the month but was genuinely great fun to watch. Bantamweight Shootout - Kazuki Nakajima (7-0, 6) vs Jin Minamide (4-0, 3) [movie/7019/] The God's Left Bantamweight tournament is a genuinely brilliant idea, and although it hasn't managed to quite deliver as hoped it's still given us some great action. That was certainly seen in the semi-final bout between Kazuki Nakajima and Jin Minamide. This wasn't a drawn out war, we do have one of those coming up, but was a thrilling shoot out. It took a few moments for the fighters to light the touch paper, but as soon as that happened you knew the end was night, but weren't sure who would land a bomb first. Genuinely brilliant and hugely entertaining, little battle here! Extreme Eliminatorion - Taiki Minamoto (16-5-1, 13) vs Takuya Watanabe (36-9-1, 21) [movie/7020/] Whils the WBSS Bantamweight final was, easily, the best bout of the month we did see some other thrillers during the month. One of best of the rest was an 8 round war in a Japanese Super Featherweight title eliminator between Taiki Minamoto and Takuya Watanabe. This looked great on paper yet massively over-delivered and gave us one of the best fighters we've seen in Japan this year. It pit Watanabe's toughness and strong yet basic boxing against Minamoto's explosive boxing, and delivered what was an absolute barn burner, and a real must watch for any fan who had 40 minutes of time to enjoy themselves. This was amazing and got better and better as the fight went on and both men began to show the damage of war. OH DAMN! - Tsuyoshi Tameda (21-4-2, 19) vs Jae Woo Lee (6-2, 5) [movie/7045/] We've already mentioned a shoot out and a war, but when Tsuyoshi Tameda took on Jae Woo Lee in the Hajime No Ippo 30th anniversary tournament we ended up with something of a hybrid. This was was an up close war, fought as if both men wanted to have a shoot out. Both fighters unloaded bombs from the early going, setting their feet and firing off huge power shots, and trying to take each other out. If you like fights fought on the inside, with machimso being the driving force you'll love this. Absolutely amazing fight, and one that will have you engrossed from the first moment to the last. Knockdowns traded in thriller! - Shingo Kusano (11-8-1, 4) vs Qiang Ma (5-1-2, 3) [movie/7047/] On paper the Hajime No Ippo 30th anniversary tournament looked interesting with out being amazing. That thanking was instantly blown out of the water by he Tameda Vs Lee fight and just moments later we were given another fight as Shingo Kusano and Qiang Ma traded knockdowns in a brilliant war. This wasn't quite as intense as the Tameda Vs Lee bout but was another thriller, with bombs galore, both men being hurt and despite the lower intensity it was a more dramatic bout. Despite the records of the two fighters these two delivered something very special. Whilst we certainly have less great action on Boxing Raise in November than in October, what we did get was some of the months very best fights from anywhere in world boxing. This month we were lucky to get such quality, even if the quantity was lacking! (Image courtesy of Boxing Raise and Boxmob.jp) |
Thinking Out East
With this site being pretty successful so far we've decided to open up about our own views and start what could be considered effectively an editorial style opinion column dubbed "Thinking Out East" (T.O.E). Archives
March 2024
Categories
All
|