Boxing continues as we get a long weekend of action that ends with an exciting looking card in Japan. Okayama, Japan The action continues as we get a fantastic OPBF title fight between a world ranked champion and a brave and under-rated challenger and a WBC Youth title fight between two promising young fighters. The main event is the aforementioned OPBF title fight which will see Super Bantamweight champion Shingo Wake (16-4-2, 9) battling against South Korea's criminally under-rated Jaesung Lee (17-3-2, 9). The fighters both have very similar looking records but they have very different styles and very different ability with Wake being a boxer who relies on movement whilst Lee is a more basic fighter though one who does have under-rated power and under-rated skills. With Wake being world ranked by all 4 organisations the pressure is on him here and we tend to feel that his edge in skills will see him to a win, but the bout is certainly one that looks like it could be challenging for the champion. Prior to the main event we get the shows first title bout as Filipino Rene Dacquel (11-3, 3) battles against Japan's Ryotaro Kawabata (10-2, 4) in a contest for the WBC Youth Super Flyweight title. This will be Dacquel's third fight in Japan and at the moment he boasts a 1-1 record in the country, it was also be his second attempt to win a WBC youth title. For Kawabata, who is ranked by the OPBF, this will be his first title fight and his first 10 rounder. Really even match up. The chief support contest to the title fights will see Kosuke Isono (6-2-1, 1) fighting against Keigo Soma (6-9-1, 3) in an interesting 8 rounder. Isono certainly has the better record but Soma certainly won't make life easy for him. (Image courtesy of boxmob.jp)
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We all know that Japan has some of the best prospects in the world and this coming Sunday sees one of those super prospects in action as we get a busy day of action in Japan. Aichi, Japan For us the most notable bout of the day comes from the International Conference Hall in Nagoya, Aichi as the sensational Kosei Tanaka (2-0) returns for his third professional bout. Tanaka, a fighter that we expect to see big things from, will be fighting Filipino Crison Omayao (16-7-2, 4) in what is going to be Tanaka's first scheduled 10 rounder. The expectation on the young Japanese fighter is huge but some do view him as potentially being as good as Naoya Inoue, who incidentally made his debut against Omayao in a fight that can be seen here. With the world at his hands Tanaka has all the skills to go a long way though may lack the power needed to become a major international star. Despite that we wouldn't be shocked to see him stopping Omayao who has now been stopped in 3 of his last 4 bouts. In the chief support bout on this show Japanese ranked Featherweight Shota Hayashi (22-5-1, 14) will be looking to score a 7th straight victory as he takes on the much less experienced Yoshiyuki Takabayashi (8-3, 3) in what looks likely to be a mismatch. Aichi, Japan Although the Kosei Tanaka bout is the most notable for us it's not the only one notable bout taking place in Aichi, in fact we actually have a second Aichi card with this one taking place at the Aioi Hall. The main event on this card will see the OPBF and Japanese ranked Daiki Koide (21-6-2, 9) battling against Yuya Okazaki (9-7-1, 3). For Koide this will be a chance to score his second win of the year though it seems almost certain that his longer term goals are to have title bouts. As for Okazaki the obvious intention is to secure the biggest win of his career though it is a huge ask here. Although the Koide/Okazaki bout will be the final bout on the show some would suggest the most significant bout on the card will be the shows sole title bout, a contest between the defending WBC Youth Light Middleweight champion Petchsuriya Singwancha (10-8, 5), of Thailand, and Japan's very own Ryosuke Maruki (7-2-1, 5). The 21 year old Thai has turn his career around in recent bouts winning his last 5 contests though he is 0-4 outside of Thailand, on the hand Maruki is very much an unproven fighter losing his most notable contest to date. Osaka, Japan Whilst we have two cards in Aichi we also have two cards at the Abeno Ward Centre in Osaka. The first of the Osaka shows will be a 9 fight Rookie of the Year card. We've not got the names of the participants but we do know that all the bouts will be scheduled for 4 rounds and the show should give us some great action as the men move towards the finals of the regional Rookie of the Year competition. After the Rookie of the Year show fans will get a chance to see a second show which will feature a further 10 bouts, including a notable contest between Atsushi Aburada (8-6, 5) and Junya Nishikawa (7-4-2, 2). The bout might not look great on paper but both fighters are better than their records indicate with Aburada being ranked by both the JBC and the OPBF. (Image courtesy of https://www.facebook.com/SOULBOX.HatanakaBoxingGym) MacauThis coming Saturday is a ridiculously busy day in the boxing world though only one show really matters to many fans, "Champions of Gold". The card, otherwise known as "The Macau card" is the show that has been getting the column inches, forum discussions and most of the weeks attention. The show, the 6th Top Rank promoted Macau show, doesn't look like the most interesting on paper but it does feature an interesting test and a trio of Olympic champions. The most testing of the bouts on the show is that of the much maligned Zou Shiming (4-0, 1) who will be facing off against former world title challenger Luis De La Rosa (23-3-1, 12). De La Rosa is a huge step up in class for Shiming though we doubt Arum and his team have taken this bout without feeling very confident that Shiming will win. We assume part of their confidence is the fact De La Rosa is a significantly smaller fighter than Shiming and he has also been knocked out in 2 of his last 4 bouts, interestingly however De La Rosa did Raul Garcia real fits when they fought back in 2010 suggesting that he will come into this bout with the mentality of scoring a huge upset. This bout will be Shiming's first title bout, as he attempts to claim the WBO International Flyweight title, though the most interesting thing is that it could see him going 10 rounds for the first time in his career. Another possible test could be seen in the fight between "The Macau Kid" Kuok Kun Ng (4-0, 2) and fellow unbeaten fighter Beau O'Brien (4-0-1, 1). We do like KK Ng and think he has real potential to be a shining light in Chinese boxing but O'Brien is no mug and has previously won a version of the New Zealand Light Middleweight title suggesting he could be a handful for the promising fighter from Macau. Unfortunately not all the bouts are tests and one man who will be expected to score an easy win is the always exciting Rex Tso (13-0, 8) who will be fighting Indonesia's John Bajawa (12-6, 6). Bajawa has lost 4 of his last 5 including an opening round stoppage loss to Ryo Matsumoto less than 18 months ago. Tso is exciting and this bout is likely more about keeping his profile up and getting him a highlight reel KO more than anything else, especially considering the expectation is that he's going to be manoeuvred into a world title fight in his next 3 or 4 fights. Another man not expect to struggle is Cuban sensation Guillermo Rigondeaux (13-0, 8) who will be defending his WBO and WBA "super" titles at Bantamweight. Sadly for Asian fans Rigondeaux will be battling against Thai veteran Sod Kokietgym (63-2-1, 28) who has been given no chance by anyone. The bookies make Rigondeaux an unbackable 1/100 favourite and it's hard to argue with them though hopefully a victory for the Cuban will lure him back to Macau for future fights with the likes of Shingo Wake. Yet another apparent mismatch comes in a Lightweight contest between the very exciting Ik Yang (15-0-0-1, 10) of China and Thailand's limited Rachamongkol Sor Pleonchit (14-8, 6). Yang is a fighter who has a very American style and is great fun to watch so this is likely about getting him another eye catching win against a fighter who simply isn't fit to get in the ring with him. Rahamongkol has won just 1 of his last 7 and been stopped 6 times in his 22 bouts, we expect that to become 7 times in 23. For those interested in seeing what Yang is about before this fight we have a number of his fights in our video section, including his Macau debut against Elly Ray. On paper another interesting bout will see Russia's Egor Mekhontsev (3-0, 3) fighting against Filipino Mike Mirafuente (2-0, 2). Sadly this contest is only interesting on paper and Mekhontsev is a very special fighter who will likely beat Mirafuente with out even breaking sweat. Hopefully next time out Mekhontsev will face a much better opponent because he has all the tools to be fast tracked to a world title. As well as the bout involving Asian's the show will also feature an international bout of note as Mexico's unbeaten contender Gilberto Ramirez Sanchez (28-0, 22) battles against Australian Junior Talipeau (20-2-1, 7) in a bout that looks great on paper though is unlikely to be more than a simple win for "Zurdo" Sanchez who we rate very highly. One more bout on the card will see the popular Brian Viloria (33-4-0-2, 19) returning to Macau for the first time since he lost his world crown to Juan Francisco Estrada last year. This time around Viloria is being matched easily as he takes on Jose Alfredo Zuniga (11-5-1, 5), a man who has gone the distance with both Alberto Rossel and Oswaldo Novoa in recent contests. Viloria is, of course, a bigger fighter than both Rossel and Novoa and will be expected to do a job on Zuniga here. Wonju, South Korea In a bit of an oddity in South Koreans fans will get the chance to see Japan's Takuya Watanabe (20-5-1, 8) fight against Thailand's Yodpichai Sithsaithong (10-11, 4) in a bout for the IBF Asia Featherweight title. From what we understand the JBC won't recognise the belt but won't be punishing Watanabe for taking the fight with the knowledge that the title does help a fighter get an IBF ranking and move them towards a world title fight. The interesting Watanabe will be fighting in Korea for a second successive bout following his bloody battle with Jaesung Lee. If you've not managed to see that bout before we advise you give it a watch, though we do need to warn you that it's probably the bloodiest bout of the year so far and all the claret seemed to come from Watanabe. Western Australia, Australia Western Australia plays host to three Asians this weekend though none of them will be expected to come away with a win. In the main event Indonesian journeyman Roy Tua Manihuruk (15-10-2, 11) will be looking to become the inaugural WBC Eurasia Pacific Boxing Council Lightweight champion as he battles the unbeaten Clint Hosking (9-0, 2). Unfortunately for Manihuruk he is 0-3 in Australia and has sadly lost 4 of his last 6 bouts, including a stoppage loss to the always fun to watch Ji-Hoon Kim. With Hosking taking an unbeaten record into the ring here it's hard to expect anything other than his 10th victory. Another bout on this card, we expect the opening bout on the show, Thailand's Baikon Lokromklao (1-3) will be in action against the win-less Jacob McBride (0-1). Although McBride hasn't won a fight he's being matched Baikon for a reason and with that in mind it's hard to to imagine anything but a victory for McBride, a win we expect will come by stoppage. Another Thai on this show is female fighter Keanpetch Superchamps (6-8-1). Kaenpetch, who recently challenger WBA female Super Featherweight champion Hyun Mi Choi, will be expected to suffer her third straigth stoppage loss as she fights Erin McGowan (15-2, 8) in a clear mismatch. Guerrero, Mexico Another fighter fighting on the round this weekend is Seiichi Okada (18-4, 11) who travels to Mexico to fight Nery Saguilan (29-4-1, 10) in an intriguing contest. Okada is a former Japanese Super Featherweight champion who has been in the ring with Takashi Miura and Daiki Kaneko amongst others though he is a fighter many feel is on the back end of his career. If Okada can upset Saguilan then he could effectively earn himself another big fight however Saguilan himself is in need of a big win after losing 3 of his previous 8 contests. As both men know they need a win we expect this to be a contest that sees them both putting it all on the line and leading to a very exciting contest. (Image courtesy of Top Rank) Something's in boxing are rare. One of those is an IBF title fight that takes place in Japan and another is a Chinese Heavyweight. Amazingly this Friday we get the chance to see both of those in a day that is genuinely littered with fights featuring Asians in contests that we wouldn't typically have expected. Hyogo, Japan The most important card of the day anywhere in the world on Friday is in the amazing Portopia Hotel in Kobe, Hyogo, as we get the day's only world title fight. The bout in question is the aforementioned IBF title fight which will see the unbeaten Teiru Kinoshita (19-0-1, 3) taking on South African puncher Zolani Tete (18-3, 16) in a battle for the vacant IBF Super Flyweight title. The bout, the first title fight in Kinoshita's career, is a hugely important one for not only the fighters but also the venue which is hosting it's first ever fights and also the IBF who has still viewed negatively in Japan. Whilst the Kinoshita/Tete bout is the headline contest it's just 1 of the 6 bouts on the card. Sadly the most notable support bouts are both pretty poor with one of them being between Shinichiro Morikawa (15-4-1, 10) and Ryota Kihara (6-8-4, 5) and the other being a bout between Yubon Kim (10-4, 3) and Yuta Matsuda (9-10-2, 4). Despite these bouts it's clear the fans at the venue will all be there to see the main event and not the support. Tokyo, Japan Another Japanese card will be held at the Korakuen Hall as Kaneko Promotions put on a show that did promise a lot until recently. Originally the main event for this show was to feature Japanese Super Bantamweight champion Hidenori Otake (22-1-3, 9) defending his belt against Daisuke Furuhashi (16-5, 6). Sadly a rib injury has forced Otake out of the bout and as a result the card does look a bit disappointing. As a result of Otake's injury the main event will now be the contest between Ryuto Oho (6-1, 2) and Shuji Hamada (12-6-3, 2). It's an acceptable contest but sadly it's not a great main event, especially considering that the main event was originally supposed to be a very interesting title bout. From the other 7 bouts on the card we need to admit that we are a little bit excited by the contest between Toshimitsu Goto (12-10-1, 5) and Spice Matsushita (11-8, 2). The records of neither man is great but they are about the same and both will be coming to win, also both men are better than their records indicate and will be looking to prove it in a really solid 50-50 bout. Osaka, Japan A third Japanese card takes place in Osaka at the Bodymaker Colosseum. This card is by far the smallest profile show in Japan for the day and will feature a total of 7 bouts, the most notable of which is arguably the 8 round contest between the experienced Tetsuya Hisada (21-8-1, 11) and the limited Takahiro Murai (9-5-1, 3). We imagine Hisada will win but it's a bout that is competitive and could go either way though neither guy is likely to even win a national title as they campaign in some of the deepest divisions on the Japanese domestic scene. Pathum Thani, Thailand The action in Thailand will feature the very promising Nawaphon Por Chokchai (21-0, 15) who will be defending his WBC Asian Boxing Council Flyweight title against Filipino visitor Jay-ar Estremos (10-7, 4). Nawaphon, the younger brother of former world champion Suriyan Sor Rungvisai, is widely touted as a future world champion and shouldn't really struggle with Estremos here though the Filipino is much better than his record indicates and he should really have a victory over Kwanpichit OnesongchaiGym from earlier this year. California, USA In the California we have two intriguing contests. One of those, the main event on a Fox Sports 1 card, will see former world title challenger Mercito Gesta (27-1-1, 15) taking on the experienced Luis Arceo (28-12-4, 18). Although the bout looks like a mismatch it is always fun to see "No Mercy" in the ring and hopefully he'll be at his most explosive against an opponent who is there to be taken out. On the same card fans will get the chance to see Chinese Heavyweight giant Taishan Dong (0-0) make his debut against the limited Alex Rozman (2-6, 1). Stood at 6'11" Dong really is a giant of a man and their seems to be real excitement about him though we really haven't seen much of him action other than one or two kick boxing contests, including a knockout win over Bob Sapp. If however he has skills as well as size he could be a genuine force in the division and it would be great to see him having success in the boxing ranks. New York, USA We have another US bout that takes place in New York. This bout will see Mongolia's San Luis Potosí, Mexico Staying in North America we also have a fight of interest in Mexico. This contest will see the promising Mexican based Japanese fighter Shoky Sakai (17-3, 11) battle against Abraham Cordero (8-2, 5). Although not a world beater Sakai is certainly developing into a capable fighter and his clear win over the previously unbeaten Omar Barajas back in May suggests that he may have the potential to become a possible contender in the future. For those interested in the titles this bout will be fought for the vacant WBC Youth Silver Lightweight title and of course the Youth titles are often a stepping stone to bigger and better things. South Africa Another bout outside of Asia will see IBO Super Flyweight champion Edrin Dapudong (29-5, 17) defending his belt against Lwandile Sityatha (16-3-1, 7). Dapudong, who won the belt by stopping Gideon Buthelezi inside a round last year, will be hoping to become the first Filipino to win back-to-back fights in South Africa though he will be coming into this fight after 13 months out of the ring and he may have some ring rust going into this bout. (Image courtesy of Senrima Kobe Promotions) Sanaa, Yemen
When we talk about boxing from Yemen there is one fighter who has been remarkably inactive this year, Ali Raymi (20-0, 20). The opening round KO machine was one of the busiest fighters last year as he scored a remarkable 16 wins though has unfortunately been inactive since November last year. He returns this coming Thursday to battle against fellow unbeaten fighter Prince Maz (8-0, 6). Maz has racked up 3 wins this year, in fact he scored all 3 of those wins in the space of 8 days, though will still go in as the "under-dog" in this fight against the world ranked Raymi. A second fight on this card will see the unbeaten Ali Rafik (3-0, 3) fighting against Taha Kawkabani (1-1). Unfortunately for both of these men this bout is likely to get over-looked due to the return of Raymi in the main event. Looking at the results of both men it's hard to see anything but a victory for Rafik, despite the fact he is just 15 years old. For those wondering, that's not a typo. After almost a week of subdued action we end the week with some real action in the US with an all-Asian world title bout. Nevada, USA That all-Asian bout will see WBO Bantamweight champion Tomoki Kameda (29-0, 18) defending his title for the second time. Tomoki will be taking on mandatory challenger Pungluang Sor Singyu (46-2, 31) in a bout that will see both men making their US debuts. On paper the contest is genuinely exciting and pits 2 of the top 10 or so Bantamweights against each other with the added bonus of exposing themselves to a new and large market. Although the bout is only being shown on "regular Showtime" the contest is likely to raise the profile of both men and the winner could well find themselves in another major US bout sometime next year. Sadly however we're expecting to see the winner forced to fight against the unattractive Alejandro Hernandez, the current interim champion. Although Hernandez is in great form he won't be a man either fighter would have wanted to fight next. Western Australia, Australia As well as the bout in the US there is also an Asian in action in Australia as Hwi Jong Kim (5-12, 1), from South Korea, battles against Nathaniel May (5-1, 3). It's hard to see Kim winning here but he is better than his record indicates. (Image courtesy of Onesongchai.com) Although this week started with a female world title fight the action really didn't last and for the past few day's we've had almost no action. Thankfully however the weekends with a few fights, albeit nothing great. Tokyo, Japan The biggest potential fight this Friday was a clash which would have seen OPBF Super Middleweight champion Yuzo Kiyota (25-4-1, 23) defending his title. Unfortunately the title part of that bout fell through when none of the ranked contenders were happy to fight Kiyota, understandable given his power and aggression. Sadly with no ranked contenders happy to face him Kiyora has ended up facing off against Indonesian fight Hero Yauw Katili (6-6-1, 4). From what we understand Katili's record is incomplete but he has never fought anyone like Kiyota and this looks to be little more than a stay busy bout from the fun to watch Japanese slugger. Sadly many of the other bouts on the same show lack any type of appeal with the best of the rest being an 8 rounder between the 22 year old Yoshitomo Watanabe (4-1, 3) and Thailand's Pirat Manopchaigym (0-0). Although Pirat is listed on boxrec.com as a debutant we have our suspicions that he has fought before however his actual number of fights and level of fights is up in the air. In total there are 8 bouts on this show but it's hard to get excited about any of them now that Kiyota is facing a significantly over-matched opponent. California, USA Outside of Asia fans will get the chance to see the Kyrgyzstan born Timur Shailezov (17-7-1, 4) fighting against the hard hitting and somewhat promising Victor Ruiz (13-3, 10). Shailezov has started to become a bit of a journeyman with 5 losses in his last 6, including stoppages to Rex Tso and Zhanat Zhakiyanov, though he did shock the previously unbeaten Miguel Cartagena last time out. In Ruiz we have an unknown but young and hungry Mexican who has shared the ring with the very good Francisco Rodriguez Jr. On record we'd favour Ruiz but on recent performances it's fair to say that Shailezov could score another upset. (Image courtesy of boxmob.jp) Although the weekend's action was the best or highest profile we've got to admit that this coming Monday sees us getting a bout we're very excited about as one of our favourites returns to action in an attempt to prove their dominance. Tokyo, Japan The dominant fighter in question is the unbeaten and amazingly skilled Naoka Fujioka (11-0, 6) who will be making the first defence of her WBA Super Flyweight title. Fujioka really blew us away with her all round skills last year when she dominated the hard hitting Naoko Yamaguchi to claim the title however in her first defence she's taking on the very tricky Tomoko Kawanishi (9-1, 4). Kawanishi has all the physical advantages including youth, height and reach but it's clear that Fujioka is the more skilled and that, for us makes the bout incredibly interesting. Unfortunately the female bout is pretty much the only key contest on the show. It's a shame the 7 fight card doesn't have a solid support bout but in all honesty the female bout really is so good that we're willing to over-look an otherwise weak card. (Image courtesy of boxmob.jp) Nonthaburi province, Thailand
In Thailand we get a televised show on Channel 7 which is headlined by the world class Paipharob Kokietgym (24-0, 19) who will be defending his WBO Oriental Light Flyweight title for the first time. In the opposite corner to Paipharob will be Filipino fighter Bobby Concepcion (11-4-1, 5). We don't see anything but a win for Paipharob but hopefully he'll move on after a win because he really has the skills to make a mark on the world stage. In one of the support bouts fans will get the chance to see Thailand's Samartlek Kokietgym (16-4, 5) fighting in a warm up bout prior to his world title challenge with Naoya Inoue, on September 5th. For those worrying about the Inoue fight there is very little risk for Samartlek as he takes on Indonesia'sDomi Nenokeba (11-18-1, 7), a man who is winless in more than 4 years! The only other bout that we have had confirmed for this show Ratchasak Kokietgym (22-3-1, 10) battle against Indonesia's Jemmy Gobel (18-24-5, 13). This will be Ratchasak's first fight since his loss in Macau to Rex Tso though unlike that bout we don't see him chasing shadows here. After a great month of June we're disappointed to say that July seems to be limping to begin a new month, almost as if it's out of breath. Thankfully we do have the odd interesting bout but on the whole Sunday will not be a day to remember. Grozny, Russia Although this weekend is certainly not one to remember, especially not when we consider how great some of the other weekends have been. One redeeming factor is that Sunday will feature a pretty tasty card from Russia with a number of interesting contest at varying levels. The main event of the show will be a very interesting contest between Uzbekistan's Ruslan Chagaev (32-2-1, 20) and American veteran Fres Oquendo (37-7, 24). The men, who will be battling for the "vacant" WBA Heavyweight title, are likely fighting for their career and the loser will almost certainly be thinking about hanging up their gloves. Unfortunately whilst the belt is for a "world title" it's probably the most paper belt in boxing and sees gthe WBA further devaluing the Heavyweight division, thankfully though it's a good enough bout to just enjoy for what it is. It's not just the Chagaev/Oquendo bout on the Russian show, in fact that is just 1 of 3 Heavyweight bouts on the show, but it is clearly the highlight bout. One of the other Heavyweight contests however did catch our eye and that was the bout between the unbeaten Apti Davtaev (6-0, 6), who has stopped all 6 opponents so far in the first 2 rounds, and the more experienced Oleksandr Nesterenko (9-2, 4). Nesterenko may have been stopped last time out but this is still a great step up for Davtaev who has a nice record but little stands out other than the numbers. One other bout on the show we'd like to note is a Welterweight contest that will see the unbeaten Viskhan Murzabekov (8-0, 4) battle against the far more experienced Igor Faniyan (14-8-2, 7) in a battle for the vacant WBC Youth Intercontinental Welterweight title. It's a good step up for the unbeaten 23 year old, dubbed "Little Tyson", and Faniyan should prove to be an excellent test for the unbeaten man. As well as the 3 bouts we've spoken about we are expecting a further 4 bouts on this show. Fukuoka, Japan As well as the Russian show we also have a trio of domestic cards in Japan. One of those is an 8 bout show at the Kyushu Kyoritsu University. This show will be headlined by a very intriguing contest between Yosuke Kirima (18-4-2, 13) and the unbeaten Takahito Osaka (6-0-2, 4). Kirima is ranked by the JBC and OPBF at Light Middleweight but the 23 year old Osaka will not be coming to the ring to just make up numbers and this could be a very good 8 round bout. Sadly one of the others bouts on the card made us simply shake our heads and wonder what the match making was thinking. This bout is the contest between the unbeaten and fast rising Takumi Sakae (8-0, 5) and the very poor Indonesian visitor Boy Tanto (6-14) who will be unlikely to see out the first sustained attack from Sakae who impressed us a lot last year when he won the Rookie of the Year competition. Osaka, Japan At the IMP Hall in Osaka we get several interesting contests including a major domestic clash at Minimumweight as the highly ranked, domestically, Naoki Matsumoto (9-7-2, 2) battles former multi-time title challenger Kenichi Horikawa (25-13-1, 4). Horikawa is the favourite here for us but the winner will certainly start eyeing up a Japanese title for in their next fight or two with both men being that level of fighter and this is why it's such a great bout despite neither man having a great record. Another very interesting Japanese domestic bout will see the unbeaten Tatsuya Ikemizu (10-0, 4) battling against Satoshi Niwa (15-17-3, 2). On paper this is a total mismatch but in reality it's a fantastic test for Ikemizu who has never fought at this level before. It's not often a fighting with 17 losses from 35 bouts is a step up but Niwa is much better than his record would indicate and Ikemizu will have to step up his game to over-come Niwa. One more bout of note on this card will see the unbeaten Ryuto Kyoguchi (11-0-1, 8) battling against the very tough Kenta Takahashi (10-7-3, 3). Kyoguchi is a heavy handed prospect but Takahashi has never been stopped in his 20 bouts and this could see Kyoguchi asked some serious questions about a plan B. Of course if Kyoguchi can stop Takahashi then we have a serious puncher on our hands. Aichi, Japan The weakest of the Japanese cards is at the Aioi Hall in Aichi and will feature 9 bouts in total. Sadly despite having 9 bouts none are really worth much attention with the most significant of them being a contest between Yuji Shimizu (15-8-1, 1) and Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi (1-3). Whilst the records really should have been enough to rule this fight off it's an even bigger mismatch than it looks with Yamaguchi being a 34 year old with no recorded fights in almost 7 years. Awful match up and very poor card we're afraid. (Image courtesy of the13thround) |
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