 Bangkok, Thailand
This coming Friday is a busy day for Asian boxing, and there's a nice mix of fights across the globe. The most notable, for us, is in Thailand however as WBA Minimumweight champion Knockout CP Freshmart (19-0, 7) looks to make his next, facing off with unbeaten Filipino ArAr Andales (10-0, 2). The talented Knockout, who has now scored 4 straight decision wins, will be fighting for the first time since November 2018, and will be hoping not to carry much ring rust into this bout. Andales on the other hand is a 19 year old who has already had a huge 2019, thanks to a massive win last time out against Cris Ganoza. This is a really interesting match up and one where the visitor can't be written, though will be the clear under-dog. We've previewed this bout here Unbeaten Andales looks to upset WBA champion Knockout Florida, USA The second most compelling match up for the day comes from the US and will see us re-run the match up between Koki Eto (24-4-1-1, 19) and Jeyvier Cintron (10-0-0-1, 5), who had an opening round No Contest earlier in the year. Their first bout promised a lot, with Cintron using his speed and movement and Eto trying to use his power and, but ended in weird fashion following an accident headclash that left the touted Cintron stumbling around the ring. Whilst Cintron certainly looked the better boxer it's going to be very interesting to see how this rematch plays out. Our preview of this bout can be read here Eto and Cintron battle in rematch following No Contest Nevada, USA It's not just the bout in Florida that will see an Asian looking to pick up a win in the US but also Uzbek fighter Ravshan Hudaynazarov (17-1, 13), who will be looking to bounce back from a stoppage loss Ronald Cruz. The 35 year old Hudaynazarov isn't in easy here easy, and will be taking on fellow once beaten fighter John Vera (18-1, 11), Vera, like Hudaynazarov, is coming in to this on the back of a loss but the American "Phenom" lost at fringe wold level to the excellent Michel Soro. On paper a very, very interesting match up, but one where we feel the younger Vera will come out on top. Tokyo, Japan Back in Asia we get a small, but pretty interesting card in Japan. The main event of the card will see Japanese ranked fighters clashing with Lightweight hopeful Kei Iwahara (10-6, 5) taking on former Light Welterweight title challenger Vladimir Baez (24-5-2, 22). On paper this looks like a straight forward win for Baez, other wise known as Destino Japan, given his better record and natural size but Baez has has lost his last two and is without a win in well over a year. At 35 Baez may well be a shot fighter. The 28 year old Iwahara is a long way from a world beater, and is 4-3 in his last 7, but has piclked up good domestic wins over Daiki Ichikawa and Mao Kawanishi. In another really interesting match up we see young southpaws collide as Japan's Kento Yabusaki (7-2-1, 5) takes on Filipino Michael Mendoza (9-1-2, 3). Both of these men are 21 year olds and although neither is a bit name both have shown some solid promise at this stage. Yabusaki reached the Rookie of the Yearfinal in 2017, losing to Joe Shiraishi in the final, and has bounced back with 3 straight wins against progressive better competition. That progress looks to continue here against Mendoza. Mendoza on the other hand has won 4 in a row, and took the PBF Flyweight last time out. It's worth noting that Mendoza has been picking up his wins at a lower level than Yabusaki but does have the small edge in experience. Another noteworthy fight on this card is the talented, but light punching Joe Tanooka (15-6-5, 1), who faces against Naoto Mizutani (5-6-2, 2) in a rematch of a technical draw they had in May. On paper this is a huge mismatch but we expect it to be pretty competitive. The 25 year old Tanooka has picked up just a since victory in his last 5, going 1-3-1 and he's had a really tough career so far. Mizutani on the other hand can score upsets, as he did against Mirai Imagawa, and can be a good test against light punchers, as we saw in February against Fumiya Fuse. This could be far better than the records suggest. Victoria, Australia In Australia we'll see Indonesian veteran Noldi Manakane (33-20-3, 18) continue his incredibly long career. The 35 year old Indonesian, who has lost his last 4 and 8 of his last 10, will be expected to come up short again here as he takes on the unbeaten Mark Schleibs (11-0, 7). It's hard to know how good Schleibs is, given the level of his competition so far, but it's hard to imagine anything but an easy win here for the unbeaten man.
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 Tokyo, Japan
We get Japanese title action from the Korakuen Hall this coming Thursday as the next Diamond Glove card takes place. The headline bout looks to be a stay busy defense by Japanese Lightweight champion Shuichiro Yoshino (8-0, 6), who defends the title against Kazumasa Kobayashi (10-7-1, 6). For the talented Yoshino the bout will serve as his third defense of the title that he won back in October 2017, when he stopped Spicy Matsushita for the then vacant title. Since then he has impressed, but this is really just a chance to stay busy as opposed to really building on his reign. The 35 year old Kobayashi has been a professional for close to 13 years and never done enough to earn a title fight. Coming in to thus Kobayashi is horribly out of form, especially given that he has gone 2-6-1 in his last 9 fights, but he will know this is is one and only chance to grab a title before his career is over. A full preview of this bout is available to read here Yoshino defends Japanese title against veteran Kobayashi! Whilst the main event is less than great the under-card is a pretty good one, topped by an excellent match up between Ryo Sagawa (5-1, 3) and Shingo Kawamura (16-4-1, 8), in what we suspect will be the show stealing fight. Coming in to this Sagawa is riding an impressive 4 fight winning run including big domestic wins over Junki Sasaki and Ryo Matsumoto, who he stopped in September. Sagawa was a top amateur and despite an early career loss is showing the potential to build on that amateur success. As for Kawamura he last fought in a losing effort against Satoshi Shimizu, though gave Shimizu fits before losing to the OPBF Featherweight champion. Given the styles, skills and hunger of the two men this has the potential to be a tremendous contest, and the winner will certainly see themselves in the title mix in the new year. An in depth break down of this fight can be read here Sagawa and Kawamuro battle in mouth watering showdown! One of the other supporting bouts will see Kei Iwahara (9-5, 4) face off with the hard hitting Daiki Ichikawa (11-4, 9), in another bout between two fighters with a Japanese ranking. The 28 year old Iwahawa has gone 2-2 in his last 4, but has mixed against decent domestic foes, such as Genki Ishikawa, Yuji Awata and Kazuma Sanpei. On the other hand the hard hitting Ichikawa is a 23 year old who has proven to be a bit of a glass cannon, being stopped in 2 of his 4 losses including a defeat last year in Russia to Muhammadkhuja Yaqubov. If Ichikawa can catch his man he'll be very dangerous, but there's a chance that Iwahara will be too good to be caught by a bomb here. On paper the weakest of the support bouts will see the talented but light punching Joe Tanooka (15-5-4, 1) battle against Motoki Osanai (2-2, 1), a former amateur standout who has struggled as a professional so far. The 24 year old Tanooka came runner up in the 2013 Rookie of the Year and has been in with a who's who of the Japanese scene, scoring notable wins over Ryuto Oho, Kenya Yamashita and Hajime Nagai. Although a very light puncher Tanooka is popular and often fun to watch and will be risking his Japanese ranking here. Osanai was tipped for big things, but has been matched hard and is yet to really shine. The feeling is if, or when, Osanai finds his groove he could prove to be a real talent, and this could well be his chance to shine as he drops down to Bantamweight. Another interesting match up on this card will see the limited but heavy handed Tetsuya Tomioka (5-3, 5) battling against Filipino visitor Jeronil Borres (8-4-1, 5). The hard hitting Tomioka has been stopped in all 3 losses, but has mixed with top domestic competition losing to Junto Nakatani and Katsunori Nagamine, but can certainly bang and fighters do need to respect his power. Borres, who was last seen getting stopped by Nakatani, has scored just a single win in his last 5, though was unlucky to lose in Korea against Joo Hyun Jung last year. For both this will be a chance to bounce back from a recent stoppage loss, and should make for a good action bout.  Tokyo, Japan
The big action this coming Friday comes from Tokyo, with Boxingraise showing it live online. The card features a couple of title fights along with two very good looking supporting bouts. The main event will see Akinori Watanabe (36-7, 30) battle against Ryosuke Maruki (15-5-1, 10) for the interim Japanese Light Middleweight title. For Watanabe this is a chance to claim another belt to his collection, adding to reigns as the Japanese, OPBF and PABA champion at Welterweight. Maruki on the other hand gets a third shot as national honours, having come up short against Yuki Nonaka and Nobuyuki Shindo. We're expecting this to be explosive, with both fighters having very heavy hands, and very exciting with the winner then being lined up to face Shindo, either at the end of this year or in early 2019. The other title fight will see Japanese Mminimumweight champion Shin Ono (22-9-3, 5) making his first defense of the title, as he takes on youngster Riku Kano (13-3-1, 7). The Watanabe veteran won the title earlier this year when he defeated Ryoki Hirai and will be hoping to use the title to land another world title fight, after having come up short in bouts against Katsunari Takayama and Wanheng Menayothin. The 20 year old Kano has promised a lot, but losses to Takayama and Jerry Tomogdan have slowed his career and a poor performance here could see him written off, despite his youth. One of the really good supporting bouts will see the in form Kyosuke Sawada (11-2-1, 6), who has won his last 7, taking on former Japanese title challenger Yosuke Fujihara (17-5, 4). Although Sawada struggled early in his career losing his first 2 bouts, he has has really turned things around and scored a career best win in May against Kinshiro Usui. As for Fujihara he's been out of the ring for almost a year but is a capable fighter and should be a good test for Sawada, albeit one that Sawada should pass as he continues his pursuit of a title fight. Another supporting bout will see the hard hitting Kenshin Oshima (3-1-1, 3) take on the much lighter hitting Joe Tanooka (15-4-4, 1). Last time out Oshima was held to an unexpected draw by Nobuaki Kanazawa and he'll be looking to bounce back from that set back. As for Tanooka, who is one of the more pure boxers in Japan, he'll be looking to build on a good domestic win against Kenichi Watanabe. A really interesting match up against two polar opposites. Shenzhen, China As well as the action in Japan there will also be a notable card in Shenzhen, China, where were several local fighters will be taking on interesting tests. On paper the best of the bouts will see unbeaten Chinese prospect Wenfeng Ge (10-0, 6) look to build on his 2017 win over Amnat Ruenroeng as he takes on once beaten Filipino Ivan Soriano (18-1-1, 9) in a bout for the WBO International Flyweight title. Whilst Ge is unbeaten, and coming in to this on the back of a huge win, it's worth noting that Soriano hasn't lost in over 8 years and will feel confident of picking up a win here. Coming in to this both men are and both will know that a win here will shoot them up the rankings towards a potential world title shot, and a potential show down with either Sho Kimura or Kosei Tanaka. A second title fight will see the once beaten Ahatelike Muerzhabieke (7-1-1, 4) battle against Thailand's Chaloemporn Sawatsuk (18-5, 14) for the WBO China National Super Middleweight title. The Thai once promises a lot, and began his career with 17 straight wins but has proven to be a huge disappointment since then, losing 5 of his last 6 by stoppage. Aged 19 this is a big step up in class for Muerzhabieke but he's won his last 5 and appears to be on a good run to build his confidence coming in to this bout. In a battle of novices fans will see Bo Wang (1-0, 1) take on Aleksei Podkolzin (1-0). Wang needed just a round to win his debut in June 2016, but hasn't fought in an officially sanctioned professional bout since that contest, more than 2 years ago. Interestingly Podkolzin made his debut in January 2017, in a 10 rounder, but apparently hasn't fought since. This is an interesting match up, about as interesting as you can get between two men with 1-0 records.  Tokyo, Japan
This coming Monday fight fans in Japan get the chance to see a really intriguing domestic level card combining competitive match ups, youth and and fighters looking to prove themselves. The main event of the show should be something very special as the always fun to watch Kenya Yamashita (12-3, 9) takes on the experienced Hayato Kimura (26-10, 17). It's hard to think of a dull fight featuring Yamashita, who is an ultra-aggressive fighter always looking for the KO and in Kimura he should find someone able to take his power early on and have a war. Coming into this Yamashita is ranked #5 by the JBC at 115lbs whilst Kimura is ranked #6 and both men will know that a win here will move them close to a shot at the national title. Talking about titles there will be a JBC Youth Lightweight title fight on the card, as Izuki Tomioka (5-0, 1) takes on Kaiki Yuba (3-0, 2). The talented Tomioka will be seeking his 2nd defense of the title, and although a genuine talent there is a feeling that he lacks the power needed, at the moment, to move on to the next level. If, or when, Tomioka adds that power then there is a huge ceiling for him to aim for. As for Yuba he looks like a man with that power already there and will be looking to prove that he really is the future in this bout. Aged 19 Yuba has the potential to go much further than his father, a 5-weight Japanese national champion, but this is certainly a step up for him. A really interesting match up will see recent Japanese Bantamweight title challenger Yuta Saito (10-8-3, 7) take on Naoya Okamoto (12-6-1, 6). Saito came up short last time out, suffering a 9th round TKO loss to Ryo Akaho, but was competitive prior to the stoppage, and is certainly better than his record suggests. Okamoto is also better than his record suggests, and comes in to this bout on the back of wins against Gaku Aikawa and Daisuke Watanabe, two of his very best. This should be a very intriguing and exciting match, despite their records suggesting otherwise. Another interesting bout on this show will see Kenichi Watanabe (7-3-1, 4) end an almost 2 year break from action as he takes on the light punching Joe Tanooka (14-4-4, 1). Watanabe was stopped in 2 of his last 3, with Akinori Hoshino and Hiroaki Teshigawara both stopping him, but with some time out of the ring there is a chance we will see him revitalised here. Tanooka was stopped inside a round last time out, by Yamashita, and will be looking to get his career back on track here in what should be a very competitive contest.  Tokyo, Japan
The most interesting show of the day, at least for us, is in the Korakuen Hall where we see the first set of Japanese Youth Tournament finals, with 4 finals, all of which are really interesting match ups, and bouts that should be really hotly contested. The stand out bout is a rematch between Joe Tanooka (14-3-4, 1) and Kenya Yamashita (10-3, 7), who meet at Super Flyweight. Tanooka came runner up at the 2013 Rookie of the year whilst Yamashita won the Rookie of the Year the following year. In 2015 Tanooka scored a decision win over Yamashita, to give the heavy handed Yamashita his first loss, and since then both men have faltered yet remained popular. Tanooka has gone 5-1-1 since beating Yamashita, but shown a real lack of power with only a single stoppage. Yamashita is like an all action warrior and has gone 3-2 (3) since losing to Tanooka, with both losses being by stoppage. This will be a boxer vs bralwer, with history and the potential to be something really thrilling. Another potential thriller comes at Featherweight as the talented, but out of form, Tsuyoshi Tameda (13-3-2, 11) takes on Retsu Kosaka (8-2, 3). We've seen Tameda losing his last two, suffering a decision loss to Simpiwe Vetyeka and suffering a stoppage to Reiya Abe, but has been given time to rest, heal and reignite his fire, with this being his final bout for the Yonekura gym, before joining the Ohashi Gym. As for Kosaka he has lost 2 of his last 3, but shone last time out beating the touted Ryo Sagawa in 2 rounds. This looks like a win on paper for Tameda, but it's not going to be easy against the hungry Kosaka. Potentially the hidden gem on this show will be the Lightweight bout, as the really exciting and promising Izuki Tomioka (3-0, 1) takes on the Japanese Yuichiro Kasuya (9-1-1, 1). We were really impressed by Tomioka last time out, as he stopped Shun Shimazaki in 5 rounds, and the 20 year old from Saitama looks like a real one to watch. Kasuya, who won the Rookie of the Year at Super Featherweight in 2014, has faltered in his last two, drawing with Masaki Saito and losing to Spicy Matsushita. With those recent set backs against Kasuya we suspect he'll try to up his game, but Tomioka will be too good for him. At Super Featherweight we'll see the struggling Kazuma Sanpei (12-4, 4) battle the inconsistent Ryusei Ishii (7-3, 4) in what looks like the black sheep of the match ups. Sanpei has gone 1-4 in his last 5, with 3 stoppage losses during that run, and his 11-0 (4) start to professional boxing is a distance memory, with only a single win in the last 3 years. Ishii has gone 2-2 in his last 4, though did earn his place in this bout with a dominant win over Sho Nagata in May. Ishii has some momentum here, Sanpei has none, leading us to favour Ishii for the win. Nevada, USA Fight fans in Las Vegas will see American based Uzbek hopeful Sanjarbek Rakhmanov (7-0-1, 3) fight in an 8 rounder, as he looks for a 4th straight victory. At the time of writing his opponent hasn't been announced, so we suspect it will be a less than taxing foe foe the unbeaten prospect. Quetta, Pakistan In Pakistan we'll see a bizarre all-debutant 10 rounder, as Ali Dad (0-0) takes on Asmatullah (0-0). It's really odd to see a debutant in a 10 rounder, to see two of them in a 10 rounder is even weirder and it's hard to see what the plan behind this bout was, though hopefully it helps in the development of Pakistani boxing going forward, and is interesting to see how they are growing the sport there.  Tokyo, Japan
The next few days are set to be interesting ones in Japan, with Dangan holding back-to-back shows. The second of those, on May 16th, is a Youth tournament semi final show, but before then we have a lower key card with a number of notable names on it. The main event of this card sees the always fun to watch Katsunori Nagamine (13-1, 9) battle against heavy handed foe Tetsuya Tomioka (5-1, 5). Nagamine is the #1 ranked JBC Flyweight, and will be looking to continue his run towards a Japanese title fight however Tomioka can't be over-looked and his power is legitimate. We've seen Nagamine hurt, and stopped, before and with Tomioka's power there is a chance we will see him hurt again, but Nagamine should be regarded as the definitive favourite here. In a really good looking supporting bout fans will see the popular but light punching Joe Tanooka (13-3-4, 1) take on veteran Hajime Nagai (14-8-2, 4). Although Tanooka isn't a big name he does have a very credible following due to his personality and the youngster has certainly connected with fans, despite his lack of power. Against Nagai we're expect Tanooka to be be too quick and too busy, but he 33 year old Nagai has been able to score upsets throughout his career. Notably Tanooka is booked to be back in the ring in August, in a Youth tournament final. We also have two bouts where notable local talents take on Thai foes. One of those locals will be the exciting and heavy handed youngster Tsubasa Koura (9-0, 6), who fights in a stay busy contest against Thongchai Chaiyonggym (0-5) whilst the other will see former world title challenger Shin Ono (19-8-4, 3) take on Chanai Jaikrajang (0-3). It's hard to imagine either Koura or Thognchai losing here but it's good to see both men being active, albeit for different reasons.  Tokyo, Japan
Whilst not all the Dangan cards are particularly great we do, sometimes, get some littered with brilliant match ups or intriguing names. This the case this coming Tuesday when we get 5 bouts of real note, and amazingly not one of them is for a title, and only two of them feature an unbeaten fighter. Saying that however two of the fighters involved are former Japanese national champions and 6 of the 8 are currently ranked by the JBC or OPBF! The main event pits those two former champions against each other as former Welterweight champion Nobuyuki Shindo (17-4-1, 6) takes on former Middleweight champion Sanosuke Sasaki (11-5, 5). The bout, set at 154lbs, could be viewed as a bit of a must for both men. Sasaki has lost his last 4, 3 by stoppage, and hasn't won a bout since upsetting Tadashi Yuba back in October 2012, meaning it's already 4 years since his last win. Shindo is 1-2-1 in his last 4, and was stopped in 10 rounds last time out as he lost the Japanese Welterweight crown to Toshio Arikawa, and took a bit of beating at times in that fight. The loser here will struggle to rebuild whilst the winner will likely find themselves in the mix for a title fight in the coming year or so. In the main supporting bout we'll see Ryoichi Tamura (7-2-1, 4) take on Renji Ichimura (7-3, 6) in a really intriguing match up. Both men are better than their records suggest and both are guys in their 20's looking to go places. Aged 29 Tamura is the older man and comes into this on a 4 fight winning streak with notable victories over Yusuke Suzuki and Yuki Matsudo. Ichimura, the younger man at 23, is the bigger puncher with wins over Jin Miura, Takaaki Kansi snd Ryusei Ishii, however he has also been stopped, with that stoppage coming just 8 months ago. In another supporting bout we'll see the unbeaten Daishi Nagata (7-0-1, 4) battle against Quaye Peter (9-7-2, 5). Nagata has won his last 7 bouts, since a draw on debut against Takeshi Inoue, adnd is moving in on a title fight thanks to wins against the likes of Jeffrey Arienza and Kazuki Matsuyama. Despite showing a lot of of promise Nagata is still a flawed fighter and will be looking at this as a chance to get experience over the 8 round distance. For the inconsistent Peter, who is 2-2 in his last 4, the bout really is a must win and another loss really will leave his career in a bit of a hole. Possibly the most interesting of the under-card bouts will see the highly skilled but feather fisted Jo Tanooka (13-3-3, 1) face the much more experienced Ken Achiwa (11-11-4, 4), in a bout that pits two Japanese ranked Super Flyweights against each other. Tanooka scored his first stoppage earlier this year, and has won 4 of his last 5, and is chasing a Japanese title fight, and a chance to avenge a 2015 defeat to Kenta Nakagawa. Although Achiwa has struggled in the past he has gone 3-0-2 in recent bouts, with one of those draws coming against Tatsuya Takahashi last year. Also on this card is exciting prospect Hiroto Kyoguchi (3-0, 3) who puts his stoppage run on the line against Filipino visitor Michael Camelion (8-3-1, 6). Kyoguchi has impressed so far, and looked brilliant last time out when he stopped Kenichi Miyazaki, but this is step up in class and Camelion can certainly punch, and he's been in their with the likes of Omari Kimweri and the huge punching Melvin Jerusalem, so could serve a real test for the Japanese prospect. Ekaterinburg, Russia In Russia we'll see Nikolay Buzolin (5-2-1, 1) take on unbeaten Tajikistan born fighter Muhammadkhuja Yaqubov (4-0, 2) in a bout for the WBC Asian Boxing Council Continental Lightweight title. It's not a great bout if we're being honest but it should be an interesting test for both fighters.  Tokyo, Japan
In Japan this Friday marks a major day for Dangan who kick off their recently announced BoxingRaise website with the first live show on the subscription service. Although it's not a major show it is a show headlined by a Japanese title fight and featuring a couple of notable under-card bouts. The aforementioned title bout will see Japanese Flyweight champion Takuya Kogawa (26-4, 13) defending his belt against 37 year old challenger Masafumi Otake (15-14-3, 7), who gets his first title bout after having been a profession for almost 15 years. The bout looks like a mismatch, and it likely to be a relatively straight forward win for Kogawa, however Kogawa is rarely in a dull fight and we're not expecting anything but a fight contest here, with both men well aware of the bouts relative importance. In the most interesting of the under-card bouts fans will see the talented but light punching Jo Tanooka (13-3-3) go up against the limited but heavy handed Shogo Sumitomo (6-8-1, 5). In terms of pure skills Tanooka in a different league to Sumitomo however Sumitomo has the clear edge in power and will be looking to land one of his bombs on the 2013 All Japan Rookie of the Year runner up. In another supporting bout Japanese ranked Featherweight Ryuto Araya (9-4-1,2) will be facing off against Naoaki Kumagai (7-4, 4) in what looks like a rather even match up. Coming in to this both men have suffered 2 losses in their last 4 bouts, both will believe they can win here and both will genuinely go for it in what could be the most competitive bout on the card. Mississippi, USA The action in Japan isn't the only action involving Asian fighters with two in action in the US. The more notable of those US bouts sees Mongolian sensation Tugstsogt Nyambayar (5-0, 5) facing off against veteran Rafael Vazquez (16-2, 13). On paper this is a genuine step up in class for Nyambayar but should be another win for the former Mongolian amateur star, who is in his first scheduled 10 rounder. Although Vazquez has been beaten twice he has never been stopped and we suspect that will be the goal for “King Tug”. On the same card fans will see Russian based Kazakh born destroyer Sergey Lipinets (9-0, 7) take on the teak tough Walter Castillo (26-3-1, 19), who we saw last year fight to a very controversial draw with Keita Obara. The bout should be a great test for Lipinets, who got given a real test last time out against Levan Ghamichava, and if he can stop Castillo it would put the division on alert of his potential and power. Accra, Ghana In Africa we'll see Filipino Carlo Magali (20-7-3, 10) take on WBA International Lightweight champion Emmanuel Tagoe (25-1, 12). For Tagoe this will be his second defense of the title, that he incidentally won last year when he beat Joebert De los Reyes. The bout will be a seriously tough ask for Magali however the Filipino is known for scoring upsets and has scored back to back wins over David Browne Jr and Mark Gil Melligen in the last year, he also has upset wins over Mark John Yap and Ryuta Miyagi.  Tokyo, Japan
The final Japanese card before Christmas comes on December 21st as we get the final Dangan card of the year. The main event of the card is a really intriguing match up for the Japanese Super Bantamweight title as promising youngster Yusaku Kuga (11-1-1, 7) battles against the experienced Yasutaka Ishimoto (26-8, 7). The title is vacant going in to this one, after having recently been given up by Yukinori Oguni, but that shouldn't take the shine off what will be a thrilling contest between a young puncher and a speed veteran, both looking to claim the biggest win of their career, and a Japanese title. Don't be surprised if this is a pre-Christmas cracker! In an excellent under-card bout fans will get the chance to see Jo Tanoka (12-2-3) battle against the heavy handed Kenta Nakagawa (9-2-1, 7). Coming in to this one both are JBC ranked and both know that a win will leap them towards a Japanese Super Flyweight title fight in 2016. This skill Vs power and whilst Tanoka hasn't yet stopped anyone he is a young man growing into his body and has proven himself as a very capable boxer. This really is a brilliant match up. Another bout that sees Japanese ranked fighters face off will see Ribo Takahata (11-6-1, 3) take on Yusuke Tsukada (8-4, 3). The match up isn't as exciting as the other two bouts we've made a note of, but it is a very significant bout that will see the winner move towards a title fight in 2016. Coming into this one Tsukada is on a 3 fight winning streak including a victory over recent title challenger Kazuhiro Nishitani. Tsukada has lost 2 of his last 3, but does hold a notable win over the then unbeaten Johnreil Maligro, and has faced very good competition including current Japanese Super Featherweight champion Kenichi Ogawa. September 17th-Ono faces Horikawa for Japanese title, Masuda, Tanoka and Takahata also in action!9/14/2015  Tokyo, Japan
For a second day running Japanese fans have domestic title action as we see the vacancy at Light Flyweight being filled. The vacancy, which arose after Yu Kimura gave up the title to focus on getting himself a world title shot, will be filled by either former world title challenger Shin Ono (18-6-2, 2) or multi-time domestic challenger Kenichi Horikawa (29-13-1, 6), who meet in an intriguing match up. Of the two men Ono will likely be favoured, he is a former OPBF champion and did, as mentioned, fight for a world title however Horikawa may well “win a big one” after coming up short numerous times in title bouts. We wouldn't suggest this will be a FOTY contender, but it should be very entertaining with a lot of exchanges and trading. Interestingly the winner of the Ono/Horikawa bout may well become an immediate target for the fast rising Ken Shiro who will almost certainly be eyeing up a potential national title clash in 2016. In the chief support bout fans will get the chance to see former Japanese Bantamweight champion Kentaro Masuda (21-7, 11) fight in a warm up bout against Wataru Miyasaka (9-3-1, 2). This should be a relatively straight forward win for Masuda who will be back in action, if he wins, on November 2nd as he takes on Hideo Sakamoto in the Strongest Korakuen bout, with the winner of that one to get a shot at the Japanese Bantamweight title in 2016. Although a clear favourite this will be Masuda's first bout since he was blitzed by Shohei Omori earlier this year Another supporting bout will see Japanese ranked Super Featherweight Ribo Takahata (11-5-1, 3) battle against 2013 All Japanese Rookie of the year Kazuma Sanpei (11-2, 4). Sanpei, who looked really promising back in 2013 has lost back-to-back fights, by stoppage, and will know that he needs a win here if he's to do anything going forward with his career. One other bout of note will see the talented, but light hitting, Jo Tanoka (11-2-3) battle the gutsy, but limited, Mako Matsuyama (7-9-2, 3). Coming in to this bout Tanoka is JBC ranked at Flyweight and will be hoping to move towards a title fight in 2016. Whilst limited Matsuyama is the more well known of the two men following his memorable war with Rex Tso in Macau. (Image courtesy of boxmob.jp) |
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