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When talking about promising Thai prospects we do admit we think very highly of Kongputorn CP Freshmart who does appear to have the talent to go a very long way. Sadly to see how good Kongputorn really is we will need to see him in with more testing opponents than Jomyuthlek sor Narongchai who looked completely inept against the promising and unbeaten man that some, including ourselves, view as a potential world champion. (Video courtesy of ทีเคโอ มวยโลก)
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OPBF Featherweight champion Hisashi Amagasa may only boast a 54.55% KO rate at the present moment but few who have shared a ring with him will argue with the fact he is a heavy handed fighter. One of the most impressive displays of that power came when Amagasa fought Koji Nagata and scored a genuinely chilling KO to finish what had been a relatively testing bout for the then 23 year old prospect. Going in to round 7 no one would have expected such a dramatic ending but Amagasa landed a perfect uppercut that completely crumpled Nagata in a very eye catching and aesthetically pleasing manner. In boxing there are many ways to announce yourself as a serious threat on the world stage and to get yourself a lot of attention very quickly. The best of those methods however is to make a statement in the ring and score a very impressive victory. There are few victories in 2014 quite as impressive as Artur Beterbiev's blow out of Tavoris Cloud, a win so impressive that it has quickly seen Beterbiev's name linked with the winner of the upcoming unification bout between Sergey Kovalev and Bernard Hopkins. Beterbiev, fighting for just the 6th time as a professional, did what could only be described as a demolition job on the former IBF champion who was dropped 3 times in the opening round by the very powerful Russian prospect. Although Cloud saw out the horror opening round, some how, he didn't survive for long in the second round. If you like heavy handed and aggressive fighters Beterbiev looks like your type of guy. Japan's world ranked Hisashi Amagasa is a funny fighter at times. He has power, he has skills, he has size, he has work rate and he has toughness. A lot of the time however he throws away those qualities to partake in a crude brawl that somehow he seems to win despite often looking uncoordinated and and confused. One such win saw him over-coming Zuri Kannan in a bout that will have left many people wondering what was so special about Amagasa, despite the fact he win with relative ease. We wouldn't suggest this was Amagasa at his best though in many ways we do think Amagasa is better than he looks here and when he needs to he can tighten up the defense and straighten his punches which can often look like windmill punches against guys like Kannan. (Video courtesy of aka0113) In February 2011 Hisashi Amagasa looked like a gangly and uncoordinated fighter as he got past Kota Suzushino. He looked like he was waiting to grow into his body and his 5'10" frame appeared to be in need of some serious maturing, despite the fact he was in his mid 20's. Just 10 months later we saw Amagasa getting his second title bout, a Japanese fight, against Toru Suzuki. The title was vacant going into the bout, having been given up by Satoshi Hosono ahead of his world title bout with Celestino Caballero, and we were promise a very interesting contest. Whilst the bout wasn't a FOTY contender for 2011 it did live up to expectation of being an interesting contest with both men landing solid shots through out the contest and missing wildly with other shots. In the end however the bout become a bit of a shoot out with the heavier handed of the two men managing to win. (Video thanks to okimoto mangosteen) Current OPBF Featherweight champion Hisashi Amagasa might not be much of a name in the West but the Japanese fighter is one of the few men who is ranked by all 4 world title bodies. A truly impressive feat in this day and age. Amagasa has come a very long way in recent years. Back in February 2011 few would have suspected that the elongated Japanese fighter would ever climb to a world ranking, especially if they saw his bout with Kota Suzushino, a bout that saw Amagasa looking relatively uncoordinated at times and almost like his frame was a long way from filling out. (Video courtesy of okimoto mangosteen) The Yemen boxing scene might be a suspect one at the best of times but there is something about it that we love. We're unsure if it's the craziness of it all, or the fact that the shows often appear to have endings better suited to professional wrestling but whatever it is we do love us a bit of Yemen boxing with the likes of Ali Raymi and Hani Ansi. The newest addition to the Yemeni boxing folk lore has to be this clip from a bout between Ahmed Jumaai and Abdu Rafik. We're sure it's not the full fight, as the clip lasts just 7 seconds, but we do have to admit that it's hilarious all the same! At it's best the Cruiserweight division has all the qualities that fans love. It has big men, it has power, it has skills, speed and knockouts. Sadly however the division has been somewhat ignored in the US with American not warming to it as much as some other fans. Sometimes we understand why, the champions don't seem to ever unify, the fights tend to take place outside of the US and the division is widely viewed as a stepping stone. Despite the negative views of the division it does have some very talented fighters in it, such as Grigory Drozd and Krzysztof Wlodarczyk who recently fought in a WBC world title fight. We won't ruin the result though we will say it has a big of everything from aggressive power punching to some frustrating and negative holding. It's not a that will sit on any "End of Year" awards list but it is a fight that was significant to the division it was fought in and that alone makes it worth at least a bit of interest. Thailand's Panomroonglek Kaiyanghadaogym is best known for his WBA world title fight with Koki Kameda. Although the Thai came up short in that fight he has remained active and picked up 5 wins in 18 months. The most recent of those wins saw the Thai defending the PABA interim Bantamweight title with an easy win over the over-matched Indonesian Junior Bajawa. The bout was a mismatch from the moment it was signed though it appears that the fight was fought as a stay busy fight for Panomroonglek who is apparently in talks for a world title fight later this year. (Video courtesy of KOM THAIREC) In recent years we've seen numerous Thai's fall short on their travels as they've tried to bring home world titles. Sometimes their efforts have been great, such as that of Terdsak Kokietgym who gave Orlando Salido absolute hell, whilst others have been relatively mixed such as that of Pungluang Sor Singyu prior to his stoppage loss against Tomoki Kameda.
Thai's haven't always lost on the road in world title fights however and in 2009 Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym played the role of spoiler in Thailand when he defeated the hugely popular Bernard Dunne in Dunne's back yard. The Thai looked like a danger before the fight was made and by the end of round 1 it was clear Dunne wasn't going to have an easy night with Poonsawat who hadn't travelled to make up the numbers. Sadly for Dunne Poonsawat had come to win and that's what he did in impressive fashion as he battered the brave but out-matched Irishman. |
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March 2024
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