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When we talk about exciting lower divisions fighters it's hard to ignore Mr Exciting himself Denver Cuello. Cuello, a Filipino known as "The Excitement" combines all the traits love in their fighters. Aggression, heart, power a somewhat leaky defense that sees him taking shots whilst he attempts to behead his opponents on a very regular basis. He is, for all intents and purposes a fighter that everyone should enjoy watching when he's at his best. Unfortunately Cuello hasn't been at his best in recent years due to a relatively serious arm injury, an injury that almost certainly cost him a WBC world title when he fought Xiong Zhao Zhong. The injury that cost him against Zhong wasn't a totally new one, sadly it was an on-going issue that given him issues in several other fights, including this contest with Japan's Takashi Kunishige. Sadly as a one-armed fighter Cuello isn't as exciting as he is with 2 arms and like most fighters we him struggling here to hide a nasty injury and still continue to fight on in what as a brave performance against a former world title challenger. If, like us, you enjoy big punching smaller men then you will love Cuello, even if this isn't his best performance.
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Some bouts promise nothing but deliver big style, whilst others promise a lot but deliver little. We'll admit that we expect a lot when we heard that Hiroki Shiino would be defending his OPBF title against Ryosuke Iwasa. It was, on paper, a great bout between two talented and heavy handed Bantamweights who both wanted to score a big win to move towards a world title fight. Unfortunately the bout really failed to catch fire like we had hoped. It seemed that both men feared the power of their opponent and both were happy to look for counter shots whilst boxing very cautiously with only a handful of genuine bombs landed between them. Despite the pace of the bout for the most part there was always the danger that 1-punch change the bout in an instant and it was this tense feeling that meant you couldn't really look away for long. Thankfully when the end came it was worth it with some bombs reigning in forcing the referee to step in. Although the fight failed up to expectation it was still a more than acceptable contest between to talented and promising fighters with bright futures ahead of them. (Video courtesy of gentidori) The Bantamweight division in Japan is one of the most interest. At the top you have Shinsuke Yamanaka and Tomoki Kameda, both world champions, below those two you have OPBF champion Ryosuke Iwasa and Japanese champion Kentaro Masuda both of whom are very good fighters and improving. Below those 4 men you have an interesting collection of fighters including the big punching Hiroki Shiino, a man who looks capable of competing on the world stage sometime in the future. This bout was Shiino's 7th professional bout and saw him taking on the much more experienced Kazuyoshi Niki, a man with more than 30 professional contests. Sadly this bout didn't let the two men truly prove themselves as the referee called a halt to proceedings far too early though it lasted long enough to see some of Shiino's power and punch selection including a monster uppercut that saw the referee's calling a half to the action, albeit far too early. Some fighters fight their whole career for once chance to become a world champion. Other fighters get numerous chances though seem to fall short time and time again, despite often putting up a great effort. It's the wins over those repeated title challengers that can split the champions from title holder to real champion, from paper belt holder to world champion. One of those repeated challengers is Japan's Hiroyuki Hisataka who has faced numerous world level fighters and often given a great account of himself lasting the distance in competitive contests. The one exception came when he battled Argentina's amazing talented Omar Andres Narvaez and was genuinely dominated by the supremely talented Argentinian, from the first bell to the eventual stoppage. If was masterclass by Narvaez that showed, even at his advanced age, that he was still one of the very best in weight class. If you've not seen this one you've missed out on one of Narvaez's best performance. Really sensational stuff from the Argentinian known as the "Hurracan". Some fighters are cursed in a way that they will never win a big one. One of those men appears to be Japan's Hiroyuki Hisataka who has fallen short in numerous world title bouts in his career though proven that he belongs around the world level with numerous solid showings. One of the numerous other world level fighters that Histaka has shared the ring with is former WBC Flyweight champion Sonny Boy Jaro. We won't ruin much of this bout though we will say that it showed why both men have been hovering in and around the world scene for as long as they have done. Jaro is tough as old boots and if you give him enough notice he is hard work for anyone with his toughness and power, as well as shots from some unorthodox and peculiar angles. As for Hisataka he too is tough and he seems to have a great engine and is willing to throw a lot of shots, even if it means taking some big ones in return. This isn't an amazing fight but is a very solid one for the most part and a very competitive one despite the two men being very different types of fighters. Chinese fighter Xiong Zhao Zhong became the first Chinese man in history to win a world title when, in late 2012 he defeated Javier Martinez Resendiz to claim the WBC Minimumweight title. The bout was a controversial one however as Zhong got his chance ahead of Filipino fighter Denver Cuello who was the top contender and was paid a step aside fee to allow Zhong to fight in his title fight. The WBC allowed Zhong his title fight on the grounds that he would defend against Cuello which he did in 2013 in a major event in the World Trade Centre in Dubai. We won't ruin how the fight went, as we know some haven't seen it before, but we will say that the bout showed the difference between a 1-armed fighter and a 2-armed fighter and that injuries in a fight can seriously change the way a fight goes. Some fights beggar belief, they are less "boxing contests" and more a personal war between two men who refuse to come second until they are beaten to the point of no return, bloodied and exhausted the two men continue to give their all. Those bouts live on long in the memory and refuse to go away, they are the fights we watch this great sport for and they are the bouts that keep us coming back for more and and more. One of those bouts was brought back to our attention by a twitter friend of ours who mentioned it in passing as the best fight they had ever seen and in all honesty the friend may not be far off. The bout in question was the 2011 contest between former world title challenger Koji Sato, the pre-empinent Japanese Middleweight at the time, and Makoto Fuchigami, who would later challenge Gennady Golovkin. The bout was a unification contest and Sato brought the OPBF title to the ring and Fuchigami brought the Japanese title. Although it was merely a title national and regional title unification it was fought as if it was for a unified world crown. It started slowly but became a a truly memorable fight with sequences that resembled a video game or a movie. It wasn't all action violence but it really had it all and when both guys let their hands go it was fantastic with both being forced to take bombs. We won't ruin the ending though we will tell you all to enjoy this bout that was fought less with skill and more with bravery and heart and round 8 in particular was great as Middleweights threw punches like Flyweights. Young Japanese prospects seem to be a two-a-penny now-a-days with more promising youngsters than almost any other country. One of those very, very promising prospects is former amateur standout Genki Hanai, an offensively minded 23 year old in the Light Flyweight division who appears to fully under-stand the need for a good inside game as well as a clever outside game, he's shown great ability to dig to the head and body and although defensively he needs to tighten up he certainly looks like a legitimately sensational prospect with a great future. This video is of Hanai's second professional bout and saw him dominate Thailand's Farung Porsuwangym. It wasn't a punch perfect performance but it was an eye catching and impressive one. (Video courtesy of 心のための習い事) In late 2013 Suguru Muranaka scored a break out win by defeating Takuya Kogawa in a very competitive contest to win the Japanese Flyweight title and throw his hat into the mix in boxing deepest division. In his first defense of the title Muranaka battled against former Japanese Light Flyweight champion Masayuki Kuroda. It was, on paper, a very interesting contest between a man looking to prove his quality against a man looking to become a 2-weight national champion. Although interesting on paper the bout became some what one sided as one man took more than his share of punishment and was left swollen, exhausted and eventually stopped by the referee who showed some mercy despite the bout only have around 2 minutes of the contest left. Whilst Kuroda was a Japanese champion he is probably better known by international fans for his world title bout with Juan Carlos Reveco. If you're a fan of the Flyweight division that bout is well worth a watch, especially with Reveco now scheduled to fight Yodmongkol Vor Saengthep. (Video courtesy of 村中優後援会) In a few short weeks we will see Thailand's Yodmongkol Vor Saengthep fight in a WBA Flyweight unification bout with Argentina's Juan Carlos Reveco. Ahead of that fight we thought it would be good to go back and see Reveco's bout with Japan's Masayuki Kuroda. Kuroda entered the bout as the Japanese Light Flyweight champion whilst Reveco, like he will in his upcoming bout, was the defending WBA Flyweight title holder We won't ruin much of the bout though will point out a few things. For Kuroda this bout followed back-to-back split decision draws in Japanese title defenses and saw him moving up a weight, he had fought at Flyweight previously but had never really looked comfortable. For Reveco, a former WBA Light Flyweight world champion, this was his first defense after being upgraded from "interim" champion status. As the interim champion Reveco had defended his title twice in 20 months. Following this bout Kuroda would attempt to claim the Japanese Flyweight title though unfortunately for him he would suffer a stoppage loss to the very talented Suguru Muranaka, the first stoppage of Kuroda's career. |
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April 2024
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