|
Korean fighters from the 1970's and 1980's are remembered somewhat for their short by intense careers careers with several top Koreans having very few fights but many of those bouts did come at a high level. One such fighter was Chul Ho Kim who fought just 24 times in his 5 year career though featured in 7 world title bouts, the final of which came against Rafael Orono, the same man he had fought in his first world title bout. We won't ruin what happens too much from the 1982 rematch between the two men though we do suggest giving this one a watch if you're into your fights from yesteryear. One thing we suggest for those who have seen this one before is that you note the bell in round 5 and the amount of time left in the round.
0 Comments
The Cruiserweight division is full of exciting fighters that range from the highly skilled, such as Oleksandr Usyk and Tabiso Mchunu, to the crude but exciting warriors, such as Marco Huck and Denis Lebedev. It also boasts a man who can only be described as a monster puncher. That monster puncher is Dmitry Kudryashov. We suspected that Kudryashov would be tested when he took on former world champion Juan Carlos Gomez, instead however the Russian made alarmingly light work of his Cuban foe in a result that should have made the entire division on alert. If you weren't convinced of Kudryashov's power before this bout you should be after watching it. Earlier this year we saw Kongfah Nakornluang compete in one of the FOTY contender when he went and brawled with Den Baansuan Samlansaraburi in a genuinely thrilling 6 round contest. In that bout Kongfah showed little regard for defense and did little more than brawl with his foe in what was a highly exciting brawl that seemed to resemble a street fight more than a boxing contest. Watching that fight alone would have given the impression that Kongfah lacked skills but was going to be a must watch fighter. Just 2 months later we saw Kongfah actually show some skills as he took on Safwan Lombok. The bout may have, eventually, become a toe-to-toe slugfest, but early in the bout we did see some skills from the unbeaten Thai who appears to be one of the sports most exciting and fun to watch fighters. Hopefully he'll show an improved defense and mentality when he steps up in class but at this level we're happy to just watch do his thing. (Video courtesy of ทีเคโอ มวยโลก) Thailand's hard hitting Srisaket Sor Rungvisai really has been one of the most fun fighters to follow since we started this site. He has climbed from relative obscurity to having become a world champion champion and one of the biggest names in Thai boxing. In 2015 we're expecting to see Srisaket again return to the world title scene though before he managed to do that he had to over-come Filipino foe Bobby Concepcion and defend his WBC regional title. We won't ruin much of this one though we don't think many would be shocked by us saying Srisaket managed to record his 30th victory as a professional boxer. (Video courtesy of ทีเคโอ มวยโลก) One of a number of Japanese fighters on the fringes of a world title fight is the exciting but crude Ryo Akaho who often looks like a man who wants a tear up rather than a boxing contest but who seems to have genuine lead in his fists. That lead was seen recently when he scored a vicious looking stoppage against Antonio Tostado Garcia. Garcia looked out gunned from early on and never seemed capable getting Akaho's respect before being stopped. What's notable here is that Akaho looked to the referee almost as if to ask him to save Garcia before the crowd made shocked noises by the fact Garcia wanted to continue after the second knockdown. With that in mind real credit needs to go to Garcia for his heart, though he was thoroughly outclassed, out powered and beaten up. (Video courtesy of gentidori) Earlier this year Filipino fighter Zoren Pama impressed us with his toughness as he ended up taking the early onslaught from the monstrously heavy handed Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and fighting back making Srisaket go to plan B before the Thai was able to escape with a technical decision following a headclash. Today Pama was in action again in a bout where he was the clear under-dog and fighting on the road though again his toughness shone through. This time around he took on Japan's Taiki Eto, a heavy handed Japanese fighter who recently lost in a Japanese Super Flyweight title bout. Again Pama's toughness shone through despite coming up short and it seems very clear that Pama will get a lot of work on the road as a tough journeyman. (Video courtesy of Gushiken channel) Records can be deceiving and this weeks bout between Yuki Fukumoto and Hyobu Nakagama certainly didn't suggest either man was a fighter with almost as many losses as wins. The ending may not have been the most clean or definitive but the action and skills on show ere much better than the records of the two men indicated. We won't dress this up a FOTY contender but it certainly wasn't a bad bout and worked as a solid chief support bout on a solid though unspectacular card from Tokyo. (Video courtesy of Gushiken channel) Over the last few years Koki Eto has thoroughly impressed us and we've found it almost impossible not to become a fan of his. His wars with the likes of Kompayak Porpramook, last year for the WBA interim Flyweight title, and this year's thriller with Ardin Diale, for the OPBF title, have been genuine treats and two of the best fights we've seen in recent memory. The same can't be said about his first defense of the OPBF title as he chased Cris Paulino for several rounds of what amounted to a disappointing contest from one of boxing's most exciting fighters. We won't the bout too much though we need to suggest you go into this one as someone a fight, not someone expecting a Koki Eto signature war. If you can watch the fight ignoring it's Koki Eto you may find yourself enjoying it a lot more than thinking of the men involved in it. (Video courtesy of Shirai Gushiken Sports) Over the last 18 months we've been won over by Watanabe gym hopeful Yusaku Kuga. Kuga first came to our attention when he fought to a draw with Naoto Uebayashi and since then he has remained on our radar with all of us keeping a close eye on him. Earlier this week Kuga was again in action, this time against southpaw Kenta Takahashi. We won't ruin what happens here but it's fair to say that Kuga will need to spend more time in the ring with southpaws before he begins to talk about title fights. The youngster is talented but there is still a long, long way to go before he gets his hands on a championship caliber opponent. (Video courtesy of nov K) In the west fans wouldn't get excited if they saw men with records of 2-1-1 and 5-2-1 (2) fighting against each other. In fact with records like that you would suspect the fighters would be opening a small card with next to no interest in the bout which would likely be a 4 rounder. In Japan however fighters like that can actually be very talented and fighters between them can be genuine good fights with 2 men who have genuine talent. That was seen in the recent 8 round bout between Ryoichi Tamura and Kenji Kubo. The bout had it all. It had good quality boxing early on, it had high tempo action in the middle and at the end it had a definitive winner as one of the fighters, who looked exhausted from his effort, was dropped hard. For those who like action this was a bout they should enjoy and hopefully we'll get to see a lot more of both men. (Video courtesy of nov K) |
VideosHere we include some of the best, most interesting, most exciting or most eye catching videos from around the Asian boxing world. Archives
March 2024
|