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The Japanese domestic scene at Super Featherweight and Lightweight are extremely strong right now with real depth in both divisions. That depth has seen some fighters becoming over-looked as others have taken the spotlight. One of those to have been over-looked is Masayuki Ito who showed his ability against Masao Nakamura earlier this year. Although talented Ito has a reputation as someone who is happy to box off his jab and not look for a stoppage. In his most recent bout however we found out that Ito can stand his ground, put his punches together and land hurtful shots when he feels like making a statement. That's exactly when he did when he faced Filipino fighter Ryan Sermona. Sermona was forced to eat some very heavy shots very early in the bout, those shots, although not concussive, were damaging enough to open up a cut that results in Sermona being stopped inside a round. (Footage courtesy of nov K)
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Thailand's Teerachai Kratingdaenggym may not be the most promising fighter in the Welterweight division though he's certainly one of the most interesting and, courtesy of his long reign as the PABA champion he does hold a very high WBA ranking. Sadly we're still unsure how good he is given than his competition so far has been limited, as seen in his most recent win over Abraham Peralta. The fight was Teerachai's 28th professional contest and yet we're still waiting to see him step up and test himself against someone on the fringes of the top 50 in the world. At 22 years old however he is developing some valuable experience and developing into a very strong young man. (Video courtesy of ทีเคโอ มวยโลก) The heavy handed Ryuto Kyoguchi is one of a number is promising Japanese prospects who expected to compete for national and continental titles in the future. No one really suspect he'll be a world class fighter but there is plenty about him that we like, including a determined and aggressive mindset that makes him fun to watch even if he's not the most skilled fighter out there. His determination was tested recently as he fought an equally determined Shohei Fujimoto who gave him a really good fight before an anti-climactic headclash took the bout to the scorecards earlier than expected. If you've not seen Kyoguchi in action this fight may convince you to follow his career in the future as it seems he'll likely be in some thrillers before his career is over. (Video courtesy of nov K) Some fights start slowly but build into an enjoyable contest and that was certainly the case in the recent bout between Jaipetch Chaiyonggym and Denchai Por Korbkua. Neither guy is likely to ever become a notable fighter but contests like this on televised undercards will do both men some good and help them stay busy whilst also entertaining the crowds. We wouldn't put this anywhere near a FOTY candidate but it is certainly one of the more entertaining Thai undercard bouts of the year and well worth watching as both men attempt to score an all important win and trade some heavy shots in their attempt to come out on top. (Video courtesy of ทีเคโอ มวยโลก) This past weekend Japanese fans saw younger youngster Sho Nakazawa take a huge step up in class as he battled against the OPBF ranked Jhunriel Ramonal. The Japanese youngster had entered this bout 4-0 (4) with relative ease against opponents who were at best, limited though was expected to be genuinely tested here as he took on the #11 ranked OPBF Super Bantamweight and his first opponent who came to the ring to actually beat him. We won't ruin how the bout too much though it certainly answered some questions about both men and for the first time we saw what Nakazawa was really about as he was up against a man he actually showed some respect to. For those who haven't seen the Japanese youngster before this by far his toughest bout and the one that will allow you to actually get a read on how good he is. (Video courtesy of yasu boxer) All debutant affairs can be interesting. Firstly they can introduce us to a new fighter second they can also test a fighter against a mystery opponent. This sometimes gives us very interesting bouts between two wonderfully well matches foes whilst sometimes the bout is little more than a mismatch between novices with very different levels of ability, despite the same professional experience. Recently Japanese fans got an interesting all debutant bout as Ryo Inagaki took on Yoshihisa Tanabe. Watching the men one man appeared to the more skilled whilst the other appeared more composed giving us a contest that, for a while, looked very good, that was until a perfectly timed shot ended the bout and left one man on wobbly legs. We would assume that both of these men do have a future in the sport and even if neither is likely to be competing on the world scene we will enjoy seeing both men in their next contest. (Video courtesy of nov K) In the UK and US complain about mismatches on a regular basis. We need to admit however that the mismatches we get in the west are rarely as bad as the ones we see week after week in Thailand. Some of those look like mismatches the second they are signed, such as the bouts we see Srisaket fight just to stay busy, others are bouts between novices that end up being mismatches. It's hard to complain about this second category, no matter how 1-sided the bouts end up being. We saw one from that second group this past Friday when Jaoboy Kengchiangrai fought Toto Sakornsukhothai in what boxrec list as an all debutant bout. The fight, although one-sided, was entertaining but there was never much doubt about who was going to win. Real credit however needs to go to the loser who took a pounding before eventually being saved by the referee who could certainly have stepped in earlier. (Video courtesy of ทีเคโอ มวยโลก) Often when we watch fights from Thailand we see men who don't appear to be in the same division as each other. That happened again recently when Chaiyong Sithsaithong took on Bryan Dennis. Unlike many fights in Thailand however it was the Thai was the significantly smaller man and had to learn how to deal with giving up significant reach and height. We won't ruin this bout too much but we have to suggest that this is the sort of test that more fighters need rather than going up again smaller journeymen that they can walk walk through. (Video courtesy of ทีเคโอ มวยโลก) World ranked Thai Flyweight Nawaphon Por Chokchai recently recently took on gutsy Filipino Mateo Handig and continued his winning streak not necessarily as a result of his ability but sheer size and strength, walking through the shots of Handig before breaking down the Filipino to defend his WBC Asian Boxing Council Flyweight title. Despite the win questions remain about how Nawaphon makes Flyweight and about how his ability will hold up against top divisional fighters. On this performance we would suggest he would struggle against the top guys in his division though at 25-0 he has certainly done well for himself so far. (Video courtesy of ทีเคโอ มวยโลก) We often think of the small men as skillful and quick fighters with little power, that description can not be used for Thailand's Ratanapol Sor Vorapin who wasn't highly skilled nor was he particularly quick for a Minimumweight but he hit like a truck. That was shown numerous times during his career as he scored almost 50 stoppages in his career. One of Ratanapol's most controversial stoppages came against Gustavo Vera with the referee waving off the bout after Vera recovered from a knockdown. IT wasn't a heavy knockdown though Vera was a visitor to Thailand and we all know that Thailand is one of the most difficult places to get a win. |
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April 2024
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