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December 30th 2014- Metropolitan Gym, Tokyo, Japan Akira Yaegashi (20-10, 4) Vs Pedro Guevara (23-1-1, 15) When we talk about the best action fighters of this generation we cannot ignore the always fun to watch and highly entertaining Akira Yaegashi who has not just given us a lot of excitement but has also shown a willingness to fight anyone, as we've seen in his bouts with the likes of Roman Gonzalez. Yaegashi's willingness to fight the best saw him dropping from Flyweight to Light Flyweight towards the end of 2014 as he took on Pedro Guevara in an attempt to claim the WBC Light Flyweight title and become a 3-weight world champion.
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April 5th 2013- Kokugikan, Tokyo, Japan Akira Yaegashi (16-3, 9) Vs Toshiyuki Igarashi (17-1-1, 10) It's fair to say 2012 was a big year for a number of Japanese fighters. It saw Toshiyuki Igarashi win the WBC Flyweight title, with a decision win over Sonny Boy Jaro, and it saw Akira Yaegashi come close to unifying Minimumweight titles as he went to war with Kazuto Ioka, though did lose a narrow decision. In 2013 we saw Yaegashi and Igarashi go to war in what was a thriller between two men who had crossed paths several times in the amateur ranks. If you've not seen this one we suggest setting aside an hour and treating yourself to a genuinely brilliant, bloody, violent and exciting battle between two highly skilled warriors. The best weight in boxing right now is the Flyweight division. It has the depth, talent and match ups that make it the best in the sport by some margin, despite it's relative lack of internationally recognised names. It's one of the few divisions where the best fight the best and where no one is scared of losing, unlike some better known fighters. One of the best bouts in the division this year saw Akira Yaegashi battle against unbeaten Nicaraguan sensation Roman Gonzalez in a bout for the WBC world title. We won't ruin the result but we will say that this is one of those truly fantastic bouts where we get two of the best fighters in the division trading shots, showing their bravery, toughness and world class skills to create a great contest. Whether you're as much of a Flyweight fan as us or not, this bout really is one of the stand out bouts of the year and deserves all the plaudits it gets. Likewise both men who were involved in it deserve to commended for not fighting against lesser foes than each other. Both are true credits to professional boxing. (Video courtesy of Maxwell Mendoza) It's rare to have unification bouts in the day and age, despite their being 4 world titles. It seems that pride has been lost by many modern day boxers who would rather hold a title rather than defend it and prove themselves. Whilst unifications are rare enough it's even rarer to have unification bouts between two men from the same country. Thankfully however they do happen and when they do they are special, as we saw when Akira Yaegashi, then then WBA Minimumweight champion, battled compatriot Kazuto Ioka, then then WBC Minimumweight champion. The bout, which took place in 2012 was an amazing contest that saw Ioka try and box and Yaegashi try to make the contest into a war, despite grotesque swelling over his eye. If you've not seen this before you've been missing out and really should give it a watch as it's great from start to end. We won't ruin the result though we would suggest scoring the bout and leaving your scores in the comments section as we'd love to see people's views on the contest. Having recently broken the news that Akira Yaegashi, the current WBC Flyweight champion, would be defending his belt against Roman Gonzalez we've began going through some of his fights. Amongst them was his OPBF title defence against Thailand's Liempetch Sor Veerapol from September 18th 2006. Yaegashi had claimed the OPBF title just over 5 months earlier in his 5th professional contest and here he was facing another novice in Liempetch who boasted a 4-1 record. Despite both men being inexperienced they were still in completely difference classes and it showed with Yaegashi doing a real number on the Thai who was dropped 3 times in the opening round thus forcing the referee to stop the bout. Whilst he isn't known for his power shots Yaegashi seemed to hurt the Thai regularly and he never let him recover really sticking it too him in a bout that demonstrated the early attacking mentality of Yaegashi. Although he has improved markedly from this fight, with experience helping him to become a 2-weight world champion, it's still interesting to see how a young Yaegashi was in his early fights and how he has developed in to one of the sports true warriors despite his numerous technical limitations. (video courtesy of BoxeoAmadeo) On September 5th Japanese fighter Akira Yaegashi has the toughest bout of his career as he takes on Nicaraguan destroyer Roman Gonzalez. As we look forward to that bout we've decided to go through some of Yaegahi's previous fights, including his Japanese Minimumweight title winning bout with Japan's "nearly man" Kenichi Horikawa. This bout, from way back in 21st June 2009 was Yaegashi's first title bout following his world title loss to the then WBC champion Eagle Den Junlaphan, in a fight that can be seen here. Although the Junlaphan bout had come some 2 years earlier it had taken Yaegashi some time to recover from his painful facial injury and then it had taken further time to rebuild his confidence and re-earn the opportunity to fight for the national title. Although he was experienced at the world level Yaegashi was actually less experienced, in terms of fights, that Horikawa and the fight turned out to be a very difficult and close contest with both men believing they had enough. In the end it was Yaegashi who got the narrow decision but few would have complained had Horikawa nicked it by a point or so. It's amazing to think that following this close fight Yaegashi would become a 2-weight world champion and one of the faces of Japanese boxing but it seems clear that he has really developed his skills and become a much better fighter following this contest. (Video courtesy of BunchesinPunches) Typically exhibition bouts are done to help the fighters earn a little bit of extra money whilst also allowing them to keep sharp and in good fitness. They have become rarer in the west in recent years but they do still happen in various parts of the world, including Japan. One of the most notable recent exhibitions was at the recent "Fan Appreciation Day" as Ohashi gym stable mates Akira Yaegashi, the reigning WBC Flyweight champion, and Naoya Inoue, the current WBC Light Flyweight champion, put on an exhibition that was more entertaining than some recent world title bouts. The two men, who have sparred numerous times in the past, made sure to put on a show for the fans who showed their appreciation of the two men who ended the bout by just unloading on each other. If you've not seen this before it's something else and shows the mentality of both men as well as their gym chairman Hideyuki Ohashi who will have loved watching his two male world champions putting on a true exhibition. Enjoy! (Video courtesy of Gentidori) |
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