|
February 11th 2016-Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan Al Rivera (14-2, 12) Vs Shinya Iwabuchi (26-5, 22) Last week Japanese fans saw local fighter Shinya Iwabuchi [岩渕 真也] get his third shot at the OPBF LightWelterweight crown. In the opposite corner was Filipino puncher Al Rivera, who came to our attention last year when he shocked the previously unbeaten Adones Cabalquinto. Note- The video also features footage from two other bouts after the main contest.
0 Comments
February 10th 2015- Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan Shinya Iwabuchi (23-5, 19) Vs Luis Araguayan (11-7, 6) Japanese puncher Shinya Iwabuchi is certainly an exciting fighter and he has been in some genuinely exciting bouts during his under-rated career, sadly however their is a feeling that those hard bouts have began to take something out of him as a fighter. Recently fans saw Iwabuchi in action against Venezuelan Lightweight champion Luis Araguayan in what was supposed to be easy comeback contest for Iwabuchi, who had last been seen being knocked out by Keita Obara. (Video courtesy of suzufeel) June 29th 2012- Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan Shinya Iwabuchi (18-3, 15) Vs Tsuyoshi Ozawa (13-3-1, 2) Some fighters are pure excitement, whether they win or lose. One such fighter is Shinya Iwabuchi who we love watching due to his style which combines explosive power with a very solid chin. Although he's exciting Iwabuchi has only ever won 1 title in his career, the Japanese Light Welterweight title. In his first defence of that belt Iwabuchi took on the light hitting Tsuyoshi Ozawa. Before we talk about this fight we need to apologise. There are a number of rounds missing from this fight, sadly we've not yet received any "fan cam" footage of the remaining rounds so this is the best we have, for now. So now on to the fight. It was a recent one for the OPBF Light Welterweight title that saw the very heavy handed Keita Obara, making the first defence of his title, and former 2 title challenger Shinya Iwabuchi, also a heavy handed fighter. On paper it was a great fight between two heavy handed fighters with serious power and differing styles. Sadly, in many ways, the bout started slowly with neither man really settling very quickly, in fact it seemed like the usual feeling out process lasted significantly longer than it usually does, an issue in many ways with the stances of the men which saw the orthodox Obara struggling to get control of distance against Iwabuchi, a counter punching southpaw. Thankfully as the fight progressed it did begin to catch light and ended in chilling fashion with the power of one man really proving it's fight ending ability. (Video is thanks to 45412380) One of the things that's really interesting in boxing is the paths fighters take through out their careers. One bout could see two men fighting in their debuts then years later they could be clashing again for a world title. It's something that very few other sports have but is something that really interests us, especially on the domestic scene where fighters can often fight each other more than once and where the same handful of fighters all seem to fight each other. Back in 2011 at the Strongest Korakuen final fans got to see a Light Welterweight bout between the highly exciting Shinya Iwabuchi and the dangerous Shamgar Koichi, then fighting under his birth name as Koichi Aso. The bout, scheduled for 8 rounds, was to decide the next challenger for the Japanese crown at 140lbs. Surprisingly the contest lasted less than a round with Iwabuchi hurting and then finishing off Koichi with a devastating flurry of punches to secure his chance at the belt. As history would have it Iwabuchi went on to win the title in his next bout, stopping Yuji Wauke in 7 rounds. After defending the belt 3 times he gave it up in 2013 to challenge for the OPBF title. Although Iwabuchi lost in his first OPBF title fight, dropping a decision to Min Wook Kim, he will be getting another chance at the belt in August 2014 when he battles Keita Obara. As for Koichi he's about to challenge Hiroki Okada for Japanese title, almost 3 years after losing this bout. Note-An alternative video of this fight, taken from another angle, can be seen here. (Video courtesy of suzufeel) At this present moment in time there aren't many Korean fighters that really can have an impact on the international boxing stage. One of the few that has proven that he can is exciting Light Welterweight Min Wook Kim who has shown his class and ability against several Japanese fighters. The most notable of the fighters that Kim has proven himself against is Shinya Iwabuchi and that was done back in April 2013 when Kim, the then OPBF Light Welterweight champion, travelled to Japan and was involved in a thrilling encounter with Iwabuchi. The fight, shown in full below, shows not just what Kim is capable of but also Iwabuchi as the two traded shots through out a compelling contest that shows how much the OPBF title means to both men. It may not be the most violent, or the most exciting but it's still brilliant and full of action from the first round to the final bell when the men are still throwing bombs at each other. Following this fight Kim would defend the belt just once more before it was taken off him. At the time of writing we're looking forward to seeing Iwabuchi fight against current champion Keita Obara for the title and we're expecting a contest just brilliant as this one was. (Video courtesy of thekyungyangtv) |
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
|