|
May 6th 2015- Ota-City General Gymnasium, Tokyo, Japan Takashi Uchiyama (22-0-1, 18) Vs Jomthong Chuwatana (9-0, 4) A recent bout between unbeaten fighters saw Takashi Uchiyama battle against Thailand's Jomthong Chuwatana. Coming in to the bout Uchiyama had shown signs of slipping, though was defending the WBA Super Featherweight "super" title, whilst Jomthong had become one of the premier Muay Thai fighters of his era. (Video courtesy of TKO.in.TH)
0 Comments
December 31st 2014- Ota-City General Gymnasium, Tokyo, Japan Takashi Uchiyama (21-0-1, 17) Vs Israel Perez (27-2-1, 16) Known as "KO Dynamite" Takashi Uchiyama has a reputation for knocking people out. He is one of the sports heaviest handed fighters and a man not to be taken lightly. Sadly however he is also a man who has had a 2014 to forget and he has fought only once in the year. In that fight he took on Israel Perez of Argentina, exactly a year after Uchiyama had last fought, taking a competitive decision win over compatriot Daiki Kaneko. Today Takashi Uchiyama is one of the top boxers in Asia. He's among the hardest hitting fighters on the planet and is among the truly elite in the Super Featherweight division. Back in 2009 however he was a man unknown outside of the Asia. He had held the OPBF title and looked really impressive in Japan but wasn't a man known by in the west. That changed somewhat in 2010 when Uchiyama claimed the WBA Super Featherweight title with a stoppage victory over Mexican fighter Juan Carlos Salgado. The Mexican, defending his belt for the first time, had made his mark on the boxing world in 2009 when he stopped the much touted Jorge Linares inside a round. Sadly for Salgado he found out that Uchiyama was a very different proposition to Linares and although Salgado fought well for much of the bout he was unable to cope with Uchiyama's relentless assault in round 12. For fans who haven't seen this one before, we hope you enjoy seeing Uchiyama's break out win Today we know Takashi Uchiyama as one of, if not the, best Super Featherweight on the planet. That however wasn't always the case and back in 2007 he was still on his way up through the rankings. His promise was seen a long way off but nobody was certain about just how good he was. In his 7th fight as a professional Uchiyama took Korean national champion Seung Won Baek and although Uchiyama wasn't nearly the complete article he left a lasting impression with a very impressive victory over a man who had previously challenged for an OPBF title. If you've not seen this video of "KO Dynamite" in action it's well worth seeing just how good a very young Uchiyama was early in his career. It's also worth seeing just how powerful even a young Uchiyama was. Sad for Baek he would retire after this fight and probably wondered who he had pissed off to deserve being put into the ring with a monster like Uchiyama and also wondered how messed up his internal organs were after a brutal body shot from the Japanese fighter. At the moment Japan has two world champions at Super Featherweight and both are called Takashi. You have Takashi Uchiyama, the insanely hard hitting WBA champion who is widely regarded as the #1 fighter in the division, and you have WBC champion Takashi Miura. Although both Takashi's are current world champions it's worth noting that they have actually fought each other, meeting back in 2011 when Miura challenged Uchiyama for his world title. The bout really announced Miura as a fighter to keep an eye on and although it didn't quite announcing him as a the man we now know, that was done after his win over Sergio Thompson, it did signify that Japan had two very destructive and hard hitting guys at 130lbs. As for Uchiyama this bout proved he could take it as well as give it. When we talk about the best Super Featherweight on the planet many, including ourselves, would make a very strong case for Takashi Uchiyama. He is the man with more notable wins at the weight than any other fighter and he is the man with some of the most stunning KO's in the division. In fact going through his record reads like a who's who of the division with wins over Takashi Miura, Juan Carlos Salgado, Jorge Solis and Bryan Vazquez. We would suggest, however, that Uchiyama's hardest bout came against the previously unheralded Daiki Kaneko who, at the time, was known on by those who follow the Japanese domestic scene. Going in to this bout Uchiyama had made 7 defences with 6 KO's, the only man not to be stopped by the heavy hitting champion was Michael Farenas and that bout was ended early due to a clash of heads in round 3 force a technical draw. It was expected by many that Uchiyama would stop Kaneko, after all Kaneko's best wins had come on the Japanese domestic scene against the likes of of former champion Seiichi Okada, multi time challenger Kyohei Tamakoshi and first time challenger Ryota Kajiki, none of whom would have been a match for Uchiyama. What we ended up getting was a surprise. The bout wasn't a blow out, in fact it never really looked like Kaneko was going to be stopped as the challenger proved he was just as strong and tough as the champion who was forced to work hard, and pull himself off the canvas. It was, by far, the toughest test for Uchiyama and surprisingly it was the first time he had gone the distance in more than 4 years! Although Kaneko failed in his title bid here we have to believe that this performance has proven he is world class and he's now only waiting for another opportunity. If, or rather when, he gets another world title fight we suspect he'll take home the gold. |
VideosHere we include some of the best, most interesting, most exciting or most eye catching videos from around the Asian boxing world. Archives
May 2024
|