The Flyweight division has had a major makeover in the last 12 months, with fighters like Roman Gonzalez and Juan Francisco abandoning the division to chase glories at Super Flyweight whilst likes like Daigo Higa and Muhammad Waseem have emerged as key hopefuls going forward. Due to the shake ups we've seen several titles become vacant an on November 5th we see one of those vacancies being filled, as Chinese star Zou shiming (8-1, 2) takes on Thai veteran Kwanpichit OnesongchaiGym (39-1-2, 24), for the WBO title in a rematch that no one really wanted. For those with half decent memories they may remember that these two men, now both 35 years old, fought back in 2014. In that bout Shiming dominated Kwanpichit, coming close to an opening round stoppage before ultimate winning a decision with scores of 120-103 and 119-106, twice. Since that bout Kwanpichit has gone unbeaten, winning 12 in a row all by stoppage, though has been matched ridiculously softly whilst claiming and defending the WBO Oriental title, to boost his ranking. Shiming on the other hand has gone 2-1 (1), being much less active but fighting at a higher level, with a loss to the then IBF champion Amnat Ruenroeng. On paper the win over Kwanpichit back in 2014 is Shiming's best victory to date, and goes along with a decent win over Luis De la Rosa. That's not saying a lot when you look at the depth of the Flyweight division, with a combination of stars like Kazuto Ioka, prospects like Iwan Zoda, veteran's like Takuya Kogawa and rising former champions like Donnie Nietes, but they are solid contender type wins. Whilst his best wins as a professional haven't been great he is a fantastic boxer, a former amateur star and a talented speedy boxer. Unfortunately his style is still rooted in his amateur style, rather than progressing into a more professional style, and he's still showing real flaws in sitting down on his punches and finishing opponents off, something that was clear last time out against the awful Jozsef Ajtai. At his best Shiming is a skilled speedster. It's simplifying things a bit, but he really a skilled speedster. Sadly his lack of power, inability to cut the ring off, unwillingness to sit on his punches and lack of extra gear, along with his age, are all going to stop him from becoming a star. That has been made even harder for him due to the expectation on his shoulders courtesy of Top Rank and HBO, who raved about him from his debut but have yet to see him deliver, and at 35 he's in “now or never” land. Kwanpichit, now listed on boxrec by his birth name of Prasitsak Papoem rather than his fighting name, looks like a man with an incredible record on paper. Even more so when you consider he is 13-1-1 in title fights, and a 2-weight WBO Oriental champion. Sadly though looking through his competition it's a very padded record and there is a specific fighter with a 4-0 (3) record in the division who is far more proven than Kwanpichit. Notably he is 0-1 outside of Thailand and has struggled at times at home, with a very fortunate result 3 years ago against Ben Mananquil and another lucky one against Jayar Estremos, a Filipino journeyman. It's fair to sat he is 12-0 (12) since losing to Shiming but those opponents had a combined 113-99-13 which sums up the level he has been fighting at pretty fairly. In the ring Kwanpichit isn't actually terrible. He's not a world class Flyweight, but he's not terrible and can fight a bit, he's tough, with a good engine. Unfortunately he's a bit basic and does nothing in an outstanding manner, he's a very slow starter and whilst he is game he could, very easily, have had two opening round stoppages against his name, including one to Shiming. Despite being a slow started he does grow into fights, as he showed against Shiming, and if he's improved he might be able to give Shiming a better test than last time out. Whilst we think Kwanpichit might be a better test than last time, it's hard to see anything but a win for the Chinese star. Whether that's an early stoppage, with Kwanpichit's early vulnerabilities being jumped on, or a wide decision, with Kwanpichit lasting to the final bell, is hard to predict but it's very hard to see how Kwanpichit wins here. As a result we suspect Shiming will become China's second world champion, the first to be crowned on foreign soil. Unfortunately for him it's unlikely his reign will last long with the sharks, such as Nietes and and Francisco Rodriguez, Jr., already circling the title belt. (Image courtesy of The Champion - Thailand)
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Over the past few years we've began to see more and more fighters being fast tracked. These have included fighters Kosei Tanaka, Vasyl Lomachenko and Naoya Inoue, who have all claimed world titles in double quick time. The next fighter attempting to win a world title in under 10 bouts is Englishman Charlie Edwards (8-0, 3), who is looking to claim the IBF Flyweight title this coming Saturday, in his 9th professional bout. He's looking to take that title from the very well travelled and genuinely world class Johnriel Casimero (22-3, 14), who looks to record the first defense the title he won in May in China.
Usually we're excited to see fighters being fast tracked. Out excitement in regards to fighters like Hinata Maruta is well known. Sadly for Edwards the problem he's facing here isn't that he's being fast tracked, it's that he's being moved from British level to world level without having gained the skills and experience to really have a fighting chance. The 23 year old British fighter was a good amateur before turning professional last year. In September last year he claimed the English Flyweight title, beating Louis Norman, and defended it once against Phil Smith. He has also claimed the WBC International Silver Flyweight title, with a win over Luke Wilton. In many ways Edwards has done what has been asked of him. Sadly for him there is a huge gulf, between the level he has been fighting at and world class. In fact he's not just taking a leap up in class but an elevator up and he has shown little to suggest that he should be taking that ride at this time. He been able to go 10 rounds, albeit against British level fighters who looked relatively limited themselves. What would have been better for the youngster would have been to have fought some higher level fighters to develop the skills and test himself well ahead of a world title opportunity. Whilst there is a huge gulf between British level Flyweights and world class Flyweights a fight with some one like Ramon Garcia Hirales, Masayuki Kuroda, Alberto Rossel or Pablo Carrillo would have done the world of good for the youngster and helped prepare him for a world class fighter. Whilst Edwards is a talented but possibly unprepared fighter the same cannot be said of Casimero who is experienced, proven, talented and as gutsy as they come. Those guts have seen him become a modern day road warrior and a 2-weight world champion. He's been fighting at world level since December 2009, when he beaten Cesar Canchila in Nicaragua and has since fought in Mexico, South Africa, Argentina, Panama, Thailand and China. Not only has he been fighting on the road but he's been winning there two with his most famous wins coming in Argentina, against Luis Alberto Lazarte, and in China, where he stopped Amnat Ruenroeng earlier this year. Technically speaking Casimero is bit crude, he's open and defensively he has holes. But he is a world class fighter with explosive speed and thudding power. He's not a steam roller in the ring but having a fight with him is a terrible idea and he's relentless in his pursuit of victory. That was seen when he defeated Lazarte and when he defeated Ruenroeng, with the referee and judges being against him in both fights. We mentioned that Edwards could have done with facing some fringe level guys in preparation for this bout. As for Casimero, who has faced a who's who including Ardin Diale, Canchila, Ramon Garcia Hirales, Moruti Mthalane, Lazarte, Pedro Guevara and Ruenroeng, twice, his competition is stellar and he has scarcely come up short. In fact the loss where he embarrassed himself was his defeat to Mthalane which came far too soon for the Filipino, and we suspect this opportunity has come to soon for Edwards. Whilst Casimero is flawed he will know that he needs to keep this out of the judges hands that will likely inspire him to be more aggressive than usual. Edwards will start well, bouyed on by his home fans, but we suspect that Casimero's proven world class ability and power will play their part in the latter stages with Edwards simply being ground down by the Filipino. The Flyweight division is, and has long been, one of the sports most interesting divisions. It has one of the richest histories of any division in the sport and also has one of the best currents scenes with fighters like Roman Gonzalez, Juan Francisco Estrada, Johnriel Casimero and Kazuto Ioka all widely regarded as being among the best. The depth however is where it really impresses with fighters like Amnat Ruenroeng, Brian Vicloria, Moruti Mthalane, Juan Carlos Reveco, Daigo Higa, Joebert Alvarez, Takuya Kogawa and McWillians Arroyo all being very credible contenders. Even lower down the pecking order at “prospect” level we have fighters like Iwan Zoda, KJ Cataraja, Charlie Edwards and Andrew Selby. This coming Wednesday we get to see the next intriguing bout in the division, as WBA champion Ioka (19-1, 1) returns to the ring to make the third defense his title. In the opposite corner will be once beaten challenger Keyvin Lara (18-1-1, 6), who comes into the bout on an 18 fight winning streak. Ioka, as mentioned above, is regarded as one of the divisional elite. The 27 year old 3-weight world champion has long been regarded as one of the hottest fighters in Japan and has an impressive resume to back that up. He won the WBC Minimumweight title in just his 7th bout, stopping the then unbeaten Oleydong Sithsamerchai, he unified titles at Minimumweight, beating the brilliant Akira Yaegashi, he moved up and claimed the WBA Light Flyweight title, in just his 11th bout, before becoming a 3-weight world champion last year with a victory over Juan Carlos Reveco. The most notable thing about Ioka over the 2 years isn't his achievement in the ring but his physical development. Back in May 2014 he suffered his sole defeat, a decision defeat to the then IBF champion Amnat Ruenroeng. In that bout Ioka looked under-sized and under-powered, like a very small Flyweight. Last time out however he bullied Juan Carlos Reveco, stopping the Argentinian veteran in the 11th round following a performance that had excellent moments from the Japanese fighter. Sadly a lot of Ioka performances have not so good moments. Against Reveco last December it seemed like Ioka was the bigger, more powerful, better skilled and physically stronger fighter. At times however he also looked like the lazier, less hungry fighter and gave rounds away essentially doing nothing rounds. Sadly this laziness has been an issue through his career and it's something that could potentially cost him in the future. If, however, he can fight to his best for 12 rounds, there aren't many fighters at Flyweight who will beat him. When we talk about Lara he's much, much less well known than the Osakan champion The Nicaraguan youngster has been a professional for less than 4 years and now, aged 21, is looking to make a mark on the world stage in a big way. This didn't seem likely given his inauspicious start to the professional ranks, which featured a loss on debut and a draw in his second bout, but 18 straight wins on the local scene, including 1 in Panama, have helped Lara move towards a potential world title fight. Although Lara hasn't fought on major international TV he has had many of his bouts posted online, courtesy of Prodesa boxing, From the footage that is available Lara is a hard working fighter who has fast hands and throws plenty of punches, but appears to lack in many other areas. His power is certainly nothing startling, his footwork is flat and clumsy, his defence is porous, and although he has some nice shots in his arsenal his performances don't suggest future world champion any time soon, especially not in the stacked Flyweight division. In many ways Lara appears to be getting thrown to the wolves here. He has had no bouts on the fringes of world class, no bouts outside of Latin America, no previous bouts for 12 rounds and no bouts against anyone of any note. He may have impressed in the gym, he may have been a star in sparring but in the ring he looks like a man who should be a very long way from a world title fight. We'll be honest, Ioka has long been criticised for some of his opponent choices. That will again be the case here after he beats Lara, likely by mid round stoppage. There is nothing in Lara's locked that should worry Ioka, who should have the bout his own way from start to end. One of the most controversial bouts last year saw IBF Flyweight champion Amnat Ruenroeng (17-0, 5) [อำนาจ รื่นเริง] successfully retain his title with a decision win over Filipino Johnriel Casimero (21-3, 13). The bout was marred by fouling and wrestling from Ruenroeng, in fact the wrestling completely destroyed any semblance of a boxing contest and annoyingly it was all allowed from referee Larry Doggett, who was embarrassingly bad. This coming Wednesday, 11 months after their first bout, the men will meet again, this time on neutral ground in China with referee being the world class Tony Weeks. This time around we hope that boxing will be the order of the day, and not wrestling. At his best Ruenroeng is a real nightmare for anyone at 112lbs. He's 36 but fights like a fresh-faced 20-something year old, he's got great reflexes, he's physically strong, and has freakishly long arms. Despite those traits he is better known for simply being “tricky”, “difficult” and “frustrating”. A fighter who has skills but doesn't rely on his skills and instead relies on tricks, something that seems to be used to cover up what flaws he has, including possible issues with stamina. When it comes to Casimero the Filipino was a fantastic Light Flyweight, combining skills, power, speed and genuine explosiveness to be an offensive nightmare. He combined those traits with a road warriors mentality and a real mental toughness, a toughness that saw him claim major wins across the planet. At Flyweight he may be outsized and out powered, but he is still explosive and could, potentially, still give some very good fighters some absolute nightmares. Given how the first fight went we are expecting the rules to be bent by Amnat, but we think that the Thai will be punished for repeated infractions this time around. Notably what pure boxing did occur in the first fight saw Amnat look the better man, getting his shots first and and getting away without taking much in return. If Amnat can box, and frustrate Casimero legally then there is very little chance for Casimero, who will have little more than a punchers chance. If, however, Casimero can control the action, make it a fight, albeit a clean one, then he has a chance to wear down the 36 year old Thai, who has shown some questionable stamina and is a very advanced age for a Flyweight. We suspect Amnat will win, we suspect the bout will be messy and dirty but we think the win will be less controversial than the one he scored when the men first met just less than a year ago. The WBA “interim” titles have become a real issue, though one the WBA now seem to finally be stamping out. For a long time the titles were used to collect extra sanctioning fees for bouts that typically don't feature a world class fighter as opposed to temporarily filling a void following an injury to the champion. Sometimes they do however lead to good bouts, though bouts that could have been made as eliminators In the talent laden Flyweight division, which features the likes of Roman Gonzalez, Juan Francisco Estrada, Kazuto Ioka, Juan Carlos Reveco, Amnat Ruenroeng, Brian Viloria, Takuya Kogawa, Edgar Sosa, Johnriel Casimero, Yodmongkol Vor Saengthep and McWilliams Arroyo the need for the best to face the best is obvious, especially for titles and for the major recognition that those top tier belts bring for the fights. Unfortunately rather than the WBA forcing bouts between the likes of Ioka and Estrada they have allowed 3 title holders, and essentially extended a joke that was never funne. Estrada is the “Super” champion, Ioka the “regular” champion and little known Thai Stamp Kiatniwat the “interim” champion. On December 10th, Stamp (14-0, 6) was supposed to defend his title against the man he beat for the belt, Gregorio Lebron(13-3, 11), for whatever reason that bout was delayed and will now take place this coming Friday, leading Thai fans to get a second “world level” rematch in as many days. The first bout between the two men came back in August and saw Stamp claim a majority decision over Lebron, a fighter from the Dominican republic, courtesy of two 10-8 rounds. The decision upset Lebron's team, who accused two of the judges of bias and lead to the WBA calling for a rematch, leaving us where we are now. In their first bout both took turns to be the aggressor in what was a solid bout overall, and the perfect eliminator type bout. Although a vaunted puncher Lebron only really seemed to hurt Stamp once whilst Stamp scored two knockdowns, and came the closest to forcing the referee to stop the fight. For many who watched the fight though Stamp was spending too many rounds being negative, inactive and backing off rather than than making the most of his speed and skills. Since their first bout neither man has fought, however they have both aged. For Stamp that will have seen the teenager mature and grow more into a man, and the time between the originally scheduled date and the actually bout will have given yet more time to mature. He's still a teenager but certainly a more mature man than he was in their first meeting. For Lebron he's aged and is now heading towards his 34th birthday, an old age for a man in the lower weights. Saying that however Lebron hasn't been in a lot of wars and has only tasted 53 rounds of professional experience, with 12 of them coming against Stamp in their first meeting, making him a very fresh 33 year old. In their first fight it was Stamp who looked the more intelligent fighter, especially early on when he landed counter hooks, flashy combinations and showed good movement. He was however the man who was under-pressure and looked like a fighter unsure of himself a sign of his youth and inexperience. Lebron however looked like a powerful and aggressive man, looking to teach the youngster lesson with his power punches. We're expecting much of the same here, with Stamp looking to use Lebron's pressure against him whilst Lebron will again be looking to use his vaunted power to stop the youngster, and keep the judges out of the result rather than risk another decision loss. For both men however this bout will be different to their first. Lebron will know the officiating away from home isn't as favourable as it is at home. He'll be more aggressive and look for the KO more than he did last time out, taking more risks and throwing more reckless and wild hayemakers. As for Stamp he'll likely have fewer lulls and be less negative. When he attacks he'll look to make a bigger statement and try to make his rounds clearer when he wins them. The Thai may also swing less widely when he attacks, having missed wildly with a number of left hands in the middle rounds. Like their first bout we're expecting to see Lebron coming forward and Stamp countering. We however think that Stamp will manage to up the ante late and force a late stoppage on to the hard hitting Dominican who we know can be hurt by Stamp. For those who missed the first one, we've included it below. Japanese fans get the chance to watch 5 world title bouts on New Year's Eve this year. Whilst some of those bouts are very unappealing, and are actually quite terrible looking mismatches, there is one bout that has us genuinely excited and expecting something very competitive and exciting. That bout an a rematch between WBA Flyweight title Kazuto Ioka (18-1, 10) and the man he beat for that title earlier this year, Juan Carlos Reveco (36-2, 19). The two men first faced off back in April when Ioka claimed a majority decision over Reveco to become the second Japanese fighter to become a 3-weight champion, following fellow Osakan fighter Koki Kameda. The first bout was a very competitive one and although all 3 judges were from neutral countries the view from many was that Ioka had gotten lucky. That view seemed to be shared by the WBA who demanded that the two men rematch, which they will do just 8 months after their first bout. Coming in to this rematch both men will be looking to make a statement with Ioka looking to prove that it was him, and not the judges, that decided the previous bout, whilst Reveco will be looking to avenge his loss to Ioka. Whilst both fighters will be driven they will also be looking to improve on their previous performance. In terms of improvement we can certainly areas where Ioka will have improved. Firstly we suspect he will have filled into the Flyweight division that bit better than he was when the two men first met. We understand that 8 months isn't a long time but this is the second bout since Ioka won the title and those two training camps will have helped him fill out his body. As for Reveco the 32 year old is racing away from his prime years and he may well be on the slide physically, albeit on marginally on the slide. We know that Ioka has spent a lot of time working on a game plan to beat Reveco more clearly. That has seen him working a lot on combinations in training and he's stated that he'll be switching between head and body regularly whilst trying to stop Reveco. It was combinations and speed in the first bout that saw Ioka claiming rounds against the heavier handed but slower Reveco, who had his best success when the pace slowed down. If Reveco can neutralise the combinations then he'll take the win here however if Ioka can land those combinations there is little doubting he'll get the win, even if he can't stop Reveco. For Ioka, who will be cheered on by the crowd, he needs to remember not to have a war with Reveco. Instead he needs to stick to his boxing, he is faster, he is taller and rangier, and he is the better mover. If he can stick to a disciplined gameplan it's hard to see Reveco beating him. Reveco however will look to use his defense to slip inside and go to work, where his strength and power will take it's toll. Our prediction is that this is going to be another close one, though we suspect it will be less close and less debatable than the first with Ioka doing enough to take a clear, but close decision win, with out having “rounds off” like he had in their first bout. The WBA “interim” titles have become a real issue. No longer are the titles used for the original purpose of being an “interim” belt but instead they act as a whole new title allowing the WBA to collect extra sanctioning fees for bouts that typically don't feature a world class fighter. Sometimes they lead to good bouts, though bouts that could easily have been eliminators, other times however the bouts are little more than a marketing tool for the promoters to make money and sell a show.
In the talent laden Flyweight division, which features the likes of Roman Gonzalez, Juan Francisco Estrada, Kazuto Ioka, Juan Carlos Reveco, Amnat Ruenroeng, Brian Viloria, Takuya Kogawa, Edgar Sosa, Johnriel Casimero, Yodmongkol Vor Saengthep and McWilliams Arroyo the need for the best to face the best is obvious, especially for titles. Unfortunately rather the WBA forcing bouts between the likes of Ioka and Estrada they have allowed 3 title holders. Estrada is the “Super” champion, Ioka the “regular” champion and Stamp Kiatniwat the “interim” champion. On December 10th, 3 weeks before Ioka faces Reveco in a rematch, we'll see Stamp (14-0, 6) defend his title against the man he beat for the belt, Gregorio Lebron (13-3, 11). Their first bout, which came back in August, saw Stamp claim a majority decision over Lebron, a fighter from the Dominican republic, courtesy of two 10-8 rounds. The decision seemed to upset Lebron's team, who accused two of the judges of bias and lead to the WBA calling for a rematch, leaving us where we are now. In their first bout both took turns to be the aggressor in what was a brilliant bout overall. Although a vaunted puncher Lebron only really seemed to hurt Stamp once whilst Stamp scored two knockdowns, and came the closest to forcing the referee to stop the fight. For many who watched the fight though Stamp was spending too many rounds being negative and backing off rather than than making the most of his speed and skills. Since their first bout neither man has fought, however they have both aged. For Stamp that will have seen the teenager mature and grow more into a man. He's still a teenager but certainly a more mature man than he was in their first meeting. For Lebron he's aged and is now heading towards his 34th birthday, an old age for a man in the lower weights. Sayign that however Lebron hasn't been in many wars and has only tasted 53 rounds of professional experience, making him a very fresh 33 year old. In their first fight it was Stamp who looked the more intelligent fighter, especially early on, when he landed counter hooks, flashy combinations and showed good movement. He was however the man who was under-pressure and looked like a fighter unsure of himself. Lebron however looked like a powerful and aggressive man, looking to teach the boy a lesson with his power punches. We're expecting much of the same here, with Stamp looking to use Lebron's pressure against him whilst Lebron will again be looking to use his vaunted power to stop the youngster, and keep the judges out of the result. For both men however this bout will be different to their first. Lebron will know the judging away from home isn't as favourable as it is at home. He'll be more aggressive and look for the KO more intently than he did last time out. As a result he may take more risks and leave himself more open to the counters of the Thai. As for Stamp he may himself have fewer lulls, make a bigger statement when he attacks and try to make his rounds clear when he wins them. The Thai may also swing less widely when he attacks, having missed wildly with a number of left hands in the middle rounds. We suspect the key difference will be confidence with both men feeling more confident this time around and both looking to make the most of that when they get in the ring. We suspect that this will have a lot moments like their first fight, with Lebron coming forward and Stamp countering. We however think that Stamp will manage to prove a point and score a stoppage late in the bout, proving that he has improved from the first bout and that he has matured as both a man and a fighter Over the last few years we've seen the lower weight divisions getting attention due to a number of exciting and action based fighters. Through fighters, such as Naoya Inoue, Roman Gonzalez and Juan Francisco Estrada, fans have been given some really fun fights. Whilst it has been those action fighters that have brought the attention to those divisions we also have a few fighters who stand out for other reasons, such as the dirty, tricky and ugly Amnat Ruenroeng (16-0, 5), who is perhaps the most stylistically frustrating of any of the smaller men in the sport. Ruenroeng came to the attention of the hardcore fans back when he was an amateur though really it was last year that he came out of nowhere to claim the IBF Flyweight title, with a decision win over Rocky Fuentes. The win over Fuentes began a run of great results for the Thai who has since beaten Kazuto Ioka, McWilliams Arroyo, Zou Shiming and Johnriel Casimero, with the wins over Ioka and Shiming coming on the road. The wins haven't always been pretty but they have seen Ruenroeng show various facets to his game, including his boxing ability, physical strength and dirty tricks. Although Ruenroeng is 35, in fact he's coming up to 36, he's a very young 35 and hasn't been in the wars that age a fighter. In fact he's got the speed, stamina, timing and strength of a much younger man. It's fair to say that he's the youngest 35 year old in boxing today. On December 7th Ruenroeng returns to the ring for his 5th defense of the IBF Flyweight title as he takes on little known Japanese challenger Myung Ho Lee (19-4-1, 6). For Amnat the bout is regarded as a foregone conclusion before a possible unification bout next year, for Lee however the opportunity is a huge one, and a chance for him to end the rise of the Thai. The Japanese challenger really is very unknown outside of Asia, though has fought in Mexico once where he gave Edgar Sosa a very tough outing 3 years ago. The Sosa bout, which ended in a majority decision loss for Lee, is really the most notable of Lee's bout, though he has also suffered defeats to Rocky Fuentes and Rey Megrino, whilst also fighting to a draw with Hirofumi Mukai. In regards to wins his most notable came more than 4 years ago when he beat Shin Ono. Although not considering as one of the best Flyweights in Japan Lee is a man worth giving some attention too. He's one of only 3 men to lose a decision to Megrino, one of the sports most criminally under-rated punchers who has stopped 6 of his last 7 foes including Pongsaklek Wonjongkam and Ernesto Saulong, he was also able to hold his own with 2-time world title challenger Mukai and given his experience he could well ask some genuine question of Amnat. Although Lee is no pushover, and could well go into the bout with Amnat with a rough gameplan, it is hard to see him becoming the first Japanese fighter to claim a world title in Thailand. The likely outcome is that Lee does give Amnat a few problems, especially if he fights dirty against one of the dirtiest players in the game, but he'll not have the skills to shine when he needs them, like Amnat does. As a result we have to expect the champion to retain with a clear, but rough, decision. Since the retirement of Floyd Mayweather Jr we have seen the world of boxing crown a new pound-for-pound #1 fighter, Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez (43-0, 37). The little Nicaraguan sensation has finally received the recognition that hardcore fans, lower weight fans and Japanese fans have been giving him for years. On October 16th we see Gonzalez attempt to move to 44-0 and make the next defense of his WBC Flyweight title as he takes on Filipino-American Brian Viloria (36-4-0-2, 22) in what looks to be a mouth watering test for for the new pound-for-pound king.
Gonzalez's rise from obscurity to 3-weight world champion and pound-for-pound status has been a relatively slow climb though that many fans expected of him from relatively early in his career. In fact you need to go back to 2008 for his first “break out” performance, a 4th round TKO win over the then WBA Minimumweight champion Yutaka Niida. It was in that bout that Gonzalez showed impressive power, skills maturity for a 21 year old fighting away from home. The following year he would return to Japan and take a clear win over Katsunari Takayama, in what was a clear decision with Takayama doing all he could to see out the final few rounds. Since announcing himself in Japan Gonzalez has managed to make a name for himself in Mexico, with wins over the likes of Manuel Vargas, Omar Salado and Juan Francisco Estrada, all whom were beat whilst Gonzalez was the WBA Light Flyweight champion. For many fans in the west it was the Estrada bout, aired in the US, that brought Gonzalez some new fans, it was a 2012 FOTY contender and one of the best bouts in recent years between two men who essentially beat each other up for 12 highly entertaining rounds. An impressive win over Akira Yaegashi last year saw Gonzalez become the WBC Flyweight champion and further strengthen his claim of being one of the world truly elite level fighters. This year we've seen Gonzalez finally break through to the mainstream with his HBO debut, a very impressive and destructive win over Edgar Sosa. That win saw HBO and American fight fans make it clear that they wanted more of him and just 5 months after his HBO debut he's back again in what looks to be a genuinely tough match up against Viloria. Before we get on to Viloria we'll just talk about Gonzalez's style. He is able to box and move but at his best he's a marauding pressure fighter, he cuts off the ring, brings the fight to you and beats you with vicious and sharp combinations. If Floyd Mayweather was a defense genius then Gonzalez was his offensive contemporary with the best offensives footwork and combinations in the sport. He's fast, strong, powerful and staggeringly destructive. If has a flaw it's possibly his defense which can slip at times, though usually he's on point with that as well using a tight guard and good head movement. Now Viloria, the American Olympian has long been a favourite of the hardcore fans and Filipino fans and for much of the last decade or so has been the one Flyweight who looked like he could become a US TV staple. Unfortunately he has often found himself have momentum stopping set backs just as he's looked ready to kick on with his career. Saying that however Viloria is a 2-weight world champion himself and holds a really respectable number of world level wins. They include wins over the likes of Gilberto Keb Baas, Eric Ortiz, who be heat for the WBC Light Flyweight title, Jose Antonio Aguirre, Ulises Solis, Julio Cesar Mirando, Giovani Segura, Omaro Nino Romero and Hernan Marquez. Sadly losses to Romero, Edgar Sosa, Carlos Tamara and most recently Juan Francisco Estrada have stopped him from becoming the star that many hoped he would become. At 34 years old Viloria is old for a Flyweight and has been through the hard, career draining, battles yet he is still a more than capable boxer-puncher who can really, genuinely, do every thing in the ring. He's been blessed with spiteful power, as seen in his win over Ortiz, and has developed fantastic boxing ability. The problem sometimes however is that he's not sure on whether he's a boxer or a puncher and can get stuck between the two, he's also shown questionable stamina, notable in his bouts with Tamada and Estrada. At 34 that stamina is unlikely to have improved. Although a very good boxer Viloria is likely to be needing to rely on his power here as Gonzalez will almost certainly bring the intense pressure that has became a staple of his recent bouts. If Viloria can hurt Gonzalez then things could be interesting however we suspect Viloria will struggle to land clean and instead he will be forced to eat the combinations of Gonzalez until the challenger is eventually worn down. Hopefully the winner of this will move towards another divisional super fight, with perhaps Amnat Ruenroeng, Juan Francisco Estrada or Kazuto Ioka. If that happens then it's going to be very hard for American boxing media and the casual fight fans to continue to ignore the Flyweight division, arguable the most exciting division in the sport today. Japanese boxing has a number of stars who are huge news in their homeland. One of the biggest is 26 year old Osakan fighter Kazuto Ioka (17-1, 10), who has won titles in 3 divisions and proven to be one of the biggest attractions in the lower weight classes. On September 27th we'll see Ioka return to the ring as he looks to make the first defense of his WBA Flyweight title. In the other corner will be Argentinian challenger Roberto Domingo Sosa (26-2-1, 14). Ioka first came to the attention of international boxing fans back in 2011 when he claimed the first of his world titles, the WBC Minimumweight title. That was in Ioka's 7th professional bout and it saw him conquering the long time champion Oleydong Sithsamerchai. The win was a break out win for the youngster, though those in Japan knew he was a talented youngster given that he had been matched hard from debut and been following in the footsteps of his uncle, Hiroki Ioka. Ioka's early rise saw him defending his first world title twice before he unified titles at Minimumweight, with a win over compatriot Akira Yaegashi. He later went on to claim a Light Flyweight title, that he defended 3 times. In 2014 he finally made a move up to the exciting Flyweight division though came up short in his first title bout there, losing a decision to Amnat Ruenroeng in a bout for the IBF title. Since that loss he has won 3 in a row, including a decision last time out against Juan Carlos Reveco to claim the WBA Flyweight title. At his best Ioka is an excellent boxer who excels at mind range where he can use his speed and skills. He was, clearly out, sped and out muscled by Ruenroeng, who is of course an enigma to fight at the best of times. Other than that loss however he has been proven to be a world class boxer who can hold his own in an up close fight if need be. His greatest offensive weapon is his straight right hand to the body, which has seen off numerous foes. At Flyweight however he does look a little light-weight and looks like he could be over-powered by a number of the divisions top fighters. Although just 26 years old he looks like he has already found his divisional ceiling. Whilst Ioka is a recognised world level fighter the same cannot be said of Sosa, despite a few notable wins on his record. The Argentinian fighter began his career back in 2006 and ran up 24 straight wins, including a very notable decision victory over South African fighter Zolani Tete. The Tete bout was an IBF world title eliminator and is, still, the biggest win on his record. Unfortunately since then he has gone 2-2-1 with losses to Juan Carlos Sanchez Jr, in an IBF title fight, and the little known Diego Luis Pichardo Liriano, who beat him last November. As well as those two set backs he was also held to a draw against Javier Nicolas Chacon. Despite that run of form the WBA have allowed him to fight for a world title. Footage of Sosa shows that he's nothing special. He may hold a victory over Tete but that result seemed to say more about the judging than Sosa's ability, which seemed distinctly average despite the fact he did show some guts, especially late, to turn the fight around and claim the narrow win. He looks to be a battler and one who is very difficult to discourage, but ability wise there is little that stands out other than his will to win and toughness. Whilst he's technically not outstanding Sosa is a fighter who has carved out his career at Super Flyweight and will, as a result, have significant size and strength advantages over Ioka. That could be his key advantage here, though could also be an issue for the visitor who has only weighed in as a Flyweight once in his previous 29 bouts. Incidentally he has only fought outside of Argentina once, his loss to Sanchez in 2013. On paper this looks like it could be a tough test for Ioka who will actually need to be at his best to over-come the determined Sosa. If Ioka looks to have a fight with Argentinian he could in trouble given the natural size difference between the two men, and the fact Ioka still doesn't look like a fully fledged Flyweight. Saying that however Ioka should be able to box and move, avoid a slug-fest and take a decision victory. We suspect that Ioka wins “comfortably” on the cards but is given some really tough moments when Sosa does cut the distance and gets to him. Those moments however will serve as a warning to Ioka and put him back on the right track. (Image courtesy of boxmob.jp) |
World Title Previews
The biggest fights get broken down as we try to predict who will come out on top in the up coming world title bouts. Archives
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