For a second week in a row we get mid-week world title action in Asia, this time in Thailand as WBA Minimumweight champion Knockout CP Freshmart (16-0, 7) defends his title against Filipino challenger Toto Landero (10-1-2, 2). For the Thai the bout is his 4th defense of the title, which he won from Byron Rojas in June 2016, whilst Landero will be getting his first world title bout. The unbeaten Thai world champion is one of the best little men in the sport and a genuine world class fighter, who has proven himself time and time again since his professional debut back in 2012. The Thai might only have 16 boxing bouts under his belt but he was a great Muay Thai fighter before turning his hand at Western boxing, and doing so in a 10 rounder for a WBC Youth title. In 2014 he stepped up in class from the Youth competition to the world class level and narrowly beat Carlos Buitrago for the WBA “interim” title. As the interim champion he would really develop his skills whilst making 3 defenses, including a dominant one in a rematch against Buitrago. It was then that he out pointed Rojas for the full version of the title, which he has defended against Shin Ono, Go Odaira and Rey Loreto. On paper Knockout's defenses of the title haven't been great. Both Ono and Odaira had come up short in previous world title bouts and Loreto had double digit losses, though was in great form and a worthy challenge. Sadly we are now closing in on 2 years since Knockout had his win over over Rojas, and since then we have seen the rocket powered rise of Hiroto Kyoguchi, who looks to be the division's true star in the making. In the ring Knockout is a solid boxer puncher. He doesn't live up to the “Knockout” moniker but is a solid with a very good ring IQ, a sharp jab and an aggressive mindset. He can fight at a very good pace and appears to take a shot well, though does have question marks about his stamina, having faded late in a number of bouts. He's not the most destructive, the fastest or exciting fighter, but does look like someone who will be hard to beat, especially if he can remain in Thailand where he is used to the unique conditions of day time fights. We've all had a chance to see the champion but the 22 year old challenger is a bit more of an unknown. He turned professional at the prodigious age of 18 and was 5-0-2 (2) after 7 bouts. During that early run he battled the likes of the then unbeaten Rolly Sumalpong, who gave Ken Shiro problems, and Philip Luis Cuerdo, who both held Landero to a draw, before losing in close rematches to the youngster. His most notable bouts come more recently however with a stoppage loss to Joey Canoy in 2016, with Landero being dropped in rounds 4 and 6 before Silvester Abainza stepped in to stop the bout, and a huge upset win over Vic Saludar last June. On paper wins over Sumalpong, Cuerdo and Saludar are decent wins, but ones that really suggest he's ready for an OPBF title fight, not a world title fight. Like many at 105lbs however he's getting a shot due to the relative lack of contenders at the weight, especially those willing to travel to Thailand to fight an unbeaten champion. For those wondering that's also part of the reason why we've seen so many contenders, like Ono and Odaira, being recycled in recent years. The win over Salurdar is however a very good one and shows there is real talent with Landero, despite his lack of power. What we're expecting here is for Landero to fight pretty confidently early on, however Knockout's more rounded skills, strength and power will be too much for the younger man, who will be broken down and likely stopped in the mid-to-late rounds. Landero might have the edge in youth and speed, but that's about it and in the conditions of Thailand you really need brutal power or exceptional skills to beat the champions, and Landero has neither of those. Even on neutral ground he wouldn't have enough for Knockout.
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The first of three world title bouts on New Year's Eve this year will see IBF Minimumweight champion Hiroto Kyoguchi (8-0, 6) [京口 紘人] defending his title against talented Nicaraguan Carlos Buitrago (30-2-1-1, 17). For Kyoguchi the bout will be his first defense whilst Buitrago will be looking to claim a world title fight, following a trio of previous set backs in Asia. The bout could, potentially, set the stage for a very interesting 2018 at Light Flyweight, with 3 titles being fought for on this show, and will certainly help move the division forward whilst also giving fans a very exciting stylistic match up. The talented Kyoguchi was a former amateur stand out before making his debut in April 2016. By the end of the year he had raced out to 5-0 (5) and looked like a force to be reckoned with, thanks to his ultra aggressive pressure style, his heavy hands and his bob and weave style. That style took him to OPBF glory in February this year, when he stopped veteran Armando de la Cruz, and later helped him record his first defense, with a 12 round decision over Jonathan Refugio, who spent much of the bout in survival mode. The win over Refugio did, to some extent, expose Kyoguchi as not being as destructive as he originally looked, but left no one questioning his stamina, aggression or ability to come on strong. Early on Refugio had had success, but had taken a lot during those early stages to stay away in the middle rounds and essentially do little more than survive late on, whilst Kyoguchi pressed forward. That defense was followed by another 12 round victory for Kyoguchi, who out pointed the teak tough Jose Argumedo in a relatively frustrating and sloppy affair, that saw neither man shine despite Kyoguchi claiming the IBF title with the win. With a pair of 12 now under his belt the exciting man from the Watanabe gym now looks to get back to his destructive best and get his first defense as he takes on the talented visitor. To win he will need to show a much more disciplined performance than he did last time. He will need to be fully aware of the Nicaraguan's slippery skills, smart movement and ability to box at range. Kyoguchi will have to use the intelligent pressure that worked so well early in his career and unleash the devastating combinations and body shots that convinced his team to push him to a world title fight after just 15 months as a professional. Aged 26 Buitrago has long been tipped as the the successor to Roman Gonzalez as the face of Nicaraguan boxing. He debuted aged 16, way back in 2008 and went 27-0-0-1 (16) before getting is first world title fight, in November 2013. During that run Buitrago had beaten the likes of Yader Escobar and Julian Yedras and had scored wins in Mexico and the US whilst developing a reputation as a special fighter in the gym. He was a fluid, gorgeous to watch boxer, with under rated power, smart movement and lovely hand speed with an excellent sharp jab and nice variety to his shots. It was in November 2013 that Buitrago would get his first world title fight, and would fight to a draw in the Philippines against the then WBO champion Merlito Sabillo, with many feeling the Nicaraguan had been robbed of the win and the title. Despite the set back Buitrago remained a leading contender and just a fight later he took on Knockout CP Freshmart in a bout for the interim WBA Minimumweight title, losing a controversial decision to the Thai. A third shot would come just a couple of fights later, when he got a rematch with Knockout, and fought to a wide decision loss in a very lacklustre performance. Since his second loss to Knockout we've not really seen anything from Buitrago to suggest he's a top fight any more. He scored a quick blow out over Roger Collado in May 2016 and an 8 round decision over Noe Medina back in October 2016, meaning he's been out of the ring for 14 months coming into this bout! It's also worth noting that his last recorded weight was 111¾lbs, well above the Minimumweight limit, and he has been rumoured to be struggling to get down to 105lbs for this bout. At his best, if Buitrago can be at his best, he could be a real nightmare for Kyoguchi with his jab, movement, toughness and boxing brain. Sadly though all signs are that Buitrago isn't going to be at his best. He has been inactive, he's said to be struggling with weight and given his performance in the second bout with Knockout you have to wonder whether he has either outgrown the division or just isn't going to become the fighter we had all hoped. If Buitrago is anything short of his best Kyoguchi will likely steam roll him with pressure, combinations and body breaking shots to the midsection. If Buitrago is at his best then there is a chance he'll take the title back home with him, with a decision, but we're expecting to see an off Buitrago getting dragged into a war, and being broken down in the middle rounds by the vicious Kyoguchi. The Minimumweight division is one of the most over-looked at the moment, yet has a number of interesting match ups coming up between now and the end of 2017. One of those is a WBC world title fight which will see long term unbeaten Thai Wanheng Menayothin (48-0, 17) risking his title, and unbeaten record, against former WBO and JBC champion Tatsuya Fukuhara (19-5-6, 7). For Wanheng the bout sees him potentially tying his record with that Rocky Marciano whilst the Japanese visitor will be hoping to become a 2-time champion, and create a little bit of history. For the champion the bout will see him seeking his 8th defense, and look to continue a title reign that began back in November 2014 when he stopped Mexican Oswaldo Novoa. Since winning the title Wanheng has won 12 bouts in a row, including victories over Jeffrey Galero, Young Gil Bae, Go Odaira, Saul Juarez and Melvin Jerusalem. In the ring Wanheng is a defensively intelligent pressure fighter, who applied constant pressure and looks to out work and grind down opponents. His lack of power is notable, but he certainly his a lot hard than his record suggests and in his 9 world title fights he has scored 4 stoppages. With Wanheng closing in on the 50-0 record of Floyd Mayweather Jr this is a really credible test for the champion. At 32 he is getting on for a Minimumweight and with 382 rounds under his belt he has certainly got miles on the clock. He has negated damage in many of his fights, due to his solid defense, but was cut a couple of fights ago by the head of Omari Kimweri, and it could be that his body is maybe starting to feel it's age, something that also seemed to be the case in January's win over Melvin Jerusalem. The Japanese challenger has had a strange career. After winning his first 4 bouts he quickly slipped to 5-1-2 and really saw his momentum slow, despite reaching the 2009 Rookie of the Year final. Another winning run followed before a surprise stoppage loss to Hiroyuki Otsuka, and a draw with Koji Itagaki. In 2013 Fukuhara again saw his career falter with losses to Yu Kimura and Takuma Inoue, and by the start of 2015 Fukuhara had fallen to 13-4-5 (4) with his career seemingly going no where. Since then however he has gone an impressive 6-1-1 with with notable wins over Hiroya Yamamoto, Takumi Sakai, Genki Hanai and Moises Calleros, and a draw with Fahlan Sakrreerin Jr. The win over Yamamoto saw Fukuhara claim the Japanese title and the one over Calleros saw him become the WBO champion. The problem for Fukuhara is that whilst he has had an impressive few years, he's not actually shown himself to be that talented. He's gotten far on toughness, energy and desire rather than skills, power and slickness. He's a handful for many, given that he has a never say die attitude and always looks to have have a fight, but against truly world class fighters it's hard to see what he has to offer. This was clear when he was widely beaten by a then debuting Takuma Inoue and is likely to be seen again here against the very talented Wanheng. Whilst Fukuhara is travelling with hunger, and the chance to become the first Japanese fighter to claim a world title on Thai soil, it's hard to see him really testing Wanheng. Fukuhara will come to fight but we believe the sharper, smoother and tighter boxing of Wanheng will be too much for the challenger, who we think will start will be take a methodical beating in the later rounds, and potentially be stopped in the championship rounds. The Minimumweight division is one that is currently dominated by Asian fighters, with all 4 major world titles being held by Asian's. This coming Sunday won't see that changing, but could potentially see a new champion being crowned, as WBO Minimumweight champion Tatsuya Fukuhara (19-4-6, 7) defends his title against fellow Japanese fighter Ryuya Yamanaka (14-2, 4). For the champion this will be his first defense of the title whilst Yamanaka will be getting his first world title fight, as he looks to become the next world champion from the Shinsei gym. The 28 year old Fukuhara was a fighter who showed some early promise, reaching the 2009 Rookie of the Year final, but then his career stumbled. He went from 5-0-2 (1) to 12-4-3 (3) and suffered losses to Yu Kimura and Takuma Inoue, who was making his debut. Since that poor run we have however seen Fukuhara turn his career around, with a 7-0-3 (4) run in his last 10. That run has seen him fight to a draw with Fahlan Sakkreerin Jr in Thailand, defeat Hiroya Yamamoto for the Japanese title, over-come Takumi Sakae and Genki Hanai in title defenses, get a technical draw against Shin Ono and beat Moises Calleros for the “interim” WBO world title. The run of Fukuhara's has been genuinely impressive and has seen him show impressive mental strength. In the ring he's got a nice jab and solid work rate, but does lack power and he has a very weak looking left hand, which is an issue given he's a southpaw, and a pretty weak defense. When he throws the left hand he often leaves him open to counters, and can be seen to rely on his chin a bit too much during those moments. Despite there being a lot of flaws Fukuhara has proven to be a tough man to beat in recent years with his willingness to take one to land one being part of what makes him so hard to beat. It's also worth noting that he is a hero in Kumamoto, and the crowd will be behind him every time he fights there, where he has grown a notable local following. Whilst the champion is pretty unknown in the west it's fair to say that Yamanaka is a total unknown outside of Japan, and in fairness is pretty unknown outside of Hyogo. He turned professional in 2012 and has regularly fought in Kobe on shows promoted by his gym Shinsei. He's ventured out a few times, but not too often. During his career he has suffered a couple of losses, with one of those being an early career stoppage to Kenta Shimizu and the other being a decision loss to Filipino journeyman Roque Lauro in 2014. Coming in to this bout however he is riding a 7 fight winning run, including wins over Takahiro Murai, Ronelle Ferreras and most notably Merlito Sabillo, a win that saw Yamanaka claim the OPBF title. In the win over Sabillo we saw the ability of Yamanaka shine as he boxed and moved, using his speed and movement to make the former world champion look slow, clumsy and like a novice at times. It was this version of Yamanaka that showed the talent to become a world champion down the line, and earned him this shot, but there is a difference between fighting a shop worn, former champion like Sabillo, and a current champion like, Fukuhara. Footage of the two suggests that Yamanaka is the better boxer. He's the more natural talent of the two. But we can't help but feel that that natural talent will be swamped by Fukuhara, who will simply wear down the challenger. We can certainly see Yamanaka boxing and moving to a decision victory, but we suspect the champion will retain with a late stoppage. It's fair to say that 2016 was a nightmare year for the Watanabe gym, with high profile losses for Kohei Kono and Takashi Uchiyama who both lost their world titles, however as a gym they have bounced back well in 2017. This coming Sunday they could see that bounce continue as they look to create their next world champion, and see their man set a new Japanese domestic record. The man in question is ultra-destructive Miniumweight youngster Hiroto Kyoguchi (7-0, 6), who challenges IBF Minimumweight champion Jose Argumedo (20-3-1, 12). The bout comes just over 15 months since Kyoguchi made his debut, swatting away Nayoklek Sithsaithong in 2 rounds on April 17th 2016 and will also be Argumedo's 4th defense of his title. Of the two men the more proven is the champion, a tough and trough 28 year old Mexican who has been a professional for almost 7 years and has fought a who's who. He's scored wins over Oswaldo Novoa, Saul Juarez, Jose Martin Tecuapetla, Javier Martinez Resendiz and, most notably of all, Katsunari Takayama. It was the win over Takayama that really brought him to people's attention, taking a 9th round technical over Takayama to claim the IBF title in a really rough fight that saw Argumedo's strength's, and weaknesses, being shown. In the ring Argumedo is slow, he's clumsy, and a bit flat footed. He is however tough as old boots, physically imposing, strong and experienced. With 24 bouts under his belt, including a 4-0 (2) record in world title bouts he has shown his quality at world level and he's gone beyond 8 rounds in 12 bouts so far, racking up 147 career rounds. It should be noted that the win over Takayama came in Japan and whilst we personally thought he was fortunate to get the decision, it was clear that he wasn't scared about fighting on foreign soil and instead he came to fight. It looked like he was out worked and out manoeuvred by Takayama, but the “Lightning Kid” could never dent the Mexican who looked like he could have taken shots for weeks without going down. Whilst Argumedo is a proven quantity the same cannot be said of Kyoguchi, but in regards to the eye test he looks like a potential Japanese star of the future and the next Japanese standout at 105lbs, and we mean that with no disrespect to WBO champion Tatsuya Fukuhara. Blessed with really spiteful power, an aggressive mentality and the ability to assess his own performances and take positives, and negatives from them, Kyoguchi seems like fighter who is naturally talented and blessed with real maturity. Style wise he looks similar to both Roman Gonalez and Daigo Higa, two of the most exciting fighters in the sport today. He applies intelligent pressure, looking to break the body and spirit of his opponents. At the moment he hasn't made the most of his jab, but has never really needed to, dominated many of his fights from early on. Whilst KO artists always have questions over their heads Kyoguchi has already answered some of those. For example he has has proven he can go 12 rounds, and actually looked the fresher man when he went 12 against Jonathan Refugio back in April and shown that he's not worried when a fighter can take his power. Those two questions being answered already tell us a lot about Kyoguchi, and why he is so highly regarded. He's a puncher, but he can do 12, at a good pace and can revert to plan B if he needs to. Not only are we aware from what we've seen that he's a talent, but Watanabe gym have had him training with top tier talent for this fight, and have got experience of bringing fighters to the top, and won't have thrown him in here unless they were confident of him being ready. This could be a case of throwing Kyoguchi in with a champion too early. We don't think Watanabe would have done that, but they might. What we're expecting instead is to see Kyoguchi really shine against a tough fighter that he will have a field day with, pressing the action and going to town on a champion who is essentially made to order for his speed, aggression and style. Kyoguchi can't get over-confident, and he can't rush his work, but he should be able to look a sensation here against a slow and clumsy fighter that he can pressure, and rip combinations on, at will. We don't see Kyoguchi blowing away Argumedo early on, the Mexican is far too tough for that, but we do see him taking stoppage in the middle rounds as the body pile up and the Mexican unravels under the pressure. To some boxing fans the lower weight divisions aren't worthy of any attention or time. They are their to be derided, mocked or ignored. Whilst it's a real shame those fans have that view, that doesn't mean others of us can't enjoy those divisions which tend to give us some of the best action bouts and some brilliantly over-looked classics. This coming Saturday we may well get another of those over-looked classics as WBA Minimumweight champion Knockout CP Freshmart (15-0, 7) defends his title against mandatory challenger Rey Loreto (23-13, 15). On paper the uninformed may well look at the fight with extra derision given the different looking records, with Loreto having almost as many losses as Knockout has total bouts, but to those who know the men this is a mouth watering encounter. The champion first made waves thanks to his unusual ring name. It was memorable, it was different and even a bit comical. It was also much easier to remember than his birth name of Thammanoon Niyomtrong. He won the WBC Youth title on his debut, just over 5 years ago, and defended it 7 times in total, before giving it up to fight for bigger and better titles. That resulted in Knockout claiming the interim WBA title in 2014 with a controversial win over Carlos Buitrago and since then he has gone from strength to strength, claiming the full title last year with a win over Byron Rojas. At times in his career Knockout has looked laborious, and clumsy but fight after fight he has improved, with that being obvious in his 2016 rematch with Buitrago. Now the only major flaw that stands out is his questionable stamina, which has seen him running low in later rounds. Other than his stamina issues he looks like a talented, heavy handed and skilled fighter who could well be the best 105lb fighter on the planet. He may not have the 40-something win of compatriot Wanheng Menayothin but wins over Buitrago and Rojas are just as good as the best wins scored by Wanheng, and he's not taken the easy record padding fights that his countryman has. On paper the challenger looks useless. 13 losses from 36 fights is pretty bad. However they only tell a fraction of the story of Rey Loreto's career. To begin his career he went 0-4, losing all 4 fights in a little over 6 months during 2008. In 2011 he was 8-11 (4), a long way from ever looking like a world title challenger. Then came a run of 7 wins, including a stoppage in Thailand over Wisanu Kokietgym. Aged 21 Loreto was then 15-11 (8) and was a veteran at such a young age. Like a veteran he went through a bad patch, losing 2 of 3 against naturally bigger men, but has since reeled off 8 wins. They have including a technical decision over Pornsawan Porpramook and a 2014 Upset of the Year contender against Nkosinathi Joyi In the ring Loreto is an aggressive fighter with a great engine, really under-rated power and a great work rate. He might not be the most rounded fighter, or the quickest, or even a particularly technical fighter, but he's incredibly talented and very destructive with natural power, as he showed against Joyi. Also worth noting is he's a southpaw, making him even more feared and showing why he has been relatively avoided in recent years. We really think this could be something special. Loreto is hungry, he's been forced to wait, he's already a veteran and there is no way he's not going to be putting it all on the line here. He might not be as talented as Knockout but he's certainly hungrier and that could prove to be pretty key in this bout. We think the skills will be the difference, with Knockout winning, but he will have to fight through hellfire to come out on top and Loreto will not be there for loss #14, he'll be there for the title. We suspect this will be an exciting, hard hitting war and something that no fan should be missing out on. The Middleweight division is in a period of relative flux with a number of champions who are likely to find themselves up against challengers who will fancy their chances over the coming year. The challengers, including the insanely exciting Hiroto Kyoguchi and the criminally under-rated Rey Loreto, are licking their lips however the champions are certainly looking out on the division on looking for easier contenders to face. That will be the case again this coming weekend when WBC champion Wanheng Menayothin (46-0, 17) defends his title against Australian based Tanzanian born Omari Kimweri (16-3, 6). The champion is closing in on the magic 50-0 but was fortunate earlier this year when he was taken to a very close decision by Melvin Jerusalem, who came into the bout as a hungry fight and showed his desire by pushing the Thai all the way. That bout is as close as we've seen Wanheng to picking up a loss, and it's the first time he has really shown signs of being an “old” fighter. In the past he has always looked like the type of fighter who can control the tempo of the bout with his educated pressure and combinations. Although relatively unknown outside of Asia Wanheng is a genuine joy to watch at his best. He's an intelligent but aggressive fighter, who uses a tight guard to come forward and breaks his opponents down, with his pressure and under-rated power. His record may not show it, but Wanheng can punch, and has stopped 5of his last 9 whilst making 6 defenses of the world title and scoring notable wins over Go Odaira, Saul Juarez and Young Gil Bae. The win over Juarez, last year, showed how good Wanheng was, though did see him turn off late in the bout, but he's not looked the same since with the close win over Jerusalem and a couple of simple victories. Born in Tanzania and now based in Australia Kimweri is a well travelled fighter and one who has actually faced some pretty interesting competition. In just his 4th bout he battled Angky Angkotta, in 2013 he lost a controversial decision to Shin Ono and last time out, more than a year ago, he took a controversial win over Randy Petalcorin. Aged 34 he's no spring chicken and he has been in some tough, and draining bouts, particularly the Petalcorin one. Although not the most sensational of fighters Kimweri is a decent boxer-mover, he's game and has a real desire to win. He got off the floor numerous times against Petalcorin, a razor sharp puncher, and kept looking to win as he looked to always fight back. He was out matched but showed no quit and seemed to get some help from the judges to escape with a much debated win. Although Wanheng didn't look his best last time out, it does look like this bout is one for him to shine in. Kimweri is similar, in some ways, to Go Odaira and will lack the power to get Wanheng's respect whilst the Thai will almost certainly walk through him, and eventually get a stoppage late in the bout. March is set to be an incredibly busy month with major bouts spread across the month. Despite the spread of bouts through the whole of Mach it's fair to say that the first week or so is genuinely hectic with a huge number of big bouts crushed into the first few days of March. The first of those notable bouts will see WBA Minimumweight champion Knockout CP Freshmart (14-0, 6) defending his title against Japanese speedster Go Odaira (13-5-3, 1), in what will be Odaira's third world title shot in just over 2 years. Coming in to the bout Knockout will be a clear favourite, for so many reasons. Not only is the unbeaten champion, and arguably the best fighter at 105lbs. His record may not be he deepest in the division but his recent wins over the likes of Carlos Buitrago, Alexis Diaz, Byron Rojas and Shin Ono have shown that he's a very talented fighter who is consistently developing his skills. He's not longer the powerful but crude fighter he once was and is a much more rounded boxer, At his worst Knockout is a crude and slow fighter who looks predictable, as we saw in his first bout with Buitrago back in 2014. Since then he has improved significantly, and although he's still not lightening quick he is a much smoother fighter than he used to be. The smoothness has made other issues more visible and last time out, against Ono, he showed real pacing issues and looked exhausted in the later rounds. By then Ono was too far behind to capitalise but a better fighter could make Knockout pay in the future. Interestingly the bout with Ono saw Knockout's KO % fall to just 43% and was his 5th complete 12 rounder in his last 6, suggesting that he may not be the heavy handed puncher once looked like. In the ring Odaira really is a speedy fighter, much like his mentor Susumu Hanagata. Odaira has lovely hand speed and movement, and is a a fighter who has had much of his success to date based on that speed. Unfortunately though he totally lacks power, physically he's also lacking and can be bullied around and has shown stamina issues of his own, and when his stamina is tested he seems to lack the durability to get through a storm. That has resulted in a 7th round TKO loss to Katsunari Takayama and a 5th round TKO loss to Wanheng Menayothin in his previous world title bouts Although he has come up short in world title bouts in the past he has proven to be among the best on the Japanese domestic scene with a reign as the Japanese champion. As the domestic champion he recorded 3 defenses, beating the likes of Hiroya Yamamoto, Yuma Iwahashi and Yutaka Sowano. Sadly those defenses were against relatively poor opponents and came before the recent rise of fighters like Tatsuya Fukuhara, Ryuya Yamanaka, Tsubasa Koura, Reiya Konishi, Hiroto Kyoguchi and Masataka Taniguchi, who could have let us see how good Odaira really was. Whilst Knockout will be the favourite based on his own ability Odaira will also have history working against him, with no Japanese fighter having ever won a world title bout in Thailand. In more than 20 contests Japanese fighters have been rebuked, with the “best” result being Hirofumi Mukai's technical draw with Pongsaklek Wonjongkam. Saying that however Odaira has been planning ahead and this will be his third bout on the Land of Smiles and may well call on that experience with the Thai conditions here. Although Odaira has got some experience of Thailand it's hard to see him having enough skills or experience to survive the 12 rounds with Knockout. Instead we're expecting to see another bout where Odaira starts well before falling apart in the middle rounds. Hopefully with Knockout shining enough to entice some of the new wave of Japanese fighters to challenge him, rather than having to reuse challengers like Odaira and Ono in the future On December 6th 2013 the boxing world saw a notable card take place at the Kokugikan in Tokyo. The show saw Akira Yaegashi retain the WBC Flyweight title, with a decision win over Edgar Sosa, Naoya Inoue claim the OPBF Light Flyweight title with a 5th round TKO against Jerson Mancio, Ryosuke Iwasa claiming the OPBF Bantamweight title with a 5th round TKO against Hiroki Shiino and Ryota Murata claim his second win, stopping Dave Peterson in 8 rounds. That card also featured the debut of 17 year old super prospect Takuma Inoue, who took a clear win over Tatsuya Fukuhara (now 18-4-6, 7). The loss for Fukuhara could have been a career ending humiliation, being out pointed by a debuting teen. Instead that bout was a catalyst for Fukuhara to turn his career career around and since that loss he has gone 6-0-3 (3), claimed the Japanese Minimumweight title and, arguably, been the most improved fighter in Japan. That improvement for Fukuhara has seen him open the door for a major bout on February 26th as he takes on Mexican foe Moises Calleros (25-6-1, 14) in a bout for the interim WBO Minimumweight title. A win for Fukuhara would see him extend his post Inoue run to a 10 fights without a loss, and would see him opening the door to a potential domestic showdown with WBO “regular” champion Katsunari Takayama later in the year. In the ring Fukuhara took time to find his feet and despite winning his first 4 bouts there was some fortune in his early results. He did however get things going and in 2009 he fought in the All Japan Rookie of the Year final, losing a decision to Takuya Mitamura, who later went on to claim the Japanese title and challenge for a WBA interim title himself. Following that loss Fukuhara experimented with different weight classes, though suffered set backs at Light Flyweight and Flyweight. Those set backs saw Fukuhara head back to 105lbs and he got his career back under-way with an upset win over Koki Ono. A short winning run was ended by back-to-back losses to Yu Kimura and the aforementioned loss to Inoue. At the time Fukuhara was 12-4-3 (3) and no one would have bet on the success he was to have. Less than a year later however had proven his ability by fighting to a draw in Thailand with Faglan Sakkreerin Jr. In late 2015, less than 2 years after the loss to Inoue, Fukuhara claimed the Japanese Minimumweight title by out pointing Hiroya Yamamoto and built on that win with defenses of the title against the unbeaten pairing of Takumi Sake and Genki Hanai as well as a technical draw against Shin Ono. In the ring Fukuhara is a hard working southpaw with under-rated skills, a genuine toughness and a great engine. He might not scream world class in any department but with his continual improvement and very over-looked abilities he is a real talent with the potential to win genuine world titles in the years to come. He has proven he can box on the front foot or the back foot, he's accurate and the bout with Fahlan proved he has no fear of facing top quality opponents, even in their back yard. Whilst Fukuhara is one of the most improved fighters over the last few years he is a relative unknown outside of his homeland. The same too can be said for Calleros, who debuted in 2008 and didn't face anyone of nay note until March 2012. That bout saw Calleros suffer a split decision to Julian Yedras, and resulted in Calleros' record falling to 17-4-1 (13). Since then he has faced fighters of more notoriety, losing a decision in 2013 to Francisco Rodriguez Jr, and scoring a win last year over Mario Rodriguez. In the footage of Calleros he looks like a genuine trier, who comes to fight and will always look to walk down his opponents. His bout with Francisco Rodriguez Jr was a toe-to-toe war fought in a phone booth at times. Whilst it was fun to watch it did show that Calleros isn't the big puncher that his record suggests, and also suggested that his attacks were wide, wild and relatively predictable. Despite the flaws he never looked scared of taking one to land one and looked like the sort of fighter who would make for a FOTY contender with a warrior like Takayama. He did however look more polished in the bout against Mario Rodriguez, with an inexhaustible energy reserve and a style that saw him holding a high tempo through out and forcing Rodriguez on to the back foot through the later stages. Although Calleros has an incredible engine and a fun style it does seem like he has has only fought as a Minimumweight once in the last 6 years and has never fought outside of Mexico, two things that could cost him here. With Calleros' pressure style and Fukuhara's adaptability we're expecting this to be a sensational fight. Calleros will be on the Kumamoto man from the off, and how Fukuhara deals with that pressure will be the key to the fight. We suspect, with the crowd behind him, Fukuhara will do just enough to eek out a narrow decision here, and secure himself a showdown with Takayama in the summer. If however Calleros wins we'll be incredibly excited about a Takayama Vs Calleros bout. Although it's unfair in some ways we are disappointed to learn that the bout is likely to only be available to fans in Kumamoto. With our expectations of the bout being a war it's a shame that only such a small number of fight fans will be able to watch the contest. The first world title fight to take place in Asia this year is set for January 25th and takes place all the way down at Minimumweight where the under-rated WBC champion Wanheng Menayothin (44-0, 17) looks to make the 6th defense of his title. The talented Thai will be facing a fellow unbeaten as he takes on 22 year old Filipino puncher Melvin Jerusalem (11-0, 7) who is taking a huge step up in class to fight in his first world title fight, and his first fight outside of his homeland.
The champion is, in some ways, a typical Thai with a record that has been padded and is filled with less than notable names. He is however a fighter who is among the best Minimumweights on the planet, and is genuinely under-rated, due in part to the number of easy wins he has on his record. Despite the easy wins he does hold a number of notable victories over the likes of Florante Condes, Oswaldo Novoa, Jerry Tomogdan,Go Odaira and Saul Juarez. In the ring Wanheng is a brilliant little pressure fighter. Defensively he is tight and reliable but it's his front foot pressure work that is key as he walks opponents down and breaks them up with combinations and solid body shots. He's not a puncher, as his record makes clear, but he's a talented pressure fighter who mentally and physically beats opponents until they eventually fold. That has seen him stopping 6 of his last 9 and he is 6-0 (4) in world title bouts with his stoppages typically coming in the later rounds. At 31 Wanheng is probably at the end of his prime, especially given he's a Minimumweight, and with 346 rounds under his belt he is no spring chicken. However he's a fighter who has shown no real slow down in the ring and has looked after himself brilliantly. He may be on the slide but it's certainly not something we have seen in the ring during his fights. Little known challenger Jerusalem has impressed on the domestic Filipino scene with some in the country viewing him as their new rising in the lowest weight class. He debuted back in July 2014, scoring a decision win over Michael Camelion, and then followed that up with 7 straight stoppages including a win over Crison Omayao. That stoppage run came to an end last year, when he took a decision win over veteran Florante Condes, and he has since taken decisions over Jonathan Refugio and Fabio Marfa. In the ring Jerusalem looks to be a fun fighter with decent power, nice movement and clever defence on the back foot. He made Condes look like a foolish novice at times, in fact his movement saw Condes flail wildly before throwing himself to the canvas one point, but the lack of footage really does prevent us getting a great read on him, with only a few clips here and there being available. From what is available he does look promising, but there isn't a lot available. Although Jerusalem is tipped for something big we have seen a number of similar fighters, unbeaten youngster tipped for stardom, fall short in recent years. That includes former Wanheng challenger Jeffrey Galero, who was 11-0 (5) when he challenged Wanheng but is now 14-3 (7) with his career on the rocks. He will need to be aware of just how much of a step up this really is, if he doesn't he will be eaten alive by Wanheng here. What we're expecting is a strong start by the visitor, who will look to use his speed and movement to pick up a number of the early rounds. As the bout goes on however Wanheng will start to break him down and in the middle rounds we'll see Jerusalem slowing significantly before either limping over the line en route to a wide decision loss, or a stoppage loss as Wanheng turns the screw and uses his experience in the champiuonship rounds |
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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