When a fighter fights at home they do tend to get the rub of the green. It's a world wide issue and one that has seen some countries given a harder time than others. We've seen countries like Germany, Thailand, Britain and Argentina in particular come under heavy criticism for home fighters getting the decision in very close bouts. Today it was the turn of Japan as local star Shinsuke Yamanaka (24-0-2, 17) got the rub of the green against Anselmo Moreno (35-4-1, 12) in a WBC Bantamweight title defense for Yamanaka.
Early on the bout was a battle of high level boxing with both men trying to establish their jabs. The better shots were from the challenger who seemed to land at a notably higher rate though it was during these early stages that Yamanaka was landing the heavier shots. For 4 rounds the two men were essentially cancelling each other out with high level boxing and trading of jabs. The WBC rules, that were in effect, had the bout edge to Yamanaka after 4 rounds with the champion leading by a score of 39-37 on two of the cards whilst the third had the bout even. At this point it was relatively difficult to argue either way with the bout being incredibly close up to that point, though perhaps having 10-10 rounds would have reflected things a little bit more accurately than the typical 10-9 rounds. The open scoring seemed to spur on Moreno who came on strong in round 5 as the bout picked up pace. It was another highly competitive round but one that seemed to be in Moreno's favour with the slipper Panamanian managing to avoid the bigger shots from Yamanaka whilst landing his left hand. The round saw both men change their tactic with Yamanaka getting on the move whilst Moreno became more aggressive. The success in round 5 was built on by Moreno who seemed to clearly with round 6 with the same tactic of pushing Yamanaka back and forcing the action in what was another good round for the challenger. The challengers success was halted in round 7 as Yamanaka began to actually land his much vaunted left hand. It was another round that could have gone either way, with Moreno landing plenty of shots himself, but it seemed like Yamanaka could have made enough of a case to get, especially at home. Despite the respite of some success in round 7 Yamanaka really struggled in round 8 and showed some clear frustration, at one point pushing Moreno down. It was clear that whilst a lot of the action was close it was Moreno who was in the ascendency and was managing to get into the head of the local fighter. The scorecards after 8 rounds were again read out and this time they had changed notably with Moreno leading on one cards, 77-75, and level on the other two, with a score of 76-76. Moreno's success continued in round 9, his most dominant round of the fight. The challenger rocked Yamanaka and seemed to be looking for the finish before he got caught by a left hand and started to show more respect to the still dangerous champion. Despite Yamanaka earning Moreno's respect it was a very clear round for the challenger, who seemed to have gone into the lead on all 3 cards. Yamanaka, knowing he was down, went out for round 10 with the intention of getting a KO and he was very left hand happy, almost “spamming” the punch. It was a successful tactic for the champion who seemed to hurt Moreno for the first time in the fight. The challenger, realising the danger that was still in front of him, was happy to hold and see out the storm. The same storm however came again in round 11 as Yamanaka continued to hunt the KO, and almost got dropped himself during a wild exchange that saw his knees buckle but his hands and ass stay off the canvas, had a knockdown been scored that would likely have swung a 10-9 Yamanaka round to a 10-8 Moreno round and made the bout Moreno's almost by default. With Yamanaka having seemingly got his nose in the lead on two of the scorecards it was all to play for in round 12. The round was a tricky one with both men looking tired though it seemed that Yamanaka, who had put a lot into the previous 6 minutes, was the more tired and it seemed that Moreno just managed to take the round, which was mired in clinches. Looking at the open scoring from round 8 it seemed that the cards were likely to be declared a majority draw with with 114-114, 114-114 and 116-112. The judges however saw something different and seemingly gave Yamanaka the all important 12th round to give him a split decision with scores of 115-113, 115-113 and 113-115, all from American judges. The decision was met with some anger online and Chemito also seemed to feel disgusted with the result. Given the result we wouldn't be shocked to hear talk of a rematch, possibly in 2016, though we could see Moreno declining the fight if it was to be held in Japan again. For Moreno this is a second set back, and one that will hurt just as bad as his previous loss, a controversial technical decision to Juan Carlos Payano. For Yamanaka it was a headache and easily the toughest bout of his career. The next step for both will be interesting and could either see a rematch, to “right the wrong”, it could see both men go their own way, with a move to Super Bantamweight for Yamanaka being one that seems to make sense even if it's not been spoken about too much recently.
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Over the last 12 months or so we've seen the Bantamweight division heat up and go from a division that few cared about to a division that is really looking like one of the strongest in the sport. Although deep it does have one stand out fighter, a fighter who perhaps belongs on the verges of the mythical pound-for-pound lists. That standout fighter is WBC Bantamweight champion Shinsuke Yamanaka (23-0-2, 17) who recorded the 7th defence of his title earlier today and showed off his much vaunted and thoroughly destructive power once again.
Today he was facing off against the unbeaten Diego Ricardo Santillan (23-1, 15), a man who had come to Japan with a confident attitude though also some arrogance. Although he was unbeaten he had never faced a foe even nearing the world level and worst of all he had seemingly not done his research n the champion, not even knowing that Yamanaka's left hand was dubbed "God's Left" due to it's power. Instead Santillan had said that the only "hand of God" was that of soccer player Diego Maradonna, referring to a controversial goal of Maradonna's against England in a world cup back in the 1980's. Although Yamanka's southpaw straight left hand is his danger punch he actually showed some restraint today as he made the most of his often under utilised jab, pecking away at Santillan with the lead hand from the opening round. To his credit Santillan tried to fight back but it seemed obvious from the first 3 minutes that these two were in completely different leagues in terms of skills and power. Although the jabs were the key to a lot of Yamanaka's success it was still the left hand that was the danger punch of the champion and having felt it's power early on the challenger seemed to think it wise to not fight fire with fire. Unfortunately for Santillan he lacked the ability to come forward and push the action with any type of efficiency, instead he was left chasing or forced to eat one of Yamanaka's incredibly accurate shots that rarely seemed to miss. Those shots really began to take their toll in round 5 as Santillan began to bust up the challenger's face. With blood coming from Santillan and Yamanaka looking completely in charge it was little wonder that Yamanaka's corner seemed happier to wipe his foes's blood from their man gloves than offer much in terms of advice. It was clear however that Yamanaka merely had to continue doing what he was doing. And that's what he did. In round 6 the continued success of Yamanaka with his 1-2's, his sharp jab and his counter straight, were all it took to further control the fight with a monster left hand putting the challenger down onto the seat of his pants. Were it not for the toughness and game Latino spirit that would likely have been the end of the fight. Instead Santillan did all he could to see out the round, which included a very deliberate spitting out of the gum shield. The stalling tactics did little for the challenger who managed to make it to round 7 but failed to survive it. Instead he was left on his backside after a thunderbolt left caught him bang on the chin, sending him to the canvas in eye catching fashion. That was it, the fight was over and Yamanaka's "God Left" was again responsible for the demis of another challenger. After the fight the champion stated he wanted to fight in a bigger bout next time around. Whilst we all hope he faces a notable name it does seem like he'll be forced to wait whilst others play games around him. We know that a bout with Tomoki Kameda is attractive for fans but politics makes that unlikely, the IBF champion is currently injured, and a bout with Juan Carlos Payano is unlikely with Payano rumoured to be fighting with Ryo Matsumoto. There are still some attractive options out there but unification would likely have been what Yamanaka would have been wanting for his next bout. We love mid-week fights, especially when they are significant fights between well matched fighters each looking to prove themselves and move on to bigger things in their careers. We had one such bout this earlier today when WBC Bantamweight king Shinsuke Yamanaka (22-0-2, 16) successfully defended his belt against mandatory challenger Suriyan Sor Rungvisai (37-6-1, 16), a former WBC Super Flyweight champion. Stylistically this always looked like an interesting fight. Yamanaka is a born puncher, dubbed the “God of Left” due to his ferocious and missile like left hand which carries insane power for a Bantamweight. Suriyan is however your fearless pressure fighter, a Thai tough guy who keeps coming and never knows when he is beaten. In some ways it looked like the irresistible force against the immovable object. Early on it was certainly Suriyan who came out with a winners mentality, despite once being completely written off by the bookies who were taking bets on the fight. Suriyan managed to fight the early rounds with a lot of energy, a hyper-aggressive mentality and a game plan that was based around landing his shots, cutting the distance and neutralising the much vaunted straight left of Yamanaka. It was a game plan that that served the challenger very well as he took several of the early rounds and made Yamanaka struggle in some ways, although the champion never really look all that uncomfortable despite not shining himself. After 4 rounds the open scoring showed appreciation for Suriyan's work with the scorecards reading 38-38, 38-38 and 39-37, to Suriyan. Unfortunately for Suriyan he early work, whilst good enough to win some of the rounds, did come at a cost in some ways. Notably he was using a lot of energy to get inside and smother the work of Yamanaka, he was also forced to feel the power of the champion who landed some stunning shots at the end of round 2 that may have seen the Japanese fighter steal the round. In round 5 we started to see Yamanaka beginning to settle a bit more and although Suriyan had notable success with his own right hand the shots just bounced off the champion who returned the shots with interest towards the end of the round. By now Yamanaka was starting to find his groove, he had seen what Suriyan was bringing to the fight and began to loosen up himself, this resulted in Yamanaka establishing in the lead by the time open scoring kicked in again after round 8. What had turned the fight in the favour of the Japanese fighter was a pair of 10-8 rounds courtesy of a late knockdown in both rounds 7 and 8. The knockdowns had proven that Yamanaka had serious power in his shots though they also proved that Suriyan had guts and heart as he got up to continue the fight with no real sign of distress. The knockdowns hadn't extinguished the fire from the Thai but they had reversed the scorecards which read 78-72, 77-73 and 76-74 after 8 rounds. The cards became even wider in round 9 as Suriyan was first deducted a point for some rough house moves before being put down for a third time, this resulted in a 10-7 round for the Japanese fighter who now knew he just had to remain upright to retain his title. He also know however that he had the power to hurt Suriyan, if and when an opportunity to unload arose. The Thai on the other hand knew he now needed a KO to win. With the fight finished on he scorecards Yamanaka became more cautious, fighting at a distance and forcing Suriyan to work harder to get close to him. This gave us a chance to see Yamanaka using his often neglected boxing skills to win round 's 10 and 11 and it seemed clear he was happy to just take the decision win rather than hunt a stoppage. As for Suriyan he hunted the KO, at least in round 12 as he went all out, almost clocking referee Lawrence Cole in the process after being given a warning for not stopping when told to break. At the end however it was difficult to give Suriyan the round as he continue to struggle cutting the distance off against the taller, stronger Yamanaka. By the time we got the final scores they were relatively meaningless with the judges all delivering clear cut scores of 116-108, 115-109 and 114-110, none of which really told the tale of the fight which was a tough one for Yamanaka that was made to look easy as a result of the knockdowns. After the fight Yamanaka stated he wanted a unification bout next so we're looking forward to that though the bout did see Yamanaka's 5 fight stoppage streak come to an end despite the fact the he made his 7th title defense. As for Suriyan this loss ends a 17 fight winning streak dating back to his WBC Super Flyweight title defeat to Yota Sato last time he fought in Japan. Strangely Suriyan is now 0-4-1 in the road whilst sitting at 37-2 whilst fighting in Thailand. At 32 years old we understand Yamanaka's dreams of a unification bout, regardless of which champion it comes against. He didn't look at his best here but he still looked head and shoulders above many in the division and Suriyan would have given any Bantamweight nightmares on this performance. As for the 25 year old Suriyan, his time will come again and we wouldn't bet against him winning a world title at Bantamweight one day in the future, especially with a performance like this against one of the sports hardest punchers, p4p, in the sport today. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp) When we talk about the hardest pound-for-pound punchers on the planet the obvious name from Japan is Takashi Uchiyama, the Super Featherweight champion dubbed "KO dynamite". We'd however suggest that the hardest pound-for-pound puncher in Japan is Shinsuke Yamanaka (21-0-2, 16) who scored his 5th successive KO as he defended his WBC Bantamweight title for the 6th time. Fighting against Belgium's Stephane Jamoye (25-5, 15) we knew Yamanaka was in with a tough and brave opponent, we just didn't know how brave until Yamanaka beat him up, discoloured his face and eventually stopped him in 9 very 1-sided rounds. The fight started as many expected with Jamoye marauding forward, trying to pressure the champion in to making mistakes and getting involved in to a slugfest. Sadly for Jamoye his pressure wasn't educated enough to make Yamanaka feel any discomfort and instead the Japanese fighter boxed beautifully off the back foot using his jab and powerful left hand to land as and when he wanted. In round 2 we saw the vaunted left hand of Yamanaka being used to it's full effect as he targeted the body of the challenger. Although the body was a clear target for Yamanaka the highlight was when he went back up stairs and dropped Jamoye for the first time. It appeared little more than a flash knockdown though that was due to Jamoye being insanely brave and getting back up quickly. Despite getting up from the knock down the left hands of Yamanaka were having a telling effect on Jamoye with his right eye bruising up badly despite the fight being in the early stages. The shots may not have been knocking down Jamoye every time they were landing but they were all doing damage as the champion chipped away at the challenger. The chipping effect of the straight left seemed to make the eye of Jamoye worse in round 3 and then appeared, at one point, to rock Jamoye a little. Unfortunately for the challenger his best shots seemed to do little more than bounce off the champion who was never bothered by anything the Belgian did. It was one sided and it gradual became more and more one sided as Jamoye continued to feel the effects of the shots. By the start of round 5 the scoring was easy, 40-35, all the judges doing open scoring agreed and there was very little argument to the contrary, unless you felt like giving Jamoye a sympathy round for being a sacrifice to the "God of Left". In the 5th the power of Yamanaka shook Jamoye again and the Belgian seemed to be just a few punches away from being stopped as the referee moved in, ready to stop the punishment, a huge left uppercut from Yamanaka followed before Jamoye fired back with a right hand that did enough to allow the referee to let him continue despite doing nothing to ward off Yamanaka who patiently looked for more and more openings for his left hand. Rounds 6 and 7 saw much the same pattern. Yamanaka continued to dominate with his powerful straight left landing both upstairs and to the midsection whilst Jamoye tried to fight back with booming and wild shots that either missed or bounced off the champion. Unfortunately for the challenger he was no match at all for the champion who landed crisp and hurtful shots at will whilst never really looking rushed or pressured. The one thing that perhaps did go for the challenger was the fact Yamanaka was deducted a point for stiff arming in round 6 though at the end of the day it did little more than lead to a 9-9 round. By round 8 it appeared that Jamoye was running out fight and and he was dropped early in the round. The challenger showed his toughness and bravery by getting up, again, but couldn't do much more than fight on instinct. He was nearly done and was actually bounced around the ring at one point before a solid body shot put the challenger down for the 3rd time in the fight. It was now clear Jamoye was a completely spent force but the bell to end round 8 saved him. In all honesty his corner probably should have saved him though he was sent out for round 9 instead. The punishment in the 9th didn't last long and almost the first connect of note from Yamanaka dropped Jamoye again, this time the referee didn't give Jamoye a chance to recover and waved it off immediately, as if to say "you're brave kid, but you're only going to get battered if this goes on". For Jamoye it was his big chance though he found out the huge gulf in class between "world class" and "European class". In Europe he is a top, top Bantamweight, in the world however he's not up there with Yamanaka who may well be one of the truly elite boxers on the planet. With power, skills, speed, timing and a great judge of distance it's going to take a very special fighter to beat Yamanaka. After the fight the Japanese fighter said that he wants a unification bout though we tend to think he'd prefer a bout with Leo Santa Cruz, who is unfortunately due a mandatory with Carl Frampton in the near future. An interesting side note for this fight was the focus on Joichiro Tatsuyoshi in the crowd. "Joe" famously beat Sirimongkol Songwancha of Thailand back in 1997 in this same venue for the very title Yamanaka was defending. (Image courtesy of boxmob.jp) Although three Japanese men currently own portions of the Bantamweight crown it's fair to say only one of them is seen as a real "champion" in one of the sports most packed division. That man is Shinsuke Yamanaka (20-0-2, 15), the destructive southpaw who once again defended his WBC world title against a highly regarded challenger, something that can hardly be said of his compatriots. Having claimed the WBC title back in November 2011 when he defeated Christian Esquivel via 11th round TKO Yamanaka has slowly become one of the divisions key men. Subsequent defenses against Vic Darchinyan, Tomas Rojas, Malcolm Tunacao and Jose Nieves have all furthered Yamanaka's reputation as a genuinely top tier fighter. Earlier today Yamanaka defended his world title for the fifth time as he took on tricky Mexican Alberto Guevara (18-2, 6) a man who went the distance with the then IBF Bantamweight champion Leo Santa Cruz, one of the most fearsome fighters in the sport today. The fight actually started well for Guevara who used his excellent footwork and speed to connect on Yamanaka and get out of range. Even on the ropes the Mexican was elusive and made Yamanaka struggle to connect. For those who had seen Guevara's fight with Santa Cruz this was expected because he had proven to be a very intelligent mover. Although Guevara was making life difficult for Yamanaka the Japanese fighter was being rewarded by the judges for being the man trying to make the fight and after 4 rounds the WBC's open scoring showed him leading on all three cards. It was perhaps controversial given the bright start from the challenger though it's the problem with being a light hitting "fancy Dan" taking on a hard hitting and popular fighter in their home country. After the competitive start by Guevara it was Yamanaka's turn to find his rhythm and that's what he began doing in round 5 as he gradually started to connect on the slowing Mexican. By the end of round 6 it was obvious that Yamanaka was turning this into his fight and his success were becoming more and more regular. It wasn't a beat down but it was starting to become one. Through round 7 the assault of Yamanaka became more and more evident and whilst Guevara was showing the same toughness he had against Santa Cruz it was starting to turn complete against him. If round 7 had been a bad one for Guevara round 8 was a total nightmare with the Mexican being dropped within the first 30 seconds. Now Yamanaka was on a seek-and-destroy mission and Guevara was doing all he could to survive, holding Yamanaka and back peddling through out. The Latino fire of Guevara was quickly being extinguished despite his refusal to just lie down. Despite refusing to just lose Guevara was dropped a second time late in the round as Yamanaka tried to finish it it there and then. Guevara was sent out for round 9 though unfortunately for him so too was Yamanaka who dropped him early in the round. This time the Mexican stayed down and took the full count, knowing that this was a battle that he wasn't going to be able to turn around and in fact a battle that was just going to become more and more painful. Following the contest Yamanaka was interviewed and suggested that he wanted a big fight in the US at either his natural Bantamweight or even Super Bantamweight. We dare say that he would prefer an immediate match up with either Koki or Tomoki Kameda, the WBA and WBO champions though they are unlikely to happen. With Nonito Donaire stopping Vic Darchinyan on Saturday night, we'd love to begin the calls for Yamanaka v Donaire or Yamanaka v Guillermo Rigondeaux. Two fights that would pit hard punching skilled fighters against each other in what could potentially be a chess match with explosions.
Courtesy of Boxrec.com
It's not too often that one country appears to dominate a division but that's exactly what Japan is doing in the Bantamweight division with the WBA, WBC and IBF champions as well as the OPBF champion. Of the 4 Japanese fighters who hold some major title at Bantamweight one of them really looks a class apart from the others. Shinsuke Yamanaka (19-0-2, 14). Yamanaka, arguably the best fighter on the planet at 118lbs, proved once again why he is so highly regarded as he blasted out world ranked challenger Jose Nieves (22-3-3, 11) of Puerto Rico in just 160 seconds. Regarded as one of the hardest punchers in the division, if not pound-for-pound, Yamanaka would make his power felt early and Nieves was on the back foot from the off. A left hand to the body seemed to make Nieves even more cautious of opening opening up though his footwork failed to keep him away from Yamanaka who saw a chance to land his left and took it. Nieves, put in full defensive mode inside 2 minutes was then tagged again by a straight left upstairs that sent him stumbling backwards in to a corner where he took the full 10 count. Yamanaka will honestly have had tougher sparring sessions than this, however he'll have struggled to have made a more impressive statment, a statement that is likely to keep him distanced away from both Tomoki and Koki Kameda, two fighters will want no part of Yamanaka on this performance. |
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