Shimomachi and Dipaen make weight

4/28/2025

On Tuesday fight fans at the EDION Arena Osaka get the chance to see the next show from Green Tsuda. The card isn’t big, by any stretch, but the main event is certainly a very notable one, as the world ranked Toshiki Shimomachi (20-1-3, 12) [下町俊貴] takes on former world title challenger Aran Dipaen (20-3, 17), in an 8 rounder at a contracted 56.3KG (121.12lbs).

Today the two men took part in their weigh in for their bout, and both men made the contracted weight without any issues.

Both men hit the scales at 123.67lbs, well under the limit, and had no issues at all.

In regards to his condition Shimomachi explained "I was able to adjust better than last time." He went on to talk about his opponent, revealing "He had a gentle expression, but that was rather creepy. He has a thick body and looks to have a strong punch, so I will fight him so that I don't get into the distance that he is good at."

Notably Shomomachi, who is in a talent heavy division right now, seemed to have concerns about becoming the forgotten man at 122lbs, and explained "I want to make sure I don't get left behind by the others," The division is a deep one in Japan, with really good fighters holding Japanese, OPBF and WBO AP titles, and of course one Japanese fighter holding all 4 world titles. Given he’s a fighter based in Osaka, he is likely aware that he needs to stay in the public more than the fighters from Tokyo, who get more attention due to where they are from. Despite that his current focus is on Dipaen, and winning tomorrow’s bout.

As for Dipaen, he is best known for his 2021 loss to current undisputed Super Bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue (28-0, 25) [井上尚弥]. Speaking about that, Dipaen explained "I've used the experience of losing to Inoue as a positive, and have won eight straight fights so far. My opponent is tall and has a long reach, but that's no problem. I'll decide how to fight when I get in the ring tomorrow."

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Yamabe beats Sagawa, Soda beats Kato and Kimura and Yaegashi trade in exhibition!

4/28/2025

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This past Sunday wasn’t a huge day of action in Japan, but there was several fights of note taking place.

Arguably the most meaningful of those was in Mie, as former Japanese Featherweight champion Ryo Sagawa (13-5, 8) [佐川遼] suffered a third loss in 4 bouts, as he came up short in a really good fight with Ren Yamabe (9-4, 7) [山辺蓮].

The bout was incredibly competitive throughout, with Sagawa’s more accomplished boxing skills going up against the energetic aggression and power of Yamabe. For much of the fight the action was very competitive, with great 2-way back and forth. That was until the final round when Yamabe looked to put a punctuation on the bout, and put his foot on the gas, securing the win, by majority decision in what was a really good fight, and was well worth tuning into on Travel TV.

After the win Yamabe stated "In the 7th round, I was heartbroken when I got hit on the body, but thanks to the efforts of my second, I was able to move forward in the 8th round. Sagawa was good at mixing and matching straights, but I made a breakthrough with a double left combination. I hadn't been able to beat a famous fighter until now, but I finally managed to win. I was able to achieve one of my goals,"

Despite only fighting this past weekend, Yamabe is already pencilled in for his next bout, which will take place on July 6th, when he wil facel Japanese based Korean Young Doo Choi (8-1, 6) on a Koki Kameda promoted card in Osaka.

The 31 year old Sagawa, who held the Japanese Featherweight title between 2019 and 2021 and recorded 2 defenses, has struggled since losing the belt to Hinata Maruta in February 2021 and the loss to Yamabe is the most telling defeat for him since losing to Retsu Kosaka back in 2017, in his second professional bout. After the bout he explained. "I was conscious of not going into a shootout, but I got caught up in it. He didn't show any signs of being affected by my body shots" and went on to add that the bout was put on on short notice.

Over in Saitama the most meaningful bout saw 36 year old Yasuomi Soda (8-1-1, 5) [左右田泰臣] bounce back from a loss in 2024, as he stopped veteran Hisashi Kato (12-14-2, 8) [加藤寿]. Soda dominated from the off, and looked relaxed as he landed solid shots on Kato, who really struggled with the angles, range and tempo of Soda. As the rounds went on Soda tried to turn things around, and was made to pay in round 4 when a left hook scored the bouts first knockdown. Kato tried to turn things around, but in round 7 he was tiring and was dropped for a second time. He got to his feet, but was unsteady as the referee finished the 10 count and waved the bout off.

After the bout Soda explained that he had gotten back to fighting his style, saying "Around the last time at Korakuen Hall, I started to focus too much on defeating my opponents, so I couldn't get the distance right and I started getting hit more often by my opponents' punches, so rather than leveling up, I've focused on getting back to that style." He then added "My opponent, Kato, was a southpaw for the first time, so it was difficult, but I was able to use the reasons for the difficulties I discussed with Chairman Kayama after the match to help me improve. I hope to establish my own boxing style and show a more improved level in my next match."

As for Kato he was really harsh on himself, admitting it was a bad performance and explaining that he doesn't know what his future holds now, saying "I'm honestly not sure. It doesn't matter about age, but I've been given so many chances and I've lost four in a row. I think it's time to think about what I'll do from now on, but the people who support me tell me, 'I'm not in any bad shape and I can still move, so I want you to do it,' so I still want to do it. I want to take my time to think about it with the people around me and make a decision."

Notably the Soda Vs Kato bout, whilst technically the main event in terms of professional boxing, was not the main attraction. Instead that was a 3 round spar between world champions as former WBO Flyweight champion Sho Kimura (19-3-4, 12) [木村翔] took part in his retirement ceremony and sparred with former 3 weight world champion Akira Yaegashi (28-7, 16) [八重樫東]. Despite the nature of the spar being Kimura’s retirement ceremony, and the fact Yaegashi has been retired for years himself, the two men put on 6 minutes of none-stop action, without headgear, just unloading shots on each other much to the excitement of the fans.

Following the spar Kimura told those in attendance "I had been using him in sparring even before I became world champion, and I thought that if I could surpass him, I could become world champion. I'm glad I was able to fight Yaegashi at the end."

As part of the ceremony Kimura had his wrap cut from his hands in the ring, among those cutting the wraps was Chinese promoter Lui Gang, who made it clear that he wanted Kimura to get in the ring one final time, saying "The match I saw today was the best Kimura match I have ever seen. I would like to see him have another retirement match in China with Zou Shiming". Gang, who organised the original bout between Kimura and Shiming, knows how popular Kimura is over in China, and interestingly Kimura wasn’t against the idea, though did hint he was wanting a solid pay day from it. And then added "This will be the last time I get in the ring and fight."

As for what is next for Kimura, he went on to say "It's been a year since the gym opened, and the number of members has increased, making it a stable fitness gym. Next I'd like to open a different gym and one specifically for boxers, both professional and amateur. Maybe because I'm here, a lot of our members want to become professional. I want to respond to that. At first I wasn't even thinking about going professional, but as the number of members has increased, I think I have the financial means to do so."

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Tapales and Canoy Capture WBC International Titles in Gensan

4/28/2025

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Tapales and Canoy Capture WBC International Titles in Gensan

General Santos City, Philippines — In a thrilling night of boxing at Venue 88, Marlon Tapales delivered a spectacular performance, stopping Jon Jon Jet in the 3rd round to claim the WBC International Silver Super Bantamweight Title. Jet was unable to continue due to a broken nose, securing Tapales’s victory in a thrilling showdown.

In the main supporting bout, Joey Canoy and Minh Phat Sam engaged in an all-out war from start to finish. Canoy ultimately stopped Sam in the 10th round, capturing the WBC International Minimumweight Title. Minh Phat Sam was forced to stop the fight in the final round due to a barrage of punches from Canoy.

Under the undercard fights:
Christian Pitt Laurente knocked out Alvin Lagumbay in the 2nd round with a powerful straight left hand.
Kevin Villanueva narrowly defeated veteran Ramel Antaran via a close 8-round split decision.
Cholo Alvarez stopped Carlo Romulo in the 4th round.
In the opening bout, Christopher Medina defeated Raylan Barcenas in the 3rd round.

This exciting event was promoted by Jim Claude Manangquils’ Sanman Boxing, showcasing some of the best talents in Philippine boxing.

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Regional Super Middleweight titles unified in Korea!

4/26/2025

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Earlier today we got the latest joint promoted show in Korea between The Won Promotions and Ohashi Promotions, with the show featuring a trio of title bouts, including a regional title unification bout.

One of those 3 titles bouts was a KBM Featherweight title bout, as Ha Nok Shim (12-2, 6) [심하녹] made his first defense, quickly getting rid of Tae Won Jung (6-2, 1) [정태원]. It didn't take long until the champion had his first breakthrough of the fight, with the challenger really struggling with the southpaw stance of the champion. Part way through a huge left hand dropped the challenger, who quickly got to his feet. Following the knockdown the two men started trading, and it seemed like Jung was essentially fighting out of desperation, whilst Shim was looking composed and waiting for a mistake. Sadly the southpaw/orthodox dynamic, and Jung’s desperation, lead to a number of head clashes in what remained of the round, leaving both men cut by the end of the first stanza. A headclash early in round 2 lead to both having a doctors inspection and seemed to piss off the champion who likely figured out Jung had nothing in his arsenal to worry him. From there on Shim fought like a man wanting to get rid of his challenger and scored a second knockdown with an uppercut early in the round. Jung got to his feet again but was forced to touch down under intense pressure from the champion who jumped on his man on the restart, refusing to let him off the hook and finally forcing the finish whilst unloading in the corner. Whilst Shim got the win, none of the top regional fighters will worry about him on the back of this win, though we do want to say he looks like he will be a lot of fun to watch, if matched with a suitable dance partner. Unfortunately Jung was not the right dance partner to get the best from Shim.

In the first of two international title fights Japan’s touted Ryang Ho Han (4-0, 3) [韓亮昊] scored the biggest win of his career, breaking down the rugged and tough Filipino Ramil Roda (7-2-2, 4) to claim the IBF International Super Flyweight title. Early on Han looked to rely on his solid boxing fundamentals, sharp jab and good footwork to walk Roda onto shots. The Filipino, a clear under-dog, had success in matching Han with his jab, and also had success coming forward. Round by round however it seemed like Han was just doing enough to win the rounds, though was being forced to work incredibly hard for them, and take some solid shots from Roda, who showing his toughness, desire and under-rated boxing skills.

As the rounds went on and the footwork of both began to slow Roda began to have more and more success, especially up close. His body shows were taking a toll on Han who was left with blood over his face in round 5, as Roda made it really clear he wasn’t there to make up the numbers, and was instead hungry for the win. The middle rounds were proving tough for Han, the toughest of his professional career so far, and showed that whilst he is a top prospect there is still a lot of work for him to do, especially defensively. Despite having success Roda was still forced to take heavy clean shots, to both the head and body, and by round 7 he seemed to have slowed down, considerably. With Han aware that Roda was slowing, he continued to land heavy single shots to the body, taking the wind out of the Filipino, who was having fewer and fewer notable moments. In round 9 Han finally broke through, hurting Roda with body shots early in the round. Roda managed to grit it out, and have moments of success, but he was coming undone and Han could feel it, keeping the pressure on, before finally dropping Roda with two massive left hands up top. Somehow Roda got to his feet but the bout was stopped, with Roda clearly not having his feet under him.

In the main event Korean banger Deok No Yun (10-2, 8) [윤덕노] unified the WBO AP Super Middleweight title with the OPBF title, as he stopped 47 year old Japanese veteran Yuki Nonaka (38-13-3, 11) [野中悠樹] in 3 rounds. Early on it was very clear that this was a bull vs matador contest, with Nonaka looking to use the ring, get on his feet and not get into a war with Yun, who was aggressive but calculated and knew he was in there with a veteran who knew plenty of tricks. Sadly for Nonaka it did seem, almost from round 1, that it was only going to be a matter of time before Yun’s dynamite power was going to be felt and that Nonaka’s edge in speed was going to be taken away. Late in round 1 Nonaka was caught, but showed grit to stay up right. In round 2 Yun’s physical strength was clear, though he remained calm and calculated with his pressure, rather than giving Nonaka openings to land. Towards the end of the round Nonaka seemed to be feeling things, and was left with a cut over his right eye. Yun’s pressure was having success.

In round 3 Yun’s pressure had the ultimate success, as he landed a clean body shot. It was instantly clear that Nonaka felt it as he backed up though, and he took another, which again seemed to hurt him. By now it was clear that Nonaka was being hurt by body shots, and one a few moments later almost folded him in half. To his credit Nonaka stayed on his feet but barely with Yun jumping on him and unloading. There was some chaos after Nonaka hit the canvas, with Yun’s corner man jumping in the ring to celebrate prematurely, Nonaka getting to his feet and wanting to continue, and the Nonaka’s team throwing in the towel, ultimately getting the referee to wave off the bout and give Yun the biggest win of his career.

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Jin Sasaki to face WBO Welterweight champion Brian Norman in June!

4/25/2025

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Earlier today Japanese streaming service Lemino held a press conference to announce the next big show on their service, and it’s a monster with two world title fights, a regional title fight and a Japanese title fight on the show. Notably one of the world title fights will be up at Welterweight, the first time Japan has hosted a world title fight at 147lbs in years, with the card benign held at the Ota-City General Gymnasium on June 19th

That Welterweight title fight is the long spoken about and much anticipated WBO Welterweight title fight between unbeaten champion Brian Norman Jr (27-0, 21) and unbeaten Japanese puncher Jin Sasaki (19-1-1, 17) [佐々木尽]. The bout will see Norman, aged 24, look to build on a brilliant year or so, which saw him upset Giovani Santillan, back in May 2024, to claim the WBO "interim" title, and then beat Derrieck Cuevas back in March to defend the WBO world title. Although not one of the big names that we’ve seen at Welterweight over the years, he is a heavy handed fighter, with good ring craft, an exciting style, and someone looking to build his name, before ultimately looking for a unification bout in the not too distant future.

As for Sasaki, the Japanese enigma is one of the sport’s most fun to watch fighters, but also a very flawed fighter. The 23 year old is a hyper aggressive puncher who throws every shot with bad intentions. He can be out boxed, as we saw in his loss against Andy Hiraoka and in moments of various bouts, but he backs himself in any fire fight and has had to come off the canvas to win in the past, most notably in his 2021 thriller with Kaiki Yuba which is a genuine must war firefight and his 2023 win over Keita Obara. He has matured as a boxer in recent years, but is a defensively flawed fighter who still believes his best defense is his offensive, which could be a major issue against someone as skilled under pressure as Norman.

The second world title fight on the card will see Cristian Araneta (25-2, 20) and Thanongsak Simsri (38-1, 34) battle for the vacant IBF Flyweight title, in what looks set to be a highly skilled shoot out between two talented boxers with serious power. The title, which was recently vacated by another heavy handed fighter in the form of Masamichi Yabuki who left the division after recently winning the IBF Flyweight title.

For Araneta, this will be his first world title fight, though he has twice fought in, and lost in, world title eliminators losing to Daniel Valladares and Sivenathi Nontshinga. Since the loss to Nontshinga, in 2021, he has gone on a roll going 6-0 (5) and has got momentum coming into this one. Interestingly he is 0-2 outside of the Philippines, though plenty did feel he did enough to beat Nontshinga when the two clashed in South Africa. As for Simsri, he is a regular to Japanese rings, thanks to a long connection with Green Tsuda. The 24 year old Thai made his Japanese debut in 2019, was lined up for a world title fight in Japan during covid, which was cancelled when Hiroto Kyoguchi contracted the illness, and is now 7-1 in Japan with notable wins over Miel Fajardo and Masataka Taniguchi in the country. He is 14-0 (12) since his one loss, which came against the aforementioned Yabuki.

The world title bout isn’t the only Welterweight title bout on the show, as rising Ohashi prospect Sora Tanaka (3-0, 3) [田中空] takes a leap up in class and takes on Takeru Kobata (14-7-1, 6) [小畑武尊] for the vacant OPBF Welterweight title. Tanaka, dubbed the Tyson of Yokohama due to his style, is a short, aggressive fighter who loves getting on the inside of taller men and going to work, much like the legendary Mike Tyson. He was a solid amateur on the domestic scene and was always going to be fast tracked though few expected him to be fighting for a regional title quite this quickly. As for Kobata is a 26 year old who has won the Japanese Youth Welterweight title and twice challenged for the Japanese Welterweight. Whilst his record might not be the best he has gone 6-2 since the start of 2021, losing only in Japanese title bouts, and scored notable domestic wins against the likes of Rikuto Adachi and Yuki Nagano, with that win netting him the "interim" Japanese title.

The national title fight on this show will be at Featherweight, as rising youngster Yuya Oku (8-0-2, 5) [大久祐哉] faces former world title challenger Reiya Abe (26-4-2, 10) [阿部麗也] for the title recently vacated by Keisuke Matsumoto. Originally both of these were men were scheduled for the same show earlier in the year, with Oku planned to face Matsumoto, however the bout was pulled at short notice with Matsumoto being deemed unfit to fight. Abe managed to fight on the show, earning a draw with Satoshi Shimizu in March, whilst Oku sat by biding his time, knowing a bout with Abe was likely down the line, and has now been delivered for him. This should be a highly skilled fight, with Abe being a talented but light punching fighter and Oku being a technically solid fighter who is getting the biggest fight of his career.

Other bouts of note on this card include the debut of former amateur stand out Yuto Moriwaki (0-0) [森脇唯人] taking on Korean based Mongolian born fighter Ha So Baek (3-1, 2) and a bout featuring the hotly tipped Ren Ohashi (3-0, 3) [大橋蓮].

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Shimomachi and Dipaen make weight

Yamabe beats Sagawa, Soda beats Kato and Kimura and Yaegashi trade in exhibition!

Tapales and Canoy Capture WBC International Titles in Gensan

Regional Super Middleweight titles unified in Korea!

Jin Sasaki to face WBO Welterweight champion Brian Norman in June!

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