Category: Ken-shiro

Redemption, continuation, bantamweight in flux + more

10/24/2017

By Marcus Bellinger-

This past weekend was a busy one involving Asian fighters with world title fights of significance as well as domestic bouts in Japan.

The most notable action came on Sunday from Kokugikan, Tokyo as Teiken Promotions presented a solid triple header that was headlined by the rematch between Ryota Murata and Hassan N’Dam. Murata was on the wrong end of one of the most appalling decisions seen in recent times in their first encounter in May with 2 judges somehow giving it to the French based Cameroonian.

Murata immediately was on the front foot, applying pressure to N’Dam who was letting go with flurries. After the first couple of rounds Murata began to take over and N’Dam was burning up unnecessary energy. The constant body attack on N’Dam was paying dividends and Murata dished out an absolute hammering in rounds 5, 6 and 7 before N’Dam was wisely pulled out by his corner at the end of the 7th.

For Murata this will put to bed the wrong that took place in May and he can move on to big things in 2018 and with Teiken and Top Rank behind him the sky is the limit. The 31-year-old is a mega star in Japan with many of the main sports pages featuring the fight as their lead story. The bout drew a whopping average audience of around 13.7 million which to put it in prospective are the best numbers for boxing on Fuji TV since 2000. The plan is for Murata to defend his belt in Japan next spring before a possible fight in the US next summer.

On the same card Daigo Higa made the first defense of his WBC flyweight crown against Frenchman Thomas Masson. Given the chasm between European and world level in the lower weights this was expected to be routine for Higa and that’s exactly what it was with the hard hitting champion prevailing via 7th round stoppage. Masson proved to be pretty durable but was unable to keep Higa at bay and after taking a knee was stopped soon afterwards due to an eye injury.

In the post-fight interview Higa called out fellow 112 lb titlist Kazuto Ioka for a unification on New Year’s Eve and the Osakan seems the only man with the traits to compete with the 22-year-old however, with recent rumours of Ioka retiring due to a dispute with his father this looks holy unrealistic. A homecoming defense in Okinawa is the aim for January or February 2018 with no opponent confirmed although Muhammad Waseem and Andrew Selby have been linked to Higa in recent times.

The third title clash saw Ken Shiro defend his WBC light flyweight strap against Pedro Guevara. Shiro was facing his second Mexican opponent on the trot after narrowly defeating Ganigan Lopez in May for the belt. After being behind Shiro rallied to claim a majority decision and the 25-year-old has proved his mettle in 2017 having come through 2 hard-fought contests. Unfortunately the Guevara fight wasn’t shown on Fuji TV and hopefully Shiro receives some live broadcast time in 2018 and a rematch with Ganigan Lopez is next up for the BMB Gym fighter.

Approximately 12 hours earlier bantamweights Ryan Burnett and Zhanat Zhakiyanov squared off in the first ever unification clash to be staged in Ireland. The first half of this contest was honestly quite a difficult watch with a whole lot of holding clinching and grappling resulting in a very messy contest. Zhakiyanov never stopped coming forward and putting on the pressure but as the Kazak slowed down Burnett’s extra class showed down the stretch. The Belfast man was a worthy winner but the scorecards of 119-109 and 118-110 were far too wide and yet another further demonstration of how hard it has become for a visiting boxer to win a point's verdict in the UK.

Burnett showed a real versatility and adaptability in being able to beat Zhakiyanov at his own game and this will stand him in good stead for the future. The 118 lb division was thrown in to chaos when Luis Nery failed a drugs test soon after his KO win over the long reigning Shinsuke Yamanaka in August and a decision is still to be made by the WBC. Incidentally Nery takes on Arthur Villanueva in a non-title affair in Tiajuana on 4 November. The other legitimate belt holder is South Africa’s Zolani Tete but whether the egos of promoters Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn can be put aside to make the bout between Tete and Burnett will have to be seen to be believed.

A few hours earlier at the Korakuen Hall the vacant Japanese lightweight title was contested between Shuichiro Yoshino and Spicy Matsushita. Yoshino was expected to overcome his veteran opponent and he duly did, scoring a 7th round knockout and claiming his first title in the process. Yoshino moved to 6-0 4 KOs and whilst it’s very premature to be talking about world title fights for the 26-year-old it will be interesting to see how he progresses with his first defense scheduled for February 2018. There were a number of Japanese title eliminators on the undercard including at flyweight where Katsunori Nagamine faced Akinori Hoshino. Despite a 7th round loss at the hands of Ken Shiro Nagamine has been in some thrillers in recent times and has become a bit of a favourite of mine. Unfortunately the bout with Hoshino never got going and at the end of 8 rounds it was a split draw with cards of 78-75 Nagamine, 77-75 Hoshino and a level 76-76. Nagamine progressed under the dominant point rule and will meet the winner of the November clash between Masayuki Kuroda and Mako Matsuyama sometime next year in what should be a far more exciting dustup.

Finally on the previous day still at the Korakuen Hall there was a Japan versus China show with Rikki Naito versus Baishanbo Nasiyiwula topping the bill. In what was a highly competitive bout Naito won a very close decision with scores of 77-75 76-75 and 75-79 and a rematch would be welcomed. This seems like a good initiative and could help the Chinese boxing scene which is still desperately searching for a genuine talent to take the sport forward.

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Bouts we want in 2016-Light Flyweight version

1/15/2016

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During the next year we're expecting to see the Light Flyweight division become the “must watch” weight class. Given that it's often been an over-looked weight class we're really hoping that 2016 can be a year where fans do get excited and do start to give the division the attention that it deserves, and of course we also hope to see some great match ups. Ahead of any major announcements we've thought of 5 fights that we want to see this coming year in what is the second part of out "Bouts we want..." series, following on from the Minimumweight version here.

Ryoichi Taguchi Vs Randy Petalcorin
On paper the most logical match up sees WBA “regular” champion Ryoichi Taguchi (23-2-1, 10) defending his belt against interim champion Randy Petalcorin (23-1-1, 18). The bout is a really straight forward to make one with the two men having a real reason to fight and in theory both would have a lot to gain from a win and both would likely view the bout as one they should be really considering for the coming year, making it probably the most likely to happen, especially given that neither man can afford another year without facing a major opponent, which both men had last yesar unfortunately.

Not only is this one a good on one in regards to clearing up the WBA title picture but it's also one that should be great in the ring. Taguchi is a criminally under-rated boxer, with a very solid skill set, genuine toughness and developing confidence whilst Petalcorin is a powerful, fast and accurate fighter who needs to prove that he really is world class. The styles should be fun to see together and the chance to score a statement win should bring the best from both, making this a real humdinger.

Donnie Nietes Vs Rey Loreto
Whilst the Taguchi/Petalcorion fight makes a lot of sense for both men sometimes fights don't need to make “sense” for us to to want them. One such example is an all-Filipino bout between WBO kingpin Donnie Nietes (37-1-4, 21) and hard hitting countryman Rey Loreto (20-13, 12). On paper this is a major mismatch, however as we all know Loreto is the division's dangerman and is criminally under-rated.

Nietes is the longest reigning active champion in the division however the 33 year old has had a long and draining career and has shown some chinks during his 4 year reign. Loreto on the other hand is just coming into his prime, at 25, and has really improved since a less than stellar 0-4 start to his professional career. With wins over Wisanu Kokietgym, Pornsawan Porpramook and Nkosinathi Joyi Loreto is dangerous and could well upset Nietes in what would be a brilliant boxer Vs puncher match up.

Sadly however it seems unlikely we'll get this one given that Nietes has been ordered to face Moises Fuentes and then seems likely to move to the Flyweight division.

Akira Yaegashi Vs Ryo Miyazaki
The best fights are the ones where styles gel, and one such bout has been mooted for several years and appears to have taken a huge step towards reality in recent weeks. That bout would put the newly crowned IBF champion Akira Yaegashi (23-5, 12) against fellow action fighter Ryo Miyazaki (24-1-3, 15). Whilst there are “better” bouts in the sport, such as Naoya Inoue Vs Roman Gonzalez, we don't think any other bout has “sure fire excitement” written over it as much as this one.

Yaegashi looked sensational winning the IBF crown late last year, with a win over Javier Mendoza, but still can't refrain himself from brawling whilst Miyazaki is, at heart, a brawler. Given that both men like a fight, both have lapses defensively and both like to let their hands go we really can't see any outcome other than a win for the fans, if this one is made. Interestingly it is being spoken about as potential match up for March and Miyazaki has publicly called out his fellow Japanese warrior. Fingers crossed!

Jonathan Taconing Vs Felix Alvarado
Over the last few year's we've been hoping to see Jonathan Taconing (22-2-1, 18) get a world title fight, sadly however he has been avoided like the plague. It'd be nice to see him finally getting a shot at a champion but if that doesn't happen we'd love to see him face Nicaraguan warrior Felix Alvarado (22-2, 19). The two men should again make for a stylistically fun fight and it should be a bit of a fire fight, despite the fact neither has been stopped.

With 37 stoppage wins between them, from 47 bouts, we know power shots would be the order of the day and neither would be thinking about hearing the final bell. We also know that both feel thy been controversially beaten and and we don't see either man fighting for a decision. This really could be something very special to watch and, like the Yaegashi/Miyazaki bout, has “sure fire excitement” written all over it.

Whilst the bout should be great it should also act as a very serious world title eliminator with the winner well deserving of a world title fight later in the year.

Yu Kimura Vs Ken Shiro
There are a number of other bouts at 108lbs that could be made over the next 12 months though arguably the one that most interests us would see one of our favour fighters Ken Shiro (6-0, 3) step up to face recently crowned WBC champion Yu Kimura (18-2-1, 3). The bout would be one filled with skills and speed and, on paper at least, the easiest root for Ken Shiro to claim a world title, though of course wouldn't be a gimme for the youngster.

The biggest issue with this bout is that Kimura will likely need to fight in a mandatory defense, probably against Taconing, however if he can avoid that, or delay it, then we could be in for a really cracking all-Japanese world title fight between a veteran and a real youngster looking to break through. Really intriguing even if the bout doesn't really scream major “excitement”.

Whilst we have mentioned 5 bouts here, there are of course numerous other bouts, such ones featuring Kosei Tanaka, would also be also be entertaining and the division really does look amazing at the moment and we really are hoping that it can deliver on the promise that it has.

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Redemption, continuation, bantamweight in flux + more

Bouts we want in 2016-Light Flyweight version

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