By Marcus Bellinger (@marcusknockout) 

The 2019 Asian Youth Championships took place in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar, with 10 male and 10 female gold medalists being crowned. 11 nations came away with a medal and the standings were as follows:
Kazakhstan claimed an extraordinary 15 medals with Uzbekistan just behind them with 14, India with 12, Thailand, Mongolia and China 8, Japan and South Korea with 4, Taiwan and Kyrgyzstan 3 and Iraq with a single medal

Kazakhstan had a Championships to remember with their men winning 6 golds and bantamweight Biybars Zheksen was named male boxer of the tournament. At flyweight in arguably the fight of the tournament, Makhmud Sabyrkhan prevailed over Thailand’s Sukthet Sarawut in a clash of Asian Youth champions. Make no mistake both these young men have a bright future ahead of them. Sagyndyk Togambay added his 2nd Asian Youth crown, proving far too strong for everyone in the heavyweight category whilst fellow Kazak Amanat Sabyrgali was victorious at super heavyweight.

Amateur boxing is full of sets of siblings/twins at the moment but it’s hard to rival the Tsutsumi brothers who have garnered much success over the last few years. Hayato won world Youth honours in 2015, 2 Asian Youth titles and the senior Japanese crown and fitness providing he should appear in Tokyo and is without doubt a future superstar. Ryonosuke is an Asian Youth Bronze medallist and reached the last 8 at last year’s World Youths however, Mongolia was all about Reito who was aiming to replicate his gold from the 2017 Asian Junior Championships. Replicate he did as the 17-year-old stormed to top the podium at lightweight. In the weight above, Reito Takahashi came away with an excellent Bronze and 2019 has been a terrific year for the 18-year-old after defeating Asian Junior champion Sora Tanaka twice to earn his spot in Ulaanbaatar.

The light flyweight division has proved a fruitful one for India in recent times and Selay Soy continued the tradition, picking up a silver medal and the 18-year-old will be aiming to follow in the footsteps of Amit Panghal. Ankit Narwal also won silver at lightweight and there were really good bronze medals for Satender Singh and Aman at heavyweight and super heavyweight respectively.

Uzbekistan’s 2 golds came from Sukhrobjon Kayimov and Shokhjakhon Abdullaev. Kayimov prevailed at middleweight whilst Abdulllaev became light heavyweight champion and upset touted Kazak Yerassyl Zhakpekov in the semi-finals.

Finally from the men’s bracket Nuradin Rustambek Uulu created history in becoming the first boxer from Kyrgyzstan to win an Asian Youth title as he claimed welterweight gold and hopefully this will be a real boost for boxing in the developing nation.

India continue to strengthen their case as the number one women’s boxing nation, collecting a phenomenal 5 gold and 3 bronze medals. Poonam and Vinka dominated the bantamweight and light welterweight divisions respectively, Naorem Babyrojisana Chanu was victorious at flyweight whilst Sanamacha Chanu and Sushma proved to be the best in the middleweight and light heavyweight categories. Coupled with the outstanding medal tally at the recently concluded Asian Junior Championships, the future for women’s boxing in India is incredibly bright.

The Thai professional scene maybe in somewhat of a slumber right now but the country has some genuine quality young talent in the amateur ranks and the females proved it, scalping 3 golds including welterweight Manikon Baison who also took home the prize of best women’s boxer. Panpatchara Somnuek backed up her Youth Olympic triumph by grabbing featherweight gold and she is one of the most exciting female boxers coming through and lightweight Porntip Buapa successfully defended her Asian Youth crown.

Hikaru Shinohara doesn’t turn 17 until next month but the Japanese youngster pulled off a stunning achievement to claim light flyweight gold in Mongolia. She defeated excellent opposition on the way including top Thai Nillada Meekoon and Shinahara is a top prospect for the land of the rising sun going forward.

Finally in the heavyweight division, Ko Yuan Chien made history, becoming the first boxer to win a gold at the Asian Youth Championships from Taiwan.

By Marcus Bellinger (@marcusknockout)

In a saga that has had more twists and turns than a race track, things have finally come to a head and AIBA has been suspended by the IOC and will play no part in organising the boxing at the Tokyo Olympics or the qualifying tournaments. Anyone who has followed this story won’t be at all surprised at the verdict and given verbal jabs from the IOC such as President Thomas Bach’s recent comment that organising a boxing tournament is “not rocket science” this outcome was inevitable.
 
Whilst we now know there will be a boxing competition in 2020 there are still many unanswered questions such as the weight categories which leaves boxers with even longer uncertainty. The Olympic qualifiers are due to take place between January and May 2020 with quotas for men and women to be outlined.
 
Heading the special taskforce appointed by the IOC to organise the boxing for next year’s games is International Gymnastics Federation President Morinari Watanabe and it remains to be seen if a non-boxing person is able to put in place the necessary requirements to run the boxing in Tokyo as well as the qualifiers. There were hints of professional boxing organisations being contacted to help organise the sport at next year’s games but who that might be we simply don’t know.
 
As for AIBA, they are free to launch an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport and interim President Mohamed Moustahsane, who took over from Gafur Rakhimov who stepped aside in March, had begun to outline plans to sue the IOC if indeed AIBA lost its right to run the boxing in Tokyo but at time of writing this hasn’t gone any further. AIBA is also able to arrange continental tournaments which of course will not act as Olympic qualifiers.
 
It also raises the question of possible compensation for Russia and India, who were awarded the next 2 men’s world championships and surely both countries would have made provisions financially and strategically. Also will there be a boycott from certain federations out of loyalty to Rakhimov?
 
Whilst financial, governance, judging and refereeing concerns from the IOC have played a part in this decision it’s still utterly perplexing that federations voted for Rakhimov given his inability to enter the US due to being on a US Treasury Department sanctions list.  Not being able to work with companies and officials in America was stated as one of the main contributing factors for the decision and whilst a different President may not have made the difference, it surely would have helped AIBA not be in the situation that they are now.
 ​

​By Marcus Bellinger (@marcusknockout)

Japanese professional boxing is in a great place right now when some truly elite fighters and a plethora of outstanding youngsters racing through the ranks at a lightning pace. The country is hosting the 2020 Olympics but boxing’s place is yet to be confirmed due to a dispute between governing body AIBA and the IOC.
 
Japan has never been a traditional powerhouse in amateur boxing but has had plenty of success at the youth and junior levels. Here are a small selection of boxers from the land of the rising sun who could either feature in Tokyo, or more likely in the professional ranks in the years to come.
 
Hayato Tsutsumi, bantamweight, (56kg).
The next potential superstar from Japan, Tsutsumi ruled the roost at the youth level and has made a solid start in the elite level. He’s had plenty of success domestically winning various tournaments. 2016 was a banner year as Tsutsumi claimed flyweight golds at the Asian and World Youth Championships before repeating the success up at bantamweight at the 2017 Asian Youth Championships.
 
His move to the senior ranks saw him win the national title in 2017 and reach the last 4 in 2018 but  elimination in the first contest of the 2018 Asian Games will have been a disappointment but should be seen as a valuable learning experience. If boxing doesn’t take place in Tokyo, expect promoters to be queueing round the block to sign up Tsutsumi. You can view the final of the 2017 national Championships involving Tsutsumi below.

​(Ed's note - The fight below is against highly regarded Teiken prospect Mikito Nakano, now 2-0 (2) in the professional ranks)

By Marcus Bellinger (@marcusknockout)

​2018 was another interesting year for Asian boxing with the usual ups and downs but it was one that saw the seeds planted for what can potentially be a golden era for the sport throughout the continent.
 
2018 was a disappointing 12 months for Japanese boxing at world level but with a core of elite pugilists and a plethora of outstanding youngsters on the rise, the future is still very bright for boxing in the land of the rising sun.
 
Long reigning WBC bantamweight boss Shinsuke Yamanaka quite frankly deserved so much better than to go out at the hands of the disgraceful Luis Nery who failed a drugs test after their first encounter then came in 5 pounds overweight on first attempt before their rematch. Yamanaka can hold his head up high and will go down as one of Japan’s best after a terrific career.
 
After losing his WBO strawweight belt to Vic Saludar, Ryuya Yamanaka was unfortunately forced to retire due to a serious head injury and stalwarts Kohei Kono and Yoshihiro Kamegai also hung up the gloves after exciting fan friendly careers. Katsunori Nagamine, who was always guaranteed to provide thrills and spills was also forced to retire due to injury which was such as shame as the flyweight became a favourite of mine.
 
Daigo Higa and Kenichi Ogawa will not want to be reminded of having the arduous distinction of being the only Japanese fighters to lose their world titles on the scales and for failing a drugs test respectively and both will hope for much better results in 2019. Ryota Murata has it all to prove after floundering against an inspired Rob Brant and Ryoichi Taguchi, Kazuto Ioka, Ryosuke Iwasa and Reiya Konishi will aim to return to world level after losing close decisions that could have easily gone the other way.
 
In what you could easily call the awesome foursome Naoya Inoue, Kenshiro, Kosei Tanaka and Hiroto Kyoguchi are as good a quartet of fighters anywhere on the planet and will be aiming to establish themselves as the number 1 in their respective divisions. Inoue blasted away both Jamie McDonnell and Juan Carlos Payano inside a round and claiming the World Boxing Super Series prize is the goal for 2019. Kenshiro enjoyed a rather fruitful 2018, impressively halting both Ganigan Lopez and Milan Melindo before scoring a wide points victory over Saul Juarez to cap off the year and hopefully the WBC light flyweight champion can secure a unification in 2019.
 
Kosei Tanaka became a 3-weight world champion in just his 12th bout but had to go through the meat grinder to do it as he took the WBO flyweight strap from Sho Kimura in undoubtedly the fight of the year. A rumoured clash with Ryoichi Taguchi is in the works for this spring and if it’s half as good as the bout with Kimura then we’re in for another classic. Hiroto Kyoguchi made a real statement as he broke down Hekkie Budler and became the first man to stop the South African and his heavy hands make him a force to be reckoned with at 108 pounds.
 
Finally Masayuki Ito deserves more than a mention after winning a world title away from home, something very few Japanese boxers accomplish. Ito was far too seasoned for Christopher Diaz and after a one-sided beat down of mandatory challenger Evgeny Chuprakov, the WBO super featherweight champion has options aplenty for 2019. Tomoki Kameda and Takuma Inoue will get cracks at full world titles this year after winning interim trinkets in 2018.
 
Overall 2018 was an excellent year for Filipino boxing with 3 of the nation’s favourite sons scoring notable victories. Donnie Nietes prevailed in a close and thoroughly absorbing contest with Kazuto Ioka, making him a 4-weight champion and let’s hope he defends against similar calibre of competition as there is no shortage of top challengers at super flyweight.
 
After defeat to Carl Frampton and moving down to a division which he hadn’t fought at in 7 years, few if anyone gave Nonito Donaire a prayer when he entered the World Boxing Super Series but the Filipino Flash defied the odds to beat Ryan Burnett and set up a semi-final contest versus Zolani Tete. It should be noted that a freak back injury left Burnett unable to continue but Donaire was highly competitive in rounds 3 and 4 so a win against Tete isn’t out of the question.
 
Manny Pacquiao knocked out Lucas Matthysse to keep his career going and he has a very winnable bout with Adrien Broner coming up shortly but the biggest winner in Filipino boxing in 2018 was visibility, with not only ESPN5 providing much needed coverage for boxing globally but other streams were provided for domestic cards making the sport far more accessible than it has been in previous years. Vic Saludar produced an excellent display to capture the WBO strawweight title in Japan but IBF 115 lb champion Jerwin Ancajas failed to shine in 2018 and will need to up his game if he’s to compete and overcome the elite of the division.
 
The 2 all Filipino world title fights between Jerwin Ancajas and Jonas Sultan and Donnie Nietes and Aston Palicte unfortunately completely underwhelmed but if the myth that these kind of bouts shouldn’t be happening is slowly being dispelled then that’s a positive and we saw other such good clashes at domestic and regional level between Jonathan Taconing and Vince Paras and Edward Heno and Jesse Espinas take place. 
 
The biggest negative was the disappearance of exciting featherweight Mark Magsayo who failed to fight at all in 2018 and Mark Antony Barriga will also have to rebound after his first loss. Jhack Tepora and Reymart Gaballo enjoyed breakout years and are leading the charge of the next generation of young Pinoys, Romero Duno should continue to provide plenty of entertainment and KJ Cataraja and Dave Apolinario are 2 gems worth getting excited about.
 
Boxing in Thailand ticked over quite nicely in 2018 with all 3 world champions holding onto their titles and the country has 2 interesting prospects in Apichet Petchmanee and Downua Ruawaiking both at light welterweight. The Workpoint series was also a nice edition and saw much improved match making and some solid domestic bouts that delivered including the 2 encounters between Kompayak Porpramook and Pongsaklek Sithdabmij and the clash between Nawaphon Por Chokchai and Amnat Ruenroeng.
 
Srisaket Sor Rungvisai scored a majority decision over Juan Francisco Estrada in a thoroughly enjoyable contest in the US to kick off his 2018 and after a stay busy bout he made history as he headlined a One Championship card in front of a raucous home crowd. The WBC super flyweight champion scored a wide point’s win over game Mexican Iran Diaz and heads into 2019 with numerous available options with a unification with Jerwin Ancajas looking a distinct possibility.
 
Wanheng Menayothin made his own history as he took his unbeaten record to 52-0 by the end of the year. The WBC strawweight titlist reached the magic 50-0 mark in style as he destroyed mandatory challenger Leroy Estrada before taking a unanimous decision over solid challenger Pedro Taduran. If the reports are to be believed and Wanheng does venture outside of Thailand then tougher challenges could lay ahead for the 33-year-old with a bout against the undefeated Tsubasa Koura mentioned as a possibility.
 
Despite making 3 defenses of his strawweight crown the stock of Knockout CP Freshmart dramatically dropped with 3 very poor performances and the fights against Xion Zhao Zhong and the rematch with Byron Rojas were honestly dire viewing. Knockout will need to dramatically up his game in 2019 if he’s to keep hold of his belt as he looks to be there for the taking.
 
Along with Cuba, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are now well established as the leading forces in amateur boxing and now both nations are making their presence felt in the professional ranks with Daniyar Yeleussinov, Murodjon Akhmadaliev, Shakhram Giyasov, Sadriddin Akhmedov and Israil Madrimov just a selection of names who are looking to make an impact. Expect the Kazak/Uzbek take over/invasion to ramp up even further in 2019 with so much strength in depth in both countries.
 
Finally any action that took place inside the ring in amateur boxing was completely overshadowed by a tumultuous struggle between AIBA and the IOC which has left boxing’s place at the Tokyo Olympics hanging by a thread. After being made interim President, controversial Gafur Rakhimov who is described as "one of Uzbekistan's leading criminals" by the United States Treasury Department was elected permanent President under farcical proceedings which saw certain delegations fail to vote and the electronic voting system fail to work. 
 
Repeated warnings from the IOC regarding Rakhimov’s potential election as permanent President clearly were not heeded and coupled with governance and financial concerns, this lead to the planning for boxing in Tokyo being frozen therefore leaving everyone in total limbo. 2019 is without doubt a defining period in amateur boxing but the signs are bleak and a boxing tournament in Tokyo without AIBA’s involvement is a solid possibility which could lead to a messy split within the federations and in all of this the boxers are the ones who suffer due to the arrogance, selfishness and incompetence of those at the top. 

By Marcus Bellinger (@marcusknockout)

The saga between AIBA and the IOC shows no signs of coming to an end and it was announced that the IOC Executive Board have frozen planning for the boxing competition for the Tokyo Olympics including the qualifying process and ticket sales.
 
An inquiry has been launched into AIBA’s ability to host the boxing competition and to assess whether the various “significant concerns” expressed by the IOC have been properly addressed to their satisfaction. The inquiry will be headed by Executive Board member Nenad Lalovic and IOC Sports Director Kit McConnell stated that the inquiry would take place over the next few months with the aim to have a definitive decision on boxing’s future at the next Board Executive meeting in Lausanne next June.
 
For the first time Gafur Rakhimov was directly mentioned by the IOC regarding their concerns along with AIBA’s inability to open or maintain a bank account in Switzerland.
 
Despite the promises of IOC President Thomas Bach that there will be a boxing competition in Tokyo, the ruling only heaps more uncertainty onto proceedings and raises a number of questions such as:
If indeed boxing does keep its Olympic place and the decision is made next June, is barely 15 months enough time to carry out the necessary qualifying tournaments?
Given the ever decreasing guarantees of Olympic participation will there be a mass exodus of fighters choosing to turn professional?
If AIBA is suspended will there be a huge split between the federations which would badly damage the integrity of the sport?
What happens to the allotted qualifying spots from the World Series of Boxing?
Finally what happens to the next 2 men’s world championships which have been awarded to Sochi and Delhi which surely both countries would have budgeted for?
 
Whatever the outcome and the answers to these various questions, unfortunately the athletes and us fans can do nothing more than wait as 2019 really is a defining moment for amateur boxing.
 

By Marcus Bellinger (@marcusknockout)

With HBO exiting the boxing business after their final card on December 8, US boxing is in an intriguing spot with 3 main entities jockeying for supremacy.
 
Top Rank has a long term deal with ESPN and the ESPN+ App also streams shows from the US and abroad, the PBC has extended its agreement with Showtime and inked a deal with Fox and streaming service DAZN has Matchroom and Golden Boy as their boxing providers along with the World Boxing Super Series.
 
For those outsiders there are actually some fabulous opportunities with the 3 above entities looking to snap up any available world class talent so as to fill the many dates and provide the best possible boxing content. One of those is World of Boxing, founded by Russian businessman Andriy Ryabinskiy, with well-known manager Vadim Kornilov managing the day-to-day operations. Their stable includes Alexander Povetkin, Denis Lebedev, Eduart Troyanovsky, Dmitry Kudryashov and Sergey Kuzmin amongst others. Hardcore fans, especially those in the UK where it was broadcast on Boxnation may remember the November 2015 Wednesday marathon afternoon of action from Russia which provided plenty of thrills and spills. You can view the show I’m referring to 
 
http://boxrec.com/en/event/718330
 
Arguably the company’s biggest star Dmitry Bivol defended his light heavyweight title this past weekend in Atlantic City, out pointing Jean Pascal over 12 rounds. With his contract with HBO now expired, Bivol is a free agent and there surely won’t be a shortage of takers in an interesting 175 lb mix.
Adonis Stevenson defends his WBC belt against Oleksandr Gvozdyk this weekend with Stevenson aligned with the PBC and Gvozdyk signed with Top Rank. The rematch between Eleider Alvarez and Sergey Kovalev will take place on ESPN in February whilst IBF titlist Artur Beterbiev plies his trade on DAZN.
 
On the Bivol Pascal undercard, 3 of the brightest prospects in world boxing featured as a trio of Uzbeks all scored knockout wins. 
 
Murodjon Akhmadaliev won medals at every major tournament which was no mean feat given the truly elite bantamweight mix in the amateur ranks. He notched up his 5th professional win, breaking down Isaac Zarate in 9 rounds and he is already world ranked at super bantamweight and has a very fan friendly style which viewers in the US should enjoy.
 
Shakhram Giyasov won Olympic silver in 2016 and gold at the 2017 world championships and was a flashy stylist with plenty of charisma as an amateur. In his 6 pro contests he really has adapted extremely quickly and he blitzed Miguel Zamudio inside a round in Atlantic City.
 
Making his debut was Israil Madrimov who stopped Vladimir Hernandez in the 6th of a scheduled 10 rounder. As an amateur Madrimov won gold at the Asian Games and Asian Championships and when in full flow his relentless attacks are a joy to watch.
 
Whilst it’s fair to say that Povetkin and Lebedev are at the tail end of their careers, the likes of Bivol, Akhmadaliev, Giyasov and Madrimov are supreme talents and if either of the 3 major networks can strike a deal with World of Boxing then it will only enhance their quality of product.

By Marcus Bellinger (@marcusknockout)

In September Indian boxer Vikas Krishan announced he would be turning professional and late last week it was officially confirmed that he had signed with US outfit Top Rank and would be making his debut on January 18 2019 at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York. The 26-year-old southpaw will be trained by Wali Moses, the grandfather of unbeaten Shakur Stevenson.
 
A 3-time national champion at lightweight, welterweight and middleweight, a 2-time Olympian, a 2018 Commonwealth gold Medallist, a 2011 world championship Bronze medallist and a double Asian Championship medallist, Krishan’s amateur achievements speak for themselves and he also reached the podium at the last 3 Asian Games. Krishan can coast at times during fights, but he is an excellent and vicious body puncher and likes to use uppercuts and he certainly possesses enough traits to have a successful pro career.
 
Top Rank and especially Bob Arum have always been way ahead of the game in exploring and attempting to open up new markets and embracing the globalisation of boxing. Of course we saw Top Ranks venture into China with double Olympic gold Medallist Zou Shiming heading the charge and big cards in Macao featuring the likes of Manny Pacquiao. People will correctly point out that Shiming’s professional career was a bit of a busted flush but winning a world title was a good achievement given his limitations and hopefully he can inspire the next generation of boxers from his country.
 
Many may compare China and India but there are major differences between the 2 countries boxing and sporting cultures. Whilst India doesn’t have the infrastructure such as professional gyms and coaches compared to China, their amateur system is churning out so much more talent and the results have shown that in the last couple of years at senior, youth and junior level in both men’s and women’s boxing. India also generates an atmosphere at sporting events that is unrivalled anywhere in the world and given the mind boggling sums paid for IPL and Indian home cricket rites, if boxing can generate just a fraction of that interest then the sky’s the limit.
 
Vijender Singh has been an important cog in putting the key in the lock to try to swing the door wide open for Indian professional boxing and he has now signed a multi-year agreement with Top Rank and will make his US debut sometime in early 2019. With his last bout coming last December and a proposed July Commonwealth title fight being cancelled, Singh’s career had ground to a halt but hopefully this new deal can breathe new life into it. 
 
With his notable profile and popularity and his last 4 contests all taking place in India and being broadcast on either Star Sports and Sony, a potential clash with WBO super middleweight champion Gilberto Ramirez would be a truly historic event. If Top Rank can secure a long term deal with either of the previously mentioned TV channels to broadcast Krishan and Singh’s fights then not only does that give them a chance to build professional boxing in India but it also potentially opens up the biggest untapped market on the planet for the rest of their fighters.
 
Lastly, another intriguing intangible is the ongoing saga between AIBA and the IOC which has left boxing’s place at the Tokyo Olympics hanging by a thread. If boxing is ditched and a rival body isn’t established to cobble together an Olympic tournament then with no real professional scene to speak of, the Indian amateurs could be in limbo but with Top Rank now showing interest, this could be a much needed gateway for the nations numerous talented pugilists to pursue.