 Courtesy of Boxrec.com To Japanese fans South African Vusi Malinga (21-5-1, 12) is a footnote on WBC Bantamweight title reign of Hozumi Hasegawa who stopped Malinga inside a round. This past weekend saw Malinga fall short in his third world title bout as he was out pointed by brave Englishman Stuart Hall (16-2-1, 7) in what turned out to be one of the fights of the weekend.
With the victory over Maligna we saw Hall becoming the IBF Bantamweight champion claiming a title previously held by Hall's countryman Jamie McDonnell (23-2-1, 10) earlier this year. On paper the logical match up is a contest between Hall and McDonnell in an all-British affair though there is a worry that promotional issues could prevent the bout from taking place with Hall's promoter Dennis Hobson, the former promoter of McDonnell, certainly having a reason to resent McDonnell. The bout between the Brits will likely be made in 2014 with Hobson and Hall getting a nice pay day in return for taking it, though that doesn't mean that Asian fighters shouldn't be eying up the possible winner of that clash. Amongst those ranked by the IBF are Kohei Oba (35-2-1, 14) the #6 ranked fighter and the #12 ranked Ryosuke Iwasa (16-1, 10). Although we'd assume Iwasa was angling for the WBC title, where he is the #1 contender he may view the IBF title as an easier route to the top. For Oba though the IBF title may well be a serious option for a man who effectively in with a real chance of getting an IBF title fight in 2014 or 2015 if that's the route he wishes to persue. We wouldn't favour Oba against Hall or McDonnell, at least not in Britain, but both fights would be very interesting and are certainly more winnable for Oba than bouts with Shinsuke Yamanaka (WBC champion) or Anselmo Moreno (WBA "super" champion) whilst Tomoki Kameda (WBO champion) would likely have Oba well down his list of possible opponents.
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 Courtesy of boxrec.com Spanish fighter Kiko "La Sensación" Martinez (30-4, 22) made the first successful defense of his IBF Super Bantamweight this past weekend as he stopped South Africa's Jeffrey Mathebula (27-5-2, 14) in 9 rounds. The bout, from the first bell to the last, was pretty much one sided with Martinez setting and unbelievable pace from the opening bell before an exhausted and beaten up Mathebula conceded defeat.
Martinez is now likely to be forced into a very tough bout. The likely options are either a defense against Carl Frampton (17-0, 12), a man who has already stopped Martinez, or a unification with either Scott Quigg (27-0-2, 20) or Guillermo Rigondeaux (13-0, 8). It's likely Martinez will take the option which pays best, though if he was looking for the easier fight it's probably, style-wise, Quigg. From an Asian perspective we'd love to see Martinez fighting one of the Asian Super Bantamweights such as Hidenori Otake (21-1-3, 9) or Yasutaka Ishimoto (23-6, 6) who are both ranked by the IBF. Unfortunately neither of these men are likely to get the fight due to the fact neither has a bigger enough name to make the bout attractive to Martinez who maybe stripped if he doesn't unify or face Frampton, the IBF #2 ranked fighter. In terms of the Super Bantamweight division it is an interesting one from an Asian perspective with Otake and Ishimoto joined by Shingo Wake (15-4-2, 8) and Hozumi Hasegawa (33-4, 15). Any of those 4 men could very easily get a world title fight over the next 12 months with one champion or another. None would be favoured against Rigondeaux but all would make very an interesting bout with Quigg, and they could prove difficult for either Leo Santa Cruz (the WBC champion) or Martinez.  Courtesy of boxrec.com WBO Super Flyweight champion Omar Andres Narvaez (41-1-2, 21) made his 9th defense of the title on Saturday night as he successfully defended it against Mexican challenger David Carmona (16-2-4, 8). The bout, a poor one from the off, saw Carmona retreating from the first bell and doing all he could to avoid a fight against Narvaez. Sadly this resulted in a contest that saw Narvaez spending much of his time chasing his opponent who seemed almost in awe of the man in front of him. With the win the bullseye on Narvaez's back just got bigger with several opponents all likely eying him up. One of those possible opponents is Mexican Felipe Orucuta (28-2, 23) a man who already gave Narvaez an incredibly tough contest this year. Orucuta is the WBO #1 ranked fighter and a man who will almost certainly feel that he has right to a rematch with Narvaez. If however Narvaez can get another mandatory in before the WBO force a Narvaez/Orucuta rematch it's fair to say that several Asian fighters will be interested. Amongst the highest ranked Asian's from the WBO rankings is the controversial Koki Kameda (32-1, 17) who is currently ranked #2 by the WBO. Koki will likely have the finances to back a fight with Narvaez in Japan if Narvaez is given a good enough offer. Although TYC Sports and filled arenas are paying Narvaez's bills it's fair to say that the Kameda team will throw a lot at Narvaez in an attempt to get Koki his 4th divisional title. Of course Narvaez isn't stupid and may need more than just money thrown his way to travel to Japan but will know that father time is against him and at 38 years old he won't be able to collect big pay days for too much longer. Other Asian alternatives for Narvaez include #3 ranked Arthur Villanueva (24-0, 14) and #4 ranked Mark Anthony Geraldo (29-4-3, 13) both of the Philippines. Neither would bring the money Koki would but both would be more likely to travel to fight Narvaez than Koki and both would likely be easier to deal with the Kameda family, The WBO also rank a number of other Asian fighters such as Teiru Kinoshita, Tepparith Kokietgym, Oleydong Sithsamerchai and Suriyan Sor Rungvisai. Fights with those 4 men would be much more likely in terms of voluntary defenses than Koki though none would bring the money Koki does. Strangely, due to the rules of the WBO, Koki could actually become the mandatory challenger if he wants to request a mandatory position with the WBO who's rules state: (c) A classified boxer may request recognition as Mandatory Challenger in writing to the WBO on forms which contain substantially the provisions of the comply with the Application for Designation as Mandatory Contender contained on the WBO web site. If Koki and team Kameda have read the WBO rules then we may well be seeing Koki Kameda v Omar Narvaez in 2014 as Narvaez's next mandatory defense.
 Courtesy of Nicholas Samuilov, Argentina Boxing Promotions Friday night saw Argentinian female fighter Debora Anahi Dionicius (15-0, 4) make the 4th successful defense of her IBF female Super Flyweight title as she easily over-came the spirited challenge of Mexico's Guadalupe Martinez (6-5, 3). As a result of this win Dionicius has remained as one of the few champions in the 115lbs weight class and also remained one of the top fighters in the division.
Although her performance was solid and she did clearly dominate the bout it's fair to say that Dionicius won't be classed as the top fighter in the division by many. For some the top fighter is Mariana Juarez, for others it's Zulina Munoz for us however it's Naoko Fujioka. From Fujioka's perspective there is little to worry about from Dionicius. She's a capable enough enough fighter with nice movement and nice boxing skills but her lack of real fire power would be undoing against Fujioka who's not a big puncher herself but is a hurtful puncher. Despite the possibilities of a unification bout between Fujioka and Dionicius we don't imagine that bout happening. TYC Sports, the Argentinian channel that televised Dionicius's bout, wouldn't want to see their girl beaten and there is little chance of Fujioka getting the financial backing to bring Dionicius over to Japan. Whilst there is little chance of a Dionicius/Fujioka bout we wouldn't totally rule out Dionicius fighting an Asian fighter in 2014. There is of course several interesting Asian fighters at 115lbs including the big punching Naoko Yamaguchi, the OPBF champion Tomoko Kawanishi, Berne based Japanese veteran Aniya Seki and even Korea's Hee-Jung Yuh. On the performance Dionicius gave on Friday night we'd not be that afraid of sending Yamaguchi or Kawanishi over there for a fight with her. The Japanese girls would be under-dogs but both would certainly be very live under-dogs in bouts that would be compelling from the first bell to the last.  Courtesy of marcaentradas Whilst this coming Saturday isn't a major day for boxing in Asia it is a day that could see several Asian fighters looking at possible future opponents with 3 world title fights taking place, all of which are in divisions where Asian fighters are highly ranked.
For Japanese fans in particular, the bout to be give attention to is in Britain where Stuart Hall (15-2-1, 7) battles former Hozumi Hasegawa opponent Vusi Malinga (21-4-1, 12) for the vacant IBF Bantamweight title. Although the winner of this bout is expected to face former champion Jamie McDonnell (23-2-1, 10) next there are several Japanese fighters with good IBF rankings. Whilst McDonnell (#3) with the IBF is the favourite to face the winner it's fair to say that Kohei Oba (35-2-1, 14), the IBF #6 ranked fighter, and Ryusoke Iwasa (16-1, 10), the IBF #12 ranked fighter would both be looking at the IBF title as a possibility. Neither would be favoured against WBC champion Shinsuke Yamanaka, at best Iwasa would be seen as a 50-50 chances with WBO champion Tomoki Kameda and neither would be fancied against WBA "super" champion Anselmo Moreno. The IBF belt might be their easiest route to a world title. Staying with Japanese fans they'll almost certainly have an indirect interesting in what goes on in Spain as IBF Super Bantamweight champion Kiko Martinez (29-4, 21) takes on South African Jeffrey Mathebula (27-4-2, 14). This is Martinez's first defense and it's expected that the winner of this will be defending against Britain's Carl Frampton (17-0, 12) in 2014. Despite the fact Frampton is the first in the queue it still one of the easiest titles at 122lbs to win due to the fact that the other champions include Leo Santa Cruz and the excellent Guillermo Rigondeaux. The winner will be almost certainly be on the radar of both Hidenori Otake (21-3-1, 9), the IBF #6 ranked fighter, and Yasutaka Ishimoto (23-6, 6), the IBF #9 ranked fighter, who will see the winner here as one of their best chances to take a world title at Super Bantamweight. Whilst the Bantamweight and Super Bantamweight title fights are mostly going to get the attention of Japanese fans the final major contest will be one that should get the attention of Thai fans and Filipino's as well as Japanese ones. This bout, in Argentina, sees WBO Super Flyweight super champion Omar Andres Narvaez (40-1-2, 21) defending his title against David Carmona (16-1-4, 8). From the Thai point of view Narvaez is the only man in the division who could be seen as a better fighter than WBC champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai. We don't expect to see a WBC/WBO unification but that is certainly a bout that we'd love. As well as Srisaket other Thai's who may want to keep an eye on this bout are Suriyan Sor Rungvisai (31-5-1, 13), the WBO #7 ranked fighter, Oleydong Sithsamerchai (51-1-1, 17), the #10 ranked fighter, Denkaosan Kaovichit (62-3-1, 26), the #12 WBO fighter, Tepparith Kokietgym (24-3, 14) the #14 ranked fighter and Noknoi Sitthiprasert (46-4, 27) the #15th ranked fighter. For Filipino fans the bout holds interest as Arthur Villanueva (24-0, 14), the #3 ranked fighter, and Mark Anthony Geraldo (29-4-3, 13), the #4 ranked fighter, could both be viewing up the winner as their next opponent. Neither would be favoured against Narvaez but both have the ability to really test him. As for Japanese fighters both Koki Kameda (32-1, 17), the #2 ranked fighter, and Teiru Kinoshita (19-0-1, 3), #13. For Koki it would make sense to make the most of his high ranking and hope that the WBO will have a vacant WBO title due to the "super" status of Narvaez. With Koki looking for a 4th divisional title this bout really does make a lot of sense for him to be keeping an eye on. With 9 of the top 15 WBO ranked Super Flyweights being from the Orient this bout really should be one that has the eye of every Asian boxing fan out there this coming Saturday.  Courtesy of Boxeadoras Argentinas This Friday sees only a single notable international bout with any sort of relevance at all to Asian boxing. That bout sees IBF female Super Flyweight champion Debora Anahi “La Gurisa” Dionicius (14-0, 4) defending her title in what appears to be a total mismatch against Guadalupe Martinez (6-4, 3).
This bout's indirect relation to Asian is that Dionicius is one of the few fighters who could make for an interesting contest with Japan's Naoko Fujioka (11-0, 6). Fujioka, the WBC female champion at 115lbs hasn't really got many fighters who could really push her at the moment however unification bouts are always worth thinking about and a contest between Fujioka and Dionicius would be an interesting contest for the very talented Fujioka. In regards to Dionicius against Martinez it would be a massive shock for Martinez to even test the blonde Argentinian, pictured. Martinez is the much smaller fighter and has fallen short in previous title bouts. If Dionicius, as we expect, wins she will move to #4 on Boxrecs list of top female fighters at 115lbs. With Fujioka ranked #1 on boxrec a fight between the two would be one of the few |
InternationalWe know that not every fight involves an Asian fighter but a lot of fights do affect Asian fighter. As a result we've decided to add this new section to Asian boxing where we look at selected International bouts. Archives
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