Kenya Yamashita
As boxing fans we are typically attracted to fighters who enjoy a fight. Whilst some of us do appreciate the more patient fighter rather than brawlers it's still the blood and guts warriors that will always get the juices flowing and will always excite fans. The problem with those warrior type fighters is their career are often a bit short, they tend to burn bright but not for long.
One fight we suspect will have an unfortunately short career, but a genuinely thrilling one, is Japan's Kenya Yamashita (12-4, 9) who is only 22 years old but has been in some all action bouts and has a reputation as a youngster who is always worth a watch. Despite the fact he has come up short against his most notable opponents.
Yamashita would turn professional at the age of 17 with no notable amateur experience. He would make his debut as a Koguchi Gym fighter, signing with the same gym that had Shingo Wake. The two seemed to strike up a quick bond with Wake seemingly acting as Yamashita's mentor for the early part of his career, with the two often hanging out together outside of the ring as well as in the gym.
On debut, back in December 2013, the then 17 year old Yamanshita scored a 3rd round TKO win over Kazuma Fukino. Despite being so young Yamashita looked exciting, talented and explosive, with the youngster trapping Fukino in the neutral corner and unloading until the referee saved the dazed and downed Fukino from further punishment. The relationship with Wake was clear after the fight, with the then OPBF Super Bantamweight champion celebrating with his young stablemate.
Despite debuting in 2013 it was really in 2014 that he came to the fore. He began the year by wiping pout Norris Yano in 148 seconds, taking Yano down in the neutral corner much like he had with Fukino, and would finish the year as the All-Japan Flyweight Rookie of the Year.
The Yano was a preliminary Rookie of the Year bout. In Yamashita's second bout in the competition he he was pushed all the way by Tatsuji Kakumoto, with Yamashita just doing enough for a razor thin split decision, with the judges all turning in 39-38, scorecards. The split decision win seemed to act like a wake up call to Yamamashita who scored a knockout of Katsunori Shimooki in next book, with Shimooki being counted out at 3:05 of round 4.
Yamashita's final preliminary contest in the Rookie of the Year saw him risk his 4-0 (3) record against the then 4-0 (2) Takunari Yokoyama. The two men fought toe-to-toe, exchanging some sensational shots up close in an all action contest. That was until Yokoyama's resistance ended and the referee stepped in to stop the action, with Yokoyama looking wobbly legged at the time. That win put Yamashita in to the East Japan Rookie of the Year final, where he faced off against Sonin Nihei. Nihei was 5-0-1 and proven his quality by reaching the East Japan Rookie of the Year final. The two men would prove to be brilliantly matched, with Yamashita's aggression being just enough to earn the decision, though it was another close contest with the judges struggling to split the two men.
One fight we suspect will have an unfortunately short career, but a genuinely thrilling one, is Japan's Kenya Yamashita (12-4, 9) who is only 22 years old but has been in some all action bouts and has a reputation as a youngster who is always worth a watch. Despite the fact he has come up short against his most notable opponents.
Yamashita would turn professional at the age of 17 with no notable amateur experience. He would make his debut as a Koguchi Gym fighter, signing with the same gym that had Shingo Wake. The two seemed to strike up a quick bond with Wake seemingly acting as Yamashita's mentor for the early part of his career, with the two often hanging out together outside of the ring as well as in the gym.
On debut, back in December 2013, the then 17 year old Yamanshita scored a 3rd round TKO win over Kazuma Fukino. Despite being so young Yamashita looked exciting, talented and explosive, with the youngster trapping Fukino in the neutral corner and unloading until the referee saved the dazed and downed Fukino from further punishment. The relationship with Wake was clear after the fight, with the then OPBF Super Bantamweight champion celebrating with his young stablemate.
Despite debuting in 2013 it was really in 2014 that he came to the fore. He began the year by wiping pout Norris Yano in 148 seconds, taking Yano down in the neutral corner much like he had with Fukino, and would finish the year as the All-Japan Flyweight Rookie of the Year.
The Yano was a preliminary Rookie of the Year bout. In Yamashita's second bout in the competition he he was pushed all the way by Tatsuji Kakumoto, with Yamashita just doing enough for a razor thin split decision, with the judges all turning in 39-38, scorecards. The split decision win seemed to act like a wake up call to Yamamashita who scored a knockout of Katsunori Shimooki in next book, with Shimooki being counted out at 3:05 of round 4.
Yamashita's final preliminary contest in the Rookie of the Year saw him risk his 4-0 (3) record against the then 4-0 (2) Takunari Yokoyama. The two men fought toe-to-toe, exchanging some sensational shots up close in an all action contest. That was until Yokoyama's resistance ended and the referee stepped in to stop the action, with Yokoyama looking wobbly legged at the time. That win put Yamashita in to the East Japan Rookie of the Year final, where he faced off against Sonin Nihei. Nihei was 5-0-1 and proven his quality by reaching the East Japan Rookie of the Year final. The two men would prove to be brilliantly matched, with Yamashita's aggression being just enough to earn the decision, though it was another close contest with the judges struggling to split the two men.
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Having won the East Japan Rookie of the Year Yamashita would clash with the then 9-0 Shun Kosaka in the All Japan Rookie of the Year final. This was another competitive contest, but the judges seemed to be won over by the heavier shots of Yamashita, who seemed like the more aggressive and hard hitting fighter, snapping the head of Kosaka back numerous times.
With the Rookie of the Year Crown to his name it seemed like Yamashita was going to build on his success in 2015. Sadly though he would move up in weight for his first bout of the new year and suffer a clear decision loss to the talented, but light hitting, Joe Tanooka in February. The skilled Tanooka would use his jab and foot work to neutralise Yamashita's aggression and show that the power of Tamashita could be blunted by intelligent boxing. Yamashita would return to the ring in October and get back to winning ways with a 6th round TKO win again Musashi Suzuki. That win seemed to rebuild Yamashita's confident and in February 2016 he faced off with 2012 Flyweight Rookie of the Year Katsunori Nagamine. Coming in to the bout Nagamine had been beaten just once, by Ken Shiro, and it was clear that Yamashita saw the bout as a chance to make a name for himself. He set off an an incredible pace, taking the fight to Nagamine and dropping him hard after about 80 seconds. Stupidly though he would hit the downed man and be deducted a point, giving time for Nagamine to recover. The aggression from Yamashita would draw Nagamine into a brawl for the round of the opening round. Sadly for Yamashita the pace would take a toll on the youngster, and by round 3 the intensity was waning with Nagamine finding holes, and dropping Yamashita after about 40 seconds, forcing the referee to call off the bout. Despite the loss to Nagamine the bout saw Yamashita grow with fans, thanks to the bout being broadcast in full on TBS. He would quickly get back in the ring, defeating Yuthana Narkprasert in June before being being ground down in 7 rounds by the under-rated Akinori Hoshino in November. This would be Yamashita's final bout as a Koguchi gym fighter, following Wake out of the gym's door and transferring to some where that he felt could help with his career. Notably he didn't follow Wake to the Flare Yamagami gym, instead he joined the Shirai Gushiken Sports Gym (SGS), which featured the likes of Daigo Higa and Koki Eto, two more offensively minded fighters. Although not totally the end of the Wake / Yamashita relationship, this certainly seemed to be the end of their incredible closeness, and now Yamashita had other notable fighters to influence him Yamashita's first fight as an SGS fighter saw him face off with Naoto Iwai in a semi-final bout of a Japanese Super Flyweight Youth title tournament. Iwai had been tipped in the very early portion of his career but a shock loss to Ryosuke Nasu in his previous fight seemed to knock his confidence slightly. That confidence was further damaged by Yamashita's intense pressure, which picked up in round 2, with a host of clean headshots. The pressure would become too much for Iwai in round 4 when the referee saved him from further punishment. The win over Iwai lead Yamashita to a rematch with Tanooka for the newly created Japanese Youth crown. Yamashita would get revenge for his first loss, and would do it amazingly quickly, as he put the pressure on Tanooka and landed a dynamite right hand on the chin after about 45 seconds. Tanooka would try to get back to his feet but the referee would wave off the bout mid-way through the count. Having claimed the Japanese Youth Super Flyweight title in such impressive fashion Yamashita's stock rose significantly. It took another boost in November, when he took on GAB champion Eranio Semillano and saw him off inside a round. Yamashita looked like he had respect for Semillano, backing off and not being all on the front foot for the opening minute. Quickly though the bought became a brawl and Yamashita would manage to cut the distance and break down Semillano with heavy shots. Semillano would take the 10 count on his knees as Yamashita go move to 3-0 (3) under the SGS gym. Sadly that impressive winning run would come to an end earlier this year as Yamashita got out brawled by former Japanese title challenger Hayato Kimura, in a thrilling and action packed bout. Yamashita had his moments but the naturally bigger and stronger Kimura just had too much in terms of experience and physically for the younger fighter. Yamashita would be finished off early in round 7, when Kimura began unloading bombs on a tired Yamashita, who seemed unhappy at the stoppage but was looking very ragged. The little warrior will return to the ring on September 29th, being featured on Boxingraise for the 5th successive fight. In his upcoming contest he will take on former world title challenger John Mark Apolinario, and will know that a win here will go down as the biggest of his career. Another loss however and things will be very hard to bounce back from. (Image courtesy of boxmob.jp) |
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