April 22nd has given us some interesting moments through history.

2015 - In 2005 Osakan fans had a world title double header. One of those bouts saw Kazuto Ioka claim the WBA Flyweight title with a majority decision win over Argentinian Juan Carlos Reveco. The bout was a very hotly contested fight with Ioka narrowly winning, and resulted in a rematch between the two men. Their second bout, at the end of the bout, was one-sided with Ioka stopping Reveco in 11 rounds.

The other title bout on the same saw saw Katsunari Takayama narrowly retain the IBF Minimumweight title with a technical decision win over Fahlan Sakkreerin Jr. The bout saw Takayama pin Fahlan on to the ropes for much of the fight but the Thai fought well on the back foot to give us a sensational contest, before cuts to the champion forced the bout to be stopped in round 9.

2013 - Exactly 5 years ago today fans saw the professional debut of Sho Kimura's debut. The Japanese fighter would be stopped inside a round at the Korakuen Hall but would go on to rise rapidly through the ranks, winning the WBO Flyweight title in 2017. At the moment Kimura is still the champion, having recorded his first defense of the belt at the end of 2017, stopping Toshiyuki Igarashi.

2005 - Indonesian legend Chris John had originally been set to face Derrick Gainer in late 2004, but due to contractual issues the bout was delayed until April 2005. It was to be John's first mandatory title defense and one that saw him pull himself off the canvas to win, rather widely. The Indonesian would go on to hold the title until his 52nd professional bout, when he lost to Simpiwe Vetyeka in 2013. Gainer on the other hand would never fight in another contest of relevance.

1984 - For a second day in a row we get to mention Hwan-Kil Yuh, with the Korean beating Rod Sequenan in the inaugural IBF Super Featherweight title fight on this day 1984. The Korean would take a split decision over his Filipino foe to win the title, which he defended once later the same year, before losing the belt to Lester Ellis in 1985.

For those who saw the “April 21st” article, they may recognise' Yuh's name because he actually passed away on April 21st 2009, 1 day shy of the 25th anniversary of his title win.

1959 - Former world champion Netrnoi Sor Vorasingh was born on this day in in 1959, and would be 59 today had he not lost his life so tragically young. The Thai, who passed away at the age of 23, managed to fit 39 fights into his career, which began in 1975 and saw him win the WBC Light Flyweight title at the age of 19, in 1978. Netrnoi's title reign lasted less than 5 months but saw him record one defense. His final fight came in August 1982, when he was stopped by the debuting Samart Payakaroon, and he would die less than 4 months later following a motorcycle accident.

2017 - This day last year we saw the 3rd meeting between Tetsuya Hisada and Kenichi Horikawa, who were fighting for the vacant Japanese Light Flyweight title. The first 2 bouts were all won by Horikawa, though Hisada scored the win in the one that mattered and claimed the belt which had been vacated Ken Shiro, ahead of Ken Shiro's first bout with Ganigan Lopez. Since then Hisada's career has gone from strength to strength and he is now moving towards a world title fight. As for Horikawa he's stayed busy with 3 low key wins, to break the 50 fight mark.

2013 - Exactly 5 years ago fans in Tokyo got an incredibly thrilling bout for the OPBF Light Welterweight title, as Min Wook Kim and Shinya Iwabuchi traded bombs for the Oriental title. Kim came out on top to record his 3 defense of the title and would make one more defense, stopping Valentine Hosokawa, before vacating the title. Iwabuchi would fight for the title in two more bouts, but would suffer stoppages in both of those contests to Keita Obara and Al Rivera.

2009 - The death of former IBF Super Featherweight champion Hwan-Kil Yuh came on this day. Yuh isn't remembered as well as some other Korean champions from the 1980's but Yuh did make his mark as he was the inaugural IBF Super Featherweight champion. Yuh won the title in 1984, defeating Rod Sequenan and made one successful defense, defeating Sak Galaxy, before losing the belt to Lester Ellis in 1985.

2007 - Filipino puncher Warlito Parrenas made his debut on this day 11 years ago. The exciting slugger scored a 2nd round TKO win over Jerome Bontog to begin his career and has gone on to have a fun career, even if he has failed to reach the pinnacle of the sport. Although not a world beater Parrenas has fought the likes of Marlon Tapales, Jonathan Taconing, Atsushi Kakutani, David Carmona and Naoya Inoue. Although he's nearing the end of his career Parrenas is still and active fighter and is also now a trainer at the Morioka Gym.

2006 - When we do these “On This Day” articles we expect to find some little bits of history, debuts, deaths, title wins and the such. Amazingly however on this day in 2006 there actually was something a bit bigger, the first ever professional bout in an independent Tajikistan, which saw Akhror Makhmadshoev score a 2nd round KO win over Maruf Fayzulloev. Whilst that doesn't sound too amazing the country really did go through a let in the years before this bout. The first ever card in Tajikistan came in 1991, in the years that followed the country gained it's independence and went through a bloody civil war. The fact we had any professional boxing there at all is amazing and hopefully the sport will grow in the sport. The country still hasn't got a thriving professional scene, but there was 2 shows held there last years and there is hope that the country will develop some a home grown scene in the future.

2013– Thai fighter Stamp Kiatniwat made his professional debut at the prodigious age of 15 years old, defeating fellow Thai debutant Jaokhumphol Kaolanlek Gym. The youngster would rack in 5 fights by the end of the year as he began his climb through the rankings. He would later go on to claim the WBA “interim” Flyweight title, in 2015, and go on to fight Kazuto Ioka for the full version of that belt the following year.

1998- Exactly 20 years ago today fans in Korea saw Yong Soo Choi retain the WBA Super Featherweight title in what was to be his last defense of the belt. In the bout in question he stopped Gilberto Serrano in 9 rounds, with Serrano later claiming a world title the following year. The Korean would lose the belt just a few months later, suffering a narrow loss to Takanori Hatakeyama in their second bout.

1992- South Korean fighter In-Joo Cho was one of his country's last great fighters, and a man for ever linked to Masamori Tokuyama. He actually made his debut on this day in 1992, stopping Filipino foe Rodrigo Boy Louperez in 4 rounds. Cho would go on to claim the WBC Super Flyweight title in 1998, beating Gerry Penalosa, and would the belt until 2000 when he lost his first bout with Tokuyama. That bout with Tokuyama saw the new champion celebrate with the North Korean flag and a unified Korean flag in a rather controversial sporting moment.

1988-The highly popular Katsuya Onizuka made his debut exactly 30 years ago, defeating Shoji Akiyama inside a round. The popular “Spanky K” raced through the ranks and claimed the Japanese title in 1990 before winning the WBA world title in 1992. He would hold the WBA title from his title win in April 1992 to September 1994, with 6 successful defenses. His career was short, lasting less than 6 and a half years, but was a memorable one with a number of great fights, and a fair bit of controversy.

1978-Exactly 40 years ago fight fans saw Mexican legend Miguel Canto record his third victory over Shoji Oguma, to retain the WBC Flyweight title. Canto had beaten Oguma for the for the title in 1975 and had recorded his 11th defense against Oguma in January 1978 before his second rematch with the Japanese fighter 3 months later. Canto would continue to hold the title until March 1979, when he lost it to Chan Hee Park. Rather interesting Oguma would later take the title from Park, and go 3-0 against the Korean in 1980/1981.

2017-Kyrgyzstan born Light Heavyweight Dmitry Bivol claimed the WBA Interim Light Heavyweight title in 2016, when he beat Felix Varela. Hissecond defense came on this day the following year, as he took on Samuel Clarkson in the US and impressed, dropping Clarkson in round 1 and in round 4, as he scored a 4th round stoppage. Although the win wasn't a big one it did help begin Bivol's rise, which has seen him go from strength to strength.

2013-Indonesian boxing has lacked stars, though it's fair to say that Chris John is one of the country's few real stand outs. Back in 2013 he made his last successful defense of the WBA Featherweight title, as he fought to a 3rd round Technical Decision against Satoshi Hosono. The bout promised a lot but was probably the start of the end for both men. John would fight just once more, losing the WBA title to Simpiwe Vetyeka whilst Hosono would go 10-2 but never score another win above Japanese domestic level. Hosono hasn't officially retired yet, but the Bazooka is now 34 and not the fighter he once was.

2007-Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao went through a number of years in his prime without fighting for a world title, and that was despite going through an insane level of competition at 130lsb. Back in 2007 that run included a win over the then unbeaten Jorge Solis. The bout wasn't for a world title but did see Pacquiao retain the WBC International Super Featherweight title. This was Pacquiao's 4th defense of the title, which he had also defended against Erik Morales, twice, and Oscar Larios.

2000-Filipino fighter Luisito Espinosa had won the WBA Bantamweight title way back in 1990 and despite losing the title in 1991 he remained a factor in the world title scene for over a decade, even having a WBC title run in the mid to late 1990's. After losing the WBC title in 1999 Espinosa attempted to regain it the following year as he took on Guty Espadas Jr for the vacant title. The Filipino would suffer an 11th round technical decision loss to Espadas and would then never really manage toput a good performance together afterwards, going 3-4 (3) before retiring. Sadly for Espinosa all 4 of his post Espadas losses were by stoppage.

1997-Fans in Osaka were disappointed as local star Joichiro Tatsuyoshi failed to recapture the WBC Bantamweight title, losing a decision to Daniel Zaragoza in their second bout. Tatsuyoshi had lost a previous meeting to Zaragoza, losing by 11th round TKO in 1996, and had looked to gain some revenge here, but came up short. Despite losing he was competitive here and would actually capture the title later in 1997 when he shocked Sirimongkol Singwancha, in what was a sensational bout.

2016-Japanese Super Middleweight Shintaro Matsumoto scored his career defining victory as he claimed the OPBF Super Middleweight title and over-came Yuzo Kiyota in their third bout. Kiyota, who had fought for the WBO world title in Germany in 2013, had stopped Matsumoto in their first two meeting but this would be third time looking for Matsumoto as he took a technical decision. Sadly for Matsumoto he would lost the title just 6 months later to Jayde Mitchell in his first defense.

2014-Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao had controversially been beaten by Timothy Bradley in 2012, losing the WBO Welterweight title to the American. The two men would have their first rematch on this day in 2014 with Pacquiao taking the clear decision to reclaim the WBO title title and set the record straight. The two men would later have a rubber match, with Pacquiao defeating Bradley a second time in 2016 to win their 3 fight series 2-1, though many felt like he had won all 3 bouts.

2013-Once touted as a Chinese fighter to watch Ik Yang always seemed to be a bit of a charismatic enigma in the ring. Interestingly on this day in 2013 he made his US debut, scoring a win over Ivan Zavala. Sadly for Yang he would be best known to American fans at looking like a lost and confused fighter against both Cesar Rene Cuenca in 2015 and Leonardo Zappavigna in 2016 as his career fizzled out in rather disappointing fashion.

2003-Mongolian fighter Lakva Sim made his US debut as he took on, and defeated, Luis Villalta in Florida. This wasn't just Sim's first bout since losing in a WBA Super Featherweight title challenge against Yodsanan Sor Nanathachai but also his US debut. Interestingly Sim would only fight 5 more bouts after this bout, 4 of which took place in the US, including his WBA Lightweight title win the following year against Miguel Callist.

1980-Korean great Chan Hee Park claimed the WBC Flyweight title in 1979 when he upset the legendary Miguel Canto. Although Park's career is best known for his trilogy with Japanese rival Shoji Oguma he did have a pretty notable reign as the world champion. On this day in 1980 he made his 5th, and final successful, defense of the title as he over-came limited Mexican challenger Alberto Morales in Daegu. Sadly for Perk his reign would end only weeks later as he suffered his first of 3 losses to his Japanese nemesis.

With time on our hands we've decided to revist our "On this day" section and here are some of thethings that happened on this day in the years gone by...

2009–Nobuo Nashiro retrained the WBA Super Flyweight title, pulling himself off the canvas twice to stop Konosuke Tomiyama in a Japanese Fight of the Year contender. On the same card Etsuko Tada beat Cho Rong Son for the WBA female Minimumweight title, to claim her first world title.

2002-Then unbeaten Filipino Wyndel Janiola scored his career defining victory, out pointing former world champion Saman Sorjaturong in Cambodia. Sadly Sorjaturong would vanish for almost 3 years, before returning in 2005 and suffering 3 straight stoppage losses

1997-Korea fighter Young-Joo Cho would score his last career win, stoppign Filipino journeyman Archie Villamor in 3 rounds. Just 7 months later Cho would challenger WBC Super Flyweight champion Gerry Penalosa and suffer a 10th round KO loss, before retiring.

1986-Korean great Chong-Pal Park scored a 15th round KO win over Vinnie Curto to retain the IBF Super Middleweight title in their second meeting. The two had fought the previous June, with Park taking a decision win in Korea, whilst this rematch saw the Korean travel to the US to stop the American challenger. This would be Park's 3rd defense and sole bout on US soil

1975-Thai legend Chartchai Chionoi would score his last victory, over-coming Filipino visitor Willie Asuncion. At the age of 32 the The Thai had seen better days, and was fighting for the first time since losing the WBA Flyweight title to Susumu Hanagata the previous October. Chionoi would fight only once more, losing to Rodolfo Francies in Panama in august of 1975.

1974-Japan's Guts Ishimatsu shocked the boxing world as he stopped WBC Lightweight champion Rodolfo Gonzalez in 8 rounds, to claim a world title in his third shot. He would stop Gonzalez again 7 months later and hold the title until May 1976, when he lost it to the great Esteban De Jesus.