September 10th isn't one of the great days of Asian boxing though has featured a number of interesting bouts over the years. In 2002 Indonesian fans got the opportunity to see Muhamad Afrizal, AKA Afrizal Cotto, begin his professional career. Sadly the Indonesian suffered life ending injuries in a bout that took place in 2012. Afrizal may not have been a big name in boxing but was a fallen brother who died way too young at just 30 years of age. In 2011 Filipino fans got a treat as the very talented Genesis Servania announced himself as one of the most promising prospects on the planet. Up to this point Servania had been matched lightly, to say the least, though on this day he stepped up and dominated Gerson Guerrero, a fringe world level fighter who had much more experience than Servania though did little more than eat punches and miss in what was a virtuoso performance form the young Filipino fighter. Exactly 6 years prior to Servania's break out win American fans got the chance to see another Filipino fighter in action as Manny Pacquiao dominated veteran Hector Velazquez to set up his rematch with Erik Morales. The bout, fought just months after Morales had beaten Pacquiao, saw the Pacman beginning his insane run against Mexican's that began with Velazquez and continued with successive wins over Morales, Oscar Larios, Jorge Solis, Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez and David Diaz as the Pacman became the "Mexecutioner". In 1981 Japanese fans got to see Eijiro Murata defend his OPBF Bantamweight title with a win over Billy Abato. This bout came between his first 2 world title contests with Jeff Chandler, unfortunately however Murata never managed to win a world crown going 0-2-2 in world title bouts with a record of 0-2-1 against Chandler. (Image of Murata courteys of boxrec.com)
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There have been lots of interesting "September 9th's" in Asian boxing and whilst we obviously can't list everything we have picked the most important. In 1949 the world saw the birth of one of the key figures in not just Asian boxing but world boxing, Akihiko Honda. Honda, the man now in charge of Teiken Promotions, is the most powerful man in Asian boxing and is one the most influential men in international boxing with power that not only runs through Japan but world wide. As a promoter he manages some of the most significant fighters in Japan, such as Shinsuke Yamanaka and Takashi Miura, he also promoters Roman Gonzalez, Jorge Linares and has a share in Carlos Cuadras. That sort of reach is unmatched by almost every other promoter in the world. Exactly 32 years after the birth of Mr Honda we saw the birth of Thailand's Prasitsak Papoem, AKA Kwanpichit OnesongchaiGym. Kwanpichit, at the time of writing, is 27-0-2 and lined up for a major fight with Zou Shiming in what is clearly a make or break fight for both men involved. Although not as significant as Mr Honda we may see Kwanpichit play a big part in Chinese boxing, especially if he upsets Shiming. In terms of major fights we've had them too, with some wins and some losses for Asians. In 1979 WBC Flyweight king Chan-Hee Park fought to a 15 round draw with the exceptional Miguel Canto. The bout, fought in South Korea, was the second defence for Park who had beaten Canto 6 months earlier to win the title. Sadly for Chan his reign came to an end in May 1980 when he lost the first of 3 bouts with Shoji Oguma by KO in the 9th round. Park would attempt to avenge his loss to Oguma but twice lose narrow decisions before winding down his career which came to an end after an upset loss in December 1982 to Wick Tengam. In 1992 Filipino fans were able to celebrate as the heavy handed, and extremely young, Morris East knocked out Akinobu Hiranaka and claimed the WBA Light Welterweight title. The knock out, in round 11, was later named Ring Magazine's KO of the year. Sadly for East he would lose the belt in his very next fight suffering an 8th round stoppage to Juan Martin Coggi. As for Hiranaka this would be his final bout. A full 12 years after the East/Hiranaka bout we saw another notable world title bout with an Asian as South Korea's Yo-Sam Choi attempted to claim the WBA Flyweight title. Unfortunately for Choi he was unable to defeat the talented Lorenzo Parra, a man who would become a thorn in the side of Asian boxers with wins over Takefuni Sakata, Choi and Trash Nakanuma. This was Choi's last loss and he won would his next 6 bouts before sadly passing away from injuries sustained in his fight with Heri Amol. Exactly 2 years after Choi's loss to Parra we saw another world title bout, this time however the bout took place in Indonesia. This time the bout featured Chris John who successfully defended his WBA Featherweight title with a clear win over the over-matched Renan Acosta. Whilst the bout it's self won't have done anything to have enhanced John's reputation as a fighter it was notable for one major reason, it was his first fight after beating Juan Manuel Marquez 6 months earlier. John was technically making the 6th defence of his world title though in reality many felt his reign had just began, whatever your view we all know he kept that title until 2013 when he was finally beaten by Simpiwe Vetyeka. (Image, or Mr Honda, courtesy of boxrec.com) September 8th doesn't stand out as an amazing day in Asian boxing but is still a notable one with several bouts of note. On this day in 1963 South Korean Yung-Kil Chung was born in the city of Goheung. Although never a world champion Chung was a South Korean national champion and a 2-weight OPBF title holder. He is however best known for his world title fight losses to Lloyd Honeyghan in 1988 and to Marlon Starling the following year. Chung's carer came to an end in 1993 when he was stopped in a round by Armand Picar and he subsequently retired with an excellent 45 fight career consisting of 36 wins, 7 losses and 2 draws. In 1973 the legendary Guts Ishimatsu got his second taste of fight at the world level as he suffered a 10th round loss to the legendary Roberto Duran in Panama. This bout came just over 3 years after Ishimatsu had fought Ismael Laguna, also in Panama. Just 7 months after this fight Ishimatsu would defeat Rodolfo Gonzalez for the WBC Lightweight title, a title he would defend 5 times before coming up short against the excellent Esteban De Jesus in Puerto Rico. Thai fans got to see one of their champions defending a world title on this day in 1996 as Saen Sor Ploenchit retained his WBA Flyweight title with an excellent decision over Russian Alexander Makhmutov to record what would be his final defence of the belt. Although not a puncher Saen would defend the title 9 times in a little under 3 years. After losing the belt, to Jose Bonilla, it took more than a year for Saen to return to the boxing ring and unfortunately he was never able to get another world title bout and ended his career in 2003 after suffering stoppage losses to Joichiro Tatsuyoshi and Shoji Kimura. In 2001 we saw the always fun to watch Kazakh Vassiliy Jirov retain his IBF Cruiserweight title with an 8th round stoppage of the dangerous Julian Letterlough. It was the 5th defence by the then unbeaten Jirov who would successfully defend his belt just once more before running into American star James Toney and losing an all action but to "Light Out". (Image, of Saen Sor Ploenchit, courtesy of boxrec.com) September 7th is another day that hasn't featured prominently on the world stage for Asian fighters but has featured more than enough in lower level bouts for us to have done a book of fights. Thankfully we have picked some of the most important for today's "On this Day". Our first bout of note was in 1967 when the legendary Ki-Soo Kim, Korea's first world champion, defended the OPBF Middleweight title against Nakao Sasazaki. We don't usually consider OPBF title bouts significant for the purpose of these but this one stands out as it actually came between Light Middleweight world title defences for the Korean great who was an elite Light Middleweight and a very good Middleweight at the time. Had he been fighting now we have little doubt that Kim could have been a 2-weight world champion courtesy of the proliferation of world titles. In 1984 South Korean Soon-Chun Kwon successfully defended his IBF Flyweight title against Joaquin Flores Caraballo via a 12th round stoppage. In the ring there was nothing too odd about the contest however Caraballo was supposed to be fellow Colombian Alberto Castro who would have come into the bout on the back of an unbeaten record and a win over the great Betulio Gonzalez. As a result of the "switch and swap" the promoter of the bout and Caraballo's manager both spent time in jail. As was Kwon this was his 3rd defence of the belt that he won the previous December, he would continue to hold the title until 1986 when he lost to compatriot, and nemesis, Jong-Kwan Chung in a third meeting between the two men, the previous two bouts had both resulted in 15 round draws. Exactly 6 years after the Kwon/Caraballo bout we saw one of the great Flyweights defending the WBC title in Jamaica. That was Thailand's fantastic Sot Chitalada who took out Richard Clarke in 11 rounds to retain his title and record the 3rd defence his second reign. Chitalada's reign would come to an end just over 5 months later when he was stopped in 6 rounds by compatriot Muangchai Kittikasem who would stop Chitalada again the following year in what was to be Chitalada's final bout. In terms of female fights this day in 2009 was a notable one as Fujin Raika went to the went to the USA to fight American veteran Layla McCarter in a bout for the WBA female Lightweight title. Unfortunately for Raika she was no match for her American counterpart who easily out pointed her over 10 rounds. Widely regarded as the founder "mother" of Japanese female boxing Raika is a genuine legend of the sport though one that is under-valued by many fans who seem to treat female boxing in such a harsh way despite their being more talent there than many want to accept. (Image, of Ki-Soo Kim, courtesy of boxrec.com) September 6th isn't one of the most important days in the history of Asian boxing but it is an interesting one due to some of the fights that took place on it. In 1979 Japanese Olympian Yukio Segawa lost his sole world title bout, dropping a 15 round decision to Colombian Ricardo Cardona in a bout for the WBA Super Bantamweight title. This was the 4th bout against an Asian fighter for Cardona who had also beaten Soo-Hwan Hong and Soon Hyun Chung, twice, in bouts for the WBA belt. In 2000 we saw the final professional bout for the then OPBF Light Heavyweight champion Hisashi Teraji who retired with a record of 20-1-3 (11) having been a Japanese and OPBF champion. Teraji's last bout saw him defeating Yoshinori Nishizawa. Whilst Teraji isn't a huge name in boxing we are fans of his son, the recent debutant Ken Shiro, who looks likely to be another Japanese prospect to keep an eye on. Exactly 2 years after Teraji's last fight we saw the beginning of another fighter's career. This man was Oleydong Sithsamerchai who began his career on this day in 2002 when he beaten Salatan Lookbanyai inside a round. Oleydong would later claim the WBC Minimumweight title with a win over Eagle Den Junlaphan defend it 6 times before losing to emerging Japanese fighter Kazuto Ioka in 2011. On the same day as Oleydong's debut we saw another Thai in action, Pongsaklek Wonjingkam. Wonjongkam, the long reigning Flyweight champion Wonjongkam recorded the 5th defence his title in just over 18 months as he defeated Jesus Martinez with a 12 round unanimous decision. Strangely Martinez had gotten this bout following back-to-back losses in Mexico though it helped keep Wonjongkam busy and his reign is, of course, one of the greatest title reign in recent years. (Image, of Hisashi Teraji, courtesy of boxrec.com) September 5th 2014 promises to be a huge day for Japanese boxing fans however it's not the first notable "September 5th" in boxing and we've seen various notable fights falling on this date through out history. In 1972 Filipino puncher Ben Villaflor fought to a 15 round draw with Victor Federico Echegaray to retain his WBA Super Featherweight title. The bout, fought in Hawaii, saw Villaflor floor Argentinian challenger Echegaray in round 8 though it wasn't enough to secure a win. What it did do however was help Villaflor to his first defence. Exactly 15 years after the Villaflor/Echegaray bout we saw another Filipino defending his world title, though with less success than Villaflor. That was Dodie Boy Penalosa who was defending the IBF Flyweight title against South Korean puncher Chang-Ho Choi. For Penalosa it was the first defence of the belt he had taken from Hi-Sup Shin though it turned out to be an ill fated defence. Penalosa was in charge for 10 rounds and well up on the score cards though Choi let loose in round 11 and managed to stop Penalosa, turning the bout around in a remarkable finish to claim the belt. On the very same day Thai fans had reason to celebrate as their WBC Flyweight champion Sot Chitalada battered South Korean Rae-Ki Ahn to a 4th round KO. For Chitalada this was his 5th defence whilst Ahn was fighting in his only world title bout. Whilst many fighters fought on this day few will really hate the day as much as Keiji Yamaguchi who fought title bouts on this day in 1995 and 1999. In 1995 Yamaguchi lost his first world title bout, dropping a split decision to South Korean fighter Hi-Yong Choi, the then WBA Light Flyweight champion. Exactly 4 years later in a WBC Super Flyweight title challenger against In-Joo Cho. The bout saw Yamaguchi being dropped twice late in the bout and suffering a point deduction early on to seal his fate in a clear loss. Thankfully for Yamaguchi he manage to have a short world title reign between those losses. Between Yamaguchi's losses we saw another Japanese fighter having success and on this day in 1998 fans saw Takanori Hatakeyama claimed the WBA Super Featherweight title with a narrow decision victory over Korean visitor Yong-Soo Choi. The bout twisted and turned like a great story and although now a forgotten contest it really was one of the truly engaging contests that show that boxing really can write the best stories in sport. (Image, of Sot Chitalada, courtesy of boxrec.com) September 4th has been a notable date and in 1988 we had two very notable bouts. One of those bouts was in Indonesia and the other in Japan. The Indonesian bout saw the heavy handed Elly Pical successfully retain his IBF Super Flyweight title with a decision victory over Ki-Chang Kim. This bout was certainly not a thriller with both acting as counter punchers until late in the bout when Pical dropped Chang to help secure the win. On the same day we unfortunately saw Kiyoshi Hatanaka lose his unbeaten record to the excellent Gilberto Roman. The bout saw Hatanaka challenging for the WBC Super Flyweight title and there was some strange events going on in the bout, though Roman did deserve the decision fairly. Soon after the bout Hatanaka moved up and eventually won a world title at Super Bantamweight confirming his talent was world class, despite this set back. In 1993 we saw another world title fight, this time in South Korea as Young-Kyun Park made the 8th defence of the WBA Featherweight title with a 12 round victory over compatriot Tae-Shik Chun. Sadly for Park this would be his last defence and he would lose his title just 3 months later to the excellent Eloy Rojas. Almost 20 years after the Park/Chun fight we then saw a Filipino in a notable bout. That Filipino was Marvin Sonsona who claimed the WBO Super Flyweight title with a 12 round victory over Jose Lopez. This bout, in 2009, put Sonsona on the international boxing map after having been much touted by Filipino fans for a while. Sadly since this bout Sonsona's career hasn't been great, a real shame. (Image, of Young-Kyun Park, courtesy of boxrec.com) In recent years September 3rd has been an incredibly key day in Asian boxing with 3 majors fights in the last few years. The most recent of those fights was in Japan as Daiki Kameda claimed the IBF Super Flyweight title with a well earned decision victory over Rodrigo Guerrero. Although the bout wasn't the greatest ever it did feature one or two fantastic rounds near the end and did see Kameda need to prove himself as opposed to being given a controversial win. What makes this fight very notable however was that it saw the Kameda brothers becoming the first trio to hold world titles at the same time. Sadly this win later lead to Daiki fighting in a would be unification bout with Liborio Solis and from the the careers of the Kameda's has really hit a wall. Just hours prior to Daiki's win we saw Thailand's Denkaosan Kaovichit take a narrow split decision over Nobuo Nashiro to claim the WBA interim Super Flyweight title. The bout turned out to be Nashiro's last one before he announced his retirement from the sport, sadly for Kaovichit his attempt to win the full WBA title came a cropped as he was stopped, in 8, by Nashiro's compatriot Kohei Kono earlier this year. Just 4 years prior to the two bouts mentioned above we saw an All Thai world title bout as Oleydong Sithsamerchai defended his WBC Minimumweight title against Pornsawan Porpramook, though the two men fought to a draw with many felt Sithsamerchai was fortunate considering he had been dropped in round 6 and seemingly dominated for much of the fight. Unfortunately Oleydong was starting to show clear signs of his struggles to make 105lbs and just 5 months he lost the title to rising Japanese star Kazuto Ioka who stopped him in the 5th round. Back in 1999 Thai fans got the chance to see the then unbeaten Sornpichai Kratingdaenggym defeat Leo Gamez for the WBA Flyweight title. The fight saw Sornpichai score an 8th round TKO over his Venezuelan foe. Sadly for Sornpichai his reign lasted just 11 months before he came up short against Puerto Rican Eric Morel and lost the belt. One more fight of note occurred back in 1994 when Chana Porpaoin recorded the 5th defence of his WBA Minimumweight title courtesy of a unanimous decision over South Korean challenger Keum-Yung Kang. Chana would defend his belt a further 3 times before losing it to Nicaraguan Rosendo Alvarez. Almost 7 years later Chana would regain the title with a victory over Keitaro Hoshino. (Image, of Chana Porpaoin, courtesy of boxrec.com) Some days have been more disappointing than others and it's fair to say that one of the most disappointing has been September 2nd a date that seems to have been thoroughly lacking in notable events. Thankfully we have found 1 or 2, but genuinely the numbers have been very low. In 1968 "Ther Eternal Champion" Masao Oba suffered his second career defeat losing a 10 round decision to Susumu Hanagata. Hanagata, who became WBA Flyweight champion in 1974, did go on to lose a rematch to Oba in 1972 though sadly Oba passed away away before the men could possible organise a rubber match. Aged just 23 when he died Oba is one of boxing's great "What if's..." whilst Hanagata is now a gym owner in Japan and manages Go Odaira. Just 3 years after the first Oba/Hanagata bout we sadly saw Shozo Saijo lose his WBA Featherweight title to Antonio Gomez via a 5th round KO. Saijo had held the title from 1968, when he beat Raul Rojas, all the way up to the 1971 loss to Gomez. Following he loss to Gomez we then saw the 24 year old Saijo retire from the sport. In 2007 we then saw another world title fight involving an Asian as Ha-Na Kim successfully retained her WBA female Super Flyweight title against Hwa-Won Lee. This all-Korean female bout would be Kim's final defence before she lost her belt in China just a month later to Zhang Xi Yan. (Image, of Hanagata, courtesy of boxrec.com) September 1st might be the start of a new month but historically it has been one of the most significant and interesting days in Asian boxing history. The first bout of note was 1973 when Heavyweight world champion George Foreman defended his WBA and WBC titles at the Nihon Budokan and wiped out Jose Roman in 2 minutes to make the first defence of his world titles. The fight was thoroughly one sided and saw Foreman becoming the first Heavyweight world champion to defend the crown in the Orient. Interestingly it came a year after Muhammad Ali defeated Mac Foster in a non title bout. In 2001 we had two notable world titles fights. One of those saw Celes Kobayashi retain his WBA Super Flyweight title with a very close split decision victory over Jesus Rojas. The defence was the only successful one for Kobayashi who lost his title 6 months later to Alexander Munoz and then retired from the sport. On the same show as the Kobayashi/Rojas fight fans in Japan also saw the the second bout between Thai great Veeraphol Sahaprom and Japan's very own Toshiaki Nishioka. The bout, which resulted in a draw, saw Sahaprom retain his WBC Bantamweight title and continue one of the greatest runs by a Thai in recent memory. In terms of the rivalry between the two men this was the second of 4 meetings between the men in the space of 4 years with Sahaprom winning the series 2-0-2. In 2007 Yutaka Niida defeated Eriberto Gejon to record the 6th defence of the WBA Minimumweight title. This defence came straight after Niida's hard fought win over Katsunari Takayama though just over a year later Niida was stopped in 4 rounds by Nicaraguan destroyer Roman Gonzalez, who claimed his first professional title. Even more recently is September 1st 2012 which gave us two notable bouts. The first of those was in Japan as Thailand's Tepparith Kokietgym defended his WBC Super Flyweight title against former world champion Nobuo Nashiro. The bout saw Tepparith only just taking the decision over Nashiro in a bout that could have gone either way and although the Thai looked good at the time his reign didn't last much longer,losing the belt less than 4 months later to Kohei Kono. The bigger bout on the same day however took place in the US as the now US mainstay Gennady Golovkin made his US debut stopping Poland's Gregorz Proksa. The bout was the first time Golovkin has been on HBO and from then on he has become one of their star fighters and a man that the channel seem to have as one of the jewels of their boxing programming (Image courtesy of boxrec.com) |
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