August 25th

Although August 24th was a packed day in Asian boxing history the same, unfortunately, cannot be said for August 25th which has had a sprinkle of notable days though far fewer than several other dates. Strangely it did feature as a notable date in 2013, though more about that a little later.

The first August 25th of note was in 1979 when South Korean Kwang Min Kim took on the legendary Antonio Cervantes and lost a split decision. The bout seemed to be one that was a clear win for Cervantes though he did struggle with the pace late on as he was pushed hard by the previously unbeaten Korean. Although it did look close at the end it seems as though the fight flattered Kim in some ways and Cevantes would lose the title less than a year later.

Exactly 6 years after Kim had failed in his title effort we saw the first successful defence of a world title by Ellyas Pical who stopped Wayne Mulholland in 3 rounds to retain his IBF Super Flyweight title. The bout ended in odd circumstances though it was an historic day for Indonesian boxing as it was the first ever successful world title defence by an Indonesian boxer.

In 2001 talented Japanese fighter Yutaka Niida claimed the WBA Minimumweight title with a narrow decision win over Thailand's Chana Porpaoin. Chana was defending the title for the first time of his second reign though was unfortunate to lose to Niida in Japan. Strangely not long after this fight Niida himself announced his retirement due to back pain. Thankfully he would return to the ring in 2003 and went on to regain the title which he held until running in to Roman Gonzalez in 2008 and suffering the sole stoppage defeat of his career. Prior to losing the belt to Gonzalez Niida had defended the title 7 times.

On this date in 2009 Somsak Sithchatchawal, the Thai great who was involved in "that bout" with Mahyar Monshipour, scored his last ever win. Aged 32 Somsak out pointed Hendrik Barongsay before ending his career with a controversial win over Dante Paulino and a shock upset loss to Fernando Otic. Unfortunately for the Thai he ended his career fighting well above his peak fighting weight and was showing serious signs of having had a long and hard career.

Away from the world scene we have seen two, notable, debuts on August 25th. The first came in 2005 when Indonesia's Daud Cino Yordan made his debut and stopped Anshori Anhar Pitulay inside a round. Yordan, one of our favourite fighters, has fallen short against the best opponents that he has faced though he is usually in good action fights, such as his war with Lorenzo Villanueva and his great bout with compatriot Chris John. Hopefully we'll see Yordan back in the ring short though he does appear to be having problems with his career at the moment, sadly.

Exactly 8 years after Yordan's debut we saw the much anticipated professional debut of former Japanese amateur star Ryota Murata. Murata began his career by stopping OPBF Middleweight champion Akio Shibata in 2 rounds of a non-title fight and immediately looked like a potential champion though did show some flaws. Amazingly Murata has moved into the world rankings after just 4 fights whilst Shibata has unified the OPBF and Japanese titles showing that his career isn't close to being over despite a loss to a debutant.

On the same that Murata debuted his compatriot, and fellow star, Naoya Inoue claimed his first professional title. Inoue defeated the tough Ryoichi Taguchi to claim the Japanese Light Flyweight title and just 2 fights later Inoue became the quickest ever Japanese fighter to a world title, winning a belt in just 6 fights to set a Japanese domestic record.

(Image, of Somsak, courtesy of boxrec.com)

---