Another week is over and once again we've taken the time to look at the good, the bad and the ugly. And this week has, surprisingly, been a good week! Boxing seems to be moving forward, we've had a female super fight announced, we've seen the sport return but it's not all been good, and we had one, very ugly, incident in Poland!
So with that said lets look at the Good, the Bad and The Ugly! Good 1-Boxing is Back! Over the past few days we have seen boxing return to more countries, with not only shows in the US, Poland, China, South Korean and Mexico, who have been having shows for a little while, but also Australia, the UK, Japan and Thailand. It seems, at last, that boxing is starting to resume globally, and we are moving closer and closer to a full resumption of the sport. Yes we are a long, long way from having huge sell out crowds and the sport running up and running as it once was, but we are seeing moved being made to have the sport back, and fingers crossed we won't see the sport causing upticks in infections. 2-Youngsters shine On Friday we were impressed by British fighters Brad Foster and Hamzah Sheeraz, both of whom look like real bright lights for British boxing. Just hours later Phoobadin Yoohanngoh and Arnon Yupang shined in Thailand. Earlier in the week Gabriel Muratalla showed what he could do. Whilst none of these men scream "definite future world champion" they all look like they have a lot of potential, and took their chances to shine. Whilst boxing isn't where it was, it's nice to see some fighters taking the chances they are getting and making it clear that there is a lot of young talent out there, from all over the place. Fingers crossed we see more and more young talent being given a chance to shine before we begin to be flooded with PPV fights. 3-Katie Taylor Vs Delfine Persoon II Whether you love women's boxing or not it's fair to say that the Katie Taylor Vs Delfine Persoon bout few from last year was everything fight fans demand. It was two top fighters, giving their all, in a 50-50 type match up. It may have been tainted by controversy, but that controversy lead it's self perfectly to a rematch which got signed off this week for August 22nd. We loved their first bout and we are genuinely looking forward to their rematch. It's a shame it's on PPV, but a great bout and one of the first true "Must Watch" bouts of the "No Audience Era". Bad 1-Kazakh Cancellation We begin the bad with an Asian issue, and that's the cancellation of the Kazakh show on July 18th. This isn't unexpected news, given what is happening in Kazakhstan, but it is still a bad. The card looked like one of the better ones planned for July and to see this called off around 10 before it was supposed to take place is disappointing. The card have several good looking bouts and fingers crossed it does get re-arranged for later in the year. 2-WBO Lightweight situation Last week we were happy that the WBC had ordered Luke Capmbell Vs Ryan Garcia, and although there was a real chance that bout wouldn't be made, because this is boxing, it was a match up that was exciting and would have built the winner well ahead of a future world title fight. This week the WBO have given Garcia an out of that bout by ordering him to face Emmanuel Tagoe for their interim title. In reality the Garcia Vs Tagoe bout wouldn't be a bad one, but the timing of the WBO's order was frankly stupid. We all know why it was done, we all know it was about them getting a sanctioning fee from Garcia, but it still feels like the timing was cynical and disruptive to other talks. 3-Dave Morretti...again.. It's really confusing as to what is going on with Dave Morretti in recent months. His scores cards have, consistently, been odd. He had another odd one this week, for the Andres Cortes vs Alejandro Salinas fight, and it really is a mystery as to how he has gone from being a rather good judge to one with a string of questionable scorecards in the space of just a few weeks. Ugly 1-Artur Szpilka We need to wonder what the fuck goes on in the heads of some fighters. This past week former Heavyweight title challenger Artur Szpilka decided to spit on a fan in Poland. That by it's self is pretty disgusting but when we considering theirs a pandemic going on and people have died after catching it from being spat on this was just disgraceful from Szpilka. Whether he feels he has a reason for it or not is really irrelevant. This was disgusting behaviour from someone who was, of course, known for being a thug before becoming a boxer. Truly ridiculous from Szpilka.
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It's fair to say that 2020 has been a bit of a write off so far boxing. Thankfully for fans of the sport there are good times ahead, and as always in this "Introducing" series we want to talk about someone we're excited to see building their career. Today we're going to look at a Japanese fighter many tipped for Olympic success, but he failed to qualify for the Japanese team, and as a result announced his plans to turn professional earlier this month. That is is the brilliant Kenji Fujita. Fujita, along with 3 other top Japanese amateurs, signed with Teiken earlier this year, and was announced officially as a Teiken fighter on June 6th. That was great given that back in November Fujita announced he was retiring from amateur boxing, after 10 years of being involved in the sport. He had lost in the All Japan final in 2019 to Hayato Tsutsumi and stated that he was done ending his days in the unpaid ranks with a career record of 153-21 (40). It was just amazing numbers that Fujita put up but also great achievements. Going all the way back to 2010 he had won at the Japanese Junior Selection Tournament, winning at 54KG's in the same tournament that Naoya Inoue won the 48KG division. We won't go through all his success but he would claim 3 All Japan amateur titles and a bronze at the 2013 Asian Championships in Jordan. It's fair to add that had it not been for Arashi Morisaka and Hayato Tsutsumi there's a real chance he would have claimed a lot more in terms of domestic titles. Fighting out of the Self Defenses Forces Physicla Education School, Fujita has come from a hot bed of boxing talent, including new professional stable mate Subaru Murata. Despite having around 175 amateur bouts to his name Fujita is still relatively young. He only turned 26 earlier this year. He has his best years ahead of him, unlike Satoshi Shimizu who was also a former SDF fighter who remained an amateur for far too long. Fujita mixes experience and youthfulness perfectly here. As a fighter Fujita has a really nice style, fighting out of the southpaw stance. He moves around the ring really easily, he's very light on his feet, going forward and backwards, he's a very accurate puncher, with lightning quick hands. Although very technical he's also able to show an aggressive side when he needs to but does appear to be the type of fighter who prefers action at mid to long range. We do like how Fujita fighters but it seems likely that Teiken will try to take what they have and just tweak things a bit. We suspect they will try to add an extra bit of offensive zing to Fujita's mind set. We also suspect they will look to work on his inside game, which is the one area where he is deficient, as was seen in a number of his meetings with Morisaka. We've seen Teiken sign up a lot of talented amateur fighters in recent years, such as Mikito Nakano, Kuntae Lee, Kenshi Noda, Shokichi Iwata and Fujita is another in that mould. The gym, which did seem to fall asleep at the wheel, is now building an excellent stable of former amateur standouts, and Fujita is among the very best. At the moment Fujita hasn't had a date set for his professional debut or pro-test, but it seems likely that his pro-test will be in late summer with his debut coming in late 2020. For those wanting to see what Fujita is about we've included one of his many clashes with Arashi Morisaka below. Last year in our "Introducing" series we spoke about a lot of promising fighters, among those was Ren Sasaki (10-0, 6) who was at the time, 8-0 (5). As a follow up to our "Introducing" articles we're taking a dive back into the fighters we looked at last year and revisiting them, looking at how their careers have progressed and where they stand now.
When we spoke about Sasaki last year he had been out of the ring for 8 months. His previous bout had been a narrow win over Kanehiro Nakagawa and he had real questions to answer to see whether or not he really was a prospect, or just a pretender. Around 2 weeks after we spoke about Sasaki last year he returned to the ring and fought his international bout, travelling to Hong Kong to face unbeaten Chinese fighter Ge An Ma. Ma was 6-0-0-1 (1) but had a very weak record, with his only win of any note being a decision over experienced Filipino Diarh Gabutan. Despite travelling away from Japan to take on Ma we actually saw Sasaki put on a very, very, good performance. Sasaki countered the aggressive Ma, regularly. He covered up when he needed to, and picked holes in Ma's defenses time and time again. Although Ma was there to win, he was genuinely the perfect foil for the talented Sasaki, who showed great composure under some pretty intense pressure and scored a 6th round TKO of the previously unbeaten Chinese fighter. Sadly Sasaki took 5 months to return to the ring, but did so as part of the Knock Out DynamitePrize Match tournament in October. The 4 man tournament saw Sasaki fighting in the 56KG weight class, where he faced Morihisa Iju in the first round, with the other side of the bracket seeing Yuki Yamauchi defeat Ryuta Wakamatsu. Sasaki, along with Yamauchi, would have been the favourite and was expected to easily over-come Iju. Surprisingly however Sasaki was outboxed at times by the over-looked Iju, who put on one of the best performances of his career. After 5 rounds Sasaki took a a highly dubios split decision over Iju to progress to the final. The bout was much like Sasaki's win over Nakagawa, where he was expected to win, but seemed to over-look his opponent and really struggled to find his rhythm as a result. Having taken the win over Iju, albeit controversially, Sasaki was then meant to face off with Yamauchi, who had stopped Wakamatsu in the other semi-final. Sadly that bout, which was to take place in January, ended up being cancelled when Yamauchi was unable to compete. This resulted in Sasaki winning the tournament by default, in what was a real disappointment. Not only was it disappointing to see Sasaki win the tournament after his controversial win over Iju but to then see the mouth watering match up between Sasaki and Yamauchi fall apart as well left the tournament feeling very underwhelming. Although Sasaki is clearly a talented fighter, and has already won the All Japan Rookie of the Year, Dangan B Class Tournament and Knockout Out Dynamite tournaments he has looked less than spectacular at times. We suspect he over-looks opponents, and that is something that will need to be addressed. He has genuine skill, solid power, nice movement and timing, and speed, but needs to maintain a level of consistency, no matter who he is up against. If Sasaki can fight to his best every time he should still be regarded as a top prospect, but we're not sure if that's really something he can do. So far questionable wins against Kanehiro Nakagawa and Morihisa Iju have left us unconvinced on his ability to reach the top. Thankfully however he is just 25 and has time on his side. If he uses that time wisely there's a real chance he will develop and be a contender on the regional title in the future. He will however really need to buck up his performances and show us what he can do, before he suffers a shock loss to someone he has the skills to beat. Over the last few years the Ohasi Gym has become one of the most notable in Japan, thanks to the successes of Akira Yaegashi and Naoya Inoue. Before the gym was formed the founder was himself a successful fighter, with Hideyuki Ohashi (19-5, 12) being a multi-time world champion and Japanese national champion. Whilst his success has been over-shadowed by that of the fighters in gym he founded, his career shouldn't be forgotten as it was a thrilling, though somewhat short. As a professional Ohashi fought from 1985 to 1993 and was involved in 7 world title fights, facing two legendary fighters, in the form of Jung Koo Chang and Ricardo Lopez, along the way. Whilst he did lose to his two most notable opponents he was still a successful fighter in his own right, and here we're going to look at the 5 most significant wins for... Hideyuki Ohashi. Although not a fighter who gained much international fame he was a real talent, and was regarded, from a very young age, as a potential star for Japan. He failed to reach the heights expected of him, but even now, almost 30 years after his final bout, he is still regarded as one of the most talented Japanese fighters of all time. Yoshiaki Nojima (June 23rd 1986) Like many Japanese fighters Ohashi's first title was a domestic one, with the talented youngster winning the Japanese Light Flyweight title in the summer of 1986, when he defeated Yoshiaki Nojima. Whilst the title had been vacant going in to this fight Nojima was no scrub and was a previous holder of the title, holding the belt just a year earlier. For Ohashi this bout was a pretty significant one. It not only saw him claim his first professional title, in what was his 6th professional bout, but also saw him successfully bouncing back from his first defeat, a surprise decision loss 3 months earlier to Bong Jun Kim. The win also helped Ohashi set up his first world title fight, which resulted in a loss in December 1986 to Jung Koo Chang Tomohiro Kiyuna (January 11th 1988) Despite coming up short against Chang the dreams of Ohashi weren't over and just 13 months later he would again fight for a title, albeit the Japanese Light Flyweight title that he had vacated to battle Chang. In the opposite corner to Ohashi was defending Tomohiro Kiyuna, who was then enjoying his second reign. Kiyuna had mixed at world level himself, losing to Myung Woo Yuh, and also had a win over Leopard Tamakuna, who held the Japanese Flyweight title when Ohashi clashed with Kiyuna. Ohashi beat the then 20-2 Kiyuna over 10 rounds to become a 2-time national champion, and set up his second world title fight. Sadly Ohashi would again lose when he stepped up to world level, losing against to Jung Koo Chang. Jum Hwan Choi (February 7th 1990) Having lost in his first two world title fights, both to Jung Koo Chang, Ohashi dropped down in weight, moving from Light Flyweight to Minimumweight. It was here that he found real success. His first world title bout at 105lbs saw him take on the then WBC champion Jum Hwan Choi. Choi sported a 20-2 record, had previously held the IBF title and was enjoying his second world title reign thanks to a win over Napa Kiatwanchai, who had taken the WBC title from Hiroki Ioka. Ohashi would stop the brave and gutsy Choi in the 9th round to claim the title and become a world champion for the first time. Not only was this a massive win in terms of what it meant, with Ohashi claiming a world title at last, but also saw Japan claiming their first world title of the 1990's! In fact they hadn't held a world title since Ioka had lost this very same title to Napa in 1988. Napa Kiatwanchai (June 8th 1990) Talking about Napa Kiatwanchai it needs to be said that Ohashi's first defense of the WBC title was a major one against the Thai. As mentioned Napa had beaten Ioka in 1988 for the title and although he had lost the belt to Choi he was still very much a notable opponent. He had was an enemy in Japan for his win over Ioka and Ohashi defeating him was big for Japanese boxing. Ohashi would take the win over the Thai with a 12 round decision, avenging Ioka's loss and giving one of the few bouts where Ioka and Ohashi shared an opponent. Sadly we never saw Ohashi and Ioka face off, but this was pretty close to it, and it was as good a sign that Ohashi would have won had we ever seen the two Japanese youngsters face off. Sadly for Ohashi this would turn out to be his sole successful defense of he WBC title. It's also worth noting this was the first time Ohashi defended any title, having twice vacated the Japanese national title. Hi Yong Choi (October 14th 1992)
The final win of note for Ohashi saw him defeat Korean fighter Hi Yong Choi to claim the WBA Minimumweight title, and become a 2-time world champion. Ohashi had lost the WBC title in October 1990, to the legendary Ricardo Lopez, and essentially spent 2 years in the wilderness before getting a shot at Choi. Although he was only 27 entering this bout he was essentially coming to the end of his career, and another loss would likely have ended his career, which had promised so much. Thankfully for Ohashi he took a decision over Choi to claim a second title reign, and making one final mark on the sport. Sadly this reign was an incredibly short one for Ohashi, who lost the title in his first defense, to Chana Porpaoin, and then retired. Despite retiring at a young age the gym he has founded has become one of the real success stories of Japanese boxing and it's great to see him passing on what he learned to the next generation of fighters, crafting the stars of today, and tomorrow. We are now just a few days away from the return of boxing in both Japan and Thailand as Asia begins to gear up towards the sport taking off once again. Despite that we will be continuing to looks at fights we could have had with another article in the "Fight we wish we had..." series. This time we're looking relatively recent history with a bout that would have been great to watch around a decade ago, and had the ingredients to be a real FOTY contender between two little guys who always came to fight.
Denver Cuello Vs Pornsawan Porpramook The Minimumweight division hasn't had many fights that have managed to create talking points among the wider boxing fan base. Despite that the division has always had the potential to give us something special. One man who was involved in two of the best Minimumweight fights of the 21st century was Pornsawan Porpramook, who's wars with Akira Yaegashi and Ryo Miyazaki were amazing. Likewise we don't get too many little men known for their thunderous power, and heavy hands, however Denver Cuello was certainly a big punching monster in the smallest division. Put them together and we would have had something spectacular. When? The window for this particular fight is a rather large one, with both men being in and around the world title mix for several years. Pornsawan had his first world title fight in 2007, losing to Donnie Neites, winning a belt in 2011 and having his final fight coming in 2013. On the other hand Cuello was knocking on the door from around 2009 with his sole would title fight coming in 2013. The reality however is that these two could just have easily have met in an eliminator during that time. So any time, really, from 2007 to 2013 would have been great for this. Despite the big window of opportunity the bout would likely have been at it's most notable in 2011, when Pornsawan won the WBA title. Sadly however that optimum window closed quickly with Pornsawan losing the belt in his first defense to Akira Yaegashi. With that in mind maybe 2012 would have been ideal. Who? Denver "The Excitement" Cuello was one of the most must watch fighters to compete at 105lbs. He was a strong, powerful southpaw, who loved to let his shots fly. He didn't have the most polished of styles but did have rocks for hands, an aggressive mentality, a solid shin and a willingness to take one to land one. His fights could get sloppy at times, but they were rarely dull with the Filipino knowing that he had to put on a show to get attention. He was all about power, aggression, toughness and intensity in the exchanges. Sadly Cuello, who was a top contender with the WBC for years, struggled to get his shot at the world title, being over-looked by the WBC for Xiong Zhao Zhong, who managed to have the WBC help him out in the hope of getting a foot hold in the Chinese market. When Cuello did get his shot, in June 2013, he seemed to be carrying an injury into the bout that was then massively worsened during the contest, forcing him to fight much of the contest 1-handed. Pornsawan Porpramook, known as "The Tank", was a high energy tough guy who applied constant pressure and looked to make every bout into a war. He's best known for his battles with Yaegashi and Miyazaki, two brilliant wars, but showed he was world class with his bouts against Sonny Boy Jaro, Donnie Neites, Oleydong Sithsamerchai and Muhammad Rachman. He was never the best Minimumweight in the world but was one of the world level guys who always made for fun fights, and his style, when matched with the right guys, was capable of making Fight of the Year contenders. Whilst Pornsawan's two most memorable bouts are losses he was a world class fighter and did claim the WBA title with a win over Muhammad Rachman in Indonesia. His pressure, aggression and work rate was a nightmare, though his footwork was slow and opponents could make him chase them, leaving him open to counters. How would we see it playing out? Whilst he wasn't a very polished fighter Pornsawan was tough. He was stopped twice in his career, once at Minimumweight against Akira Yaegashi, and once against Edgar Sosa at Light Flyweight. His pressure and aggression would see him looking to charge down the Filipino pressing the fight hard and looking to get inside. Although he was rather basic and his game plan wasn't complicated it was a tactic he used and he knew how to make it work for him. He chipped away at opponents with work rate and aggression, but lacked single punch power. Sadly for Pornsawan the one fighter that type of tactic was unlikely to work well against was Cuello. Walking to Cuello and looking to have a fight with him was never a good idea. Cuello's thunderous power was not something you wanted to walk on to and it was the type of power that would break down fighters. We suspect that Pornsawan would outwork Cuello on a round by round basis, but the quality and power would be with the Thai who would be slowly breaking down the Thai, before backing him up. By the middle rounds Pornsawan would be boxing off the back foot and would eventually succumbing to the power of the Filipino. Up to the stoppage this would have been sensational and one of the best fights of the era at the weight. A total, brutal, high octane war. Would history of been changed? Obviously things for both men would have been different, though it really depends on when this bout took place as to how much different things would have been. Had the bout come as an eliminator after Pornsawan lost the WBA title we may have ended up with a WBA title bout between Cuello and Ryo Miyazaki in 2012, and boy would that have been a great one, and missed out on Zhong's win over Cuello. The reality however is that it seems any changes to history would have been short lived. Pornsawan retired after a loss to Rey Loreto in 2013, and we suspect that he would never have had a career much longer thab that. As for Cuellom who actually fought last year, he had mounting injuries. By 2012/2013 his days as a top fighter were ticking away. Repeated shoulder injuries were taking away from what he was and even if he had avoided the Xiong bout he was never going to be a top tier fighter for long due to his injuries. There's a chance Cuello could have won a world title on the back of this bout, but any reign he would have had would have been very short lived, sadly. Whilst we would have loved to have seen this, and to have seen Cuello against Miyazaki, the reality is that we ended up with Pornsawan Vs Miyazaki and Pornsawan Vs Loreto, and we would likely have missed both of those had we had this clash. Last week in this series we spoke about Tursynbay Kulakhmet, raving about how he looks likely to be one of the big stars of the future. He, however, isn't the only Kazakh hopeful set for a big debut on July 18th. Another is youngster Talgat Shaiken (0-0) who is also expected to have serious questions asked of when he makes his debut in Almaty. Like we do with Kulakhmet we expect huge things from Shaiken, who has also signed with MTK Kazakhstan and is part of their growing, and hugely talented, stable of fighters.
Of course with Shaiken having not yet debuted the expectation on his shoulders comes from his time as an amateur, though needless to say he really impressed in the unpaid ranks and appears to have the desire to push for tough match ups and a fast track career to the top. Aged just 19 when he signed his professional papers with MTK Shaiken's amateur pedigree is perhaps not the deepest, but is incredibly impressive for such a youngster. Although Shaiken was obviously fighting before 2016 that was the year where he began to pop up in a lot of tournaments, and was winning a lot of tournaments. These included tournaments wins at an International Junior Tournament in February, the Galib Jafarov Prizes Youth Tournament in April, the Nikolay Khromov Junior Tournament, in June, and the Mamazhanov & Taraday Youth Memorial, in October. One of the few things he didn't win was the Abbas Agalarov Youth Memorial in Baku, where he came runner up to local fighter Sayad Lalayev. Of course if it was just 2016 that Shaiken had had success in we wouldn't be that excited about him, but that was just the start, of what we could find, of his days as an amateur. His success certainly didn't end there. In May 2017 Shaiken came runner up in the Kazakh Youth National Games, reached the semi final of the Aitenov Brothers Youth Tournament in July and then he went to Serbia and won the Golden Glove of Vojvodina. In terms of bigger championships Shaiken went on to shine in 2018, winning the Asian Youth Championships in Bangkok, reaching the quarter finals of the AIBA Youth World Championships, beating the touted Otha Jones III in a preliminary bout, and taking a Silver medal at the Youth Olympics. By that point it was obvious that Shaiken was a talented fighter and he continued having success in 2019 whilst further maturing from a boy into a man, building his physical strength and then, this year, deciding it was time to head to the professional ranks. Although quality footage of Shaiken isn't the easiest to come buy what is available makes him look like a physically strong and aggressive fighter. There's a feeling that he's still raw and rough around the edges, but very powerful and aggressive. He looks to be a legitimately big kid who will likely move up in weight during his first few years in the pros. Unlike Kulakhmet we don't see flash and pizazz with Shaiken, but we see a raw and unpolished youngster who will go a long on his physicality. Saying that however MTK will get him top training and work on his technical ability, adding to his natural abilities. We think Shaiken will be moved somewhat slowly, but at 19 or 20 there is no reason to rush him. He has the potential to be moved quicker than most fighters his age, but we'd like to see his team develop what they have before pushing him. Even if that does take curtailing his own short term ambitions. Defensively there is a lot of work that could be done before letting him loose at a higher level. In saying that MTK aren't matching Shaiken easily, and on July 18th he'll be up against the unbeaten Berikbay Nurymbetov (5-0, 1) in a very tough looking debut. That should tell us a lot about how he's adapted to the professional style and whether they really can rush him or not. Another week is upon us and we move one step closer to having boxing back to normal. Well...the new normal. As we move more and more towards boxing normality we again cover some of the good, the bad and the ugly.
The Good 1-Daigo Higa joins Ambition Gym Earlier this year we had feared that Daigo Higa was done with the sport, after the fighter revealed he was lacking motivation for the sport. It seemed like he was going to walk away from boxing, despite still being a real youngster. Thankfully it now seems those fears can be put to bed with the former WBC Flyweight champion announcing a new management contract with TLA ROCK and that he would be the second fighter to fight out of the Ambition Gym. The move to the gym will see him and Kazuto Ioka fighting out of the gym and will also see Higa working with trainer Joiji Nogi. We suspect that this move, and what Higa has been up to in recent weeks will see the fighter back with a lot of hunger and desire, and that is certainly not a bad thing. 2-Albert Batyrgaziev's debut Former Russian amateur standout Albert Batyrgaziev, who may well become one of the many cross code fighters, made a good statement on his debut on Friday by fighting in a 10 rounder regional title bout. You did read that right, his debut was a 10 round regional title bout. The talented 22 year old stopped Armen Ataev in 7 rounds and looked every bit a fantastic talent. We know many won't have caught his debut but for those who like to see prospects fast tracked he's one to keep an eye on, and any prospect debuting in a 10 rounder instantly gets our attention. Keep an eye out for this kid going forward! 3-Kingsley Ibeh Some of the recent Top Rank Cards haven't really been memorable, though we need to give huge props to Kinglsey Ibeh, who has now scored 2 wins in 8 days. The Nigerian born US based Heavyweight scored a fun win on June 25th and returned on July 2nd to score his second win "in the bubble". Whilst he is very limited, crude and lacks true fitness he looks like a God and puts on a good show with his heart and desire. We are well and truly on the Ibeh Express and he has been one of the fighters who have seen what an opportunity they have with these fights and grabbed the brass ring. Don't get us wrong, he's never going to be a world champion, but he's already been one of the best parts of..."Bubble Boxing". 4-WBC order Luke Campbell Vs Ryan Garcia Whilst the WBC are making a total mess of their title picture at Lightweight, with a Franchise champion, a "Champion in Recess" and a Silver Champion, they have managed to order a brilliant match up. The bout, pitting Luke Campbell and Ryan Garcia is a genuinely excellent bout and one we hope the teams will agree on making. Sadly this is boxing, and there's a real chance that this will fall apart, but we genuinely hope the teams to sort out what ever issues there is and get this one sorted. A potentially brilliant bout that will answer a lot about both men, and the direction of their career's going forward. The Bad 1-No so "instant" instant replays The Top Rank card this past Thursday had "instant replay" used in the main event between Jose Pedraza and Mikkel LesPierre and it was awful. The idea of "instant" replay needs to be something quick, and potentially even done on the fly by a third party. Instead what we saw was a notable hold up between rounds 5 and 6 to review a knockdown by Mikkel LesPierre. At the end of the day the call on whether it was a knockdown or not was totally irrelevant, and made next to know difference, potentially deciding whether Pedraza won the round 10-9 or 10-8. Whilst it was likely irrelevant to the result here, though may have bout LesPierre some extra recovery time, the reality is that this was just as bad as VAR has been in soccer. Some sports can be improved by use of this type of technology if used properly, but this showed there is real work for it to be used properly in boxing. Note similar technology was also used in Nihito Arakawa's bout with Daniel Estrada and also left a feeling of "this doesn't work". Boxing needs to sort this out or drop it until a workable system is possible. 2-Robeisy Ramirez and Albert Bell We don't want to pick on Top Rank, and it is at least good that someone has been putting boxing on, but two of their fights this past Thursday were just dull. Albert Bell, who looks a talent, showed no real desire to wow or impressive against limited Filipino Mark Bernaldez whilst Robeisy Ramirez looks like a 2-time Olympic champion who will really struggle in the professional ranks. Bell is a physical freak at Super Featherweight-come-Lightweight but his style is awful to watch and hopefully next time we see him fight it will be against someone much better than Bernaldez, who looked under-sized, too slow and lacking in ambition. As for Ramirez he avenged his loss, on debut, over Adan Gonzalez but didn't look like anything special. Gonzalez was limited, but tough though there was no real extra gear from the Cuban, who we expected much more from. The Ugly 1-Jarrell Miller is "unwillingly" taking banned substances For a second week running we need to talk about Jarrell Miller and his behaviour that really can only be described as ugly. The now shamed former Heavyweight has insisted on never "willingly" taking banned substances, despite now testing positive on 3 totally unrelated occasions. The guy needs to just accept responsibility and accept that he's to blame for what's in his system. All sporting participants are responsible for their body and what's in it. For Millerto claim that he's not done anything "willingly" is frankly ridiculous and the guy should be ridiculed out of the sport. Come on "Big Baby" come up with a better excuse for being a cheat than the "I didn't do it on purpose" one. 2-Amanda Serrano and Lou DiBella/Katie Taylor and Eddie Hearn Jesus Christ what a fucking mess this is. We understand that frustrations can boil over, but this has just become a public embarrassment for 3 of the 4 people named, with only Katie Taylor keeping her dignity. We're not really sure if Serrano wants out of the bout, is just angry about her career and situation or feels let down, but tor Serrano, DiBella and Hearn to take their spat public on social media in the way they have this week has been beyond unprofessional. This situation needs sorting out in a timely fashion, without any more of this public stupidity from the camps. It's a fantastic match up but boxing, being boxing, has managed to turn what should have been a great fight into an over sized drama that has taken away from the fighters and made the whole thing a mess. There's a time for social media, and there's a time for a private call, and folks it seems very much like a call would be the best idea here. Back in January, my god that seems a long time ago now, I spoke about drugs in boxing as part of this series. Back then failed test results for Yves Ngabu and Alejandra Jimenez were the news, along with a story that really disappointed us. Top Rank had signed Jarrell Miller.
Whilst January feels like a long time ago that was it was only 6 months ago. That wasn't my first rant on drugs. Just a month earlier I had spoke about the "Clash on the Dunes" which featured 4 fighters who had tested positive for banned substances, with those being Alexander Povetkin, Dillian Whyte, Mariusz Wach and Eric Molina. In the last week or saw we saw Jarrell Miller fail another drug test. Giving him another strike, and giving the sport of boxing one more black eye. Rather than holding his hands up, owning the situation, taking responsibility and acting like someone who has now been caught cheating on 3 totally separate occasions Miller has claimed innocence. He has stated he has never "willingly" taken banned substances... as if someone was making him take it I guess! For those curious Miller was first caught in 2014, using a banned stimulant for a bout in a GLORY Kick boxing show. That was something he was given a 9 month ban for, effective from August 1st 2014 by the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC)*. The argument we've seen some have is that it's a different sport and shouldn't be held again, and we'll come back to that in a moment first we need to point something out. In the 9 months that followed August 1st 2014 Miller fought, as a boxer, fought 3 times, with the first of those coming in November 2014. Not only that but one of the bouts took place in California, in the state where he was supposedly fucking banned! Unless California's ban ONLY means he can't fight in kick boxing, which will be stupid as we're about to explain, then how was this actually allowed? Surely someone at the CSAC knew he was suspended and turned a blind eye, or their ban was so limited to only cover Kick boxing, making him free to go on his way with any other professional sporting endeavour. What should be noted is that Miller made his professional boxing debut in 2009, he was an active boxer in 2014. His positive test at the GLORY event was in June 2014. That was just a month after he beat Joshua Harris in a boxing event. He wasn't a one code athlete dabbling in another sport, or about to change sports, but was a dual sport competitor and had been for years. So whilst he did fail a test at a GLORY event, are we to assume that he was being tested at small level boxing events? Are we, especially knowing what we now know, to assume he was completely clean in boxing until 2019, when he just so happened to be given a strict drug testing regime and failed a test? Surely, in any workable system of a state athletic body issuing a suspension, that would be for all sport in their State? Especially given that it's the commission handing out the ban, not the sporting authority. For example it was CSAC not or organisation like the PDC in darts or FIFA in soccer. It's also worth noting that some countries actually have real liability on a test. In the UK one fighter tested positive for what was seen as a trace amount of cocaine and has been given a 4 year ban. The positive test for cocaine, which is said to have been on money handled by the fighter and was presumable a case of dermal absorption, has ended that fighters career. Yet Miller has failed in 2014 and 2019 and now again in 2020. Back in December I didn't call for bans or suspensions, or ineligibility rules on drug testing in boxing. We've seen they are pointless. Ryan Martin is banned for 4 years in the UK but fought just a few days ago in the US, less than half way into that suspension. I stand by that. Suspensions in boxing are totally unworkable due to the wild west nature of the sport. If a fighter tested positive and was banned by, say, UKAD, they could go off to Mexico or Thailand or the US and rack up their record for the duration of that ban, and work their way into big fights. They are totally toothless. We also don't see the point of the ranking bodies having any power in this area either. We've seen them turn a blind eye as and when they want, to their own rules. Heck the WBO essentially had to strip Billy Joe Saunders of their Middleweight title due to a drug test but then let him fight for a world title a weight class higher, just 2 fights later. The WBC essentially helped David Benavidez through his cocaine problem, and we know what UKAD would have done there! Instead, as we did in December, we call on promoters to freeze out fighters. Without the chance to get a fight fighters will think twice, they will realise the actions of the cheats isn't worth it. No more big paydays, no more big opportunities, no more letting them headline PPV's or feature on big cards. Originally we suggested that promoters should sign an agreement to note work with drug cheats. This time however we're going one step further and not only suggesting a code of conduct for promoters on using proven drug cheats, but also having their licenses stripped by the regional and national bodies for using them after they have tested positive. We know some fighters will cheat if they have a reason to, which is getting ahead and the potential of bigger pay days. We know that because it's happened. Repeatedly. So to stamp that out promoters need to agree to not work with them, and know that if they do they are out of the sport. We don't let establishments that break regulations, such as pubs staying open beyond their allowed hours, keep licenses, so we shouldn't let promoters who are irresponsible keep theirs either. For sake of clarity this rule would only apply to fighters who have previously tested. Testing on a show, with no previous black mark against a fighter, will not see a promoter stripped. Of course we know promoters lack scruples, and it can be in their interests to protect fighters. So if we share the onus between the fighters, the promoters and the commissions to chase drug cheats out of our sport we might, finally, get rid of the cheats. We also know, at the end of the day, no one in the sport really cares as long as they can make money off the fighter in question. Once again, boxing shows it's self shoot it's own foot. Complaining about an issue it enables. Maybe we, as fans, are the only ones who care, and even then we'll be paying for PPV's featuring fighters who have failed tests soon enough. *Note - We have reached out to clarify with CSAC on how ineligibility works and whether it is for one sport or multiple codes within their state and will update this article if they reply. One of the more tragic Thai boxing stories is that of Netrnoi Sor Vorasingh (29-7-2, 15), a fighter that not many will be too familiar with. Netrnoi was a real prodigy, and one of the most talented teenagers of his era, sadly though his flame burned out all too quickly and when he passed away in in December 1982 he was just 23 years old. By that point he had had 39 professional bouts, won a world title, lost a world title and scored 5 real stand out wins in career that really was too short.
Netrnoi made his professional debut in March 1975, aged just 15. He was apparently just 4′ 10½″ at the time, but that didn't stop him rising through the ranks. Aged 17 he fought Sang Il Jung for the OPBF Light Flyweight title, fighting to a draw with the Korean, and less than a year later he challenged WBC world champion Luis Estaba in Venezuela. Of course we're not here to talk about losses and draws in this weekly series, and instead we bring you the 5 most significant wins for... Netrnoi Sor Vorasingh. Rather oddly these 5 bouts all came within an incredible 10 month stretch, in what was a busy but short career for the Thai. Freddy Castillo (May 6th 1978) After losing Luis Estaba in October 1977 Netrnoi managed to secure a second a world title bout, facing off with the man who had taken the title from Estaba, Freddy Castillo. Castillo, a Mexican, had stopped Estaba to take the title in February 1978 and had travelled to Thailand for his first defense. His opponent was Netrnoi who managed to battle to a decision win over the champion. Whilst the decision was perhaps questionable the fact the then 19 year old Netrnoi fought so competitively with the champion was impressive. The decision went to Netrnoi who set a record as the youngest ever Thai world champion. Rather staggeringly this was his 22nd professional bout in just over 3 years as a professional, in what was an insanely active start to his career. Luis Estaba II (July 29th 1978) Whilst there could be some discussion over whether Netrnoi deserved the win over Castillo there is no doubt his win in a rematch against Luis Estaba just 2 months later. Netrnoi returned to Venezuela to beat the man who had beaten him the previous October and took out the then 39 year old former world champion. Estaba was old, especially for a Light Flyweight, and was fighting for the 52nd time, but that shouldn't take away how important this win was for Netrnoi, who managed to avenge a defeat, and do so in "Lumumba's" back yard. Certainly not the biggest win in history, but a very significant one for the teenager. Erbito Salavarria (December 3rd 1978) Sadly Netrnoi's reign didn't last long, and he lost the belt in September to Korean fighter Sung Jun Kim, another tragic young man who took his life at the age of 35. Just weeks after losing his title the Thai was back in the ring and taking on Filipino veteran Erbito Salavarria. Although Salavarria was coming to the end of his career, and hadn't fought in over 2 years, he was only a fight removed from losing the WBA Flyweight title. The Filipino had been a 2-time Flyweight champion and was known in Thailand for his 1970 win over Chartchai Chionoi. Netrnoi sent Salvarria into permanent retirement by knocking him out in the 4th round, and bouncing back from his own title loss. Seung Hoon Lee (February 10th 1979) After stopping two former world champions Netrnoi scored a criminally under-rated win over future Seung Hoon Lee Super Bantamweight world champion Seung Hoon Lee. Although Lee was almost a decade away from his eventual world title win he entered this bout on the back of winning the South Korean Flyweight title, and a year after this bout would lose a split decision to Rafael Orono in a world title bout. The Thai would take a decision over Lee in what was an impressive victory that looks better when we look back over it. Lee's career aged like a fine wine, with an interesting 1982 bout against Lupe Pintor a close loss to Victor Callejas, in 1985, and then his 1987 win over Prayurasak Muangsurin for the IBF Super Bantamweight title. This win is one with real significance when looked back on. Bernabe Villacampo (March 15th 1979) We end this with Netnoi's final notable win, which came just weeks after he beat Lee and came against former Flyweight world champion Bernabe Villacampo. As with Estaba and Salavarria, it's fair to say that Villacampo had seen better days. He was 36 by this point and his world title win over Hiroyuki Ebihara had come way back in 1969. Despite that he was still a notable name and just a year prior he had scored a KO win over Shigeo Nakajima, who won a world title in 1980. Villacampo was stopped in 5 rounds by the Thai who never again beat an opponent of any real note. As for Villacampo he would retire after losing 2 of his following 3 bouts. Sadly Netrnoi would only fight 11 times after beating Villacampo. He went 7-3-1 (4) after that bout, losing by stoppage to Hilario Zapata and Andy Balaba and losing a decision in 1982 to the then debuting Samart Payakaroon. Less than 4 months after losing to Samart Netrnoi passed away following a motorcycle accident. Over the last few months we've not had much boxing to talk about, but thankfully that's all set to change in July with the sport returning to various countries after they have managed to get on top of the on going situation. With that in mind we have some fights to look forward this month!
July 16th Korakuen Hall, Japan Satoshi Shimizu (8-1, 8) Vs Kyohei Tonomoto (9-2-1, 4) OPBF Featherweight champion Satoshi Shimizu returns to the ring after a brutal loss to Joe Noynay last August as he defends his title against the unheralded Kyohei Tonomoto. The hard hitting Shimizu has a lot of questions to answer following his loss and will know that a loss here ends any hope he has of fighting for a world title. As for Tonomoto this is a huge opportunity to make a mark at Oriental level. Koki Inoue (15-0, 12) Vs Daishi Nagata (14-2-1, 5) Unbeaten Japanese Light Welterweight (140lbs) champion Koki Inoue will make his next defense as he takes on mandatory challenger Daishi Nagata. Originally this bout was scheduled for March, before Inoue was injured, then delayed due to the ongoing situation. For Inoue this could be his last bout at domestic level and he could well be looking to make a mark at a higher level in the very near future. As for Nagata this is his second shot at a title, after losing in an OPBF title bout against Rikki Naito. This could well be a very, very exciting bout. July 18th Kazakhstan (IFL TV, ESPN+) Dauren Yeleussinov (8-0-1, 7) Vs Arman Rysbek (7-0, 6) In a very good looking all-Kazakh bout we'll see Dauren Yeleussinov, the brother of Olympic champion Daniyar Yeleussinov, take on Arman Rysbek. This is the sort of bout we're always excited about, two unbeaten, talented punchers facing off with everything to gain. At 34 Yeleussinov needs a big win, and this should be seen as a must win for him. Rysbek on the other hand is a bit younger, at 29, but can still ill afford a loss. Expect this one to be an excellent bout with two men looking to prove a point Tursynbay Kulakhmet (0-0) Vs Sagadat Rakhmankulov (6-1, 4) We love seeing top amateurs matched hard in a their debuts and that's what we have here with Tursynbay Kulakhmet, the 2019 amateur champion at Middleweight and World Championship bronze medal winner, taking on the once beaten Sagadat Rakhmankulov. It's expected that Kulakhmet will be fast tracked and with a debut like this the intention is clear, he is being eyed as a super talent and will be raced to the top. As for Rakhmankulov this will actually be his domestic debut, after entirely in the West so far. This is a big test, and hugely interesting debut. Talgat Shaiken (0-0) Vs Berikbay Nurymbetov (5-0, 1) Another notable debut is that of Talgat Shaiken, another Kazakh who is tipped for big things. Shaiken is only a youngster, but is a very strong and powerful kid who if being matched tough here for such a youngster, as he takes on Berikbay Nurymbetov. This is a tough debut, but should be a win for the former Youth Olympic silver medal winner. July 22nd Korakuen Hall, Japan (Fuji TV) Kenta Nakagawa (18-3-1, 12) Vs Yuta Matsuo (15-4-2, 8) - Japanese Super Flyweight title fight In the second Japanese title fight for the month we'll see Japanese Super Flyweight champion Kenta Nakagawa defending his title, in a mandatory, against Yuta Matsuo. Given the styles of the two men this should be a very good bout, with Matsuo known for his pressure and Nakagawa being known for his solid punching. A very nice bout and one that should be a very competitive one. Rentaro Kimura (0-0) Vs Yuya Azuma (5-3-1, 1) Yet another debutant of note for the month is Rentaro Kimura, who will take on Yuya Azuma. Those in Japan are raving about Kimura, who has stated that he wants to fight for a world title in his first 10 bouts. His debut comes against the relatively unknown Yuya Azuma, in what should be a rather straight forward debut for the youngster. July 25th Kobe Central Gymnasium, Japan Kenichi Horikawa (40-16-1, 13) Vs Daiki Tomita (14-1, 5) - OPBF Light Flyweight title fight The second OPBF title bout for the month will see veteran Kenichi Horikawa take on Daiki Tomita for the vacant OPBF Light Flyweight title. This bout was supposed to take place in March, though was postponed when boxing was put on an hiatus in Japan. The title, which was vacated by Edward Heno, is often regarded as a stepping stone for world champions, and the title has been held by numerous fighters who have gone on to bigger and better things. For Horikawa a loss will almost certainly be the end of his great career, though a win would see him complete a domestic and regional grandslam. As for Tomita this is his second chance at a title, and a win here would be a huge boost to his fledgling career. July 26th Aioi Hall, Japan Masamichi Yabuki (10-3, 10) Vs Tsuyoshi Sato (10-1-1, 5) - Japanese Light Flyweight title fight The final Japanese title fight for the month will take place on July 25th and will see fans attending the event as Masamichi Yabuki and Tsuyoshi Sato battle for the vacant Japanese Light Flyweight title. The title here became vacant when Yuto Takahashi announced his retirement from the sport following issues with motivation and training. Yabuki will be favoured here, given his brutal power, but Sato has been impressive with his pressure, high out put and under-rated power. For one of the first bouts with fans this should be a genuine highlight for the month, and the styles of the men should gell brilliantly. |
Oriental Opinions
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March 2024
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