When we talk about Thai boxing legends there are a number of worthy names to talk about from through the years. Today we talk about one of those names as we look at one of the early legends of the Thai boxing, and one of the most notable Thai world champions from the 1960's and 70's, as we return for the latest in the "The 5 most significant wins for..." series.
The Thai in question here is Chartchai Chionoi (61-18-3, 36) who was a mainstay on the Flyweight world title scene for around a decade and genuinely fought a who's who of who during his 82 fight career. Whilst he did suffer some losses that was really no surprised given the quality of opponents he was up against. That included not only top world champions of his era but also leading contenders, like Mitsunori Seki, Fritz Chervet and Bernardo Caraballo. For those that follow the history of the sport Chionoi is one of those really interesting fighters, that deserves a lot more attention. Whilst this article isn't going to go into a deep dive of his complete career, he really is one of the forgotten legends, and when we look at his 5 most significant wins you'll be able to see just how good he was. Salvatore Burruni (February 8th 1966) As we entered 1966 Chartchai Chionoi was a rising hopeful. He had reigned as the OPBF champion, but lost in his first defense, and was still battling to get his name out there. Just a few months into the year he scored a then career best win over Italian Salvatore Burrini, to put his name well and truly in the mix for a world title fight. Burruni had been a former WBA and WBC champion, and although he wasn't a champion at this point in time he hadn't lost the belts inside the ring, being stripped for not facing mandatory challengers. Chionoi defeated the Italian with a clear decision win, and immediately moved towards a world title fight. Notably this bout took place above the Flyweight limit, but was still a clear example of what Chionoi could do. Walter McGowan I (December 30th 1966) Around 10 months after Chionoi beat Burruni he would get a shot at the then lineal world champion Walter McGowan. The talented Scottish champion had not only beaten Burruni himself, but had done so at Flyweight to claim the lineal title. As a result McGowan was recognised by the EBU, BBBofC and The Ring as the champion, despite having not having an ABC title at the time. The Thai would be dropped in round 2, but battle back hard and force a stoppage in round 9 of a bloodied and battered McGowan. The tough Scot ended up receiving stitches after the bout to close up his nose, which had been a total mess when the bout was stopped. Walter McGowan II (September 19th 1967) Around 9 months after Chionoi beat McGowan in Thailand the two men would re-run the fight in England. Like the first bout Chionoi would end up stopping McGowan on cuts, with the Scottish fighter ended up a bloody mess due to a cut over his right eye. McGowan had looked good until being cut over the eye in round 5. That essentially forced his hand and made him step up his output. Although McGowan had success he also had a target for Chionoi to go after, and he did in round 7 when the cut forced the referee to step in. Bernabe Villacampo (November 10th 1968) Although Chionoi had been recognised in some quarters as the Linear champion since his first win over Walter McGowan he hadn't actually held a physical ABC title. That changed in 1968 when he beat Bernabe Villacampo to claim the WBC Flyweight title. The talented Thai would take a decision over the Filipino to claim the WBC crown and prove his status as one of the very best in the world. The win, a 15 round decision, meant the WBC could no longer look the other way. Interestingly less than a year later Villacampo himself would claim the WBA title, beating Hiroyuki Ebihara in Osaka, adding further significance and meaning to Chionoi's victory, and the Linear title that he held coming out of his win over Villacampo. Efren Torres III (March 20th 1970) Prior to beating Villacampo in late 1968 Chionoi had beaten Efren Torres. Torres would get revenge straight after Chionoi's win over Villacampo, taking the WBC title from the Thai just 3 months after he won it. In 1970 the two men would have a rubber match, with Chionoi taking the win and reclaiming the WBC Flyweight title, to end their in ring rivalry. Interestingly this was the only one of their 3 bouts that didn't end in a TKO, with Chionoi taking a 15 round decision over his Mexican foe. Sadly for Chionoi his reign was a short one, again, and lasted less than 9 months, ending when he was stopped in 2 rounds by Filipino Erbito Salavarria. Following the win over Torres he would go 10-5-1 (3) but did reclaim the WBA title in 1973, beating Fritz Chervet, and defended it twice before losing it to Susumu Hanagata in 1974 and retiring soon afterwards. Strangely picking 5 wins for Chionoi was harder than it was for most, as he around 7 that could genuinely make this list, whilst sometimes we have fighters who really do only have 5 big wins. Chionoi's record might not be the best but it's also very, very easy to over-look how good he was, how tough he was and how good some of his wins were.
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October ends in a flurry of big bouts as we see a Japanese title fight, two world title bouts, and several other bouts worthy of attention. This is a great couple of weeks to close out the month and move into winter with the sport having some genuine momentum and plenty of reasons to get excited as we head closer and closer to Christmas!
October 18th Asakusa Park Gymnasium, Japan Seigo Yuri Akui (14-2-1, 10) Vs Seiya Fujikita (13-4, 6) The first bout of note for this part of the month is a Japanese Flyweight title fight, which will see Seigo Yuri Akui look to make his first defense, as he takes on mandatory challenger Seiya Fujikita. The heavy handed Akui is one of the most fun to Flyweights to watch, and he tends to either blow opponents away in the opening round, or struggle. Given that Fujikita has never been stopped before we're expecting this to be a genuinely tough first defense for the champion, who is certainly not unbeatable, despite being very destructive. October 19th Korakuen Hall, Japan Ryusei Kawaura (7-0, 4) Vs Musashi Yoshino (9-5, 3) We head back to Tokyo for action on October 19th for the next test in the career of the talented Ryusei Kawaura. The unbeaten Kawaura is regarded as a top prospect, who's just a win or two away from a Japanese or regional title fight. Here he goes up against domestic foe Musashi Yoshino in what should be little more than a tune up bout for Kawaura. The hope was that Kawaura would get a title fight this year, but instead it seems like he'll have to wait until 2021 to get his first shot at a belt. October 24th Mohegan Sun Casino, Uncasville, Connecticut, USA Kudratillo Abdukakhorov (17-0, 9) Vs Sergey Lipinets (16-1, 12) On October 24th attention turns to the US for an IBF "interim" Welterweight title bout between unbeaten Uzbek skillter Kudratillo Abdukakhorov and hard hitting Kazakh born Russian Sergey Lipinets. The two men were supposed to fight earlier in the year before various issues forced the bout to be delayed, and delayed again. These aren't two of the top name Welterweights, but they are pat of the chasing group and they should make for a very interesting clash of styles. We suspect Lipinets will be the favourites, but Abdukakhorov shouldn't be written off here, in a very, very interesting match up. October 26th Korakuen Hall, Japan (TBS - Tape Delay) Daigo Higa (16-1, 16) Vs Seiya Tsutsumi (5-0-1, 4) Former WBC Flyweight champion Daigo Higa will be seeking his second win since losing the world title in to Cristofer Rosales in 2018, as he takes on the unbeaten Seiya Tstusumi. The exciting Higa will be up against a man who scored two wins over him as an amateur, and will be looking to move his own career forward massively. For Higa this is a must win if he's to move towards a second world title whilst Tsutusmi will know a win will put him on the verge of becoming a star. October 30th Korakuen Hall, Japan Shu Utsuki (6-0, 5) Vs Takayuki Sakai (9-2-2, 6) On October 30th we'll see another unbeaten man looking to push his career forward as the talented Shu Utsuki takes on Takayuki Sakai. The hard hitting Utsuki is probably only two or three wins away from a title fight of some kind, and he'll see Sakai as the next obstacle on route to a title fight. As for Sakai a win would be a huge upset, but would be massive for his career. Given the styles of the two men, and their power, we expect this one to be a very exciting contest. October 31st The Bubble, MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA Naoya Inoue (19-0, 16) Vs Jason Moloney (21-1, 18) The month ends with a big one as WBA "Super" and IBF Bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue defends his titles against once beaten Australian Jason Moloney. This will be Inoue's first bout since his 2019 war with Nonito Donaire, and whilst it's not the bout we all wanted, which was Inoue Vs John Riel Casimero in a triple title unification, it's certainly not a bad replacement fight. Moloney might not be a big star but he's a very capable fighter and he should serve as a good test for what will be Inoue's Las Vegas debut. Moloney can fight, box and punch, and should ask questions of the "Monster" but it's hard to imagine him scoring the upset here against the Japanese pound for pound star. Another week is gone, and again it was a week of mixed stuff in the boxing world. We had some great moments in the ring, some good out of the ring announcements, some problems with broadcasters and, once again, some issues with the WBA.
The Good 1-Multiple huge KO's! We've been really, really, lucky in recent weeks with the sheer number of great KO's scored around the world. This past week was no exception, and they just kept coming and coming. In the middle of the week Brandun Lee scored a scorcher against Jimmy Williams, just a few days later Janibek Alimkhanuly blew out Gonzalez Gaston Coria. Then, on Saturday, we got Matteo Signani scoring a sensational KO against Maxime Beaussire, Nathan Augustine blowing out Tarek Derfoufi and Robin Krasniqi scoring a sensational upset KO against Dominic Boesel. Seriously we got some of the best KO's of 2020 all one after the other, after the other! A great week for Knock Outs! 2-Garcia Vs Campbell a done deal (at last) After several cancelled purse bids, several announcements that a deal was done, only to then be cancelled, we're so glad to finally see a date being announced for the WBC "Interim" Lightweight title. It feels like this bout has been in the works for months, but to now have December 5th circled on the calendar for it, it appears we are finally getting this very interesting match up. It's one we're looking forward to, even if it is clear that the WBC Lightweight title situation has become a huge joke in recent years. 3-Boxing is back in the Philippines! After months of boxing being suspended in the Philippines we finally saw the sport resume service there this past week with a low card from Omega Promotions. The sport still isn't truly up and running there, but it was still a boost in the arm for Filipino boxing after such a long and lengthy lay off. Fingers crossed we see more and more of the sport in the country in the near future, but only if it can be done safely, as this show was. 4-Dubois Vs Joyce - NOT ON PPV! We've spent so much time complaining about PPV in recent months that we feel we need to give credit where a bout we expected to see cost fans more turns out to not be behind a further paywall. With that said well played to BT Sport and Frank Warren for putting the bout between Daniel Dubois and Joe Joyce on normal BT Sport. It's just a shame that it appears the decision was one that comes with a caveat. Stories out of the UK suggest the same weekend BT Sport will have PPV Football, meaning BT Sport took the decision not to put boxing on PPV on the same day. Still sometimes we, as boxing fans, need to take the positives when we can. The Bad 1-BT Sports card was dire So we've just praised BT Sport and it just so happens that karma is in effect as they put on one of the worst shows we've seen in 2020. Their card on Saturday night was nothing short of terrible. The highlight of the card was Luke Jones taking an upset win against Muheeb Fazeldin and the segue that the broadcast had to Steve Bunce talking about black history month. This was an awful broadcast, with very, very few redeeming factors. Thankfully it finished relatively early as well! 2-ESPN make fans chase their broadcast Another complaint about a broadcaster we're afraid. What on earth were ESPN doing making fans literally chase a broadcast across 3 different channels. ESPN+, ESPN News and ESPN all hosted different parts of the same show on Friday night. There was no reason at all for this, and it really was awkward, made things tricky to follow and saw a lot of fans missing parts of the show. Come on guys, keep things simple for fans and don't confuse them! Don't make the sport harder to follow than it needs to be! The Ugly 1-The WBA interims continue to be a joke Okay we don't have any mega ugly this week, but we do have something that we want to fit in here and that's the way the WBA continue, still, to create interim titles. This time it was up at Light Heavyweight where Robin Krasniqi stopped Dominic Boesel to become the new WBA interim champion. The bout, which ended in brutal fashion, was an interesting match up that, in the past, would have been a European title bout or a world title eliminator. Some how however the WBA slapped their interim title on here, despite neither man having a world class win. Come on folks, stop devaluing your own fucking titles! This coming week or two we don't really have any "prospects" to talk about but there is one very interesting Kazakh hopeful who deserves some attention. He might not be regarded as a prospect, given he's now 31 and will be 32 before the end of the year, but he's certainly one to keep an eye on and someone worthy of making a mental note of, before he fights this coming Saturday. The man in question is Kazakh Heavyweight hopeful Zhan Kossobutskiy (14-0, 13), who has already won his first minor title and will be looking to pick up another one on Saturday when he takes on American veteran Steve Vukosa. Born in November 1988 in Arkalyk City, which was then part of the USSR, Kossobutskiy has an interesting past. He's a Kazakh though he also boasts Belarusian nationality and has been trained by father, for the most part. Sadly it's hard to know, for sure, what Kossobutskiy's amateur career was. We know that BoxRec currently give him an amateur record of 12-4 (2), though we also know that's wrong, and incomplete. We also know that Kossobutskiy was a very, very capable amateur. We know that because we also know that Kossobutskiy is a 3-time Kazakh national amateur champion. The first of those national titles came in 2010 win, where he beat Vasiliy Levit in the Heavyweight final, before he moved up in weight and won in the Super Heavyweight division in both the 2012 and 2013. Between his national title wins was a bronze medal that he picked up in 2011. In regards to international competition Kossobutskiy won the 2012 Liventsev Memorial in Belaurs, where he beat Azeri standout Magomedrasul Medzhidov in the final. The following year, at the 2013 Strandja Memorial in Bulgaria, he took home second place, beating Guido Vianello, who Top Rank have been promoting hard, in the quarter final. Also in 2013 he won the Nikolay Manger Memorial in Ukraine and came runner up in the Summer Universiade in Russia. After his solid run in the unpaid ranks Kossobutskiy looked set to turn professional in 2015, signing with an American promoter. Sadly however the deal collapsed before it ever got going. As a result Kossobutskiy had to wait until 2017 to begin campaigning as a profession, debuting in Belarus in with a win over Edgars Kalnars, who he stopped in a round. Due to the lengthy delay to him kicking off his professional career Kossobutskiy looked to make up for lost time and within a a year of his debut he was 7-0 (6). He had been very busy, albeit against low level competition, and had racked up wins in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Only the tough Kostiantyn Dovbyshchenko had managed to survive the distance with Kossbutskiy in that early run. With some professional experience under his belt he continued to be active, and in 2019 he notched wins over Williams Ocando, Osborn Machimana and Agron Smakici, who was then 15-0. The win Smakici netted Kossobutskiy the IBO Inter-Continental Heavyweight title and saw him end 2019 with a lot of momentum on his side. Sadly 2020 hasn't been a great year for anyone and it's seen Kossobutskiy's activity drop off, though he has managed to fight twice already this year, including a very good win over the under-rated and teak tough Kamil Sokolowski. He's now looking for his third win when he returns to face Vukosa. In the ring Kossobutskiy is a very talented fighter, with solid power, a good boxing brain and a lot to like. He's also a southpaw and despite being a relatively short Heavyweight he does fight to his strengths for the most part. Sadly though he's lacking not just height, but also speed, and he certainly doesn't look like he's got an extra gear in him. Sadly Kossobutskiy's lack of speed and size are going to be big issues when he steps up few levels, but by then we expect him to have made a decent career, and potentially to have had a chance to cash out with a good payday or two along the way. For those who have looked over Kossobutskiy's record and spotted that he has had 9 fights in Belarus, we have read that he's actually a Belarusian national. We suspect that that's likely a big reason why so many of his bouts have come in the country. It's also worth noting that he has never fought, as a professional, in Kazakhstan. For those that haven't seen Kossobutskiy before we've included his bout with Kamil Sokolowski below. Another week is over and we again get to celebrate the world of Asian boxing with our look at the best from the last week. It wasn't the best week, but was a low key, solid, and enjoyable week of action featuring Asian fighters.
Fighter of the Week Hiroaki Teshigawara With his 4th defense of the OPBF Super Bantamweight title under his belt there wasn't really much competition here, this was Hiroaki Teshigawara's award almost by default. The talented Japanese fighter kept up his march towards a world title fight as he easily stopped Shingo Kawamura. Talk is that Teshigawara is now in the running for a world title fight and whilst this wasn't the win to get him that type of bout, few can deny the run he's been on over the last few years. Fingers crossed he gets a big fight before he begins to decline, as he has genuinely earned a shot and taken risks along the way. Performance of the Week Janibek Alimkhanuly Although we had some very impressive performances, including that of Teshigawa, Kanehiro Nakagawa and Rei Nakajima, we don't think anyone left the impression that Kazakh contender Janibek Alimkhanuly did. The Kazakh dropped Gonzalo Gaston Coria in the opening round, stopped him in round 2 and looked like a legitimate world class fighter through out. This was the break out performance that Alimkhanuly really needed, though did come in front of an audience who had to struggle to see the bout due to issues with the way ESPN broadcast the fight. If you missed this one it's well worth tracking down and watching! Fight of the Week Peter Apolinar vs Jetro Pabustan We didn't really get any standout wars this week, sadly, though we did get some decent bouts including a fairly fun brawl from the Philippines, where boxing returned after about 7 months. The card was a low key one in Mandaue City and it's stand out bout, in terms of competitive action, was the 10 rounder between Peter Apolinar and Jetro Pabustan. If you missed this one it's worth a watch, though don't expect a FOTY contender here, it's just a good old entertaining 10 rounder. Round of the Week Jin Miura vs Daiki Wakamatsu (Rd2) The week didn't have any amazing rounds, and there was no rounds where knockdowns were traded or anything spectacular. Saying that however we ddid genuinely enjoy the second round of the bout between Jin Miura and Daiki Wakamatsu on Boxing Raise. Both guys were rocked during the round, with Wakamatsu being dropped and then stopped. In a week where action wasn't too plentiful this is well worthy of your time, a real fun round tucked away on an obscure Boxing Raise under-card. Prospect of the Week Rei Nakajima (4-0) Due to the lack of action there wasn't too much competition here, though even if there was Rei Nakajima would likely have remained in the mix regardless. The Japanese youngster looked incredibly talented and composed with his excellent win over Shinobu Charlie Hosokawa. Nakajima looked fantastic through out the bout, moved brilliantly and looked like he was a fighter who could really go places. He was giving up size, power and experience here, but easily out boxed Hosokawa and he instantly proved himself as a legitimate domestic title contender. KO of the Week Janibek Alimkhanuly There wasn't a lot of action this past week, if we're being honest, but we did get an absolute beauty of a KO as Kazakh sensation Janibek Alimkhanuly blasted out Gonzalo Gaston Coria in sensational fashion. The Kazakh landed several shots that hurt Coria before he finished him off with a monstrous single left hand that turned Coria's lights out. This was an absolutely brutal finish and up there with some of the best of 2020. When we talk about the biggest stars in Japanese boxing history few will rival Joichiro Tatsuyoshi (20-7-1, 14). The Osakan fighter was an enigma at the best of times. He had a unique style, with his hands lower than most, he put on exciting fights. got moved quickly through the ranks and was very much a unique fighter in Japanese history. Although incredibly talented Tatsuyoshi's record doesn't show how good he really was, and in reality he's a hard man to really rate. At his best he was very good and a legitimate 2-time world champion though his career was plagued with injuries and it's fair to say his style limited his longevity, though helped make him a star. He could have fought with a more "safe" style but wouldn't be remembered in the way he is today. Thanks to his style and popularity he helped inspire many of the Japanese that followed him, and many recent Japanese fighters point to Tatsuyoshi as to why they took up the sport. Of course these weekly articles aren't to talk about the legacy or impact a fighter has in general, but instead their 5 most significant wins. So with that in mind lets look at the 5 most significant wins for... Joichiro Tatsuyoshi Greg Richardson (September 19th 1991) In just his 8th professional bout Tatsuyoshi took on WBC Bantamweight champion Greg Richardson. Richardson had won the title in February 1991, when he beat Raul Perez, and had defended the title once, against Victor Rabanales, prior to this bout. Despite having 4 losses to his name Richardson was a world class fighter who had rebuilt well from a 5-2 (2) start to his professional career and had been unbeaten since a split decision loss to the then unbeaten Jesse Benavides almost 4 years earlier. Tatsuyoshi out boxed Richardson early on, and was well up on the scorecards by the time Richardson returned in his corner. With the win the young Japanese star had gone from popular contender to world champion in just 2 years! This win set an officially recognised Japanese speed record for the fewest fights to win a world title. Victor Rabanales II (July 22nd 1993) Sadly after winning the WBC Bantamweight title Tatsuyoshi would be forced out of the ring due to an issue with his eyes. That meant we didn't see him in action for a year and as a result Victor Rabanales clashed with Jang Kyun Oh for the "interim" title. After winning the interim title Rabanales would fight Tatsuyoshi and defeat the Japanese fighter, giving him his first loss in 1992. The two men would clash again in 1993 and this time Tatsuyoshi would come out on top, taking a split decision over Rabanales, to claim the WBC "interim" Bantamweight title, and avenge his first defeat. This win for Tatsuyoshi wasn't just him getting revenge over the man who had beat him, but lead to Tatsuyoshi getting a bout with fellow Japanese fighter Yasuei Yakushiji. That bout would be huge in Japan, and would be one of the highest profile bouts of the decade for Japanese fans. Sirimongkol Singwancha (November 22nd 1997) By November 1997 Tatsuyoshi's career looked about done. He was 14-4-1 (11) and was looking like a man who's style had caught up with him, with repeated injuries. He had suffered two losses to Daniel Zaragoza and seemed very much like a fighter who peaked too soon and faded early. He then shocked the boxing world by stopping the then 16-0 (6) Thai fighter Sirimongkol Singwancha. Singwancha, the then WBC Bantamweight champion, had won the WBC "interim" Bantamweight title in 1996 and had then become the regular champion, and made defenses including one over Victor Rabanales. He had all the momentum behind him, and that showed early on as he out boxed Tatsuyoshi. In round 4 Tatsuyoshi managed to make the bout into a war, and in round 7 broke down the champion, stopping him in an amazing bout to become a 2-time world champion. This win saved Tatsuyoshi's career and lead to arguably another of his biggest wins. Paulie Ayala (August 23rd 1998) In his second reign as the WBC Bantamweight champion Tatsuyoshi made 2 successful defenses, before running into Veeraphol Sahaprom. The second of those saw him over-come the then 25-0 Paulie Ayala. The bout saw Tatsuysohi taking a technical decision against the American to retain the title and have a rare win that aged well. After this bout Ayala would quickly bounce back, being crowned the Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year in 1999, the year he won the WBA Bantamweight title with a win over Johnny Tapia. This was a big win for Tatsuyoshi, but sadly lead the end of his second reign as he suffered back to back losses to Veeraphol Sahaprom and lead to what seemed like the end of his career...after all he did announce he was retiring. Parakorn Charoendee (October 26th 2008)
After Tatsuyoshi suffered back to back losses to Sahaprom he was out if the ring for 3 years. It seemed likt that was it, and that he was done. Then he got bit by the boxing bug and returned in 2002, winning 2 bouts. The second of those bouts saw him suffer an injury to his leg that seemed to retire him. That was until 2008 when he returned, in Thailand, and beat little known Thai Parakorn Charoendee, in 2 rounds. The win over Charoendee was a nothing win in all reality, however it was a significant one. It made the then 38 year old Tatsuyoshi continue his career. It made him think there was still something in his legs, and even with Osaka Teiken and the Japan Boxing Commission both essentially asking him to retire he continued on. Without this win he would have almost certainly been retired. Sadly Tatsuyoshi would fight again after this win, and be stopped by Thai teenager Sakai Jockygym, in 7 rounds. This was to be Tatsuyoshi's final bout. This story doesn't end well and now a days Tatsuyoshi is slurring is words and showing signs of being punch drunk. Sadly there's an even darker end to all this. The man who beat Tatsuyoshi in his final bout, Sakai Jockygym, would sadly pass away before the year was over. The 19 year old would travel to Japan 7 months after beating Tatsuyoshi to face Kazuyoshi Niki. He took punishment through out that bout and passed away from injuries sustained in that loss. Well the last week has certainly been an interesting one. We've had some amazing fights, some crazy officiating, some interesting announcements as a big event in Pakistan. It's been a really varied week, and now we'll try to round up the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of the week we've just had!
The Good 1 - Toshiki Kawamitsu Vs Kenshi Noda On Saturday from Japan we got something a little bit special as Toshiki Kawamitsu and Kenshi Noda gave us an absolute thriller of a fight. The two unbeaten prospects gave us high intensity action, brilliant exchanges, amazing back and forth and this was easily one of the best fights we've seen in Japan this year. Given that the fighters were 4-0 and 2-0 coming in to this one we really did get a treat, and the two out performed any expectations we had. A really, really good bout and, were it not for something absolute amazing later in the day, this would have been the bout of the weekend. 2 - Usman Wazeer scores big win for Pakistan! It's fair to say that we want to see boxing spread to more countries. We want typical boxing strong holds, like Japan, Thailand, South Korea, the UK, the US and Mexico to continue producing great fighters, but we also want countries without big boxing scenes to join the party. For that to happen those nations will need their own stars, and will need someone to act as a figure head. It now appears Pakistan might have their man in the form of Usman Wazeer, who appears, already, to have a huge Pakistani following. His win this weekend was massive for Pakistani boxing and fingers crossed it will act as a catalyst to Pakistan having a thriving boxing scene in the future. 3 - Great all Thai bouts being announced! It's fair to say that 2020 has been a really, really crap year. However for all the crap that's gone on there have been some positives to take from it all and one of those has been the interesting all-Thai bout's we've been seeing. In recent months we appeared to have been getting more and more good, solid, all-Thai bouts. We had Srisaket Vs Amnat Ruenroeng a few months ago, and we had Campee Phayom Vs Pungluang Sor Singyu, and Nattapong Jankaew vs Samartlek Kokietgym. This week we saw a trio of interesting all-Thai bouts being added to the schedule to look forward to. We love the look of Nattapong Vs Petchbarngborn, Amnat Vs Pungluang and Wanheng Vs Petchmanee. Well done to the Thai promoters for finally giving us what fans have been screaming for for years, good, solid, competitive looking, and interesting All Thai bouts! 4 - Jose Zepeda Vs Ivan Baranchyk In less than 5 rounds Jose Zepeda and Ivan Baranchyk put on a bout with more action, more drama and more excitement than many full shows have. For those that haven't seen this stop what you're doing. Go and find this fight online. Enjoy. For those that have seen it, go watch it again! And again! With 8 knockdowns, a KO of the Year contender, several Round of the Year contenders the bout is a clear front runner for Fight of the Year. We knew this would be good, the styles of the two men was always going to give us something great, but this exceeded even the wildest of expectations. We saw something truly amazing, and given 2020 has been...2020 this was the escapism that we needed. This was the type of fight 2020 needed, and we dare say this is the fight we all needed. 5 - Daniel Dubois Vs Joe Joyce is on! Talking about bouts that we need it now appears the on again, off again, on again, off again saga between Daniel Dubois and Joe Joyce has been sorted, at last. The bout is now expected to take place behind closed doors in November or December, and was one of the bouts that British boxing really needed. This was the bout British boxing needed and the logical bout to eliminate one of the two unbeaten Brits from the world title conversation. Well done to the two guys for agreeing to this one! The Bad 1-Terrible state of judging through out the weekend We know judging can be terrible, but we don't think there's been a day recently with more "WTF" scoring. In Thailand we had two judges giving Apichet Petchamee 6 of the 8 rounds he fought with Musheg Adoian, only giving Adoian the two where he scored knockdowns. In Japan had judges missing the success of Kiyohei Endo in Japan, in what was a super close fight. In the US we had poor scorecards turned in by Lou Moret and Rudy Barragan, both scoring Paul Kroll beating Lucas Santamaria 99-91, and both turning in confusing scores for Mark Magsayo Vs Rigoberto Hermosillo, a bout that Barragan had 100-90 and Moret had 96-94 the other way, Chris Flores and Patricia Morse Jarman, who both had Kingsley Ibeh and Guido Vianello fighting to a draw and Adalaide Byrd scoring Frevian Gonzalez Robles' bout with Carlos Marrero a draw. Things didn't get better on Sunday when Ian John Lewis, the scoring referee, had John Hedges beating Jan Ardon in their 4 rounder. A pathetic score bit of officiating to try and save the supposedly talented debutant, at the cost of someone who deserved the W. Judges world wide turning in such dud scorecards really does harm the sport, and needs to be sorted out. Now! 2 - Eddie Hearn being infected Given Eddie Hearn's push to have fans back at boxing and Snooker we're not hugely sympathetic to the recent news that he had to leave the bubble following a positive PCR test. In many ways it was almost expected that someone who thought just eating properly and having a healthy diet would prevent him from being ill. However it is still bad news and we do hope that Eddie gets well soon. Sadly him being ill did force the cancellation of a planned meeting between himself and Frank Warren, which could have been huge for British boxing. The Ugly 1 - MMA Heavyweights in Boxing On the same show as the amazing bout between Jose Zepeda and Ivan Baranchyk we also saw a bizarre, but very short, bout between James Barnes and Mitchell Sipe. The two fighters, who both have an MMA background, really shouldn't have been a televised fight. In fairness to Sipe he looks like he could box a bit, even though he was making his debut, he also looked like a professional athlete. Barnes on the other hand looked like he really needed to hit the gym, hard, and learn how to box. He seemingly had no idea what he was doing in the sport, though some how has a win under his belt. Whilst this was stupidly entertaining, it doesn't do the sport any good to see fighters like Barnes being licensed and NSAC really shouldn't have let him in the ring. 2 - No Social Distancing in Pakistan Whilst our complaint about Barnes is a bit of a moan we do have a genuine worry here, with the show in Pakistan. The rest of the world have generally brought in mask wearing in public and social distancing but in Pakistani there was neither of those things. There was also crowds storming the ring to celebrate Usman Wazeer's win, and anyone could have been carrying something. Whilst want boxing in Pakistan to survive, we also need it to be safe, and hopefully in future we'll see some general well being brought in to the country when it comes to the sport. If Wazeer's big win becomes a super spreader event or if the next card there sees someone getting stabbed, or a brawl breaking out it could kill the sport before it's even off the ground. Come on folks, show a bit of common sense! The Middle part of October is a weird stretch for us this month. It lacks big names but does have a lot of promising fighters in action, including sever very notable youngsters, and a handful of unbeaten prospects.
October 9th Korakuen Hall, Japan Rei Nakajima (3-0) Vs Shinobu Charlie Hosokawa (12-5-1, 11) One of the many unbeaten hopefuls in action this month is Rei Nakajima, who takes a huge step up in class as he takes on former OPBF and WBO Asia Pacific Middleweight champion Shinobu Charlie Hosokawa. On paper this is a really dangerous bout for Nakajima, but a win will immediately put him in the mix for a regional title. As for Hosokawa a win keeps his career alive at the regional title level, and given his power, strength and experience he is very much a dangerous foe for the talented youngster. October 13th Korakuen Hall, Japan Reiya Abe (19-3-1, 9) Vs Ren Sasaki (10-0, 6) Another unbeaten hopeful in action is Ren Sasaki, who looks to build on his Knockout Dynamite Tournament win last year. The unbeaten Sasaki will be up against the world ranked Reiya Abe in what should be a really interesting, though maybe not the most exciting, of bouts. Sasaki has impressed at times, but needs a statement like performance in the near future whilst the highly skilled, but often frustrating, Abe needs too shine following a disappointing 2019. This might lack intense action, but will be a very high level bout. Kai Chiba (12-1, 8) Vs Haruki Ishikawa (8-2, 6) In potentially thrilling action we'll see the once beaten Kai Chiba look for a solid domestic win as he takes on the hard hitting, and exciting, Haruki Ishikawa. On paper this might look like a great bout, but in reality fireworks should fly between two men who like to let shots go, and like to put on show. Of the two Chiba the more rounded and more mature, but Ishikawa is a little bit more unpredictable, and has shown more of a willingness to fire back in a slugfest. We are expecting a lot of excitement here. Kai Ishizawa (6-1, 6) Vs Masashi Tada (13-7-3, 8) Another bout with the potential to deliver fireworks will see the all action Kai Ishizawa take on the flawed but tough Masashi Tada. On paper a win here would probably be Ishizawa's second best, though a stoppage would be a huge statement for the young Minimumweight hopeful. Tada on the other hand is a 2-Japanese title challenger, who is far, far better than his record suggests and could well have the experience and toughness to blunt the heavy handed aggression of Ishizawa. A very interesting, and easy to over-look, match up. October 15th Korakuen Hall, Japan Kazuki Saito (7-2, 5) Vs Tatsuya Yanagi (16-6-2, 6) The talented but chinny Kazuki Saito needs a notable win to remain relevant on the Japanese scene, especially after a 2019 loss to Izuki Tomioka, but he's not assured one here as he takes on the experienced Tatsuya Yanagi. Watching Saito we see a real natural talent, but his chin has been a problem in 2 of his bouts so far and it wouldn't be a surprise to see his chin let him down again in the future. Yanagi on the other hand is someone who is better than his record suggests, and will know a win here will put him instantly in the mix for a Japanese title shot. A very interesting match up. Yoji Saito (1-1-2, 1) Vs Masashi Wakita (10-9-2, 5) Another bout that might not look great on paper will see Yoji Saito take on Masashi Wakita. There was serious hopes for Saito when he turned professional, and although he has failed to hit the heights expected of him so far he has been a must watch fighter, with his aggressive, heavy handed style. Wakita is experienced and can certainly fight, but his chin has been an issue. We expect this one to be a real thriller of a bout, and as with all Saito bouts this will be well worth a watch. Takuya Kogawa (30-6-1, 13) Vs Hayato Yamaguchi (15-8-1, 2) There are few men we have enjoyed watching as much as Takuya Kogawa, sadly though the all action veteran is very much coming to the end of his career and has looked on the slide for a few years now. Here he'll be up against domestic foe Hayato Yamaguchi, and the sad fact is that Kogawa is fighting for his career. This isn't so much a must watch bout, but potential the final bout of one of our favourites. October 17th Philips Halle, Dusseldorf, Germany Zhan Kossobutskiy (14-0, 13) vs Steve Vukosa (12-1, 4) We end this part of October with an unbeaten Heavyweight hopeful, as Kazakh fighter Zhan Kossobutskiy takes on once beaten American Steve Vukosa. Although Kossobutskiy isn't on the radar of many fans he is among the best Asian Heavyweights out there and we suspect we'll see a lot of him over the next few years. In Steve Vukosa we have a 43 year old American who has fought just twice in the last 5 years. Sadly this isn't the sort of match up that Kossobutskiy needs to make a mark on the sport and at 31 he really does need to begin moving up a level. One of the key reasons for this series is to shine a light on the unheralded and little known fighters, who are typically but not always, prospects. With that in mind we feel Rei Nakajima (3-0, 0), who takes a huge step up in class in a few days time, is the perfect type of fighter for this series. He's not a big name prospect, he's not a man people are telling at us to talk about, but he is someone who is worthy of attention at this very early point in his career.
Unlike many exciting prospects making their mark on the Japanese scene Nakajima wasn't a top amateur. In fact he went 26-13 in the unpaid ranks and his best results in major national competitions were third places, which he did at the Interscholastic, National Athletic and All Japan Championships. Despite that there has been a small, but notable, buzz around him since he turned professional. As a professional Nakajima signed with the Neyagawa Ishida Boxing Club, run by Nobuhiro Ishida, and was matched relative tough on his debut in July 2019. Rather than being matched with a patsy to get an easy win Nakajima on debut, he was matched with the then 7-5-1 (2) Sosuke Sakata. Although a long way from a world beater Sakata was a decent test, on paper, for the debutant. In the end however Nakajima shined, doing everything excepting stopping Sakata in a 6 round bout. Although Sakata saw out the scheduled 6 round distances the judges didn't give him a round, in fact the scorecards here were 60-52, across the board. Interestingly Nakajima's debut came on a major card in Osaka that was headlined by the rematch between Ryota Murata and Rob Brant, and also featured Kenshiro Teraji and Satoshi Shimizu. Huge names on the top of the card. Less than 3 months after his debut Nakajima returned to the ring and took on his first international opponent as he battled against Korean for Se Yul Yang. Once again this was a clear and dominant win for Nakajima, who took a wide decision against the tough but limited Yang. Sadly footage of Nakajima's first two bouts has been almost impossible to come by, but his most recent bout, which came in December 2019, was shown on A-Sign and is, by far, his biggest win to date. That bout, another 6 rounder, saw him take on Patomsuk Pathompothong, aka Komsan Polsan. Although a huge step up in class Nakajima took the chance to show case what he could do in the ring. From the opening rounds he looked sharp, crisp, relaxed and quick. He easily out boxed his more experienced foe, who tried to show some veteran moved but but didn't have the speed to deal with Nakajima, who took another clear and wide decision win. From watching Nakajima several things are clear. He's quick, he's skilled and he's sharp. He knows his way around the ring and is very relaxed in there. Sadly he does drop his hands a lot, maybe being a bit too relaxed, he seems to lack power and, perhaps more worryingly, he's very small for a Light Middleweight. Even in Japan. Stood at less than 5'6" he's going to be giving away height to pretty much anyone he faces. Not just that but he'll also be giving away reach, which will allow fighters to keep him at range. On October 9th Nakajima will be taking a massive step up in class. He goes from taking on a fighter like Patomsuk Pathompothong, to taking on the dangerous, heavy handed and tough Shinobu Charlie Hosokawa, in what is a serious test for the youngster. If he gets through this, and it is a genuine "if", then we suspect we'll see him fighting for some form of title in 2021 or 2022. Despite being impressed by Nakajima there is a real sense that he may be biting off more than he can chew as he takes on the often under-rated Hosokawa. If he loses, and again there is a very real chance he will, this will be a serious learning experience for the youngster. This past week has been a weird one, making our awards a rather frustrating one to do. There was two notable Japanese cards, but only one has been shown so far, there was a card in Pakistan and one in Thailand. Given that we can only talk about the bouts we saw, we haven't been able to include the Teiken show from Friday. Even with that in mind we still had plenty to talk about!
Fighter of the week Usman Wazeer (4-0, 2) We're going left field here, but it's not without a good reason. We saw good performance by a number of fighters, such as Mark Magsayo and Hironobu Matsunaga, but 20 year old Pakistani fighter Usman Wazeeer did something different. His performance wasn't the best, his opponent, Boido Simanjuntak was under-sized, over-matched and no competition. However Wazeer put Pakistan on the map with his win over his veteran Indonesian opponent. His win wasn't the biggest in terms of general standing in boxing, but his win gave a country without a boxing star someone to really get behind. With over 200,000,000 people in the country Pakistan is among the most populated countries in the world, and having a figure head for boxing there to build upon is huge! Performance of the Week Kiyohei Endo (3-4, 3) We're going left field again here, and we're going with a man who lost, but sometimes a losing effort says much, much more than a winning effort, and that was certainly the case with Kiyohei Endo. The once touted former amateur standout has not been a success as a professional. He's looked the part at times, but it's always come undone for him and with 3 losses in his first 6, including a shock loss on his debut, he wasn't expected to do much at all this weekend. In fact 59% of those who predicted the result on Boxmob expected Endo to be stopped. Instead Endo gave former world title challenger Ryohei Takahashi all he could handle, and we dare say the judges got this one wrong. A great performance, despite a loss, but a man no one gave a chance to. Well done Mr Endo, hopefully another notable bout will come your way soon! Fight of the Week Toshiki Kawamitsu Vs Kenshi Noda We had something truly amazing in the US with Jose Zepeda Vs Ivan Baranchyk, and taht's the front runner, by some margin, for Fight of the Year. Asian fans were however able to see their own thriller a few hours earlier with a brilliant clash between unbeaten hopefuls Toshiki Kawamitsu and Kenshi Noda. This lacked the knockdowns of the big fight in America, but was another all action contest, with the two men landing some huge shots through out. This was exciting, action packed, well fought, competitive and just an all round brilliant back and forth bout. If you've seen the Zepeda Vs Baranchyk bout 20 times and want to give something else a watch, give this one a go. Round of the Week Toshiki Kawamitsu Vs Kenshi Noda (Rd2) Originally we were going to go with Round 3 from this sensational all-Japanese bout, but on reflection the third round was full of bizarre shenanigans from the referee, resulting in some moments that killed the action. By the end of round 3 Noda looked exhausted and had lost his way a bit. In round 2 however the fight had brilliant give and take action through the whole round, in what will go down as one of the best rounds in Japanese boxing this year. This was a wonderful mix of outside work, before the men worked their way inside and traded in a phone booth. Just pure boxing joy as a fan. Round 3 may have been more dramatic, but for us round 2 gets the nod on consistency of action Prospect of the Week Toshiki Kawamitsu (5-0, 2) Well this was a foregone conclusion wasn't it? The youngster not only gave us the Asian fight of the week and the Asian round of the week but also scored his biggest win to date, and showed a lot that we hadn't previously seen from him. He showed real grit and toughness, and showed power and physical strength that we hadn't seen from him before. There really wasn't anyone even close to being competition for Kawamitsu this past week. |
Oriental Opinions
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March 2024
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