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Dear everyone!
Over the last few years I've drunkenly scrawled out some form of thank you letter to everyone and I think this year, more than any other, that letter has been needed! This year has been rather, different with more people helping than every before. A twitter following that has grown and a significant growth in daily views. We're still a long way from where we want to be, but we have taken huge strides in 2019 to be in the right place. First, before I thank anyone, I'd just like to lay down some apologies. Firstly to Colin Yee, the wonderful host of the Asian Boxing Podcast, I'm so sorry for having been an absolute pain in the arse in regards to scheduling this year. When the podcast began I didn't expect to have a 2019 quite as weird as I did. If you're still up for it, we'll work something out in the new year and get the show back on the road! One thing I really wasn't aware of going into the end of the year was just how much my workload was going to increase in December. I'm usually on top of things but this December has been busy, even by busy December standards. For that my long suffering partner has taken the brunt of things, and I'm sorry to her for the crap she's put up with. Anyway with that out the way here come the thank you's... Thank you to Rene Bonsubre Jr, his work and insight in to the workings of Filipino boxing has been a huge help in 2019, and we doubt he'll ever realise just how much we have appreciated his help. The same applies to Eric Armit, George Delis and Daniel Sharman for their regular contributions. I really hope all 4 guys will continue with what they've done in 2019 for us, and will continue contributing articles going forward. So many thanks to Tim, who has provided a fantastic resource with his Stanza page for scheduling, and his GIFs are just amazing, serious if you're not following him on twitter (@hock1717) you really should. Of course we also need to thank each and everyone of you wonderful people who read what we do. You are the ones that make this worth doing. You are the reason we continue to cover the obscure fights from Asia, share the news we do, report the fights we do and share the videos we do. Without you guys this would be us writing to ourselves, so thank you! And see you all next year! Have a great new year everyone! Scott P.S. So you're still reading? Jesus folks! Okay fine...so to let you into some "exciting" news. In 2020 we are looking to continue a lot of our features, and add some new ones. The plan is to have several DAILY features, every day! We're looking to put out more opinion based pieces in 2020 than we usually do, and continue to build on the mini series did at the end of the year. Also, in 2020, we will, finally, roll out the Newsletter that we tested in 2019. If you've not previously signed up for that, but want to in the future, please fill in this form! P.P.S Once again. Thank You!
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 As we head towards the new year we've had a big look at the current scene and come up with "20 fights we'd like to see in 2020", yeah another series ahead of the new decade! As is always the case with what we do, these articles will have an Asian flavour, and every bout we mention in the series will have at least 1 fighter from Asia involved. So for those of you expecting us to talk about Deontay Wilder Vs Anthony Joshua, that won't be listed. What we'll be looking at is well matched contests with either some form of back story, a great stylistic clash or bouts with some form of significant meaning. If they tick all the boxes then that is even better! Each fight will be given it's own article and each of these will come with an introduction to the fighters, and why the bout is being featured in the list.  Fight #9
Daigo Higa (15-1, 15) Vs Petch Sor Chitpattana (53-1, 38) When we think about exciting action fights there are some combinations of styles that just make for amazing fights. Having two aggressive, come forward guys, who can take a shot and believe in their aggression, facing off tend to lead to amazing fights. Bouts that see two fighters try to out man each other, out fight each other, and out battle each other. Today we look at one of those bouts, between a man who has proven to be world class and a man who is knocking on the door of world class. The 24 year old Daigo Higa first burst on to the scene in 2015, when he travelled to Thailand and stopped Kongfah CP Freshmart to become the WBC Youth Flyweight Champion. In 2016 he would win the OPBF title and then add the WBC belt to his collection in 2017. It didn't matter the level he was fighting at one thing stayed the same, he was stopping guys, and raced out to 15-0 (15), before failing to make weight for a WBC world title defense. That weight failure, followed by a loss to Cristofer Rosales, was punished by the JBC giving him an indefinite suspension and not allowing him to fight below Bantamweight going forward. That ban ended in late 2019 and he'll return in February, in an easy comeback, before looking for bigger fights. Later in the year he'll be wanting to make his mark at Bantamweight, and a bout against a fringe contender has to be in his thoughts. Petch Sot Chitpattana, also known as Tasana Salapat, is a highly experienced and rugged Thai who hasn't had the greatest of competition but has shown a great engine, a fantastic work rate and a willingness to take one in the hope of landing one. His sole loss came in Japan to Takuma Inoue at the end of 2018 in a WBC "interim" title fight, and since then he has been can crushing at home with 5 stoppages. Despite his competition being limited he showed enough in the loss to Inoue to suggest that he belonged on the fringes of world class, even in a division as deep as the current Bantamweight one, and styles wise he could make for some really fun fights, if his team are willing to take risks. It seems clear his team can't bring good opponents over to Thailand, but for the right money we suspect he'd travel, and the right money could be offered by Higa and his team for a world title eliminator. Both of these men like to let their hands go and both typically seem to believe that they are the bigger, stronger and more powerful man. Of the two Higa is the more crisp, combination punching fighter, who hits hard with every shot, and lets them flow in a eye catching fashion. If he looks good in his February comeback, and maintains his Flyweight style, he'll be so much fun to watch here. Petch on the other hand is a more basic fighter but again throws a lot, without really linking his punches together with the same level of crispness. He's more of a high activity fighter, who follows opponents, rather than mows them down. We suspect these two would first have a battle of machismo, before Higa's skills and body shots take over. But whether Higa is destructive at Bantamweight as he was at Flyweight is yet to be seen. This bout would answer that, and would also set the winner up as a clear contender at 118lbs. The 2019 Rookie of the Year tournament was genuinely brilliant with a number of great fights, both on the way to the All Japan final and in the All Japan final, back on December 22nd. Among the very best of the bouts was a Light Welterweight between Kodai Honda and Yasutaka Fujita, a round so good it deserves to be watched in isolation. The two men had reached the final in impressive fashion. Honda had lost on his debut but has stopped his previous 3 opponents in a combined 6 rounds, including stopping the then 5-0 Masaki Kobayashi in the East Japan final in November. Fujita on the other hand had had stopped all 5 of his opponents in a combined 10 rounds, and had only been taken beyond 2 rounds once. Whilst we didn't expect this one to go the distance, and it didn't was it was stopped in round 4, what we hadn't expected was that neither man wanted to go more than 3 minutes. From the opening moments we were seeing the two men in each others face and it was only 10 seconds in that we were seeing them trading bombs in some absolutely breath taking excuses. Fujita would then take the upper hand, and try to take out Honda who refuses to be taken out, and tried to pressure the free swinging Fujita. It wasn't the best game plan, but it made for some amazing action as Fujita threw punches like a newbie on a Fight Night game. Then Honda came back in the dying seconds of the round as it swung back towards him In just the space of 3 minutes we had seen so much leather thrown that it was clear one man, or the other, wasn't going to remain standing after 5 rounds. We had seen Fujita throw everything, we had seen Honda eat everything then come back. This was a round to remember, and a brilliant way to start a Rookie of the Year final bout. So the year is almost over, and we are heading into the very final stretch of the year. With that in mind lets have a look over the last week, and cover the good, the bad and the ugly!
The Good 1-Ryota Murata ends the year with super fights in sight We don't think any other fighter has had quite as stark turn around in 2019 as Ryota Murata, except one man we'll get on to in a few minutes. Murata began the year looking down the barrel of retirement, a loss in his rematch to Rob Brant would have spelled the end, and that was the outcome the bookies were picking. Now after 2 wins in a solid year there's talk of landing super fights with Gennady Golovkin and Saul Alvarez. Good stuff indeed! 2-Ju Wu shocks...Switzerland! We rarely see Asian fighters winning in Europe but this past week Chinese youngster Ju Wu scored his biggest win over in Berne. The youngster out boxed Alain Chervet over 10 rounds to claim the IBO International title and continue his climb through the ranks. Whether Wu becomes the next Chinese star or not is pretty irrelevant this was still a huge win for him and the kid deserves real credit for taking the bout, and for picking up the win. 3-Akira Yaegashi's and Moruti Mthalane's willingness to give a show It's hard to ever complain when you see an Akira Yaegashi fight, and that was shown again this week when he and Moruti Mthalane gave us. This wasn't quite the FOTY contender it could have been had both men been a few years younger, but it was still a sensational fight, and round 4 in particular belongs in the conversation for round of the year. If this is the last time we see Yaegashi in the ring then it's a great way for him to go out, despite the loss. 4-Jean Pascal and Badou Jack deliver Yaegashi and Mthalane sadly weren't able to claim the honour for the best fight between men with a combined age of "mid 70's" as Jean Pascal and Badou Jack delivered something even better. Boy these two left it late but put in a genuine FOTY contender, with both men being down, both being hurt and both having strong stretches during a fight that swung one way then the other. This might have only been the co-feature on Saturday night but if we're being honest this was the show stealer! The Bad 1-Gervonta Davis fails to shine on Lightweight debut Hard hitting American star Gervonta Davis was supposed to shine on Saturday. He was up against an old, shop worn Yuriorkis Gamboa, a Gamboa who was injured in round 2, gun shy through out and lacked much in terms of threat. Instead Davis, who struggled to make weight despite moving up a division, looked lethargic, limited, and almost lazy. His explosive power and speed were still there, but their was little intensity against a man who fought for around 10 rounds on one leg. Don't get us wrong, Davis is a tremendous talent, but this would not have been the performance he'd have been wanting for his debut at Lightweight, and he did nothing to put pressure on the bigger names in the division, and his team also won't rush to put him in there with the better fighters at 135lbs. 2-Showtime Geolocking under-card Firstly a big "well done" to Showtime for streaming their under-card, that's brilliant, but why on earth do they geo-lock them? What market are they wanting to lock out? This is just a bizarre act, especially in 2019 when those of us who want to watch such a stream will find a work around. And we also know some will defend Showtimes action here and argue for a VPN. VPN's are great, but the effort needed to get one to work on an Amazon Fire Stick or an Xbox 360 aren't worth the effort, and instead it was the laptop for me. Come on Showtime, stop being idiots, and give the world your undercards, show case those fighters without making international fans jump through hoops! 3-The year is about to end It's fair to say that 2019 has been an amazing year for being fans, all around the globe. It's a shame the year is set to end, and we risk things going backwards in 2020. Fingers crossed the new year continues the same momentum from this year and we continue to see more and more great fights, fantastic performances and fighters willing to prove themselves against the best. The Ugly 1-It's the end of year So lets not bring it down with an ugly! Have a great new year everyone! See you on the otherside!  Our final "Introducing" of 2019 isn't going to be one of our usual articles looking at a specific fighter but instead a look back at some of the fighters we've mentioned during the last 12 months, ahead of the changes we'll be making to these articles in the coming year. Since we started this way back on January 8th we've looked at some winners, some losers and some fighters who's future isn't as clear as we'd have hoped. We won't go through all 50 fighters here, but we will talk about those who have have shined the most, and those who have disappointed the most. The Shiners The first Introducing saw us talk about Mikito Nakano, who was 1-0 (1) at the time and has since added 3 wins, all inside the distance. He has gone from a good novice into a fine prospect and it wouldn't be a surprise to see him fighting for a title in 2020. Just a week later we spoke about Ginjiro Shigeoka, who was also 1-0 (1) and his rise has been legitimately meteoric. In just his fourth bout he claimed the WBO Asia Pacific Minimumweight title and if he picks up a win on New Year's Eve, against Rey Loreto, there is no doubt that he will be in the world title mix in 2020. We spoke about Shokichi Iwata in week 25 and since then he has scored back to back TKO5 wins, with both of those victories coming on massive Japanese cards. The 23 year old Teiken prospect looks like he has the potential to go all the way to the top, and to do so quickly. He has shown he can box, or brawl, and whilst he may not quite have figured out his style in the ring he already looks like a special talent. What a year Andy Hiraoka has had! We featured him in week 26, when he was then 13-0 (9) and since then he has scored the biggest win of his career, signed with Top Rank and made his US debut. The talented 140lb'der showed he could go 10, as he did in victory over Akihiro Kondo, and looked very good in his American show case in November. Another man who has had a great year is Toshiya Ishii, who was covered in week 33. He made his debut in April, took the unbeaten record of Fumiya Fuse in August then took the Japanese Youth Bantamweight title in December. His win Fuse, who we covered in an introducing article in week 4 was impressive but his war with Ishikawa was something special and we advise all fans to give that a watch. In week 34 we looked at Yudai Shigeoka and although he didn't debut for a few weeks after that he has shone since some much. His debut was an easy win over a Thai, but despite the ease of the win he showed so much ability, brilliant crisp punching, fantastic movement and ring IQ. He then followed that up with a win over Lito Dante and looks set to have a monstrous 2020, following in his brother's footsteps.  The maybes
In week 9 we looked at Yoji Saito, who entered the year 1-1 (1) and looked like a huge punching monster. He fought twice in 2019, and went 0-0-2. Notably his first bout of the year, a draw with Aso Ishiwaki, looks very good on reflection and Ishiwaki used that bout as a great opportunity to shine, and was the focus of his own "Introducing" in week 38! In week 17 we discussed Tsubasa Murachi and his year is a really tricky one to try and dissect. On one hand he impressed, in his win over Raymong Tabugon, and there was clearly skill and ambition with the youngster. But on the other hand he ended the year in September, following a brutal KO loss to Froilan Saludar, and the road back up to that level is going to be a rough journey for the 22 year old. Don't write him off, but he's going to have to go back to the drawing board. Another man who is hard to get a good read on was Kai Ishizawa who may take more credit from his loss to Masataka Taniguchi in September, than most fighters take from a win. He was fantastic in defeat, he showed his toughness, his braveness, his power and his will to win. Sadly he lacked in technical areas, and Taniguchi was too good for him, but the reality is that both men came out with enhanced reputations. Sadly it was still a loss, and his one other bout this year was a blow out against an over-matched Indonesian We love watching Christiano Aoqui, who we introduced in week 40, and despite a loss to Daishi Nagata following our article it's hard to write off the hard hitting Japanese-Brazilian, who has lost in the past and bounced back. He's never going to be a world beater but we expect him to remain in the domestic title mix next year. Well we got that one wrong In week 35 we spoke about the return of Teppei Kayanuma, who was supposed to fight in September. Though didn't. And we're not totally sure why. We are hoping that changes, and that he does return to the ring, but with more than 3 years since his last bout it now seems unlikely. For week 46 we spoke about Dominique Kenshin, by this point we were trying to tweak the formula slightly and pick fighters who were in action during the week of the article, and as a result felt Kenshin was the man to cover. That was the wrong choice and he was was stopped in a round by Hiro Ichimichi. He's not fought since, and being honest he has a lot of work to do, in every part of his boxing. Changes Will be Made So as for 2020, "Introducing..." is changing. We are taking it more international, and instead of being exclusively Japanese fighters, as it was in 2019, we will be looking around Asia for fighters to cover. Whilst the key focus will, again, be prospects, we aren't going to be too rigid in that and we'll look at covering other fighters we find interesting as the year goes on. This could mean anyone from novice, to journeyman, fringe contender to prospects. The only fighters we'll not cover in this section are clear world level fighters. We want to shine a light on a fighter without much attention, and the hope is that we help a bring a fans attention to a fighter they aren't aware of. In 2019 we generally had good success picking our prospects, and we hope that continues in 2020. See you in the new year for the next "Introducing...", and the next chance to see a light shined on a fighter you may not have even knew existed! (Image credits - Kadoebi and Teiken) One of the fighters who truly won us over this year was Aso Ishiwaki, who bounced back from a loss in the 2018 All Japan Rookie of the Year final to go 3-0-1 in 2019. His first bout of the year saw him go up against the touted former amateur stand out Yoji Saito. On paper this was supposed to be a win for Saito, who had been a very solid amateur whilst Ishiwaki was just a 19 year old novice, but Ishiwaki had no intent in taking a second straight loss. Instead he was there for a win. What we ended up with was a genuinely fantastic 6 round bout between two men who wanted to throw short, crisp, sharp bombs through out. The referee was barely needed in the 6 rounds, that saw both men show a real willingness to try and hurt the other. The bout was a bit of under-ground hit with a very solid level of back and forth action, and although it was slower than a true fight of the year contender, it's deliberate pace meant the bout was always highly engaging and let both men let big shots do up close. For us the pick of the rounds here was round 2, with both men really going for it, with some fantastic back and forth action, right in the middle of the round. From the off both men proved they were willing to dig their toes into the canvas and let their punches flow, but it was really the middle minute of the round that shone, as Ishiwaki got close and Saito unloaded on him, forcing and immediate response giving us a brilliant bit of 2-way action, and made Saito realise he was in with a genuinely talented young fighter. Sadly after this round the pace did drop a little, with Saito seeming to tire, though every round remained was a well fought 3 minutes of hard shots and 2-way action. So the year is coming to a close, and this will be our final weekly awards for 2019! Despite this being the last one of the year there really wasn't all that much worthy of discussion sadly, but with Christmas in the middle of the week we were never expecting too much to speak about here. Thankfully though we did get one big show at the start of the week, and a splattering of bouts here and there, to fill things up.
Fighter of the Week Ryota Murata (16-2, 13) Japanese Middleweight Ryota Murata completed his year of redemption in style, not only beating Steve Butler, but stopping him, breaking him both physically and mentally along the way. Murata took the best shots of Butler, and walked through them, making a feared puncher question themselves before chipping away at them with heavy shots. It was an expected win, but one that was still impressive, smart and a signal of intent. The fact it was followed by huge statements from Bob Arum about getting Murata a major name at the Tokyo Dome in 2020 just added to the whole week for the 2012 Olympic gold medal winner. Performance of the Week Kenshiro Teraji (17-0, 10) When a fighter drops a world class opponent 4 times, in 4 rounds, all from body shots, then it's hard not to be impressed. We won't pretend it was a flawless performance from Kenshiro, but his victory over Randy Petalcorin was very impressive. He hardly seemed to get out of second gear and still broke down a very accomplished rival, who had gone 7 rounds with the dangerous Felix Alvarado in 2018. To have this level of performance with all the changes going on, a change of opponent and a change in whether the bout was being televised live in Japan or not, showed that no matter you through at him, Kenshiro Teraji finds a way to adapt. Fight Akira Yaegashi Vs Moruti Mthalane It was the week of the old men! On Saturday American fans got a thriller between Jean Pascal and Badou Jack, a genuine global Fight of the Year contender and another example of why end of year awards should wait until the end of the damn year! A few days earlier fans who follow the Asian scene got a similar, though less competitive treat, as Akira Yaegashi and Moruti Mthalane gave us a thrilling 9 round war. The bout had it all. It had skills, it had action, it had intensity, exchanges, raw violence, drama, both men looking hurt. This was, in many ways, what you'd expect of a 36 year old Yaegashi, and was a great pre-Christmas treat! Round Akira Yaegashi Vs Moruti Mthalane (round 4) The round of the week, came from the fight of the week, and boy what a round it was. It was the round that really began the start of the end for Yaegashi, who showed he was willing to fight the wrong fight, but it was also the round that sent nothing but adrenaline through the veins of everyone watching. This was high octane, back and forth thrilling stuff, the sort of action that has helped make Yaegashi one of boxing cult fan favourites. Sadly for the Japanese warrior he was just up against a more defensively smart, less shop worn, smarter, more accurate and heavier handed South African genius and this wasn't going to be the way Yaegashi was ever going to win. KO Musheg Adoian KO2 Noppadol Khongchana The obvious choice this week was Ryota Murata's win over Steven Butler, which was a fantastic looking KO. That however was pipped on the final day of the week by an obscure, but brutal KO by Thai based Armenian-Russian puncher Musheg Adoian in Singapore, as he took out Noppadol Khongchana. This was genuinely brutal, as a right hand from Adoian knocked the Thai clean out. This was another, of the many highlights shared this year by our good friend @Hock1717, who is well and truly worth a follow by all boxing fans. Prospect Ju Wu (9-0-2) Chinese youngster Ju Wu is not someone many would have expected to see on the final weekly award article, but it's hard to ignore just what he did on December 26th. Not only did he make his European debut, but he actually took a win, in Switzerland, against the local favourite Alain Chervet, winning a solid upset. The Chinese fighter boxed wonderfully in Berne and recorded his third solid win of the year. After drawing 2 of his first 3 career bouts the youngster has developed fantastically. Fingers crossed that he'll develop some confidence in his power, and build on his punching power in 2020 as that's the one area he's lacking at the moment. Upcoming fight Ginjiro Shigeoka (4-0, 3) vs Rey Loreto (25-14, 17) Although this fight won't be made immediately available to watch it's impossible to deny just how much we are looking forward to this one! It's a gut test for Japanese youngster Ginjiro Shigeoka, as he defends his WBO Asia Pacific Minimumweigt title against a former world title challenger. Despite their being world title fights coming up this one has us much, much more interested than the those world title bouts, and we are really interested to see what happens here, in a fantastic contest to end 2019.  As we head towards the new year we've had a big look at the current scene and come up with "20 fights we'd like to see in 2020", yeah another series ahead of the new decade! As is always the case with what we do, these articles will have an Asian flavour, and every bout we mention in the series will have at least 1 fighter from Asia involved. So for those of you expecting us to talk about Deontay Wilder Vs Anthony Joshua, that won't be listed. What we'll be looking at is well matched contests with either some form of back story, a great stylistic clash or bouts with some form of significant meaning. If they tick all the boxes then that is even better! Each fight will be given it's own article and each of these will come with an introduction to the fighters, and why the bout is being featured in the list.  Fight #8
Albert Pagara (32-1, 23) Vs Ryoichi Tamura (13-5-1, 7) One of the things this series has been focused on is the under-the-radar action fights that could be made, and we deliver that again, in a bout that could be made relatively easily at Super Bantamweight, and be seen as a fight both fighters could win. One guy would be a definite favourite, but the under-dog has never entered the ring with the belief he can't win. Given the styles of the two men and their mentalities this has the potential to be an all out thriller. Filipino boxer-puncher Albert Pagara has long been touted for the top, but is yet to hit the heights expected of him. The 25 year old is looking for a break out win, and will likely spend 2020 moving through the regional scene whilst awaiting a world title fight. He's an exciting fighter, but did come up short when he last faced a rugged and determined slugger, losing in 8 rounds to Cesar Juarez. His competition since losing to Juarez has been poor, with his last 5 opponents lasting just 11 rounds, and he desperately needs another gut check before having another fringe world level bout. He needs to get in with someone who can take his power, and will fire back at him, rather than decide to accept an early loss. Former Japanese champion Ryoichi Tamura is a 32 year old tough as old boots warrior, who comes to fight every time he's in the ring. He's technically pretty crude, but so rugged, has such energy and refuses to back down. He can be out boxed, as we saw in his 2019 rematch with Yusaku Kuga, but few fighters will out last him in a toe to toe war. He is very much like a budget store version of Juarez, and like the Mexican he keeps coming, no matter what someone throws at him. At the moment he's the OPBF Silver champion, so he does hold a notable, though minor, regional title and this would be a good gateway for Pagara to secure a bigger regional level fight before, potentially, landing a world title fight. On the other hand If Tamura pulled off the upset, he would find himself on the fringes of his own world title bout. Given how Pagara has got question marks over his head about mental toughness and will to win this will a great chance to see those questions answered against a man who simply doesn't know how to go backwards. Tamura would likely find himself before early on, likely a long way behind after 5 or 6 rounds, but his pressure and work rate in the middle rounds would be a major issue for Pagara who would struggle later on. The drive of Tamura is an issue for anyone and we would love to see him bring that pressure against someone with the skills and movement of Pagara. When we think of the best rounds in world title fights this year there are lots that have been forgotten, lost in the haze of a year of amazing fights. One or two might stand out, but many have just faded into a blur of great action we've had in 2019. Today we bring you one of the rounds that stood out to us, and one that swung one way, then the other. It was a round from a very highly anticipated all-Japanese world title clash. A clash that perhaps came a year later than it should have, but still delivered some top level action through out. The bout we're talking about is Kosei Tanaka's March clash with Ryoichi Taguchi, in a bout that Tanaka clearly won, by a landslide, but was tested in early the early going by a determined Taguchi. That determination was most clearly seen in this brilliant round, round 3, where Taguchi came forward and rocked Tanaka in the opening seconds. With his man hurt Taguchi smelled his opportunity and went all out, before the momentum began to shift back. This led to a 3 minute back and forth fought at an incredibly high skill level, almost entirely in range. The referee was featured once or twice, splitting them, but that didn't take away from what was a pulsating round of action. A real forgotten round and something deserves a rewatch by those who saw the card live...and a first watch for those who missed it! Since this bout Taguchi has announced his retirement whilst Tanaka has had a more interesting year. The youngster from Chukyo has beaten Jonathan "Bomba" Gonzalez, in a come from behind stoppage win, and is now days away from facing off with Wulan Tuolehazi, on New Year's Eve. Disclaimer - If you're in Japan this round is sadly not available 20 Predictions for 2020: PREDICTION number 20-Someone breaks Muangsurin and Lomachenko's record!12/28/2019 As we head towards a new year we've decided to look into our glass balls, our tea leaves and our palms to come up with 20 predictions which will be posted over the coming weeks for what we think will happen in 2020. So far our predictions haven't been the best though they've not all been wrong. In 2013 we predicted that Naoya Inoue, his brother Takuma and Kosei Tanaka would all win world titles. Between them they've won a few world titles, though Takuma has yet to win a proper world title. That same year we also predicted a growth in Chinese boxing, and this arguably happened despite the fact the Macau side of things has died off. We also predicted a growth in Asian fighters making a name for themselves in the US, this was before Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, Naoya Inoue or Kazuto Ioka had fought on US soil, and before the wave of Uzbek's had began to attract US attention. Unlike the past, where we have made all of our predictions in 1 article, we'll be spreading these ones out with 1 prediction per article, and going more in depth than we have in the past.  PREDICTION number 20-Someone breaks Muangsurin and Lomachenko's record!
We've had, we believe, a nice mix of predictions, from some we feel were maybe a little obvious to some which were certainly a bit left field. What we hadn't mentioned was anything historical. Today, in our 20th, and final, prediction for next year we do go historical and we predict someone will break the long standing record for fewest fights to win a world title. At the moment the record stands at 3 pro bouts, at least for men, jointly held by Thai legend Saensak Muangsurin and current Ukrainian star Vasyl Lomachenko, who both won their first world title in their third bout. We have seen fighters, including Lomachenko himself in fact, challenge for a belt in their second bout, and a few debutants have also fought for world titles, but to date no one, other than female fighter Hyun Mi Choi, has won a world title before their third bout. In 2020 we expect that to change. We predict that someone will win a world title in their second professional bout, at some point next year. We'll be totally open and admit we don't know who it will be who achieves the feat, though we would guess a central Asian fighter, likely an Uzbek, or a Japanese fighter. Both countries have been willing to fast track fighters, throw them in deep from their debut, and try to create a buzz quickly and neither country tends to do the whole slow build tot a title fight that we see in the west. We're thinking next year will be the year the record goes for a few reasons. Firstly there are more titles out there than ever before, and whilst a fighter holding a "regular" title might not be accepted by some fans the reality is that that will do for others. Even with all the titles out their the fighter who breaks the record would still need to be a world ranked opponent for the belt, so even with extra titles, they don't get a gimmie for a belt. Another thing to consider is that 2020 is an Olympic year, and fighters who miss out on the Olympics may well be looking to make a name for themselves as quickly as they can. Someone like Kenji Fujita, who recently retired from the amateur code, could be hot shotted through the pros on the back of his excellent amateur background. Even if it's not Fujita, it could well be some other top amateur who misses the Olympics for whatever reason, and tries to make up for the year by being moved on the hyper quick road to the top. On one hand a lot of the top Uzbek fighters have already debuted, however there is still a lot of talent there yet to turn over. Some one like the exceptionally talented Mirazizbek Mirzakhalilov, who has won gold at the Asian Games, Asian Championships and World Championships, could make an immediate impact on the pros. Likewise someone like, Vassiliy Levit, could well turn his back on the politics of the amateurs and try to make the most the little time he'd have in the pros. There were several Uzbeks who likely could, had they selected the right champion, been able to take a world title in their first 2 fights. Hansanboy Dusmatov was probably the most likely, but a then 1-0 (1) Israil Madrimov taking on Tony Harrison would have been compelling and a 1-0 (1) Bektemir Melikuziev could likely have beaten the Callum Smith who fought John Ryder. Neither of those would have been gimmies, but neither would have been the biggest of shocks either...in fact neither would have been the biggest upset of 2019 if we're being totally honest. It is a massive risk for any fighter to try and achieve the feat, as we saw when Lu Bin failed against Carlos Canizales, but it's certainly not impossible and we know the record will go. It's a matter of "if" and not "when". Sadly for Bin he was up against an excellent champion, but had he attempted the feat just a few years earlier, there's a chance he could have beat a champion like Alberto Rossel or taken the vacant title that ended up with Jesus Geles. With the two pro-style competitions that AIBA ran now seemingly dead, and professionals competing in amateur tournaments the two codes have began to directly over lap in major competitions, and this could also help an amateur prepare to face a pace a professional fighter. Sure the amateur bouts are shorter than they were in APB and WSB, but amateur boxing does have stiffer competition at the top level than most professional fighters have early in their career, and we have seen more and more fighters turning to professional boxing "pro-ready". With no head gear in the Olympics that is likely to continue, despite the death of two pro style competitions. One other wild card to consider is Thailand. The Muay Thai scene has long developed top Thai fighters who have been able to be fast tracked, and as with Muangsurin, their may well be some appeal to a top Muay Thai practitioner to turn to boxing, and try to break Muangsurin's record. With professional boxing struggling a little bit in Thailand, something like this would give the country's boxing scene a huge shot in the arm. A loss would likely send them back to Muay Thai whilst a win would make them an instant boxing star. Although we do realise this is a wild prediction we genuinely would not be surprised if it happens in 2020! |
Oriental Opinions
This is just an opinion, maaaan! It's easy to share our opinions, and that's what you'll find here, some random opinion pieces Archives
March 2024
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