We’re now into 2021 but before we leave last year behind there are a few more things we need to look back on for last year. Among those are the Monthly Award winners for December 2020, and it’s a month really dominated by Japanese action, with Japan hosting a large number of shows during the final part of the year. 

Fighter of the Month
Kazuto Ioka (26-2, 15)
The fighter of the month for December was an easy one, but one we really needed to wait until the end of the month for, and that was Kazuto Ioka, who successfully defended his WBO Super Flyweight title with an excellent 8th round TKO win against Kosei Tanaka. The Japanese legend was put under pressure early in the bout, was left with double vision in round 2, and had clear damage around his eye soon afterwards. Despite that he stuck to a game plan, took away Tanaka’s best tools, dropped the younger man twice, and then forced Michiaki Someya to save Tanaka from further punishment. A fantastic performance in the final big bout of the year.

Fight of the Month
Masayoshi Nakatani Vs Felix Verdejo
We genuinely had some amazing fights in December, such as the fantastic bout between Ioka and Tanaka fight, the sensational bout between Ali Akhmedov and Carlos Gongora and the brilliant clash between Ryoji Fukunaga and Kenta Nakagawa bout. The one that stood out above them all however was the amazing 9 round bout between Masayoshi Nakatani and Felix Verdejo in the US. The bout had 4 knockdowns, a huge shift in momentum and saw Nakatani pull himself off the canvas, twice, to stop Verdejo. This is up there with the very, very best of 2020 and is a bout that every fan should watch, if they haven’t already. A genuine fantastic fight.

KO of the Month
Etsuko Tada TKO9 Ayaka Miyao
As well as great fights we also had some sensational KO’s. The best of the bunch came in the WBO female Minimumweight title bout with Etsuko Tada taking out Ayaka Miyao with a single, short, straight, left hand. This was a perfect KO, sending Miyao face first onto the canvas, and giving Tada probably the best KO win of her career. In a month where we had some sensational finishes this was really something special and stands up there with the best female KO’s ever, especially given the proven world class ability of Miyao. If you have a Boxing Raise account and haven’t seen this one already go and check it out!

Prospect of the Month
Ryosuke Nishida (3-0, 1)
It’s rare to see a prospect fake on a former world title challenger in their first few fights but that’s exactly what we saw from Ryosuke Nishida on December 19th, when he beat Shohei Omori. Nishida, who was 2-0, and had only made his debut in October 2019, was too quick, too sharp, too hungry and too good for Omori who struggled to get anything going. Nishida started well as he established an early lead. He a little wobble in the middle of the fight, as Omori tried to turn things around, but roared back in the later rounds and came close to stopping Omori whilst securing himself a massive win. This was brilliant from Nishida in a massive step up, and it’s clear that the young southpaw from the Mutoh Gym has the potential to go a very, very long way. This was a performance that genuinely put him on the map and we’re looking forward to seeing the 24 year old return to the ring later this year.

Upset of the Month
Yuichi Ideta MD8 Ryota Yada
When it comes to upsets few will rival the upset win scored by Yuichi Ideta against former Japanese Welterweight champion Ryota Yada. Coming into the bout Ideta had gone 1-15-1 in his previous 17 bouts. He hadn’t scored a win in almost 10 years and had lost 11 in a row. No one gave him a chance, especially not at the age of 36. But then he simply out worked, out fought, out battled, out gritted and out willed Yada en route to taking a truly unexpected decision win. The heavy handed Yada, who is best known for his brilliant 2019 war with Yuki Beppu, was expected to win this one and move on to an OPBF title bout in 2021, but this loss almost certainly ends those plans and leaves his career in a really precarious situation.

Honourable mention:
Carlos Gongora TKO12 Ali Akhmedov

Round of the Month
Ryoji Fukunaga Vs Kenta Nakagawa (Rd8)
With a lot of brilliant fights taking place in December we also got a lot of excellent rounds and they came right through the levels of the sport, from some of the Rookie bouts world level bouts. For us however the bouts rounds came late in the fantastic bout between Ryoji Fukunaga and Kenta Nakagawa, with round 8 being the best of the bunch. The two men fought each other to a standstill, they each rocked the other and they went hammer and tong, beating the fight out of each other. This was brutal, it was thrilling, exciting, back and forth action. It was exactly what we needed to see. Not only was it great, but the stakes couldn’t be much higher, with the two men fighting for the WBO Asia Pacific, OPBF and Japanese Super Flyweight titles. This was amazing, and followed up by 2 more great rounds making for a real gem of a fight.

This past week has been another of those weeks that has given us a lot of action, spread over a lot of days. We'll admit this is another week where there has been action late on, and sadly delayed our awards by a few hours. It is also, sadly, a week where a lot of footage hasn't been made available in a timely fashion, most notable the East Japan Rookie of the Year finals, which took place today but won't be aired on TV for another week.
 
Despite the delay of footage for some shows, we still had a lot to talk about, in what has been a really good week.
 
Fighter of the Week
Hyun Mi Choi
Unbeaten Korean fighter Hyun Mi Choi did what few ever thought she would, she fought in the USA this week, and managed to put on a showcase of aggression, making for a really fun and exciting bout against the over-matched Calista Silgado. It was certainly not a punch performance from the "Defector Girl Boxer", but that hardly mattered, this was a massive win for her, for Korea and for Korean boxing. Sadly Korean boxing isn't what it once was and Choi is the nation's only world champion, so here win here is massive for Korea and can hopefully help kick start boxing in the country again. Her fight was fun to watch and she fought with a style that wasn't really like her usual one, making sure to leave an impression. This was exactly what she needed to do, and exactly what fans needed to see from the 30 year old.
 
Performance of the Week
Gennady Golovkin
Whilst Choi was the fighter of the week her performance was a very flawed one. Gennady Golovkin on the other hand put in a near flawless performance, and rarely needed to get out of second gear en route to an easy win over Kamil Szeremeta. Golovkin controlled every minute of the fight, dropped Szeremeta 4 times, and landed at will against a Polish challenger who simply shouldn't have been in the ring with him. This was not a Golovkin who looked 38 or like he hadn't fought in over a year, this was a polished, revitalised Golovkin, wanting to show wrinkles in his style that hadn't been seen in years. An excellent performance.
 
Fight of the Week
Ali Akhmedov Vs Carlos Gongora
Despite the fact we had a lot of fights this past week a lot of this past week many of them failed to deliver drama or action. Mr "Big Drama Show" himself, for example, just battered someone who shouldn't have been in the ring with him. One bout that did stand out however was the 12 round thriller between the unbeaten pairing of Ali Akhmedov and Carlos Gongora. This was a genuinely great fight, with Akhmedov setting the early tempo, Gongora adjusting, Akhmedov tiring himself out, and Gongora coming from behind to score a 12th round stoppage. If you missed this one make sure to do yourself a favour and give it a watch, a genuinely fantastic bout with action, drama, momentum shifts, skills, and a huge comeback
 
Round of the Week
Ryoji Fukunaga vs Kenta Nakagawa (Rd 8)
The fantastic Boxing Raise service gave us a really great show this past week thanks to Kadoebi Promotions, and it was the main event bout from that show that gave us, arguably, the two best rounds of the week. They were rounds 8 and 9 of the triple title unification bout between Ryoji Fukunaga and Kenta Nakagawa, with both rounds being amazing back and forth battles between two men desperately wanting to become triple crown champions. Fukunaga's power and heavy hands hurt Nakagawa repeatedly in round 8, but he lacked the energy to finish his man, allowing Nakagawa to fire back, and land some huge left hands, that stiffened his legs, only to than have Fukunaga recover and come back at Nakagawa. This was Rocky-like stuff from both and made Boxing Raise well worth the price this month.
 
KO of the Week
Towa Tsuji TKO3 Kairi Suetsugu
We dip into the realm of the obscure for the KO of the week, which was a brutal left hook from hell from Towa Tsuji, which landed clean as a whistle on Kairi Suetsugu, sending him down hard. The bout was waved off quickly with Seutsugu down on the canvas before he was stretched out of the ring. We doubt Tsuji will ever score a better KO than this, and it was the perfect way for him to end his debut. A real eye catching finish.
 
Honourable mention:
Christian Araneta KO1 Roland Jay Biendima
 
Prospect of the Week
Ryosuke Nishida
There was only real one contender here for Prospect of the Week and that was Japanese youngster Ryosuke Nishida who stepped up massively this week and scored a brilliant unanimous decision win over Shohei Omori. The talented Nishida, fighting just his third professional bout, started very sprightly, using his speed and movement really well, and despite some trouble in rounds 4 and 5 came back even stronger, Hurting Omori in the final 3 rounds. Credit to Omori for surviving some torid moments in rounds 7 and 8 but this was Nishida's day, and Nishida's week. A fantastic showcase of a sensational prospect.

​It's fair to say that December is the best month of the year and over the next 2 weeks or so we are getting a great run of fights up to Christmas, with several notable names and big shows set to take place all over the world.

December 14th
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Ryoji Fukunaga (12-4, 12) vs Kenta Nakagawa (19-3-1, 12)
In a bout for all the regional and domestic marbles at 115lbs we'll see JBC champion Kenta Nakagawa battle WBO Asia Pacific champion Ryoji Fukunaga, with two title the men hold, as well as the OPBF title, up for grabs. The two men are a long way behind world class, but against each other they are very well matched, and both men can punch, so this should be a genuinely thrilling shoot out. A very hard one to call and a potentially very exciting match up, with both men being hurt.
 
Hiroki Okada (19-2, 13) vs Izuki Tomioka (7-3-1, 2)
The out of form Hiroki Okada returns to a Japanese ring for the first time since May 2018 as he takes on the talented and slick Izuki Tomioka. Coming in to this Okada has lost his last 2, by stoppage, in the US and will known that a loss to a domestic foe could spell the end of his career. Tomioka, who is in his early 20's, has proven to be a very talented and tricky fighter, but very much a work in progress and has lost his 3 biggest bouts to date. Style wise this is a very interesting match up and it really could go either way, depending on how Okada is mentally following his recent set backs.

Mikio Sakai (2-0) vs Toshihiro Kai (6-11-3, 2)
It's not often we get to talk about Japanese Middleweights so with that in mind we felt it was worthy of giving this bout some attention. Mikio Sakai was a former Japanese amateur standout who has looked very good since turning professional. He'll be strongly backed to pick up win #3 here against the limited and somewhat fragile Kai, who has been stopped a number of times recently. Given the lack of depth on the Japanese scene at Middleweight a win here would likely leave Sakai only a fight or two away from a domestic title bout.
 
December 16th -
Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan
Aidos Yerbossynuly (14-0, 9) vs Issah Samir (19-0, 16)
Unbeaten Kazakh hopeful Aidos Yerbossynuly looks to extend his unbeaten record and take another step towards a potential world title bout as he takes on fellow unbeaten Issah Samir, from Ghana. This bout will see Yerbossynuly defending a number of minor titles and taking on his most dangerous foe to date, with Samir certainly being able to puncher and boasting an unbeaten record of his own. Although Yerbossynuly is stepping up it's also fair to state that Samir is taking on his toughest test to date, and will be doing so as the under-dog, in his first bout outside of Ghana. On paper one of the most attractive bouts in this pre-Christmas period.
 
Bek Nurmaganbet (2-0, 1) vs Emmanuel Danso (32-5, 26)
Touted Kazakh hopeful Bek Nurmaganbet fights for the third time this year as he takes on Emmanuel Danso, who like Samir is from Ghana. Danso has an imposing looking record and looks like a real danger man for the unbeaten 22 year old Kazakh former amateur standout. On paper a major test. Sadly however looking beneath the numbers Danso is perhaps a calculated risk and the "Kwahu Tyson" has been stopped in 4 of his 5 losses and has come up short every time he's left Africa for a bout. Despite, probably, being a mismatch it is worth noting that Danso has shared the ring with Umar Salamov, Ruslan Fayfer, Feng Manlong and Robin Krasniqi, so Nurmaganbet will be able to compare himself to some notable contenders after just 3 professional bouts.
 
Bekzad Nurdauletov (1-0, 1) vs Kabiru Towolawi (13-2, 10)
The sensationally talented Bekzad Nurdauletov returns to the ring for his second professional bout as he takes on Nigerian 40 year old Kabiru Towolaw. On paper this is another bout that looks dangerous until you dig below the numbers and realise that Towolawi hasn't beaten a fighter with a winning record, though has proven to be tough. We expect to see nothing other than an easy win for the Kazakh here, who will likely be looking for a second stoppage win.
 
Microsoft Theater, Los Angeles, California, USA
Eumir Marcial (0-0) Vs Andrew Whitfield (3-1, 2)
Talented Filipino amateur standout Eumir Marcial will kick start his professional career as he takes on fellow professional novice Andrew Whitfield in a scheduled 4 rounder. Marcial is tipped for an Olympic medal at the Tokyo games and has turned professional to staty busy and get some rounds under his belt before the Olympics, and a subsequent full professional career. Whitfield shouldn't be much of a test, but will be there looking to pick up a win upset the very highly regarded Pinoy pugilist.
 
December 17th -
Wild Card Boxing, Los Angeles, California, USA
Madiyar Ashkeyev (14-0, 7) Vs Charles Conwell (13-0, 10)
Staying on the subject of Kazakh's the unbeaten Madiyar Ashkeyev takes a major step up in class he faces fellow unbeaten Charles Conwell on December 17th's edition of Ring City, the brilliant new idea to put on events with 50-50 match ups in the US with out promotional bias. Similar in some ways to some of the DANGAN cards in Japan. This is a really mouth watering bout with the 32 year old Ashkeyev now being given a chance to sink or swim. Conwell is a very highly regarded American prospect and a win here will shoot the 23 year old to within touching distance of a world title fight. A fantastic match up and one we are really looking forward to. In fact we're really looking forward to following the Ring City project in general as it's a brilliant concept.
 
December 18th -
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Hollywood, Florida, USA
Gennady Golovkin (40-1-1, 35) vs Kamil Szeremeta (21-0, 5)
Remaining on the subject of Kazakh fighters, the biggest name in Kazakh boxing returns as Gennady Golovkin looks to defend the IBF Middleweight title against relatively unknown Polish challenger Kamil Szeremeta. We are of the opinion that Golovkin is a shadow of the fighter he once was, but at 38 he's only coming down the other side of the hill, and has got tot he bottom yet. With that in mind we suspect he'll be too big, too strong and too powerful for Szeremeta. On the other hand Golovkin has been in tough fights recently and they are clearly taking a toll on him, with numerous injuries in recent years. This should be an easy one, but if he struggles we suspect Golovkin will consider 2021 as his final in the sport.
 
Ali Akhmedov (16-0, 12) vs Carlos Gongora (18-0, 13)
Another Kazakh on this card will be Ali akhmedov, who is in a really interesting looking match up against Ecuador's Carlos Gongora. The exciting Kazakh has run out his record to 16-0 but hasn't really been tested since his 2016 debut, with his toughest bouts being a wide 8 round decision win over Mike Guy and a wide 10 round decision over DeShon Webster. Gongora on the other hand was a 2-time Olympian who competed 3 times in the World Amateur Championships, but has sadly been matched very softly since turning professional. Gongora certainly has the amateur pedigree to suggest he's a talent, but the 31 year old has been matched even softer than Akhmedov. For both men this is a step up in class, and one that feels over-due for both fighters.
 
Hyun Mi Choi (17-0-1, 4) vs TBA
Unbeaten Korean Hyun Mi Choi makes her international debut though at the time of writing her opponent is unknown. She was originally slated to be rematching Mexican foe Jessica Gonzalez, though it appears that Choi's team have had to look elsewhere for an opponent and have seemingly offered the opportunity to vocal fighter who made it clear the offer wasn't suitable for her. Sadly what should have been a chance for Choi to increase her international profile has seen her become the latest fighter to sign with Matchroom and have her opponent be a mystery. Sadly this is becoming a trend with Matchroom in the both the UK and the USA
 
December 19th -
Mohegan Sun Casino, USA
Nonito Donaire (40-6, 26) Vs Emmanuel Rodriguez (19-1, 12)
On December 19th Filipino boxing legend Nonito Donaire will face off with Emmanuel Rodriguez for the vacant WBC Bantamweight title. Originally we were supposed to see Donaire battle Nordine Oubaali, but Oubaali has contracted Covid19, forcing him to pull out of this bout and be given the WBC "champion in recess" tag and leaving the WBC title vacant. Interestingly Donaire and Rodriguez were both last seen in the ring losing to Naoya Inoue, though in very different fashion, with Donaire last 12 rounds with Inoue and Rodriguez being blasted early on. Donaire will be the favourite, but it's going to be interesting to see just how much the 38 year "Filipino Flash" has left more than a year removed from his excellent performance against Inoue in the WBSS final.
 
Reymart Gaballo (23-0, 20) Vs Jose Velasquez (28-6-2, 19)
On the same show as Donaire Vs Roodriguez we get another interesting Bantamweight bout as unbeaten Pinoy puncher Reymart Gaballo takes on Chilean veteran Jose Velasquez in a bout for the WBA "interim" Bantamweight title. For Gaballo this is a chance to become a 2-time "interim" champion, having won the title in 2018 with a win over Stephon Young, though his first reign lead nowhere. For Velasquez this is a huge match up and his first shot at any form of a world title. On paper Gaballo is the favourite, but his wild, free swinging aggression may get him in some trouble against his tough Chilean foe.
 
December 20th 
Olive Convention Centre, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Moruti Mthalane (39-2, 26) vs Jayson Mama (15-0, 8)
The  final big fight before Christmas sees us focusing on South Africa as unbeaten Filipino fighter Jayson Mama challenges Moruti Mthalane for the IBF Flyweight title. The 23 year old Pinoy is really taking a huge leap up in class here, going from bouts against faded contenders, like Fahlan Sakkreerin, and domestic fighters, like Dexter Alimento, up to genuine world class. Mthalane, now aged 38, is certainly fighting father time, but the "Babyface" has defied age over and over. Interestingly this will be Mthalne's first bout in his home town and we do wonder if he plans to wave good bye to the sport, win or lose, with a chance to bow out on top at home. Notably it has been almost a year since Mthalane beat Akira Yaegashi in Yokohama and we do wonder if age and ring rust will be an issue against a young and hungry fighter like Mama.

This past week has been a bit of a strange, and frustrating, one. We've had 2 legitimately fantastic bouts shown, but we've not had much else being shown, with the major Japanese card from the week being aired next week, and there was nothing of note featured on boxing Raise. There was a Filipino card, but the stream for it was poor to say the least, and it very much feels like a week where there was only the widely available stuff to watch.

Fighter of the Week
Hiroto Kyoguchi (14-0, 9)
Whilst the week wasn't great overall it's hard to deny that this was a week where two bouts stood out. One of those was the fantastic IBF Middleweight title bout between Gennady Golovkin vs Sergiy Derevyanchenko and the other was the equally as good WBA Light Flyweight "super" title bout between Hiroto Kyoguchi and Tetsuya Hisada. Both bouts saw the under-dog giving the favourite all they could handle over 12 amazing rounds, and these two bouts would have been highlights in any week. Of the two winners we have to give Fighter of the Week to Kyoguchi, who enhanced his reputation with his win, whilst Golovkin seemed to show that he was one step closer to retirement than anyone had anticipated.
 
Performance of the Week
Tetsuya Hisada (34-10-2, 20)
One of the things that allowed Kyoguchi to take our Fighter of the Week award was his dance partner, Tetsuya Hisada. In the eyes of many Hisada was an undeserving challenger, an old man with 9 losses on his record going into the biggest bout of his career. He had never scored a win above domestic level, and was an unknown outside of Japan, and even that it was only the hardcore fans in the country who really much about him. What he did however was put up one of the best performance of 2019, holding his own with a much young fighter. For those who were impressed by Derevyanchenko against Golovkin, Hisada's effort was very, very similar.
 
Fight
Hiroto Kyoguchi vs Tetsuya Hisada
It'll come as no surprise that there were really only 2 bouts in contention for the Fight of the Week, the Gennady Golovkin Vs Sergiy Derevyanchenko and the Hiroto Kyoguchi Vs Tetsuya Hisada fight. In many ways both were very, very similar. They both had the under-dog massively out performing expectations, despite being dropped. The winner of both fights were hurt and the fights were back and forth action fights. In reality the Golovkin fight was closer, and more competitive, but for us the better fight was actually the other one. Both were fantastic, both deserve to be in the fight of the year short list, but we we found Kyoguchi Vs Hisada more enthralling over the course of the fight.
 
Round
Gennady Golovkin vs Sergiy Derevyanchenko Round 8
With 2 great fights we were treat to some amazing rounds, for this however we have to side with Golovkin's big effort in round 8 against Derevyanchenko. It was one of the few rounds that the Kazakh seemed to put his foot on the gas and was one of the few rounds that saw both men going tit for tat, rather than than Golovkin being backed up and landing the better shots. This was a great round of action, both men were hurt and both looked tired, but they dug deep and delivered a fantastic 3 minutes of action.

KO
No suitable contender
 
Prospect 
Ali Akhmedov (16-0, 12)
The week was a really odd one for prospects. There was plenty in action, but they were in mismatches, and very few of them had to answer and real questions. For us Israil Madrimov isn't a prospect but a contender, and the we almost said the same of Ali Akhmedov. Problem is that if we had, we wouldn't have had a candidate for this category, as no one faced anyone of any note. Even then Akhemdov's opponent, Andrew Hernandez, almost saw him ruled out. Akhmedov stopped Hernandez with the only notable punch and took an opening round TKO. An awful week for prospects looking to announce themselves.
 
Upcoming fight 
Shinobu Charlie Hosokawa (11-4-1, 10) Vs Koki Tyson (14-3-3, 12) II
The first bout between Shinobu Charlie Hosokawa and Koki Tyson had the chance to be great, but fell short, in part due to a lack of fitness from Tyson who took the bout on short notice. This time both men have had plenty of time to prepare and we are expecting this to be a genuine thriller between two fighters who can bang, can fight and can put on a show. This might not be a major globally, but it has the fighters to be a truly excellent fight.

After a truly hectic May, which has had big fights littered through the month, we drop back to reality in June as the schedule almost tails off completely and we sort of struggle to get too excited about too much taking place over the coming weeks. Thankfully here there is still enough to talk about without feeling the month is threadbare, but it's less about big fights, and more about emerging fighters.
 
June 1st-

• Junto Nakatani (18-0, 13) Vs Philip Luis Cuerdo (11-6-1, 4) - Tokyo, Japan

When we mentioned that June would be a month for emerging fighters, rather than big fights, one of the names that really stands out as an emerging hopeful is Junto Nakatani, the Japanese Flyweight champion. Nakatani is a genuine talent and had planned to defend his title at the start of June, but original opponent Wolf Nakano was forced to pull out. Nakano's replacement is Philip Luis Cuerdo who looks likely to be a better test for the now world ranked Japanese youngster, and this should be a solid match up for Nakatani.
 

• Kai Ishizawa (5-0, 5) vs Silem Serang (13-19-2, 1) - Tokyo, Japan

Another emerging Japanese hopeful looking to kick off the month with a win over a visitor is hard hitting Minimumweight Kai Ishizawa. The unbeaten Ishizawa isn't a technical fighter but is exciting, heavy handed and applies a lot of pressure. His opponent isn't expected to put up much of a test, but Serang could pose a few questions before eventually being worn down by Ishizawa's power and pressure.
 

• Charles Bellamy (28-3-2, 18) vs Yuto Shimizu (12-4-2, 5) II - Tokyo, Japan

A third bout of some note to begin the month is a rematch between Japanese based American Charles Ballamy and Japanese local Yuto Shimizu. These two men had a great bout in 2018 and we're expecting another really entertaining bout here. Neither man is in their prime, or expected to go and reach great heights, at least not now, but they are well matched and this should be very fun to watch.
 

• Fanlong Meng (14-0, 9) vs Adam Deines (17-0-1, 8)-Macao S.A.R., China

In China we get a pretty notable bout at a higher level, as the unbeaten pairing of Fanlong Meng and Adam Deines fight in an IBF Light Heavyweight eliminator. This all southpaw bout sets the winner up for a shot at Artur Beterbiev, and whilst they will be the under-dog against the hard hitting Russian it's a huge opportunity. At 31 years old it is now or never for Meng but this bout is certainly no gimmie for the Chinese hopeful.
 
June 8th-

• Gennady Golovkin (38-1-1, 34) vs Steve Rolls (19-0, 10) - New York, USA

One of the few really big names in action in the first part of the month is former world unified champion Gennady Golovkin, who looks to return to the ring for the first sime since his 2018 loss to Saul "Canelo" Alvarez. The Kazakh puncher will be up against unbeaten Candian Steve Rolls in what looks like little more than an easy comeback bout for the Kazakh, who is angling hard for a third bout with Alvarez. This really should be little more than a show case for Golovkin.
 

• Ali Akhmedov (14-0, 10) vs Abraham Han (26-4-1, 16)-New York, USA

A much better bout from New York will see Kazkah prospect Ali Akhmedov take a step up on class to take on the always entertaining Abraham Han. This is unlikely to be anything but fun, though we do feel that Akhmedov will have the advantages stacked in his favour, in terms of size, power, strength and youth. Still Han has experience and could ask some new questions of Akhmedov.
 

• Israil Madrimov (2-0, 2) vs Norberto Gonzalez (23-12, 13)-New York, USA

A third nout on the New York card of some note will. feature Uzbek contender Israil Madrimov taking his next step forward, as he battles experienced Mexican gatekeeper Norberto Gonzalez. Madrimov has impressed in his first 2 bouts and will likely find himself fighting for a world title sooner rather than later, though this is a really good test for him at this early stage in his career and a stoppage against Gonzalez would be a genuine statement. Gonzalez is limited but tough and should be expexted to give Madrimov some rounds here.
 
June 9th-

• Eruka Hiromoto (4-0) vs Chan Mi Lim (4-6-1, 4) -Hiroshima, Japan

Continuing with emerging fighters it's worth noting that female hopeful Eruka Hiromoto will be getting her first title fight, as she faces Korean puncher Chan Mi Lim in a bout for the OPBF female Minimumeight title. These two have fought before, with Hiromoto beating Lim just over a year ago in a 4 round bout, but over 8 rounds we're expecting to see a lot more from the fast rising 18 year old Hiromoto.
 

• Jayson Mama (12-0, 6) vs Kwanthai Sithmorseng (49-6-1, 26) - Metro Manila, Philippines

Rising Filipino hopeful Jayson Mama has had a great 12 months, winning an IBF Silk Road tournament and beating Fahaln Sakkreerin Jr. He looks to build on that success here when he takes on former WBA world champion Kwanthai Sithmorseng, in what will be his biggest bout to date. Kwanthai is well past his best, but should have the experience to ask questions of Mama here in what could be a good test for the youngster.
 

• Dave Apolinario (10-0, 6) vs Dexter Alimento (13-6, 9)-Metro Manila, Philippines

Mama isn't the only unbeaten and talented Filipino on this card, in fact hes one of three notable unbeaten prospects. Another is Dave Apolinario, a very highly regarded fighter who has impressed since making his debut as a teenager. The talented Apolinario is taking on the out of form Dexter Alimention in an all-Filipino bout. At one point in time Alimento looked like a man with a lot of ability and a high ceiling, but after an unfortunate bout with Chanachai CP Freshmart in 2016 Alimento has gone 3-6. This should be a straight forward win for Apolinario, given Alimento's recent form, but we do hope Alimento can put in a good performance.
 

• Carl Jammes Martin (12-0, 11) vs Rakesh Lohchab (6-0, 2)-Metro Manila, Philippines

The third unbeaten Filipino prospect in action here is the all action Carl Jammes Martin, who looks set to become a staple of boxing on Filipino TV. He'll be up against unbeaten Indian Rakesh Lohchab. Martin might not be a big name, yet, but he is one of the most fan friendly fighters in the sport today, and we would single him out as being one of the fighters that the Filipino needs to make the most of over the coming years. Lohchab is a bit of an unknown, and this is a huge step up in class for him. Whilst the visitor could be a surprise package we really don't imagine him being any threat to a fighter like Martin
 

• Randy Petalcorin (29-3-1, 22) vs Worawatchai Boonjan (14-21-1, 13)-Metro Manila, Philippines

Also on this Metro Manila show is former world title challenger Randy Petalcorin, who looks to bounce back from a loss in an IBF title fight to Felix Alvarado. The talented Pinoy will be in a very clear confidence build here, as he takes on Thai visitor Worawatchai Boonjan, in what should be little more than a blow out win for the Filipino fighter, who will hopefully be in bigger bouts before the end of 2019.

Over the last 6 years Kazakh boxing, at least in the professional ranks, has been dominated by Gennady Golovkin, who has spearheaded the countries boxing scene. Although he's not solo he has pretty much been the focal figure for the country's success in professional boxing, with only Zhanat Zhakiyanov's short reign at Bantamweight and the controversial and much maligned Beibut Shumenov for company as a world champion. At 36 years hold however Golovkin won't be able to lead the Kazakh charge for too much longer.

With that in mind we've decided to take a long over-due look at the rising Kazakh boxing hopefuls, who will look to rise through the ranks and become the new faces of Kazakh boxing, and the ones to continue the good work that Golovkin, and to a lesser extent Shumenov, and Zhakiyanov have done in recent years.

Ivan Dychko (5-0, 5) - Heavyweight
Former amateur star Ivan Dychko has long been on the radar of fight fans, who have followed him since he was a youngster in the unpaid ranks. He first made a mark at the 2008 AIBA Youth World Championships, claiming a silver medal at Heavyweight before growing into a Super Heavyweight. At the heavier division he claimed a number of major medals, including bronze at the 2012 Olympics and the 2011 World Amateur Championships, as well as Silver medals at both the 2013 and 2015 World Amateur Championships.

Stood at 6'9” at weighing in at around 245lbs he has the size of a fully fledged Super Heavyweight and he's already looking to charge through the division. He made his professional debut last September, stopping Aubur Wright in just over 2 minutes, and has needed just 9 rounds to race out to a 5-0 record. He has, admittedly, fought poor competition so far but will look to make a notable step up in class shortly. He's pencilled to face Michael Marrone in June, a step up of sorts, but won't want to waste too much time at this type of level given how strong his amateur pedigree is.

Ali Akhmedov (11-0, 8) – Light Heavyweight
The 22 year old Ali Akhmedov is one of a number of US based Kazakh hopefuls, though is also well travelled having already notched up professional wins in Kazakhstan, Poland and the US. Not only has he been willing to travel for fights but has also been matched pretty well with notable wins against Patrick Mendy, Curtis Hill, Justin Thomas and DeShon Webster. Impressively he has only been a professional for around 2 years, making his debut in May 2016, but has been active, aggressively matched and his team are stepping him up.

Given his age Akhmedov has a lot of time on his side but it's unlikely he or his team will be looking to waste that time and instead he'll likely be matched hard and allowed to develop against decent competition. His boxing is already solid technically and like a number of fighters from Central Asia he seems to have very heavy hands and an aggressive exciting style. He's perhaps not a concussive puncher, but every shot seems to be damaging, and he has that exciting flair that the new era of Central Asian fighters seem to have, wanting to put on a show as well as win.

Zhanibek Alimkhanuly (2-0, 1) - Light Heavyweight
Another former amateur star is 25 year old Zhanibek Alimkhanuly, who shone at the 2013 World Amateur Championships, where he claimed gold, and was tipped as a medal contender for the 2016 Olympics, where he lost in the quarter final. He made his professional debut, unless you include his fights in the World Series of Boxing, in October 2016, blitzing Milton Nunez inside a round, before returning to the amateur code. He would again surface as a professional in September 2017, taking testing 6 round decision over Gilberto Pereira dos Santos.

At the moment it's pretty unclear on what Alimkhanuly plans to do. He has the world at his feet in any form of boxing, professional, amateur or one of the AIBA professional systems. We're hoping he commits to professional boxing, and if he does he really could be fast tracked. He's a very sharp, accurate and powerful puncher with brilliant movement and a high boxing IQ. He's got the tools to do a lot in the sport, but one does wonder about his mentality, and that could be the biggest question mark over his potential.

Nurzat Sabirov (6-0, 5) - Super Middleweight
There are a number of Kazakh hopes rising through the Canadian scene at the moment, one of whom is Nurzat Sabirov. The Quebec based 24 year old made his debut in July 2017 , scoring an opening round win over Kasjan Inglot, and has since been slowly stepping up his competition. Not only has he been stepping up in terms of quality opposition but he has continued to impress, stopping all of his foes, but going a few rounds in the process. He's expected to have a busy 2018 so it could very interesting to see where his career is at the end of the year.

From the footage of Sabirov he looks like a very exciting fighter, with a high level of ring craft and defense as well as explosive offensive capabilities. There is clearly a lot of development that his team will be wanting to do with him, and at 24 there is a lot of time for that development to take place, but he has a lot to work with. That includes impressive handspeed, nice ring IQ and really impressive variation in his shots.

Meiirim Nursultanov (6-0, 5) -Middleweight
When a fight skips the 4 round stage of their career you tend to take notice of them, and that was the case when Meiirim Nursultanov made his debut in November 2016, scoring a 6 round decision over Henry Beckford. Since then he has been matched well and consistently impressed as his team have matched him harder and harder as his career has gone on. That saw him being matched with Ismael Bueno in September 2017 and then the unbeaten Eric Moon just 2 months later. Not only is he being matched well but with Egis Klimas managing his career you know that he has a great team behind him.

As you may have guessed from Klimas' involvement Nursultanov is based in the US and the 24 year old has been getting himself on high-profile under-cards already, with his last 2 bouts coming at Madison Square Garden on shows headlined by Sergey Kovalev. Not only has he been on big cards but he's been shining when fans have had the chance to see him, and his body show KO of Lanny Dardar was a sickeningly brutal one. He's a fighter with serious power and a man who will be looking to make a name for himself in the not too distant future. Given he's a Middleweight he may also be the one to take over Golovkin's role as the country's leading man at 160lbs.

Aidos Yerbossynuly (7-0, 6) – Middleweight
Another potential successor to Golovkin at Middleweight is Aidos Yerbossynuly, a 26 year old fighter who is actually based in Kazakhstan, a bit of a rarity for a prospect from the country. Despite being based in the country of his birth he has also travelled for fights and has already picked up wins not only Kazakhstan but also Ukraine and the USA. So far he has looked exciting, talented and yet flawed, and was dropped early in his career, though has certainly improved since then and his win over over Jonathan Geronimo Barbadillo last September showed that he was one to watch.

Although very exciting and very aggressive there is an openness to Yerbossynuly that he will need to sort out before stepping up too far, but we suspect that will be sorted when he steps up and he will start to contain the wild aggression that he does occasionally show. When that happens we'll have a talented, exciting and hard hitting fighter, who could well give Nursultanov a good run to become the leading Kazakh Middleweight. For now though he looks a step behind his countryman and fighting in Kazakhstan may not help him with his profile internationally, though it is good to see a prospect actually staying in Kazakhstan given how many of them have gone to the US or Canada.

Nursultan Zhanabayev (3-0, 2) – Light Middleweight
We've already mentioned fighters skipping the 4 round phase of their career, but amazingly Nursultan Zhanabayev skipped straight to 10 rounders to begin his career, making his debut in 2016 and taking a 10 round decision over Xingxin Yang to kick off life as a professional boxer. On paper that debut win relied on a 10th round knockdown of the then 11-4-3 Chinese fighter, to claim a split decision, but the reality is that Zhanabayev deserved a very clear and very impressive debut win. He has since built on that debut win with a stoppage against the Joel Dela Cruz and a blast out win against Alex Sandro Duarte.

Zhanabayev seems to have an issue with staying active. He has his first 2 bouts just 2 months apart, bout would be out of the ring for 9 months. He's now been inactive since September 2017, and we do wonder when he returns. He's a genuine talent, and could go a very long way with the right sort of promotional and managerial backing, but without that he could become one of the many lost talents this sport has had. If a team can get behind him, guide him properly then the sky is his limit. Thankfully he is only 25 and has certainly got time to build his career, though may not want to wait too much longer before getting back to action.

Part two of this series will be posted shortly and will feature some of the other top prospects from Kazakhstan, who are going to be worth following over the years to come.

Images courtesy of:
Vesti.kz
​Today.kz

A thanks to Matt Horan for pointing out Zhanat Zhakiyanov​'s world title reign.