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It's fair to say that February was a super quiet for Asian Boxing, and there was very, very, few shows. Thankfully what we did get was, generally, very fun to watch and we had some great fights from South Korea, Japan, the Philippines as well as some notable action in Thailand and in Kazakhstan. The month wasn't a big one, but, generally, what we got was really exciting and very much worth enjoying.
Fighter of the Month Hinata Maruta One thing the month generally lacked was high profile bouts, with a lot of low key bouts taking place instead. Despite that the higher level bouts did give us some great action and some excellent performances, including that of Japanese Featherweight youngster Hinata Maruta, who shone in his Japanese Featherweight title bout against Ryo Sagawa. He didn't score the biggest win of the month, that was Rene Mark Cuarto who beat Pedro Taduan, but he scored the most impressive, stopping the world ranked Sagawa in spectacular fashion. This was a performance that, finally, showed Maruta is the talent that he was originally promoted as, and, fingers crossed, he can build on this excellent win later in the year. Honourable mentions: Pedro Taduran Bienvenido Ligas Fight of the Month Young Chae Song vs Joo Yeol Bang It was the month of lower level fights, and that was shown in the Japanese Rookie of the Year show as well as on the only Korean card of the month. That Korean card featured a truly sensational 4 rounder between Young Chae Song and Joo Yeol Bang. This 4 round Welterweight bout was just an all out war, with Song doing just enough to claim the win. If you missed this one, which was held on an obscure KBC show, you need to hunt it down and enjoy it. It was brutal from round 1 to round 4 and looked like it was taken from a Hollywood movie, not a live boxing contest. Honourable mentions: Prince Andrew Laurio vs Ranelio Quizo Ryota Karimata vs Hyogo Kimura KO of the Month Abay Tolesh TKO5 Vasily Shtyk We're not sure what Paul Tuzinde was doing on February 27th, but he seemed to have some kind of personal dislike of Vasily Shtyk who needed saving about 20 seconds before the end of his bout against Abay Tolesh. As a result of Tuzinde's inaction we ended up seeing Shtyk being brutally knocked out in round 5. Shtyk had been dropped heard earlier in the round, had been wobbly ever since getting to his feet and took a number of huge shots, including 3 clean headshots that sent him down. He wasn't out cold, thankfully, but it was clear he was done and it was clear the referee should have done more. Honourable mention: Hinata Maruta TKO7 Ryo Sagawa (also not a clean "KO" but a very nice finish by Maruta) Prospect of the Month Talgat Shayken During the month we had a host of notable prospects in action, and they were prospects from right through Asia, with exciting talent from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Thailand, Philippines and Japan all in action. For us the standout performance by a prospect was that of Talgat Shayken, who genuinely impressed in his 4th professional bout. The Kazakh youngster was wobbled early on by Evgeny Pavko but battled back excellently and took a clear decision against an opponent who was there to win. Shayken had pretty much bullied his first 3 opponents before facing Pavko, but here he had to adapt, show his boxing skills and controlled the bout, outside of the first 30 seconds. His performance was really solid and showed there was a very good boxing brain in Shayken's head. Honourable mention: Yudai Shigeoka Upset of the Month Rene Mark Cuarto Vs Pedro Taduran With a lack of fights came a lack of upsets, and there really wasn't too many surprised at all during the month. The one exception was Rene Mark Cuarto upsetting defending IBF Minimumweight champion Pedro Taduran on February 27th. Cuarto had done little to earn a world title fight, he was pretty much unproven even close to world level and had lost, in 2019, to the man Taduran beat for the title. Despite that Cuarto put in a very solid performance, used smart counter punching and a good boxing brain to take an early lead against Taduran and ended up securing an excellent victory. This performance is likely to remain under the radar, but was Cuarto deserves real kudos for making the most of his shot and giving the performance of his career. He showed some great skills at times, and when the going got tough he remained composed and calm to pick his spots. Honourable mention: Jerry Forrest D10 Zhang Zhilei Round of the Month Ryota Karimata vs Hyogo Kimura (Rd 5) We had so many great one of rounds this past month but if push came to shove and we had to select just one we'd have to go with the 5th and final round of the Light Flyweight All Japan Rookie of the Year final. The first 4 rounds had been brilliant, but the with bout still, potentially, on the line as we went into round 5 both both men went up a gear, and spend the full 3 minutes having a phone booth war. This was just brutal, thrilling, all action and the sort of round that every fan needs to watch. It non stop action between two men who left it all in the ring. Technically this wasn't the most polished, but that didn't matter, this was just all action and incredibly fun to watch.
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It's fair to say that January was a disappointing month in terms of action. We really didn't get too many shows, or bouts, and the month meandered slowly from one one notable bout to another, with little to keep our attention in between. Despite that we did have some stellar match ups, some great performances, and a lot of prospects. With that in mind we'll kick off the year with out first month awards for 2021!
Fighter of the Month Gakuya Furuhashi Despite the fact there wasn't a lot going on in January there were some standout performances, a number of really noteworthy bouts and several very solid contests. For us the winner for Fight of the Month was the fighter who impressed us the most, and that was Gakuya Furuhashi, who put on a determined and brilliant performance to stop Yusaku Kuga. Their bout was amazing, genuinely an amazing bout, but it was the performance of Furuhashi that made it what it was. He walked through bombs and looked like a man possessed as he broke down Kuga. At the age of 33 he would have known this was going to be his last chance, and fought like he knew it was now or never. Fight of the Month Jong Seon Kang vs Nam Jun Lee It's fair to say that January was a very, very quiet month, and there really wasn't too many Asian shows taking place through the month. Despite that we did get some amazing bouts, and the most exciting of those was the brilliant, brutal and all action bout between Jong Seon Kang and Nam Jun Lee, who battled on January 9th in a bout for the WBO Oriental Featherweight title. This was 12 rounds of sensational action and could well be in the running for the Fight of the Year come December, a truly fantastic war to kick off the year. Honourable mentions: Yusaku Kuga Vs Gakuya Furhashi Riku Nagahama Vs Ryota Toyoshima Joon Sun Lee v Tae Hyub Go KO of the Month No suitable KO Note - We did get some solid TKO's but in terms of KO's there was nothing that seemed award worthy. Prospect Jukiya Iimura We had plenty of prospects in action in January but for us the one that stood out was Jukiya Iimura, who looked sensational in his debut win over Daisuke Yamada. The 22 year old, at the time, Iimura dropped Yamada twice and instantly generated buzz from a sensational debut that has left us really looking forward to seeing his next bout, which will take place in March. Iimura looked exciting, heavy handed and like a fighter who has instantly adapted to the professional style of boxing. There is work to do, but he looked really, really good, and is certainly one to get excited about. Upset Seigo Hanamori TKO4 Naoto Mizutani On paper Seigo Hanamori's January 29th win over Naoto Mizutani didn't appear to be a shock, given the records of the two men. Paper however doesn't tell us the full story or explain just how big of a shock this actually was. Going into the bout Mizutani was ranked by the JBC and since 2018 his only losses had come to very good fighters, in Ryo Akaho and Fumiya Fuse. Not only that but he had real momentum in the back up upset wins over Joe Tanook and Naoya Okamoto. Despite the success of Mizutani coming in he was stopped in 4 rounds by Hanamori, who had never previously defeated a fight with more wins than losses. This really was a career best win by Hanamori, by some margin. Round Yusaku Kuga Vs Gakuya Furuhashi (Rd 6) Although we didn't get a lot of fights in January we did get a lot of amazing rounds from a number of all action wars, each delivering numerous round of the month contenders. If forced to pick a single one however round 6 of the Japanese Super Bantamweight title fight between Yusaku Kuga and Gakuya Furuhashi gets the nod, just. The fight had 8 amazing rounds, but for us the 6th stands out just a little more than the others, as it seemed, during the round, that the tide began to turn against the defending champion, giving the bout a swing. Despite the tide of the fight turning in the round, it was a round that swung one way then the other. It's a round that had intense action, clean, solid, exchanges, and the entire 3 minutes was pretty much a none stop highlight reel. A genuinely amazing 3 minutes of action. 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. Maybe it's just us but it really does seem like November was an incredibly long month, with so much going on and so many fights taking place. It seemed, during the entire month, that there was no time to sit and breathe as there was always a bout taking place or a bout being announced, or cancelled. It really does seem hard to believe that Naoya Inoue's win over Jason Moloney came just over a month ago, at the end of October, and since then so much has happened in the boxing world.
We're not here today for a history however, and instead we are here for the Monthly Award for November, and boy was there some hot competition for a number of these awards. Fighter of the Month Junto Nakatani Back on November 6th we saw Japanese youngster Junto Nakatani announce himself on the world stage with a clinical, brilliant, and educated win over Giemel Magramo, stopping the Filipino in 8 rounds to claim the WBO Flyweight title. This was just fantastic from Nakatani who controlled at range and dominated up close, which was supposed to be Magramo's wheel yard. The youngster has been the toast of Japan since and it's clear to see the youngster from Sagamihara City has all the tools needed to be a huge star in Japan over the coming years. This was the break out win he needed and the future is sensationally bright for him. Honourable mention - Panya Pradabsri Fight of the Month Yoshimitsu Kimura Vs Shuma Nakazato We've been lucky in November to have a lot of fights worth talking about during the month, though for us the best was the stand out 8 rounder from Tokyo between Yoshimitsu Kimura and Shuma Nakazato. This was one of those rare bouts where we couldn't call it going in, and neither could fans. It was a true 50/50 match up on paper, and it was a 50/50 match up in the ring, from the first round, to the last. Both men boxed at a high level, both were dropped and both dug in deep when the tempo increased. This was worth the price of Boxing Raise for the entire month. A sensational fight that deserved a bigger crowd and a bigger stage. Honourable mention - Amnat Ruenroeng Vs Pungluang Sor Singyu Wanheng Menayothin Vs Panya Pradabsri KO of the Month James Bacon KO2 Roque Agustin Junco There was only going to be one winner here and that was always going to be Filipino slugger James Bacon and his jaw dropping, brutal and vicious KO of Roque Agustin Junco, which is one of the best KO's we've seen this year. Anywhere! Bacon caught his man with a vicious sweeping left hook, that he turned right into and landed bang on the chin. Junco was out cold before he hit the canvas and lay, on the ring, like an Angel for a few moments before coming to. This was absolutely sensational and is KO we advise everyone to go and watch. Just, a jaw dropping KO and we were all glad to see Junco responsive afterwards, and sitting on his stool. Prospect Thitisak Hoitong (1-0) We had a lot of excellent prospects in the ring during the month, though we'll admit the man who left the biggest impression on us was the debuting Thitisak Hoitong, who really impressed in a 6 rounder against multi-time world title challenger Wittawas Basapean. During the bout Wittawas was out boxed, out fought, out thought, out manoeuvred and pretty much beaten in every which way. Thitisak looked like a sensation here and like one of the most skilled novices we're ever seen. At one point it seemed like he had Wittawas ready to go, but then took his foot off the gas and got 6 good rounds of experience. Genuinely one to watch Honourable mention - Phoobadin Yoohanngoh Upset Panya Pradabsri Vs Wanheng Menayothin We only had one or two upsets of any note, though we did have a particularly big one towards the end of the month and that was the unanimous decision win by Panya Pradabsri against Wanheng Menayothin to claim the WBC Minimumweight title. The bout opened with Wanheng as a 1/12 favourite, close to unbackable in our eyes, with the bookies and whilst the odds did topple significantly by fight night Wanheng was still the clear favourite with his 54-0 record expected to have another win added to it. Instead we saw the 29 year old challenger take the victory and the WBC title in a career defining performance. Honourable mention - Hyuma Fujioka UD6 Ryugo Ushijima Round Junpei Tsujimoto vs Daiki Ogura (Rd2) We legitimately had so many standout rounds in the month of November that we could probably put 12 together to make for an amazing full length fight, and still have rounds that are worth a watch missing out. For us the best round of the month was the second round of the bout between Junpei Tsujimoto and Daiki Ogura. This wasn't a world class round of high quality action, which we know some prefer, but this was drama, heart, determination, shock and surprise. For much of the round Tsujimoto looked a goner, he was rocked, hurt, dropped, and all over the place for much of the round until he turned it around later on with 1 huge right hand. There was no round as dramatic as this one. A truly tremendous round that deserves to be watched over and over. Honourable mentions - Ryoichi Tamura Vs Ryu Oba (RD1) Takahiro Hamazaki Vs Takuya Takahashi (Rd 3) Ken Koibuchi v Tetsuya Kondo (Rd 3) Wanheng Menayothin Vs Panya Pradabsri (Rd 6) Yoshimitsu Kimura Vs Shuma Nakazato (Rd7) Wanheng Menayothin Vs Panya Pradabsri (Rd 11) If we're being totally hones the month of October felt really, really, really long. That sounds like a complaint, but it really isn't it was just so packed with great action, interesting fights and we seemed to get something worth talking about every few days. We had numerous great fights, we had a lot of free content, we had massive shows in the West and we had so much action that we, as fans, were left swimming in in joy at some of the stuff we were getting. October was a great month for boxing and today we look at the highlights for Asian fights with the latest in our Monthly awards.
Fighter of the Month Naoya Inoue We begin this with an obvious award and that is the Fighter of the month. That honour easily belonged to Naoya Inoue, with the pound-for-pound claimant showing what he could do in his Las Vegas debut. The talented Inoue, who fought in one of the very last bouts of the month, was in with the very credible, and decent Jason Moloney. He was coming in after suffering a nasty injury last time out to his eye, and after almost a year away from the ring. He was coming in to the bout with pressure, and plenty doubting him, and also with history against him, having seen the last two Japanese champions in Las Vegas losing their world titles. Despite that he put on a fantastic performance, stopping in 7 rounds, and breaking the durable, brave and tough Aussie. Following the win Inoue made it clear he wanted to unify his WBA "Super", IBF and Ring Magazine titles with the other belts in the division and doesn't want to relax on his laurels. It was fantastic, once again, for the Monster. Fight of the Month Toshiki Kawamitsu Vs Kenshi Noda The month of October really had some tremendous bouts, and we could reel off maybe a short list of 20 bouts from October featuring an Asian fighter worthy of your time. None, however, were as good as the war between Toshiki Kawamitsu and Kenshi Noda. These two youngster put on a show. From the opening round this was a technical, high speed, phone booth war. They were both sharp and accurate, they wanted to hurt the other man, and also show their skillset. As the bout went on both men were hurt, the action continued to be intense and there was no let up until one of the men began to lag. It's not the longest bout from the month, but it was, for us, the most enjoyable bout in Asia. Sadly it was quickly overshadowed globally by the front runner for the global Fight of the Year with Jose Zepeda and Ivan Baranchyk giving us something other-wordly in the US. KO of the Month Janibek Alimkhanuly Vs Gonzalo Gaston Coria We had a lot of really good KO's this past month, and they came from all over the place. We really were treated to some brutal finishes and the short list for this award was a fairly lengthy one. In the end however the stand out came from unbeaten Kazakh Janibek Alimkhanuly, who absolutely destroyed Argentina's Gonzalo Gaston Coria in the second round of their bout. This was brutal and nasty. Alimkhanuly dumped Coria on the canvas with a huge left hand, bloodied his face in the process and left Coria with no chance of getting up. It maybe wasn't the most eye pleasing, but it was the most brutal. A sensational finish by a very, very talented Kazakh hopeful Prospect of the Month Nonthasith Petchnamthong When it comes to prospect of the month it's hard to judge who deserves the honour. Is it the fighter who looks the best, or is it the fighter who scored the most impressive result? This month we went with the second of those options with Thai novice Nonthasith Petchnamthong really impressing us in just his second professional bout. The talented Thai not only won his second professional bout, but did it against a former world champion, as he out pointed Kompayak Porpramook. Whilst it is fair to say that Kompayak is best his best, and fighting above his best weight, this was still a really impressive performance from the Thai novice against an awkward and aggressive fighter. Whether Nonthasith goes on to be a star or not is unclear, but we were certainly impressed by his performance here, and we're looking forward to seeing a lot more of him in the future. Upset of the Month Viktor Kotochigov vs Maxi Hughes Although some categories has a lot of bouts to choose from we didn't really get too many upsets this month. The most notable of the ones we did get saw Kazakh fighter Viktor Kotochigov lose his record in a betting upset to the under-rated Maxi Hughes. The result was a surprise in it's self, with Hughes taking a decision, but it was the manner of this contest that was most startling. The light punching Hughes dropped Kotochigov early in the bout and had him reeling in round 4. The Englishman bossed it through large portions of the bout and was well deserving of the victory here. Round of the Month Toshiki Kawamitsu Vs Kenshi Noda (Rd2) We close this by going back to the brilliant bout between Toshiki Kawamitsu and Kenshi Noda, for the round of the Month. Whilst their bout was tremendous, and genuinely we would advise anyone who missed it to watch the entire thing, round 2 was the one that stood out as the most must watch round. This was top tier action between two young novices who both dug deep, let their hands go and gave us one of the best 3 minutes of the year. The was something really special, and we implore you all to give the bout a watch and enjoy this round, and the others in the bout. Tremendous stuff from both youngsters. The month of September has been a bit of a strange one for Asian boxing. We have had a lot of activity, but we've seen it in bursts, with this past weekend being one of those bursts. The big names, for the most part, weren't in action and a lot of what we did get was Rookie of the Year in Japan and low level tick over bouts in Thailand, with novices looking to kick off their careers in Kazakhstan and more low level stuff in China. As a result a lot of our awards this month are heading to relative unknowns.
Fighter of the Month John Riel Casimero The Fight of the Month was one of the easiest awards for the month, with WBO Bantamweight champion John Riel Casimero being the stand out fighter for the month. He was the only Asian world champion to defend a world title during the month, and he did so in spectacular fashion, battering Duke Micah in 3 rounds. Casimero has continued to build on the win by calling out Naoya Inoue pretty much continually since the bout, and has certainly made fans sit up, take note, listen and remember his name. Fight of the Month Tsubasa Narai Vs Tomohiro Igarashi We had some real fun fights this past month, though the most fun was the thrilling shout out between Tsubasa Narai and Tomohiro Igarashi. This wasn't the most violent bout, but was the most dramatic, most exciting a thrilling back and forth war. Both men showed solid skills, both men were dropped and both men had the bout going against them at some point. The bout was action packed through out and ended in spectacular fashion. A real must watch Honourable mentions Koichi Aso Vs Shogo Yamaguchi John Riel Casimero Vs Duke Micah Arman Rysbek vs Mikhail Dauhaliavets KO of the Month Aito Abe TKO1 Kentaro Omori We didn't get too many brutal KO's in September but the one that left the biggest impression on us came in the East Japan Rookie of the Year qualifying bout between Aito Abe and Kentaro Omori. The entire bout didn't last long and ended in spectacular fashion, with Abe landed a dynamite right hand that sent Omori crashing to the canvas. A single, huge, right hand. Absolutely brutal shot and one that fans, with Boxing Raise, should go and check out...now! Prospect of the Month Rentaro Kimura (2-0, 2) There was some very impressive performances by prospects in September, though none were as impressive as Rentaro Kimura's performance. His opponent wasn't the most testing, or skilled, but that didn't prevent Kimura from genuinely impressing. The Japanese "Super Prospect" showed sensation shot selection, an amazing use of angles, and not only show cased his offense against an over matched opponent but also his defense in a performance that was incredibly impressive. This was the type of performance that should make people sit and take notice and we suspect we'll see a lot of fans getting behind Kimura very, very quickly following a showing like he had here. Honourable mentions: Nattapong Jankaew Upset of the Month Pungluang Sor Singyu KO7 Campee Phayom After losing the WBO Bantamweight title in 2016 Pungluang Sor Singyu struggled to get his career back on track, losing 4 of his following 5 bouts. Surprisingly however he managed to get his career back in track in early September when he scored a come from behind stoppage win over Campee Phayom. Pungluang wasn't expected to pick up the win here, he was expected to be too old, too small, too shot, but managed to use his experience to grind down Campee and take the KO victory over the much younger man. Thanks to this win, Pungluang's second win in 4 and a half years, the Thai veteran has given his career a major shot in the arm. Round of the Month Arman Rysbek vs Mikhail Dauhaliavets (Rd3) We love rounds where fighters trade shots, and set a high tempo. We had a lot of these this month. Rounds of action up close and personal are typically our favourite rounds and there was was a lot of those. In terms of quality there were very few that matched the incredible quality of the 3rd round between Arman Rysbek and Mikhail Dauhaliavets. This was high quality boxing, at close range, at a high pace, with clean shots landed by both. If fans missed this fight we suggest you give it a watch, especially round 3. Genuinely fantastic. Honourable mentions: John Riel Casimero Vs Duke Micah (Rd1) Ryo Yoshida Vs Ricky Hasegawa (Rd 1) It's fair to say that August has continued to see boxing's return to Asia grow and grow. The bouts may not have been the best but there was plenty of very good bouts and inter match ups, with a good number of events made available to stream internationally and a lot of very talented prospects moving forward with their careers, including 5 notable debuts. We're still a long, long way from the sport being anywhere close to what it was at the start of the year, but we are continuing to see steps taken as the sport continues moving forward.
Fighter of the Month Ryo Sagawa Although there was a good number of fights in August there really wasn't any huge fights. There was no world title fights and there was a limited number of title bouts in general from Asia. The one fighter who did stand out for their performance was Ryo Sagawa, who had to work hard, but shined in his win over Yuri Takemoto, to retain the Japanese Featherweight title. He took his time, got a read on Takemoto, then went through the gears and broke down Takemoto with some vicious body shots. It's a shame we never got to see Sagawa defend his belt against a top challenger here, but we can't take away from how impressive he looked and how much of a talent he appeared to be here. A real star in the making, who needs better opponents than the game, but out classed, Takemoto. Fight of the Month Daisuke Watanabe vs Shingo Kusano There was some fantastic bouts during August but the one that genuinely stood, by some margin, as the best for us was the 8 round action thriller between Daisuke Watanabe and Shingo Kusano. The bout, which was the final of the Hajime No Ippo 30th anniversary tournament, had everything we could want to see in a bout. We had a nice clash of styles, fantastic back and forth, competitive action and a bout that got better as it went on. The first few rounds were brilliant as both men looked to take control. This saw Kusano coming forward originally, before Watanabe turned the tables. The we saw Kusnao turn counter puncher, and have success, before being dropped in round 5. After 5 great rounds the bout caught fire big time in round 6 and gave us 3 none stop rounds of action. This is up there with the best bouts of 2020 world wide, a fantastic fight! Honourable mentions Ryo Sagawa Vs Yuri Takemoto Erzhan Turgumbekov Vs Albert Batyrgaziev KO of the Month Tsubasa Murata TKO2 Yuya Miyazaki Despite the fact this was a packed month there wasn't really many true KO's, though one we did see that stood out was Tsubasa Murata's absolute beauty against Yuya Miyazaki in the Central Japan Rookie of the Year. Coming in to this no one would have expected what we got, but in round 2 Murata landed a brutal straight right hand that dropped Miyazaki. The shot was a beauty but the way Miyazaki went down was even better, first falling to one knee, and then flat out face first. If you have Boxing Raise we strongly suggest you hunt this down as it is something special. A truly stunning KO by the 21 year old hopeful who showed surprising power in one of the best 1-punch KO's of 2020. Prospect of the Month Tursynbay Kulakhmet (1-0) The toughest category this month was the prospect of the month, which was a category where people kept throwing their names into the running. For us the winner was Kazakh sensation Tursynbay Kulakhmet, who looked absolute brilliant in his debut. The former amateur standout was expected to be given a test by Sagadat Rakhmankulov, but instead toyed with his man, broke him down and caused him to retire between rounds. Kulakhmet looks like the type of fighter who will be fast tracked, and on the back of this performance there is no reason for MTK to hold him back. Fingers crossed we see him in with a notable name next time out, perhaps even someone like Jeff Horn, who has more than just a bit of name value and is very much on the slide. If you only look at single prospect from Asia this month Kulakhmet's the one, though it was a very close run competition with the likes of the fighters mentioned in our honourable mentions who are all worth checking out! Honourable mentions: Yoshiki Shimomachi, Jinki Maeda, Kamshybek Kunkabayev, Jin Sasaki, Ryotaro Nakagaki Upset of the Month Dauren Yeleussinov (8-1-1, 7) Vs Juan Carlos Raygosa (17-15-3, 6) The upset of the month is strangely not recorded on boxrec, at the time of writing, despite taking place more than a week ago. Despite not being on Boxrec it's hard to deny that this was a shocker as unbeaten Kazakh hopeful Dauren Yeleussinov was shocked by Mexican journeyman Juan Carlos Raygosa. It was expected that the unbeaten Kazakh would shake some ring rust here and take a clear decision over the experienced but limited Raygosa. Instead it was Raygosa that took the initiative and claimed the win. The victory for the Mexican saw him pick up the WBC "international" Middleweight title as well as the W. Honourable mentions George Tachibana UD5 Shuhei Tsuchiya Dmitrii Khasiev TKO8 Stanislav Kalitskiy Round of the Month Daisuke Watanabe vs Shingo Kusano (RD6) We go back to our Fight of the Month for the best round of the month as well, and that was the 6th round of the brilliant clash between Daisuke Watanabe and Shingo Kusano. This was the round where the bout went into over drive and saw the two men begin to throw caution to the win and unload on each other on the inside. Rounds 7 and 8 were similarly great, but not quite as exciting, as both men began to slow down. The round was a total war and is up there with the very best rounds of 2020. If you missed the bout we advise you watch it in full on Boxing Raise, and we suspect round 6 will be the one you go back and rewatch a few times, as you try and figure out how the two men took the punishment they traded her. A truly brilliant round of action. With the sport's return to some, albeit limited, normality we thought it was time to begin doing our Monthly Awards again. The sport is certainly not going at full speed yet, but there actually was quite a lot that happened in July, with a number of upsets, a frightening KO, some brilliant action and a movement towards boxing's big return. Yes there is a lot for the sport to do going forward, but, for the first time since February, we've had more than just an odd fight here and there. Fighter of the Month Kenichi Horikawa (41-16-1, 14) Aged 40 and coming in as the under-dog for his fight with Daiki Tomita the veteran really showed what he had left in the tank by not just beating Tomita, but stopping him to claim the OPBF Light Flyweight title. A 40 year at 108lbs is supposed to be retired and enjoying a post boxing career but Horikawa is still having real success years beyond his supposed prime. This wasn't necessarily the best performance of the month, but this was the most impressive in terms of context and the sort of win that really puts Horikawa on the verge of something big. Fight of the Month Phoobadin Yoohanngoh Vs Kulabdam Sor Jor Piekuthai Although not the most exciting fight as such the WBA Asia Light Welterweight bout between 16 year old prodigy Phoobadin Yoohanngoh and former Muay Thai standout Kulabdam Sor Jor Piekuthai was a bout that had everything we needed. It was, technically a compelling bout on paper, it was a great match up of styles and a really competitive contest. Whilst Phoobadin won, he had to answer questions and despite the loss Kulabdam will come again, having learned more in that one bout that he would in 10 other bouts. This was two youngsters putting things on the line in a good, solid, 10 rounder. It may not have been the most action packed or dramatic, but it was a bout that had other intriguing aspects to it, that more than made up for the lack of knockdowns and back and forth exchanges. KO of the Month Rentaro Kimura TKO2 Yuta Azuma When there is a lot of hype around a prospect ahead of their debut they need to shine, and Rentaro Kimura did just that, giving us a KO of the year contender. The youngster looked good, although not flawless, in the first round, and was caught a few times in round 2. That however was quickly forgotten thanks to the brutal finish he put on against Yuya Azuma. We see lots of 1-punch KO's but from Kimura was got a brutal combination to take out Azuma who had never previously been stopped. This was brutal and brilliant Prospect of the Month Rentaro Kimura (1-0, 1) It's a double for Rentaro Kimura. The talented Japanese debutant looked truly fantastic at times, and looks like someone who can be fast tracked over the coming years. He looked like there was areas to improve, of course he did, but he showed so much that it's hard not to get very excited about him. He's quick, sharp, powerful, skilled and has that pure killed instinct in the ring. He's going to be a must watch fighter, and his return to the ring in September is highly anticipated as he looks to be moved very quickly in the coming years. Other prospects worth mentioning Arnon Yupang Phoobadin Yoohanngoh Bek Nurmaganbet Upset of the Month Sandy Messaoud TD7 Nursultan Zhangabayev There was an incredible number of upsets this past month in Asian boxing but the most surprising of them all was the technical decision win scored by French fighter Sandy Messaoud against previously unbeaten, and world ranked, Kazakh Nursultan Zhangabayev. The Kazakh was dropped early, had no answer for Messaoud's movement and accuracy in what was a massive shocker. The fact that not only Messaoud out boxed the talented Kazakh but also got the decision was a bit of a surprise, despite the awful scorecard of Jan Teleki. As mentioned there was a number of other upsets these included: Kenichi Horikawa Vs Daiki Tomita Daishi Nagata Vs Koki Inoue Round of the Month Satoshi Shimizu Vs Kyohei Tonomoto (RD1) When we see Satoshi Shimizu there some really obvious things that we always see. We always see a technically crude, easy to heat power puncher. Against the wrong opponent that will cost him, as we say last year against Joe Noynay, against the right opponent however it will give us something awesome. Against Kyohei Tonomoto we got something awesome in a number of rounds. Some will suggest round 7 was the pick of the bunch, and they'd have a damn good argument, but for us the opening round was the one. Tonomoto came out aggressive, forced Shimizu back and looked the better fighter and the more aggressive man, but yet found himself on the canvas twice in a round that had action, drama, excitement, wild fighting and heart. Honourable mention: Shimizu Vs Tonomoto (Rd 7) So that was January 2020 and the first month of a new decade was interesting without really being sensational. We certainly had plenty of noteworthy action, though compared to December was a significant downturn, and a much less interesting month. Then again that is pretty normal for a January. With that said lets have a look at what we deem the best of January! Fighter of the Month Murodjon Akhmadaliev (8-0, 6) The fighter of the month was a pretty obvious pick, with Uzbek Super Bantamweight Murodjon Akhmadaliev being the clear, and standout, winner. The talented former amateur standout ended the month was a fantastic, albeit very competitive, win over Daniel Roman. The win, which netted Akmadaliev the IBF and WBA "Super" titles, was huge and it's hard to deny that "MJ" has kicked off the year in a huge way! If he can build on this win through the year he really could be one of the names for 2020, much like Can Xu was in 2019. Fight of the Month Han Bin Suh Vs Dong Myung Shin There was some good fights this past month, but nothing that will be in the conversation for Fight of the Year. Despite that it's hard to pick fault with the compelling 10 round Korean Super Bantamweight title bout between Han Bin Suh and Dong Myung Shin. This was compelling through out, with Suh refusing to ever accept defeat, and instead he kept ploughing forward hoping to break down the much more polished Dong Myung Shin. This was brilliant and a real hidden gem part way through the month. It wasn't the most high skilled bout of the month, or the most exciting, but it blended the action, activity and skills well. KO of the Month Shohjahon Ergashev KO1 Adrian Estrella It was a weird month for KO's with very few of them really standing out, though it may take a while for us to see a better one than Shohjahon Ergashev's body shot KO against Adrian Estrella. This was naturally beautiful and left the Mexican in pure agony on the canvas, It's rare for body shots KO's to be this good, and it's another KO for an Ergashev KO reel. A truly sensational shot, that is going to be worth watching and over through the year. Prospect Tuguldur Byambatsogt (2-0) January had a lot of stellar performances from prospects from all over the place, with emerging fighters from Uzbekistan, Korea, Japan and China all impressing. It was however a Mongolian that shined the brightest, with Tuguldur Byambatsogt really showing what he could do with a clear and impressive win against Vladimir Baez. This young man from Mongolia is a potential star of the future, and no one impressed quite as much as he did. For a fighter in just his second professional bout Byambatsogt has put down a marker of intent and hopefully he and his team will continue to aim high through the rest of 2020. Upset Esneiker Correa TKO7 Ravshanbek Umurzakov We didn't have too many upsets of any note this past months, but the one that did raise have the most shock value came in Russian when 21 year old Venezuelan Esneiker Correa stopped previously unbeaten Uzbek hopeful Ravshanbek Umurzakov in 7 rounds. We'd expected the highly regarded Uzbek to pick up his 11th straight win against someone who was fighting outside of Latin America for the first. Instead Correra broke down and beat up Umurzakov to claim a massive victory in the 7th round. This wasn't just a big upset for Umurzakov but the type of win that allowed him to announce himself as one to watch. And seriously we would advise keeping an eye on this young puncher, he is someone to get excited about. Round Takuma Takahashi vs Leonardo Doronio (Round 3) There were some amazing rounds, truly amazing rounds. For us the the third round between Takuma Takahashi and Leonardo Doronio takes the honours, just. This was drama, controversy, and action all rolled into one. Takahashi twice dropped Doronio, could have had points taken both times for hitting his downed opponent, and was cut in a round that was absolutely sensation. This was almost 3 minutes of chaos in which both men were hurt. Well and truly worth a watch below! Generally December is a very Japan centric month in Asian boxing, with the end of shows and Rookie of the Year. This year things seemed even more Japan centric than usual with a host of cards through the month. As a result December's awards were pretty much all in Japan, though that doesn't take away from what was a very interesting month.
Fighter of the Month Kazuto Ioka In December we had a host of world title fights, some were competitive, some weren't but for us the guy who shone the brightest was Kazuto Ioka. Ioka was in tough with a 2-time Olympian, who was tall, longer and faster. After taking a couple of rounds to figure his man out however Ioka began to adjust and slowly broke down Jeyvier Cintron in what was an excellent over all performance in a fantastic bout. Cintron, we suspect, will win a world title in the future and this is a win that will end up looking very good in a few year's time. Fight of the Month Yuki Beppu Vs Ryota Yada Few fights can truly be described as dramatic, but with 6 knockdowns, bombs being traded through out, and a huge come from behind win it's hard to suggest that anything other than the WBO Asia Pacific Welterweight title bout between Yuki Beppu and Ryota Yada was going to win this. There were other great bouts, the rookie of the year bout between Kodai Honda vs Yasutaka Fujita being among them, but nothing was every going to compete with Beppu Vs Yada. A genuine must watch war. KO of the Month Mammoth Kazunori TKO5 Lerdchai Chaiyawed It seemed that December wanted to try and provide us with the best of everything, and the brutal KO scored by Mammoth Kazunori, against Lerdchai Chaiyawed, tried to steal the KO of the Year with just over 2 weeks of the year left. This was originally doing the rounds from a fan cam, but when the bout was upload to Boxing Raise a few days after it took place the KO looked even better. A single solid left hand turned Lerdchai 's lights out...and then he hit the canvas. This was as clean a shot as Kazunori will likely ever land, and the way Lerdchai hit the canvas was just nasty. Prospect Yudai Shigeoka (2-0, 1) With a win against an OPBF champion in just his second professional bout, it was hard to give this award to anyone else. Shigeoka might not be as brutal as his younger brother, Ginjiro Shigeoka, but out pointing Lito Dante this early in his career was fantastic and a real statement of intent for someone wanting to be fast-tracked. Amazingly Yudai's brother stopped Rey Loreto and Bektemir Melikuziev out pointed Vaughn Alexander, in just his 4th bout, during the month. This was an excellent month for prospects. Upset Renz Rosia UD8 Aston Palicte The "Filipino fighters are involved in upsets" trend continued through December. Jhack Tepora being stopped by Oscar Escandon, Jhunriel Ramonal stopping Yusaku Kuga and Renz Rosia beating Aston Palicte were the short list for the month. For us Rosia's win gets the award due to the fact he completely out boxed, out fought and out though Palicte. This wasn't a wild shot, or beating someone before they warmed up. This was beating them round, after round, after round. This was Rosia exposing Palicte's flaws, and given where Palicte was at the start of this year was a genuine surprise. What made this really stand out is that Rosia was 1-4-1 in his previous 6 bouts! A genuine shocker. Round Toshiya Ishii vs Haruki Ishikawa (Round 2) We had some amazing rounds this past month, and round 4 of Akira Yaegashi Vs Moruti Mthalane will certainly be a hard one to forget. For sheer drama and too and fro action however the pick from the month was round 2 from Toshiya Ishii's incredible battle with Haruki Ishikawa. Ishii was dropped in the opening seconds, regrouped, the two men staggered each and both were hurt several times before the round concluded. This was sheer, unadulterated awesomeness. A real round of the ages, and came in a Japanese Youth title bout, proving that even this low level of title is worth putting it all on the line for. |
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