 Over the last few weeks we've looked at the Light Flyweight world champions, the key contenders and a number of prospects. So to end this feature we'll look at one more thing that Light Flyweight has going for it, the match ups. And if we're being honest this is where the division really comes into it's own as it's set to give us some amazing bouts in the coming weeks and months. These include bouts for all the world titles! Ryoichi Taguchi (27-2-2, 12) vs Hekkie Budler (31-3, 10) On May 20th we get the first of 4 mouth watering world title bouts. This bout will see WBA “super”, IBF and Ring Magazine champion Ryoichi Taguchi defending his collection of title as he takes on former WBA Minimumweight champion Hekkie Budler. For Taguchi the bout will be his 8th defense of the WBA title and his first defense of the other two belts as he looks to build on a big win over Milan Melindo last year. As for Budler this will be his second shot at a Light Flyweight title, after a thrilling 12 round split decision loss to Melindo last September. The winner of this bout has a strong claim to be the divisional number #1 but given the depth in the division things aren't really that clear. We're expecting this to be a really thrilling war as the gangly and hard working Taguchi takes on the quick and gritty determination of Budler. We're expecting something very exciting here, and wouldn't be surprised by the bout being a very thrilling 12 round war. Ken Shiro (12-0, 6) vs Ganigan Lopez (29-7, 18) II Less than a week after the Taguchi Vs Budler bout we get another fantastic match up, with WBC champion Ken Shiro defending his title against Ganigan Lopez, the man he took the belt from just over a year ago. Since winning the title Ken Shiro has made a couple of defense, beating Pedro Guevara and Gilberto Pedroza and has physically matured. At the age of 26 the champion is just coming into his prime and has the opportunity to become one of the faces of Japanese boxing. Lopez on the other hand is 36 years and this will be likely be his final big bout, if he loses, so will not be travelling to pick anything but a win and the title. As we saw in the first bout these two are well matched and this should be a compelling match once again. Notably the winner of this will also have a great claim to be the best in the division. The champion has already scored notable wins over Lopez, Guevara and Pedroza whilst the challenger holds wins over the likes of Mario Rodriguez, Yu Kimura and Jonathan Taconing.  Angel Acosta (17-1, 17) vs Carlos Buitrago (30-3-1, 17) On June 16th it's the turn of WBO champion Angel Acosta, with the huge punching Puerto Rican defending his title for the first time, and battling against Nicaraguan Carlos Buitrago. The champion won the title last year, when he stopped Juan Alejo, and looked back to his destructive best following a May 2017 loss to Kosei Tanaka. As for Buitrago the 26 year old challenger has lost 3 of his last 6 and will have to look at this bout as potentially his last chance, especially given how badly he was beaten last time out by Hiroto Kyoguchi. For Acosta this bout is a chance to score a win over a well known name, and prove that he really belong to remain in the world title mix whilst Buitrago will almost certainly see this bout as a do or die opportunity. With Acosta's power this could be over early, especially given that Buitrago was simply broken into submission by Kyoguchi, however the Nicaraguan has always seemed more suited to the Light Flyweight division and may well see the recent success of Cristofer Rosales as something of an inspiration. This isn't likely to be the best bout coming up, but should be very exciting. Carlos Canizales (20-0-1, 16) vs Bin Lu (1-0, 1) WBA Regular champion Carlos Canizales will be making his first defense of the title that he won this past March, when he beat Reiya Konishi. Despite being the champion the Venezuelan won't actually be the focus of the bout, instead that will be China's Lu Bin, who looks to create history and become the first man to win a world title in just his second professional bout. The task is a huge one for Bin but if he can come out on top here he will get his name written into the record books and set a record that we don't imagine will be beaten any time soon, if ever. The Chinese fighter is a former amateur stand out, a break out success of the APB and someone willing to chase greatness. Canizales enters as the unbeaten champion, but won't have the pressure associated with being a champion for this bout. With the winner in line to face Taguchi, by virtue of the WBA title, this bout is not only a major one between a defending champion and total novice, but also indirectly with the winner potentially getting such a big opportunity later. We expect Bin to play safe, use a lot of movement and try to move his way to a win, but Canizales can box and bang and may be a bit too powerful and experienced for Bin's history chasing moment. As well as the bouts that have been signed there are also some great match ups we could see later this year, as the contenders look to eliminate each other and force themselves into a title fight. Here are some that we really would love the look of, and really hope get made.
Felix Alvarado (32-2, 28) Vs Jonathan Taconing (27-3-1, 22) A bout between two crude but tough and huge punching fighters would sure deliver fire works, and that's exactly what we'd expect if Nicaragua's Felix Alvarado fought Filipino Jonathan Taconing. Both of these men have fallen short in 2 world title fighters and are chasing a third crack at a title and what a better way to get that fight than by going through another of the division's monster punchers. Tetsuya Hisada (31-9-2, 19) Vs Reiya Konishi (15-1, 5) Japanese boxing is well known for it's warriors and exciting back and forth wars. A bout between Tetsuya Hisada and Reiya Konishi would certainly deliver us another war with both fighters loving to let their hands go and have a fight. We wouldn't expect anything too explosive or defensively impressive here, but it would be a toe-to-toe war with both men looking to out work, out land and out punch he other. Both fighters would be looking to impress and with their style's we would get something enthralling. Milan Melindo (37-3, 13) Vs Randy Petalcorin (28-2-1, 21) We don't get enough top tier all-Filipino bouts, though we would like to see more and a bout between former IBF champion Milan Melindo and former WBA “interim” champion Randy Petalcorin would be just that. Both fighters will be looking to move towards getting a world title fight later in the year and both will know that a win over the other would put them forward as one of the leading Filipino contenders. Not only that but this would be a highly skilled, fast paced chess match. Christian Araneta (15-0, 13) Vs Jesse Espinas (18-2, 11) II Another all Filipino bout that makes a lot of sense is a rematch between Christian Araneta and Jesse Espinas. These two met back in 2015 with Espinas being stopped in 8 rounds of a fantastic bout in Danao City and with a few years since that bout a rematch does make sense. From what we under-stand both men have shown interest in a rematch and it would really push the winner towards a world title fight. High risk, high reward and high potential for an exciting bout. Edward Heno (12-0-5, 5) Vs Rey Loreto (24-14, 16) Yet another potentially thrilling all-Filipino bout, really showing how strong the country is at 108lbs, would see OPBF champion Edward Heno take on former world title challenger Rey Loreto. Heno is a rising contender who has made his mark over the last 12 months or so with notable results against Cris Ganoza, Seita Ogido and Merlito Sabillo but really could do with one more testing bout before looking at a world title fight. Loreto on the other hand has been matched hard through his career but has proven his ability some excellent fighters and could see a win over Heno as his chance to move towards a second world title bout, and bounce back from a loss to Knockout CP Freshmart. If there is a boxing god out there we'll get some of those extra bouts to go alongside the currently scheduled contests as the Light Flyweight division continues to impress and make it's mark. If you missed the other parts of this series Part 1 is available here - The Depth at Light Flyweight - Part 1 - The World Champions Part 2 is available here - The Depth at Light Flyweight - Part 2 - The Contenders Part 3 is available here - The Depth at Light Flyweight - Part 3 - The Prospects (Image of Acosta courtesy of www.promocionesmiguelcotto.com)
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The argument over which division in boxing is the best is an interesting one and is often one where there is a number of divisions of real consideration. For me however one division currently stands out above all the others due to a combination of talent, depth of competition and the match ups we've been getting in recent times, along with the bout scheduled to take place in coming months. The division is the Light Flyweight division, which is scarily deep right now, has a brilliant mixture of talent and styles and is delivering top quality bouts on a regular basis. It also has one of the sports few unified champions and is a division with so many exciting contenders that it's almost inevitable that some top fighters will miss out on big opportunities. For part 1 of this 4 part series we'll begin by looking at the division's word champions. The second part will look at the contenders, part 3 will look at the divisions top prospects and part 4 will be a brief look at some of the match ups coming up in the division over the coming weeks, and there are several big bouts coming up as the divisions continues to deliver.  Ryoichi Taguchi (27-2-2, 12) - WBA “Super”, IBF and Ring Magazine Champion The 31 year old from the Watanabe Gym made his debut back in 2006, as a 19 year old and after an inauspicious start to his career, fighting in 4 rounders he would go on to claim the 2007 Rookie of the Year. A loss in 2009 slowed his rise but he would continue to develop and in 2012 he got his first title fight, fighting to a draw with Masayuki Kuroda in a bout for the Japanese national title. After Kuroda vacated the title Taguchi would claim the vacant Japanaese belt, by over-coming Yuki Chinenin 2013. Sadly for Taguchi his national title reign was a short one, lasting less than 5 months, as he came up against the sensational Naoya Inoue and was dethroned in his first defense, losing a decision to the "Monster" and becoming the first fighter to last the distance with the rising Ohashi fight. The set back to Inoue was a big one but Taguchi bounced back and has subsequently gone 9-0-1 (4). He claimed the WBA title in late 2014 by defeating Alberto Rossel and after several defenses he went on to add the IBF and Ring titles last year, defeating Milan Melindo in an excellent bout to end 2017 and unify three world title. His current 10 fight unbeaten run has seen him defeat not only Rossel and Melindo but also Ryo Miyazaki, Kwanthai Sithmorseng and Robert Barrera, and he has also fought to a draw with big punching Carlos Canizlaes. Tough with a great engine, the ability to adapt and freakish size for a Light Flyweight Taguchi is going to be a tough man to dethrone and is already lined up for his next defense, on May 20th against former WBA Minimumweight champion Hekkie Budler. That bout is an IBF mandatory, and Taguchi is likely to be be returning in September and December as he looks to finish 2018 with 10 defenses of some version of the WBA belt.  Ken Shiro (12-0, 6) – WBC champion Aged 26 Ken Shiro is significantly younger than Taguchi, but is already an accomplished fighter on the professional scene, and that's despite the fact he's been a professional for less than 4 years. In what has been a really short career he has already claimed the WBC Youth, Japanese, OPBF and WBC world titles. He was earmarked for success from his debut and aggressively fast tracked, winning a title within 3 years of his debut. His record already features wins over the likes of Pedro Guevara, Ganigan Lopez, Gilberto Pedroza and Kenichi Horikawa and clearly shows the belief that his team, headed by his father, have in him. Ken Shiro a former amateur stand out on the Japanese doemstic scene and is blessed with speed, a high boxing IQ and the youthfulness to develop his skills further. Those traits are why Ken Shiro looks like he will become one of the key faces of Japanese boxing over the next few years, along with the likes of Daigo Higa and Kosei Tanaka. Although unfortunate to have his first two world title fights, both thrillers, shown on delay in Japan he did have his opportunity to shine on live TV last time out. And he took that chance as he impressed by showing off his boxing, power, skills, speed and personality, which will certainly have won over fans who hadn't seen him before. Although more of a pure boxer than many in the division he really does have the ability to box, brawl or fight and and is very much a chameleon in the ring. Ken Shiro will make his next defense of the WBC title on May 25th against former champion Ganigan Lopez, the man that he originally beat for he belt last May. A win there, in impressive fashion, could well secure Ken Shiro's place as one of Fuji TV's top fighters, and could see them building shows around him in the future.  Angel Acosta (17-1, 17) – WBO champion Puerto Rican puncher Angel Acosta is one of the divisions many big punchers and the 27 year old not only has power but also heart, skills, under-rated speed, a very good amateur back ground and stamina. He blew out his first 15 opponents in just 41 rounds, but has since gone 32 rounds in his last 3 bouts, proving his power carries late in to bouts, with 10th round stoppages against Japhet Uutoni and Juan Alejo. His only loss has also come in his last 3 bouts, suffering a decision loss to Kosei Tanaka last May, though he has since bounced back with the win over Alejo, which came in December 2017. At the moment Acosta is one of two Puerto Rican world champions, along with Alberto Machado, and will likely have his team try to build him as one of the new faces of Puerto Rican boxing. He lacks the star power of a Tito Trinidad, Miguel Cotto or even a Juanma Lopez but like those 3 he is a naturally heavy handed fighter and will certainly thrill fans, especially given he has such brutal power at such a low weight Acosta was pencilled in to fight Ryuji Hara earlier this year but Hara was injured in the build up, a potential bout with Merlito Sabillo also fell through for Acosta but he is now set to defend his title on June 16th. His opponent for that bout isn't yet set, though Hara is said to be the front runner. That will be his first defense as he looks to begin to establish his reign as a world champion and build on his repuation as one of the divisions stars. It's worth noting he has also been linked to potential unification bouts with both both Taguchi and Ken Shiro, and both of those bouts would be great  Carlos Canizales (20-0-1, 16) – WBA “regular” champion
The most recent man to pick up a “world” title is 25 year old Venezuelan punch Carlos Canizales, who claimed his title this past March with a close decision win over the previously unbeaten Reiya Konishi. That win saw Canizales claim a “world” title in his second attempt, having previously been held to a draw by Ryoichi Taguchi in 2016. Although a powerful puncher Canizales has shown an ability to box and move, brawl and punch. Though he has got question marks about his own durability and about his stamina, as he did appear to slow down massively against Konishi. Canizales's best win was the one over Konishi, but he does hold one other win of note, a victory over Robert Barerra. Sadly Canizales is some way from really proving himself as a top tier fighter, but his bouts against Konishi and Taguchi proved that he was much, much better than we'd think given his competition. Sadly though he does look to be a step behind in terms of accomplishment compared to the others. Saying that however with the depth in the division Canizales has the opportunity to prove that he is world class and establish himself as a top fighter, much like the other champions. Having only won his title in March it's unclear when Canizales will return to defend it. He may be in the queue to face Taguchi, in a rematch of their 2016 draw, or may look to have some lower tier defenses to try and help with his development. Given how the rankings currently look their will be a lot of options of Canizales and he has a great chance to establish his name as a top fighter, rather than just a secondary title holder. (Images courtesy of Watanabe Gym, Boxmob and promociones Miguel Cotto) |
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