![]() The middle portion of July is incredibly packed with a lot of action coming in just a few days, including 4 world title bouts, a regional title bout and several notable hopefuls. It really is set to be an insanely busy few days. July 12th-
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This past week has been one that has mixed disappointing performances and frustrating broadcasting with some great action, exciting fights and under-rated performances. We're not going to say it's been one of the best weeks of the year, but it has given us a lot to talk about and plenty of fighters to recognise in our weekly awards. Fighter of the Week Hiroaki Teshigawara (19-2-2, 12) One of the hardest categories for the week was the Fighter of the Week, with a number of fighters really impressing. For us the winner, by a nose hair, was Hiroaki Teshigawara, who retained the OPBF Super Bantamweight title fight with an exciting with against Yuki Iriguchi. The bout saw Teshigawara show a little bit of everything, from brawling at times to show casing his boxing skills with his left hand, after injuring his right hand in round 2. His battle through adversity was impressive and the way he essentially beat the fight out of Iriguchi in the end was fantastic, gritting his teeth to launch a 2 handed assault late on. It wasn't a flawless performance, but it was the performance of a fighter, and someone who is now deserving bigger fights. Notable mentions: Edward Heno, Kenichi Horikawa, John Riel Casimero, Dave Penalosa Performance of the Week Dave Penalosa (15-0, 11) Whilst Teshigawara won the Fighter of the Week the Performance of the week was, clearly, the one put on by Dave Penalosa. Penalosa showed his calculating side early on, but was tagged in round 4 and went full on into fighter mode destroying Marcos Cardenas through the round, dropping the Mexican 3 times. Whilst Cardenas had been stopped before this was still a statement, and sees Penalosa joining Miguel Marriaga, Carlos Diaz Ramirez and Rey Vargas as the only fighters to stop the 29 year old Mexican. Penalosa provided excitement, action and real killer instinct, with gut busting body shots. A fantastic performance. Notable mentions: Carl Jammes Martin, Edward Heno, Kenichi Horikawa, Erika Hanawa Fight Dave Penalosa (14-0, 10) vs Marcos Cardenas (19-6-1, 15) What allowed Dave Penalosa to win our Performance of the Week was also what made his fight the Fight of the Week. His perfect foil. Cardenas didn't come to play second fiddle. He hadn't travelled to roll over and lose to Penalosa, instead he had come to win, advance his own career and move towards big fights of his own. This lead to a fantastic fight, with good skills, a real gritty toughness from Cardenas and of course the impressive 4th round destruction from Penalosa. The fight had everything, with Penalosa being wobbled in a moment of drama that worried the local fans, the fight back from that wobble and the skills that came earlier in the fight. A brilliant bit of match making lead to a fantastic fight. Notable mentions: Hiroaki Teshigawa Vs Yuki Iriguchi, Kenichi Horikawa Vs Satoru Todaka, Carl Jammes Martin Vs Petchchorhae Kokietgym Round Carl Jammes Martin Vs Petchchorhae Kokietgym (round 3) Watching Carl Jammes Martin make his televised debut this weekend showed that he is going to be one of the most TV friendly fighters on the planet in the years to come. He showed that especially well in round 3 of his bout with Petchchorhae Kokietgym, when he set an electric pace and pinned the Thai on to the ropes, unloading an incredible amount of shots. The Thai tried to fire back but was essentially handcuffed by the volume from Martin, who was relentless. Despite the one-sided nature of the round it was all action, edge of your seat stuff, with the potential that Martin would catch one clean himself in his pursuit of an early finish. This is must watch action, and a great example of what the Filipino scene is bringing through, and how good ESPN5 are doing in giving fighters like Martin time to shine. (Due to the fight being uploaded by ESPN5 we've had to include the full fight and not just the single round) KO Hyun Joon Lee TKO1 Hyun Moo Yang Come the end of 2019 we don't expect to see many people raving about this obscure bout from Suwon in Korea, but it was hard not to be impressed by the visually brilliant KO scored by the debutant Hyun Joon Lee, against fellow Korean Hyun Moo Yang. The KO came from a hard straight right hand as the two men traded and left Yang out cold before he hit the canvas. It was one of those blows that for a moment or two was a little worrying, though Yang did seem fine before he left the ring under his own steam. Hard to read much into the value of the win for the debutant, but this was a clean a right hand as he is ever likely to land. Notable mentions - Carlo Penalosa KO3 Watana Phenbaan, a perfect body shot from Penalosa (Again full fight has been included, though this one does end inside the opening round) Prospect
Carl Jammes Martin (12-0, 11) Filipino teenager Carl Jammes Martin made his TV debut, fighting against Petchchorhae Kokietgym on ESPN5, and took full advantages of the opportunity putting on a fantastic, all action performance to stop the Thai. It wasn't punch perfect, but it was the type of exciting "come and watch me" performance that Martin would have wanted. He set a high pace, showed lovely uppercuts, and essentially bludgeons the Thai into submission in 3 rounds. At just 19 he is one of the most promising Filipino fighters out there and combines power, speed and work rate, and looks destined to become a must watch TV attraction Upcoming fight Shinobu Charlie Hosokawa (11-3, 10) Vs Yuki Nonaka (32-10-3, 10) When a really aggressive fighter takes on a technically sound defensive fighter we tend to end up with some pretty fun fights, event though thinking about it they probably shouldn't deliver the action that they do. Next Sunday we see the aggressive, heavy handed and exciting Shinobu Charlie Hosokawa defending his WBO Asia Pacific and OPBF Middleweight titles against the very technical and sharp Yuki Nonaka in a bout that really excites us. This one could be something very, very special. A full previeew of this bout can be read here - Regional champion Hosokawa takes on veteran Nonaka! News Inoue Vs Rodriguez confirmed for May 18th in Glasgow! It's fair to say only one story was ever going to be the new story of the week, and that was the WBSS announcement that Naoya Inoue (17-0, 15) and Emmanuel Rodriguez (19-0, 12) would be having their semi-final in Glasgow, in what will be an historic event for Japanese boxing. It is not only the first time a Japanese world champion will be defending their title in Europe a, but also the first time a Japanese fighter has fought in a world title unification bout in Europe. A win for Inoue, who is the clear betting favourite at this moment in time, would also see him become the first Japanese fighter to win world title bouts in 3 continents. Rodriguez is, of course, not push over and should make the bout interesting, in what looks like a fantastic match up. The full story is available to read here - Inoue Vs Rodriguez confirmed for May 18th in Glasgow! Other ESPN5 For a second time this month the Filipino broadcaster not only televised boxing, but put on an international stream for fans wanting to get a glimpse of the talent the Filipino scene has to offer. It wasn't a seamless or perfect broadcast, though it appears that it was due to reasons out of their hands with a long pause caused by a cancellation during the show, but it was a fantastic card well worthy of the time fans invested in watching it. It's amazing to think what ESPN5 are currently doing for the Filipino scene and long may it continue. We really can't help but feel these broadcasts are a much needed boost to the Filipino scene, that for far too long only really showed ALA cards live. ![]() The final part of February is a really interesting one, with a lot of action in less than 2 weeks including world title bouts, prospects, world title eliminators and a regional title fight. February 16th- Dave Penalosa (14-0, 10) vs Marcos Cardenas (19-6-1, 15) - Metro Manila, Philippines For a second straight week we see a Filipino prospect called Dave in a notable step up on ESPN5. First there was Dave Apolinario and now we get Dave Penalosa, who looks to over-come Marcos Cardenas for the WBO Oriental Featherweight title. Penalosa, who carries a legendary surname, showed early promise but inactivity has cost years of his career, and he will now be looking to get back in the right track. Cardenas is heavy handed but this is a huge step up for the Mexican. Johnriel Casimero (25-4, 16) vs Kenya Yamashita (13-4, 10)- Metro Manila, Philippines Former 2-weight world champion John Riel Casimero returns to a Filipino ring for the first time since losing in a world title eliminator to Jonas Sultan back in September 2017. In the opposite corner is flawed, but exciting, Japanese youngster Kenya Yamashiita, who should make for a really interesting opponent. Casimero should be favoured, but he has been disappointing at times and he may well be on the slide. Carl Jammes Martin (11-0, 10) vs Petchchorhae Kokietgym (17-2, 8)- Metro Manila, Philippines Another exciting prospect on this card is the unbeaten and prodigiously young Carl Jammes Martin, who will be making his TV debut in a bout against Thai visitor Petchchorhae Kokietgym. This looks like a really tough match up for Martin's first bout on TV, but a win here will really allow him to announce himself on the Filipino fans who may not have had a chance to see the youngster yet. The Thai is no pushover but has lost his two most notable bouts to date. Ryosuke Iwasa (25-3, 16) Vs Cesar Juarez (23-6, 17)- California, USA In the US we'll see an IBF world title eliminator at Super Bantamweight, as former world champion Ryosuke Iwasa takes on the always entertaining Cesar Juarez in what should be a very entertaining battle. Iwasa needs to impress to remain in the mix, and this will be his US debut after having had a previous Stateside aborted when his opponent failed to make weight. Juarez lost his last bout at world level, being stopped by Isaac Dogboe, but has bounced back well and will be really up for this contest, in what could be a very, very entertaining bout and potentially the highlight of the weekend. Yesenia Gomez (14-5-3, 6) vs Erika Hanawa (10-3, 4) - Quintana Roo, Mexico In a female world title fight we'll see Japan's Erika Hanawa challenge WBC Female Light Flyweight champion Yesenia Gomez. Despite being a world title fight few would consider either of these as truly world class, with both suffering set backs in recent bouts. It's those setbacks, and the need to shine brightly here, that makes this bout more intriguing than if both were in good form, and neither can afford a loss. Sadly though in a division with Yesica Yolanda Bopp, Kenia Enriquez and Tenkai Tsunami it's hard to see the winner of this bout as truly top level fighter. February 18th- Akihiro Kondo (31-7-1, 18) Vs Downua Ruawaiking (14-0, 11) - Tokyo, Japan A second IBF world title eliminator is set to take place at Light Welterweight, as the teak tough Akihiro Kondo battles unbeaten Thai prospect Downua Ruawaiking. This is a really interesting match up that not only lets us see what Kondo has left in the tank, after 2 straight forward bouts since his loss to Sergey Lipinets, but also see what Ruawaiking has to offer. The Thai has looked good so far, but this is a big step up in class, and his first bout outside of his homeland. A win for Downua would put him on the map, but this is a really stiff test for him. February 24th- Shinobu Charlie Hosokawa (11-3, 10) Vs Yuki Nonaka (32-10-3, 10) - Osaka, Japan Potentially the fight of the month will see the big punching Shinobu Charlie Hosokawa defending his WBO Asia Pacific and OPBF Middleweight titles against skilled veteran Yuki Nonaka. This bout will likely be brawn against brain and should be a real thriller. Hosokawa only fights one way, and that is with intense aggression, the sort of thing Hosokawa has made a career out of soaking up, countering and using against fighters. We really do see this as a highlight and can't wait to see Boxingraise posting the fight on demand. February 26th- Vic Saludar (18-3, 10) Vs Masataka Taniguchi (11-2, 7) - Tokyo, Japan Another potential highlight will see WBO Minimumweight champion Vic Saludar defending his title for the first time, taking on Japanese challenger Masataka Taniguchi. Both of these men are aggressive, heavy handed, skilled and exciting. We're expecting bombs to be traded, though not in a wild way. Instead this should be a compelling chess match with shotguns and rocket launchers. A potentially brilliant contest, that is only really harmed by the fact TBS won't be broadcasting the fight live but instead showing it on tape delay. |
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