We return to looking at names of fighters with the 6th in this series of looking at the best in boxing names. This time we're going to focus on Indonesia, which has gone pretty over-looked in the series so far, barring Don King Fortune, but boy does it have some great names.
As is always the case the fighters we pick aren't picked to be disrespectful, but to merely look at their names, and their careers, at least as much of their careers as we can. Sadly with these being Indonesian fighters it's likely all the records are incomplete. Jeremy (1-1) One record we suspect is incomplete is that of Jeremy, no surname given, who fought between 2006 and 2009. Given how how western the name is we're assuming that Jeremy is either a foreigner who ended up in Indonesia or a fan of Pearl Jam who took their fighting name from the track by the American grunge band. The only thing really known for sure about him is that he fought Samuel Tehuaya in 2009, losing that bout, and beat a fellow novice in 2006. Wimpie (1-2-1) In the 1950's there was an Indonesian fighter who went by the name "Wimpie". Again no surname given, and no "real name" listed. We are almost certain that boxrec has an incomplete record for Wimpie, who supposedly debuted in July 1954 in a 10 rounder, a draw with Phillipus. In fact he then fought 2 complete 10 rounders in September 1954, and then ended his career in 1957 with a loss to Mac Hurrricane, more about him another time. Given the name, and it's meaning in English, it's certainly not a great name for a boxer, and we do suspect he had a lot more losses to his name than the 2 listed on boxrec. Golden Boy Hoff (2-1, 1) Another fighter with a very incomplete looking record is that of Golden Boy Hoff, who apparently ran up a 3 fight record over a 7 year window. When we first saw the name we assumed Golden Boy Hoff was a relatively recent fighter, looking to cash in on David Hasselhoff's nickname but surprisingly "Hoff" fought from 1964 to 1971, with all 3 of his bouts taking place in Malaysian. Rather impressively he did stop Hisao Minami in 1964, who would later win Japanese and OPBF titles, defeat Ki Soo Kim and challenge for a world title. Whilst Hoff is here for his name it's nice to see he has a very notable win on his record. Lazarus (2-3) A much more recent fighter is Lazarus, who fought in the early part of the 00's, supposedly debuting in 2003 and fighting through to 2005. Given the biblical name, after all Lazarus was the beggar from a parable of Jesus, the name is certainly an interesting one and we wouldn't be surprised to learn that the fighter in question was incredibly poor. Once again it's unclear on what "Lazarus's" full name, or real name, was and his competition certainly wasn't much to talk about. His name however is a very intriguing one and leaves more questions than answers. James James (0-1) We move forward even further in time, to 2016, when James James apparently made his debut. We know New York, New York was so good they named it twice, but we're unsure why James used his name twice. We typically have a rule where we don't trust fighters with two first names, so sorry James, we ain't trusting that's your real name! Interestingly the man James fought in his only recorded bout is still fight, with that being domestic journeyman Stevanus Nana Bau, so there is a strange link to the modern day here.
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We return again today for out fifth article in the "Great Boxing Names" mini-series that began when boxing was put on lock down, in April. We'll look to continue these for a bit even when boxing does return in a more regular fashion, as our research really did through a lot of names we were able to include, more than we ever expected to find.
Don King Fortune (0-1) We've all heard of the American promoter Don King but maybe not many will be aware of Indonesian fighter Don Kong Fortune. The Indonesian fighter appears to have only fought once, though his sole bout was a 2nd TKO loss to Andika "D'Golden Boy" Sabu, who was also making his debut. With Sabu now being a world ranked fighter his debut opponent is an interesting little bit of trivia. Not much more to say here, other than that Fortune hasn't killed two people, like his more famous American namesake. Lucky Strike (0-1) Around the world "Lucky Strike" means lots of things. It's a name of some cigarettes, a brand of matches, a line of bowling alley's and various songs. It's also the name a Filipino fighters used in 1951. Details of "Strike's" career are obscure though he was apparently an opponent for the legendary Flash Elorde in December 1951. That is "Strike's" only recorded bout. Given his very short career it's hard to say much more, but anyone who debuted against Elorde can't be termed "Lucky". Waling Waling Boy (4-3-3) We stay with Filipino fighters from the 1950's as we mention the wonderfully named Waling Waling Boy. His career appears to have started in 1955 and ended in 1962, though as with many records from this era it's unclear how many other bouts "Boy" had. What is known is that he fought Ric Magramo in 1962 and was stopped by the then unbeaten Magramo. Given that "Waling" and "wailing", and even "Whaling" are all homonyms this may have been misconstrued as "Crying Crying Boy". Or someone who is "Wailing" their shots. Midget Louis (4-4) Another Filipino from the 50's with a great name was "Midget Louis". Sadly, though as is typically the issue with fighters from the 50's, his full and his height aren't well known. What is known is he fought in and around the Flyweight and Super Flyweight division. His most notable opponent was Tanny Campo, who he fought in 1953, and other than that he didn't really face anyone who had any kind of success, at least from what is listed on his boxrec record. Trash Nakanuma (27-6, 12) We end this month's name article with someone who should be well known among fans of the lower weights. That is Trash Nakanuma, who was born Masaki Nakanuma. The Japanese fighter fought between 1993 and 2006 and was a very, very capable fighter. He won the Japanese and OPBF Flyweight title and fought for both the WBC and WBA title, giving Pongsaklek Wonjongkam and Lorenzo Parra very tough bouts. Whilst his name might not stand out to non-English speakers, "Trash" means rubbish in English, essentially calling himself rubbish. The reality however is Nakanuma was a long removed from being rubbish. He was a damn good fighter, a real tough nut and a very strong and under-rated boxer. We continue looking at great names in the sport of boxing this month, although this month we do things a little bit differently as we stick to old names. Afterall it's the classics that shine here, and all these men fought decades ago. Despite that they are great names, and are worthy of some attention.
King Tut (4-7-1, 1) Filipino fighter King Tut is one of the many obscure fighters on boxrec who appears to have a very questionable record and it feels very much like a lot of information is missing on. Especially given he's royalty...right? The "King" appears to have made his debut in 1945 and fought on and off until 1956. Sadly though records for Filipino fighters from this era are really hard to come by and many of his bouts have approximated dates, and it seems likely that he fought much more frequently than his record suggests. One thing that is notable about "King Tut", who was presumably named after the former Pharaoh, that he fought two independence fighters. You'll see what we mean in a minute! Kid Independence (12-12-4-2, 5) One of the "independence fighters" was Kid Independence, who's career appears to span from 1948 to 1960, though again details are sketchy on his career. Tut would actually beat the Independence in 1952, though Independence would go on to have a few other bouts of note, including a solid win over Speedy Cabanela and a KO win over Flash Elorde. Yes you read that right, Kid Independence, who lost to King Tut, has a win over an all-time great! Young Liberty (1-1) King Tut's final career bout, at least that appears to have been recorded, came against another man looking for freedom as he closed out his career against the very unknown Young Liberty. Little is known about Liberty, as with King Tut and Kid Independence, though it appears that Liberty's entire career spanned just a over a week, with both of his recorded bouts coming from June 1956. Sadly for Liberty his bout to the King saw him being stopped in 4 rounds. Yes King beat both Liberty and Independence during his short career. Baby Johnson (8-8-1) We're being a little bit crude with this addition, but it did put a smile on our face. Pre-war Filipino fighter Artthur Johnson, not to be confused with 4 time world title challenger Arthur "Flash" Johnson, fought as "Baby Johnson" back in the 1930's. His career appears to have spanned from 1934 to 1939, though again it's hard to really know his complete record. What is recorded for Johnson were bouts in Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and the USA. Little Thunderstorm (0-1) It wasn't just Filipino fighters from the 1930's, 40's and 50's with great names but also pre-war Chinese fighters, such as the wonderfully named Little Thunderstorm. As is always the case with these early records it's unclear how complete Thunderstorm's record is, and his real name. What is quite interesting about Thunderstorm, other than his name, is who his one recorded bout came against. Yoichiro Hanada, one of the few pre-war Japanese boxing icons, and the then Japanese Flyweight champion. We start another month and we return to our on going mini series looking at some of the best, silliest on daftest names in Asian boxing history. The names we're looking at are usually not those of well established or high profile fighters, but their names certainly gain them some extra attention they they wouldn't get otherwise.
To lay down some ground rules. We will be accepting fighters who either have a strange Ring name, Nickname or Real name. We will also only be accepting fighters who have some form of a link to Asia, be it that they are a citizen of an Asian country or they fought in Asia, or they fought for an OPBF or PABA title. Sadly this rules out the legendary greats like Jukebox Timebomb but we think we have enough to make up for that! Unchain Kaji (0-8-1) Japanese fighter Yoshihiro Kaji was better known as Unchain Kaji. He's certainly not someone we expect fans to be familiar with, at all, but he did face future world title challengers Tadashi Kuramochi and Yuichi Kasai and future OPBF Bantamweight champion Shosei Nitta. Despite Kaji failing to secure a win we do have to admire the fact they unchained him...thank god for that as if they kept him chained up he may have gone 0-9! Cherry Montano (12-16-3-1, 8) Sergio Montano gave a whole new meaning to cherry picking by being the proverbial cherry. The Filipino, who fought as Cherry Montana, was a journeyman in the 1960's and fought his entire career in his homeland. Although he didn't manage to have much success he did face a genuine Thai legend, losing twice to Chartchai Chionoi in 1965. Sadly Cherry really didn't face anyone else. Flash Dumdum (13-8-1, 4) Having mentioned Cherry Montano it's worth noting that he fought an opponent with a notable name, Flash Dumdum. Dumdum fought from 1963 to 1966 and ran up a less than great record, though he take a win when he picked the Cherry for his final bout. Whilst he was less than successful it is interesting to note that he went 12 rounds with Australian great Lionel Rose in 1966, with Rose taking the Bantamweight titles in 1968. Mia Bangbang (0-2) We're staying with Filipino fighters from the 1960's here and picking another opponent of Flash Dumdum, who had some smart picks for opponents. Another name on his record, alongside Cherry Montano, was Mia Bangbang, who Jim Lampley would have loved doing commentary for. Sadly it appears the man from Manila may not have a complete record, though he did fight at least twice in the 1960's. Oddly his recorded debut, which came against Dumdum, was a 10 rounder in Davao City, leading further doubt on what his real record was. Spider Nemoto (43-10-2, 11) We finish this by looking at a Japanese fighter from the 1970's and 80's. Shigemitsu Nemoto, better known as Spider Nemoto which he adopted in 1972, was a really solid fighter and surprisingly wasn't from the International gym, which had a habit of renaming fighters to have animal names. Nemoto was a 2-time Japanese Featherweight champion, an OPBF title challenger and a 2-time world title challenger. One thing that is notable is that Nemoto's first reign as the Japanese Featherweight champion saw him setting a title record of 13 defenses from 1977 to 1981. His career was really notable and he went up against the likes of Ernesto Marcel, Royal Kobayashi and Eusebio Pedroza. Given all the possible animals that Nemoto could have named himself after, he picked a spider. An animal that's easy to crush! Back at the start of April we brought you "Great Boxing Names (Volume 1)" and now, a month on, we're bringing you Volume 2, where we again look at some of the best, funniest, and strangest names for Asian fighters. Today we're looking at another 5 names as part of this series.
As with volume 1 the ground rules are simple. We will be accepting fighters who either have a strange Ring name, Nickname or Real name. We will also only be accepting fighters who have some form of a link to Asia, be it that they are a citizen of an Asian country or they fought in Asia, or they fought for an OPBF or PABA title, for example an Australian who has fought for a regional title will be included. Again we don't mean to disrespect the fighters, but we've found their names interesting enough to share with you guys, our readers. Wang Ya Nan (8-0, 3) The first female fighter to feature in this series is actually a pretty notable fighter. Before there was Zou Shiming and Can Xu China did actually have some world champions, and no we don't just mean Xiong Zhao Zhong. Chinese female boxers actually had some notable success before the men started to make a bit of a buzz. Among those females fighters was the wonderfully named "Wang Ya Nan", who won the WBC female Minimumweight title in 2008, years before Zhong became the first Chinese male world champion. Win Twingym (0-1) We're probably going to come across a number of names that could be seen as reflective, or not, on a fighters record. One guy who doesn't live up to his name is Win Twingym. This is obviously a ring name, and we don't have any idea of his real name, but it's still a brilliant one. His only recorded bout was a 10 round decision loss to the then PABA Light Flyweight champion Deeden Kengkarun back in 2001. A real shame Win's only bout saw him lose. Wonder Boy Roya (2-5-1, 2) Win Twingym wasn't the only fighter with a notable name to face Deeden Kengkarun, in fact Indonesian fighter Wonder Boy Roya challenged Deeden for the PABA Light Flyweight title, in what was Roya's debut. Sadly for Roya he was no wonder boy, losing to Deeden on his recorded debut and never picking up a win of any note at all. Dejvarin Hollywood (9-8-3, 7) We really don't know too much about Dejvarin Hollywood other than his record, though it appears he was also known as "Mike Hollywood" later in his career. What is known is that he was based in Thailand and fought from 1979 through to 1990, at least. We say at least as there's a good chance his record isn't complete. Notably he was the Thai Super Bantamweight champion in the early 1980's and faced off with a number of notable names. Among those he shared the ring with were world title challengers Sa Wang Kim, Paul Ferreri, and world champion Seung Hoon Lee. Although for a rather nondescript Thai he got around a lot, fighting not just in Thailand but also Australia, South Korea, Philippines, Indonesia and even the UK! One extra interesting fact here is he holds a win over Sak Galaxy, scoring that win a year after Sak had beaten Khaosai Galaxy! Missile Kudo (10-12-2, 3) We started this with a successful fighter, so we'll also end this with a successful fighter, or at least a semi-successful fighter, in the form of Missile Kudo. The Japanese Minimumweight was born Masato Kudo in 1959 and made his debut in 1982. He won the Japanese Minimumweight title in 1988, becoming the 5th man to hold the title, and held it from June to November. Although his reign was a short one he was also in the inaugural bout for the title in 1986, dropping Kenji Ono but losing a close decision. Two two would rematch, fighting to a draw, before Kudo out pointed Yasuo Yogi in the summer of 1988. We won't call Missile a star but he did manage to win a Japanese title, and that's not an easy task. What is rather humorous however is his name, "Missile", something not very apt for a fighter with just 3 stoppages in 24 bouts, 1 stoppage for every 8 bouts he fought! Whilst everything in sport is pretty much on a world wide lockdown we've decided to try and have a bit of fun. As part of this we've agreed to do a small series on some of the best names in boxing history. Those who follow us on twitter will notice we do share some of these occasionally and thought they would make for a bit of a fun series.
To lay down some ground rules. We will be accepting fighters who either have a strange Ring name, Nickname or Real name. We will also only be accepting fighters who have some form of a link to Asia, be it that they are a citizen of an Asian country or they fought in Asia, or they fought for an OPBF or PABA title. Sadly this rules of the legendary greats like Jukebox Timebomb. Even with those rules we still feel fairly confident we can come up with enough great names to make this a semi-regular series over the coming months. Army Wonder Boy (12-9-5, 7) Filipino fighter Army Wonder Boy is a fighter from the 1950's and 1960's that appears to have never had his real name recorded, though we're open to adding that if someone can inform us of his birth name. Unlike many with great ring names he was a fighter who actually went on to achieve things, and in 1961 he stopped Hisao Kobayashi to become the OPBF Featherweight champion. His reign was a short one, but his name is now etched in history as the 4th ever OPBF Featherweight champion. Clever Tony (2-2, 1) Having mentioned Army Wonder Boy we'll include some of the great names he fought in this article. One of those was Clever Tony, who we again don't have a birth name for. Little is really known about Tony, and his record is likely incomplete, but what we do know is that he fought in the 1950's and lost to Army Wonder Boy in the 1956. It appears that was it for Tony, who may have hung up the gloves before before becoming less clever Tony. Young Terror (24-9, 13) Whilst Clever Tony was unable to defeat Army Wonder Boy "Young Terror", the ring name of Fulgencio Cabangon, was able to defeat him. In fact Young Terror fought a number of notable fighters. He beat Wonder Boy in 1959, future OPBF champion Yukio Katsumata in 1960, Carl Penalosa in 1962, Ric Penalosa in 1963, and twice lost to the excellent Rene Barrientos. Crusher Miura (15-5-1, 10) Heavy handed Toshimi Miura adopted a brilliant name during his career in the 1980's. "Crusher" wasn't a nickname as such, but instead his actual ring name. Like many fighters from the International Gym, which we will feature a lot of, he adopted a fighting name, combining a word that meant something in English with his surname. In the amateurs Miura was a very good fighter, going 43-5, and made a mark on the professional ranks by winning the Japanese Bantamweight title. I M Gentle (6-11-1) We'll finish this with a great one. Australian fighter Charles Costa went by the name "I M Gentle". Typically we wouldn't include Australian fighters but with Gentle having been an early opponent of future OPBF Light Heavyweight champion Gary Hubble we have to include him, and one of the least offensive and least scary ring names of all time. Given his name it may come as no surprise that he failed to pick up a single stoppage win in his 18 fight career. |
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