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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. 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) The month of November has a been weird one, with stretches of time without anything happening, and then flurries of action. It's been an inconsistent month, but a month that, overall, massively over-delivered, with several sensational bouts, a host of upsets, and some massive KO's. This was less a month of consistency and more a month of highlights!
Fighter of the Month Naoya Inoue The Fighter of the Month was one of the easiest categories this month, with Naoya Inoue clearly taking the honours here. His 12 round decision win over Nonito Donaire is one of the best wins of the year, and came in one the best bouts of the year. The bout, of course, was the WBSS Bantamweight final and saw Inoue walk away with the WBA, IBF and Ring magazine titles as well as the Muhammad Ali Trophy. He was tested, he was rocked, he was caught and he answered more questions in 12 rounds than he had in all of his previous bouts combined. Honourable mention Can Xu Fight of the Month Naoya Inoue Vs Nonito Donaire The WBSS Bantamweight final wasn't the final most people really wanted but it was the final we deserved, and turned out to be a sensational 12 round bout, mixing pulsating back and forth, with drama, both men being hurt and top level boxing. The fight saw two men fight with vastly different styles, but those styles gelled perfectly and we ended up with something very special. Inoue looked the better overall boxer but Donaire's power always looked a threat, and the amount of punishment both men took was staggering. This was one of those bouts that it all, and was for the very highest of stakes. A great bout. Honourable mention Takuya Watanabe Vs Taiki Minamoto Jae Woo Lee Vs Tsuyoshi Tameda KO of the Month Luke Boyd KO1 Jon Jon Jet Sadly this month the KO of the month saw an Asian fighter being on the wrong end of it, with previously unbeaten Indonesian Jon Jon Jet being taken out by the crude but hard hitting Luke Boyd. Boyd was swinging for the fences from the off, and a huge right hand landed clean as a whistle on Jet who crashed to the canvas in eye catching fashion. This wasn't great for Indonesian boxing, given that Jet was regarded as a bit of a hopeful, but it was a brilliant KO. Prospect Andy Hiraoka Despite their being a lot of great fights and a number of solid upsets, which we'll get on to shortly, there was strangely a lack of standout performances from fighter we regard as prospects. Thankfully though their was one performance that did catch the eye and that was the US debut of Andy Hiraoka. The Top Rank promoted 23 year old had the perfect US debut as he took out Rodelio Casarez in 2 rounds and took his chance to shine. Whilst his opponent wasn't up to much this was perfectly acceptable for his first bout outside of Japan, and he is certainly going to be someone turning heads in the coming years. Honourable mention Ryusei Kawaura Upset Kenbati Haiyilao vs Nick Frese One thing we had a lot of in November was upsets. They might not have come at the top level, but they did come rather frequently. The one that shocked us the most was the victory by Chinese fighter Kenbati Haiyilao, who defeated the touted Thai based Dutchman Nick Frese. The unheralded Haiyilao was fighting out of China for the first time, and was 2-2-1 in his previous 5. There was nothing to suggest he was any kind of a threat to Frese's unbeaten record, but he shocked us all by out boxing Frese in a real surprise of a result. Frese was never hurt, but was regularly coming off second best and struggling with the basics from Haiyilao, something that was a genuine surprise. Honourable mentions: Jhon Gemino Vs Arnold Alejandro Jae Woo Lee Vs Tsuyoshi Tameda Johnriel Casimero Vs Zolani Tete Round Naoya Inoue Vs Nonito Donaire (11) We go full circle here, and head back to the WBSS final for the brilliant Inoue Vs Donaire fight. It had a number of great rounds, but the best of them was the 11th, which had incredible drama, weird officiating, and amazing action. The round saw Inoue really hurt Donaire for the first time, dropping him with a body shot. It saw the referee body check the Monster as he went in for the finish, it saw Donaire some how get back to his feet, withstanding some huge shots, and then rocking Inoue late in the round. It had everything that was great about the fight, all compacted into 3 minutes of sheet brilliance. This was one of the vert best rounds of the year, not just the best round of the month. It feels like September began an eternity ago, though it only came to an end a week ago. Despite being a long month, with some dry patches in it terms of top boxing, it was a month that really delivered more than expected. It gave a legitimate contender for KO of the Year, Fight of the Year and Round of the Year. It had prospects who were willing to step up and some notable upsets. All in all September was a good month, even if we did have some slumps in action.
Fighter of the Month Pedro Taduran (14-2, 11) The 22 year old Pedro Taduran will never be described as a world class boxer. The reality is that he's not a world class boxer in any way shape or form, and he will find himself being out boxed on a regular basis. What he is, is a fighter, he's a warrior, he's a world champion and he is well and truly deserving of September's Fighter of the Month award. His win over Samuel Salva on September 7th saw him needing to come back from an opening round knockdown, and boy how he came back. He turned into a raw street fighter and despite being blatantly headbutted in round 4 he just battered Salva into submission. Fight of the Month Batyr Akhmedov vs Mario Barrios The best fights, for us, swing one way then the other, with dramatic swings and changes in momentum of high tempo and high skilled action. On September 28th we got an incredibly bout that had it all. Uzbek born Batyr Akhmedov was dropped in round 4, roared back with 7 amazing rounds of high intensity action, but was dropped in the final minute by a swollen and exhausted Mario Barrios. The drama in the final rounds, as Barrios looked to survive the storm, then pulled out the late knockdown, were amazing. This was amazing and deserves to be considered at the end of the year for the Fight of the year. KO of the Month Bakhodir Jalolov KO1 Richard Torrez Amazingly the KO of the month came in the amateurs and saw Uzbek giant Bakhodir Jalolov laying out American hopeful Richard Torrez in brutally eye catching fashion. We don't often see clean KO's in the amateurs, even with the removal of head gear, but here we saw one that left a massive impression and saw the head of the WBC complain about Jalolov competing in the amateur competition. The huge left hand from Jalolov was brutal and left Torrez out cold on the canvas. This will be up there with the best KO's we'll see in boxing in 2019 and deserves a lot more attention than it has got. Prospect Taku Kuwahara (6-0, 4) Japan's Taku Kuwahara might not be a name that international fan are aware of, but the youngster is fast rising through the ranks, and his win over world ranked Filipino Jonathan Refugio on September 17th was a big step up in class, and a very impressive win. This 24 year old is tipped for big things and we suspect he'll be pushed into title bouts in the next 12 months. If he can pick up a title in the middle of next year we expect to see Ohashi strap a rocket to him and push for him to get a world title fight sooner rather than later. His performance against Refugio was excellent and we only see him getting better and better. Upset Amazingly we couldn't find a single noteworthy upset from the month, which is a genuine surprise given how many bouts took place of the 30 days of September. Round Masataka Taniguchi Vs Kai Ishizawa (Rd 6) The Japanese eliminators, for which the winners will get a title fight at next year's Champions Carnival, promise a lot this year, and the Minimumweight bout between former world title challenger Masataka Taniguchi and hard hitting youngster Kai Ishizawa delivered, in spades. The fight was an amazing 8 round war, with the 6th round being the best of them. It was back and forth, both men being hurt, both biting down on their gum shields and both giving everything they had. We could not have asked for more from the two men. An amazing round, from an amazing fight. August seems to have been a very long month. It's hard some highlights, and some huge weekends, but has also had some stretches without fights. At the top level we've struggled to see fighters really shine, but there has been a lot happening below world level which really has been worth talking about.
Fighter of the Month Kosei Tanaka For the second time this year Kosei Tanaka has taken our Fighter of the Month award, though this was more down to the fact few others at world level shone. We had a number of world title fights, but in reality Johnriel Casimero toyed with his foe, Knockout CP Freshmart struggled against a relative unknown and Vic Saludar lost a clear decision in Puerto Rico. Tanaka on the other hand struggled against a former amateur standout but pulled out the win when a long way behind on the cards. It was a flawed performance but one that resulted in fantastic ending for the WBO Flyweight champion. Fight of the Month Hiroaki Teshigawara vs Shohei Omori The best fights for the month really came at Oriental level, with arguably the best of them being a 12 round tactical war between OPBF Super Bantamweight champion Hiroaki Teshigawara and Shohei Omori. The bout wasn't an all action battle but was a brilliantly engaging fight with skills, excitement, exchanges and to much great back and forth. A fantastic fight well worth watching, even if it's not a Fight of the Year contender. KO of the Month Jayr Raquinel TKO Takuya Kogawa Another OPBF title fight picks up another of our awards. This time it's Filipino Jayr Raquinel's KO win over Takuya Kogawa, to retain the OPBF Flyweight title, which was truly brutal and scary in combined measure. The shot that sent the tough Kogawa down was as clean a whistle and left Kogawa's team rushing to his aid before he was removed from the ring on a stretcher. Thankfully he's fine, but their was some genuinely scary moments here. Notable mention - Xiao Tao Su Vs Shota Yukawa Prospect Ryota Yamauchi There was some great performances by prospects this month, though the one that stood out to us was the excellent performance by Ryota Yamauchi, who narrowly defeated the world ranked Alphoe Dagayloan in a thrilling 8 round battle. Not a lot separated the two fighters, but what both showed was incredible and when, or if, Kadoebi put the bout on youtube we suggest everyone watches this thrilling battle. Notable mentions - Kento Hatanaka, Bektemir Melikuziev Upset Abdallah Paziwapazi TKO3 Zulipikaer Maimaitiali In Asia this month there's not been many notable upsets, a few minor surprises but little in terms of real upsets. That was until very close to the end of the month when Tanzania's Abdallah Paziwapazi shocked us all and defeated Zulipikaer Maimaitiali to claim the WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight title. The local was expected to take an easy win here but was instead stopped in 3 rounds in what is one of the biggest surprises to take place in a Chinese ring this year. Round Shuhei Hamano vs Nobuo Maruoka (Rd1) We finish this with out round of the month and it's an obscure one, but a thrilling one as Shuhei Hamano and Nobuo Maruoka engaged in a phone booth war, with an incredible intensity, high work rate and, for the most part, none stop action. This was crude, low level, but thrilling action. |
Oriental Opinions
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