Category: Predictions

Who... will be the next OPBF champion from South Korea?

1/21/2021

With so few fights taking place to begin 2021 the founders of Asianboxing.info have decided to take a look at the boxing scene and put our predictions forward in a new series called "Who..."

The idea of this series is to answer a question with who we each think will achieve a specific activity or feat, or potentially even looking back on history and sharing our takes on something from the past.

We intend to mix these up between various categories and a mix of times frames. From the past, to the immediate future and the longer term future.

To begin this series we're going to look at South Korea, where the three of us will all aim to answer the following question:

"Who... will be the next OPBF champion from South Korea?"

Lee: "This should be the one where I am good, so a perfect start to this series for me. I'm really glad to see Korean boxing getting international attention recently, at least earlier this month, and it was the man who headlined that card that I think has the best chance to claim an OPBF title this year. That is, of course, Jong Seon Kang, the all action Featherweight fighter. Aged 19 he is very young, but with a 12-0-2 record, and with good wins stacking up I think he'll break into the OPBF rankings this year, and move towards an OPBF title in 2022.

Kang is also lucky that the winner of Musashi Mori and Satoshi Shimizu, will almost certainly vacate the title later this year, leaving the door open to a vacant title title fight next year. The perfect time for Kang to swoop in"

Takahiro: "Being truthful, my understanding of Korean boxing isn't as good as it should be and as good as it used to be. I have however been sneaky, and looked at the OPBF rankings and there is an obvious choice here. Light Middleweight Jung Kyoung Lee.

Lee is ranked #3 by the OPBF for a vacant title, which was given up last year by Akinori Watanabe. I don't think #1 ranked fighter Tim Tszyu will have any interest in the title and so the door is wide open for Lee to fight for the title. I'm not sure who he would fight for the belt though. I don't think we'll see Lee face Hironobu Matsunaga, but I would like that fight. Very exciting.

Regardless, my pick is Jung Kyoung Lee"

Scott: "There are a lot of really exciting Korean fighters coming through the ranks, like Da Won Gang, Sung Min Yuh, Jong Seon Kang, Min Jang and and Min Hyuk Jang. Those however are all youngsters who are probably a few years away from a big bout.

With that in mind I'm going with someone with more experience, and someone who has spoke about wanting to win the title before. That's Dong Myung Shin the excellent 32 year old Featherweight, who can ill afford to move slowly this year. He spoke about getting a fight at Oriental title level in 2020, before the pandemic destroyed various plans and I think he's probably got the best chance of fighting for the title in the next year or two. The Super Bantamweight and Featherweight divisions are tough ones, but they are both expected to have massive shake ups in the next 12-24 months and that could leave the door open for Shin to get a shot at the vacant title."

*Note - Takahiro's answer is based on the latest OPBF rankings - which are October 2020's. Oddly the OPBF have not published rankings since then.

0 Comments

20 Predictions for 2020: PREDICTION number 17 - More world title unification bouts

12/22/2019

0 Comments

As we head towards a new year we've decided to look into our glass balls, our tea leaves and our palms to come up with 20 predictions which will be posted over the coming weeks for what we think will happen in 2020. So far our predictions haven't been the best though they've not all been wrong.

In 2013 we predicted that Naoya Inoue, his brother Takuma and Kosei Tanaka would all win world titles. Between them they've won a few world titles, though Takuma has yet to win a proper world title. That same year we also predicted a growth in Chinese boxing, and this arguably happened despite the fact the Macau side of things has died off. We also predicted a growth in Asian fighters making a name for themselves in the US, this was before Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, Naoya Inoue or Kazuto Ioka had fought on US soil, and before the wave of Uzbek's had began to attract US attention.

Unlike the past, where we have made all of our predictions in 1 article, we'll be spreading these ones out with 1 prediction per article, and going more in depth than we have in the past.

PREDICTION number 17 - More world title unification bouts
One thing we've been very, very happy to see in 2019 was the amount of world title unification bouts that took place through the year. The fighters seem to have the ambition to unify rather than just doing what their promoters want them to do, and this has lead to a number of amazing fighters in 2019. Fights like Naoya Inoue Vs Nonito Donaire, Josh Taylor vs Regis Prograis and Daniel Roman vs TJ Doheny were among the very, very best of what we got in 2019.

In 2020 we predict we'll see more unifications, and we've already seen a lot being mooted. There's talk of Naooya Inoue facing one of the other Bantamweight champions in Spring, WBA Featherweight champion Can Xu has called for a bout with IBF champion Josh Warrington, WBC Light Flyweight champion Kenshiro Teraji has made it clear he wants to unify, and was scheduled to defend with IBF champion Felix Alvarado, likewise Hiroto Kyoguchi has stated he intends to unify at Light Flyweight and the Minimumweight division is ripe for a unification bout.

Of course it's not as easy to get unification bouts as it should be, and talk is very cheap in this sport, but it does seem like there is, finally, ambition among the fighters to hold more than one belt. We are seeing a lot more fighters looking to prove they are the best, to fight the other top fighters and to build their profiles.

We don't ever expect to see all divisions unified, and we don't expect to end 2020 with undisputed champions all over the place, but we do expect to see a lot more unification bouts. Be it through tournaments, like the WBSS, or fighters both wanting bouts we expect to see the champions clashing, and we hope that by the end of the year we begin to know who really is the #1 fight in more and more divisions.

(Image courtesy of boxmob.jp)

0 Comments

20 Predictions for 2020: PREDICTION number 3 - A dome fight in Japan

11/24/2019

0 Comments

Prediction number 3 - A dome fight in Japan
At one point in 2019 it seemed like we were going to see the WBSS Bantamweight final between Naoya Inoue and Nonito Donaire take place at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka.

The rumours all lead that way before the Saitama Super Arena was select to host the contest, but it put the idea in motion for boxing to return to one of the Japanese domes, most notably either the "Big Egg" in Tokyo or the smaller Kyocera Dome, aka the Osaka Dome. Neither of which have hosted boxing in years, with Osaka Dome last hosting a fight in 1999 and the Tokyo Dome not being used since 1990.

Whilst it's been a long, long time since either dome was used Japanese fighters are now getting enough to attention for at least 2 of them to draw a sizeable audience to one of the two domes. Both Inoue and Ryota Murata, with the right opponent, could make it worth whilst and it certainly seems like there is desire to return to a dome for a big show.

Whilst there are other domes, the Fukuoka Dome, the Sapporo Dome and the Nagoya Dome, it would appear much more difficult to draw a big enough audience to any of those to make it worth while, but the Osaka and Tokyo venues are certainly viable for the right fights.

We predict that by the end of 2020 we will see a Dome fight, potentially the much talked about showdown between Ryota Murata and Gennady Golovkin. If that Middleweight clash doesn't land in Japan it may take a Monster showdown with Inoue and another global name to fill up a Dome, or...

...a third potential way to sell out a dome would be for Bob Arum, who actually promoters both Inoue and Murata, to double deck the show and put both of the stars on the same card, for a bumper show in Japan. It would allow him to spend less on the opponents for the two men and could well be sold as the biggest Japanese boxing event of the 21st century. Of course scheduling issues in regards to time may cause issues with this possibility, but we see the demand for a Dome fight being enough for Arum to potentially put on an historic show in either of the aforementioned domes.

0 Comments

20 Predictions for 2020: Prediction 1 - Ginjiro Shigeoka to win a world title in 2020

11/20/2019

0 Comments

PREDICTION 1 : Ginjiro Shigeoka to win a world title in 2020
The Minimumweight division has long been a maligned weight class, where casual western fans are happy to turn their nose up at the action, despite it's quality and excitement. Despite that we do have a lot of talent in the ranks at 105lbs and 108lbs. Among the talent there is young super stud Ginjiro Shigeoka, who we are predicting to win a world title in 2020.

At the time of writing Shigeoka is 4-0 (3) but has impressed so much in those 4 fights that a world title fight as early as summer isn't out of the realms of possibility, though we suspect it will be later in the year. It does however depend on how he looks on New Year's Eve when he faces former world title challenger Rey Loreto, in what is a very good test for the youngster at this stage in his career, and if he can stop Loreto he may well end up with a world title shot as early as Spring.

The former amateur standout, who went 56-1 in the unpaid ranks, would likely be the under-dog against any of the 4 world champions if he faced them tomorrow. However with another bout or two, including the Loreto bout, under his belt, and if Watanabe could secure him home advantage, we could see the odds swing his way very quickly.

If we were guiding the youngster the only champion we would advise Ginjiro away from is IBF champion Pedro Taduran, who looks a stylistic nightmare for the youngster, but the likes of Wanheng Menayoythin, Knockout CP Freshmart and Wilfredo Mendez shouldn't be seen as unbeatable, and Shigeoka may well be ready for any of that trio sooner rather than later.

The talent is there, the power is there, the aggression is there, the style is there. The only thing lacking at the moment is the experience, but that will come through the year, and a world title being over Shigeoka's shoulder wouldn't be a surprise at all by the times the bells ring on December 31st 2020.

(Image courtesy of Watanabe Gym)

0 Comments

Who... will be the next OPBF champion from South Korea?

20 Predictions for 2020: PREDICTION number 17 - More world title unification bouts

20 Predictions for 2020: PREDICTION number 3 - A dome fight in Japan

20 Predictions for 2020: Prediction 1 - Ginjiro Shigeoka to win a world title in 2020

Archives

Categories