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This past week was a really crazy one with so many shows, especially over the weekend, making it almost impossible to watch everything. Over the weekend alone there were cards in Thailand, Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and the Philippines in what was low key one of the busiest most hectic couple of days of the year. There wasn't just a lot going on but also some hidden gems, so thrilling performances and some exhilarating action.
Fighter of the Week Pedro Taduran (14-2, 11) The star for the weekend was Filipino warrior Pedro Taduran, who scored a TKO win over Samuel Salva to become the new IBF Minimumweight champion. Taduran set out his stall early on, applied constant pressure and despite being dropped in the opening round he eventually broke down Salva in very impressive, and destructive, fashion. In regards to the Fighter of the Week award he won the biggest fight of the weekend, and looked great doing it. He was exciting, aggressive, tough, rugged and very fun to watch, making the most of his second chance to win a world title. Performance of the Week Pedro Taduran (14-2, 11) We're sticking with Taduran again for the Performance of the Week as well the Fighter of the Week. His performance, where he simply walked through the unbeaten Samuel Salva was incredibly impressive. He didn't show a great deal of technical excellence, but fought to his strengths, broke down his more skilled foe and battered Samuel into submission with intense pressure and 2-handed offense. It was brutal, beautiful and brilliant from Taduran. Fight Tae Gwang Park (0-0) v Sang Min Oh (2-0, 2) Having just described something as brutal and beautiful it goes without saying that most fights in Korea are beautifully brutal, and that was the case in the 4 round rookie bout between Tae Gwang Park and Sang Min Oh. This 4 rounder wasn't a technical masterclass, in fact it wasn't technical in the slightest, but it was violent, exciting and all brutal, with heavy leather being thrown by both through the 4 round contest. It somewhat slowly but got better round by round and ended up being a very hard hitting and hurtful war. This is was rock em sock robots, with defense not really being in the vocabulary of either man. Round Pedro Taduran Vs Samuel Salva (Rd 3) We head back to Pedro Taduran's fight with Samuel Salva for our Round of the Week, and what a round it was! After Salva seemed to win the first two rounds we saw Taduran move through the gears in round 3, but eat a number of clean right hands at the start of the round. From there on however Taduran managed to hurt Salva, and kept the pressure on, through an insane amount of leather whilst Salva went into survival mode. How Salva stayed up right is a mystery, but over 3 minutes was wonderfully chaotic action and the success for Taduran was the momentum shift that lead to his victory. KO Hikari Mineta KO1 Yuji Oba The KO of the Week was an interesting category with a lot of eye catching finishes. For us however the one that stayed with us the most was the huge right hand KO of Hikari Mineta. She shot sent Oba crumbling to the canvas, his legs bending under his body as he went down. He was seemingly aware of his surroundings, but couldn't respond at all to the 10 count following one of the sweetest shots Mineta will ever land. This was a wonderful visual to see and a fantastic finish. We're also glad to report that Oba was complete fine and there was no leg injury, despite the was his body crashed to the canvas. Prospect Katsuya Fukui (1-0, 1) We're staying in Japan for our Prospect of the Week, Katsuya Fukui. The debuting Fukui, who was a solid amateur, was up against Korean visitor Sang Hoon Kim who we expected to give the new professional a decent test. Instead Fukui smartly boxed behind his jab, approached the bout with a real viciousness to his work and took Kim out relatively easily. The result, a 2nd round KO, wasn't the impressive thing however. What impressed was his approach to the fight. Despite being in total control the debutant didn't take big risks, instead boxing smartly to defeat Kim, applying smart pressure and boxing behind his jab. His performance showed a real maturity and it's clear that he's someone Teiken can get excited about. Upcoming fight Reiya Abe (19-2-1, 9) vs Ryo Sagawa (7-1, 4) This coming week sees things get a little bit crazy with a lot of potentially brilliant action coming up. Despite a host of great fights being on the docket the one that has us more excited than all the others is the Japanese Featherweight title bout between Reiya Abe and Ryo Sagawa. This bout is a 50-50 type match up, between two very skilled fighters, who have styles that should work well together. Sagawa is technically smart offensive fighter whilst Abe is a technically smart sharp shooting fighter, and when those styles gel we can get some thrillers. This should be hotly contested, highly skilled chess, and we're gonna love seeing how it goes!
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 August wasn't the biggest month for Asian boxing, but was a solid month overall, which had plenty of shows to be excited about and a very few real breaks between something of note.
On paper September looks like it will be a lot less interesting than August was. It looks to start slowly, peak with a flurry of major bouts in the middle, then tail off in forgettable fashion. With that said lets have a look at what's to come in the first part of the month. September 7th Samuel Salva (17-0, 10) Vs Pedro Taduran (13-2, 10) -Metro Manila, Philippines The first world title bout takes place on the 7th and is an all-Filipino battle for the vacant IBF Minimumweight title. The bout pits the unbeaten Samuel Salva against hard hitting youngster Pedro Taduran. For Salva this is his first world title bout, and a chance to announce himself after a relative slow build on the Filipino domestic scene. As for Taduran the bout will be his second world title fight, following a 2018 loss to Wanheng Menayothin. The winner of this will be seen as the weakest of the champions at 105lbs but they'll have had a very credible win to take the title regardless. Giemel Magramo (23-1, 19) vs Eaktwan BTU Ruaviking (25-5, 16) - Metro Manila, Philippines On the same card as the Salva/Taduran bout we also get an IBF Flyweight world title eliminator, as once beaten Filipino hopeful Giemel Magramo takes on former world title challenger Eaktwan BTU Ruaviking, aka Komgrich Nantapech, in what could end up being one of the best bouts of the month. The winner will likely get a shot at Moruti Mthalane, though will almost certainly have to go through a real war to get that title fight. Both of these men like to come forward, through shots and press the action, so we're expecting a bit of a phone booth tear up here. On paper Eaktwan is the more experience and proven but Magramo looks to be the more naturally talented and smarter. Either way we're in for something very special here. Yuki Nagano (16-2, 12) vs Makoto Kawasaki (11-7-1, 2) - Tokyo, Japan In a Japanese Welterweight title fight we'll see Yuki Nagano defending his title against veteran Makoto Kawasaki. On paper this looks like an easy first defense for Nagano, though we really can't begrudge him an easy one after successive wins over Riku Nagahama, Yuki Beppu and Ryota Yada. With a 14 fight winning run Nagano is in great form and full of confidence. The 35 year old Kawasaki on the other hand likely knows retirement is looming and a loss he will almost certainly push him into hanging up the gloves. Kawasaki isn't a bad fighter, but we really don't know what he has in his arsenal to test the in form champion. Jorge Linares (45-4, 28) Vs Al Toyogon (10-4-1, 6) Former 3-weight world champion Jorge Linares has fought around half of his carer in Japan, though amazingly he's not fought in the Land of the rising Sun in well over 4 years. The wait for his Japanese return ends here as he takes on Filipino Al Toyogon, who looks to end a 2-fight losing run. The exiting, but vulnerable, Linares is in a position where his career is likely over as a world class operator with another loss. Toyogon comes into this on the back of losses to Ryo Sagawa and Shuya Masaki, but will know a win here will get the boxing world talking about him, and there is no better time to face Linares. September 12th Saemi Hanagata (15-7-4, 7) Vs Nao Ikeyama (18-5-4, 5) III - Tokyo, Japan All female cards are rare, but when they happen in Japan they tend to be stacked with some excellent match ups. On September 12th we get once such card, headlined by the third bout between IBF Atomweight champion Saemi Hanagata and former WBO Atomweight champion Nao Ikeyama. After drawing in the first 2 fights of their rivalry both will be desperate to take home a win here and we're expecting an all out thriller, much like their previous bouts. Ayaka Miyao (23-7-1, 6) Vs Monseratt Alcaron (12-4-2) - Tokyo, Japan Another fantastic looking female world title bout on same card will see the WBA Atomweight title being unified. In one corner will be regular champion Monseratt Alcaraon whilst the other will house interim champion Ayaka Miyao, together they should make for a brilliant match up. Miyao is an aggressive veteran who uses a lot of speed and a high output whilst Alcaron is a smart fighter with an aggressive counter punching style. This should be a bout that really sees the style gel. Eri Matsuda (3-0) Vs Mont Blanc Miki (4-2-1, 1) - Tokyo, Japan A third Atomweight title bout on the same card will see Eri Matsuda make her first defense of the Japanese Atomweight title, as she takes on the limited Mont Blanc Miki. Matsuda is one of the pure talents in female boxing, and she will likely be targeting one of the winners from the world title fights on this show. Miki on the other hand has been stopped in both of her defeats, both at a low level, and a win here for the challenger would be a a big surprise. This past week has been an under-the-radar week, with a lot of action, even if there wasn't a lot of headlines. We've had some really interesting and eye catching moments, and it is certainly a week that will go down as being an over-looked one at the end of the year.
Fighter of the Week Samuel Salva (17-0, 10) There was a couple of world title eliminators this week and whilst neither really delivered in terms of being a FOTY candidate, it was good to see Samuel Salva put on a career best performance to over-come Rene Mark Cuarto. Salva hadn't looked great in some previous bouts, but the 22 year old showed a lot to like here, and had certainly improved from the fighter that had previous had footage available. Whether he goes all the way or not is yet to be seen, though he is now firmly in the mix for a world title fight. Performance of the Week Sadriddin Akhmedov (8-0, 7) Kazakh fighter Sadriddin Akhmedov has been carving out a real reputation due to his performances in Canada but this week he returned to his motherland and put on a show for the fans in Kazakhstan, beating up tough Indonesian John Ruba. The bout, for a regional title, saw Akhmedov take the fight to Ruba round after round, though was surprisingly taken the 10 round distance. The "Soldier of Q" will have been disappointed in losing his 100% KO rate, but did get a chance to answer any questions about his stamina and work rate. A fantastic showing. Fight Ricky Sismundo Vs Maxim Dadashev Although there was a lot of minor fights from Asia one of the most interesting fights from the week to feature an Asian came from the US as Ricky Sismundo took on hard hitting Russian Maxim Dadashev, and really forced the fight to be a good one. The fight won't be recalled as a Fight of the Year contender but had a great momentum swing and come back. In round 2 Sismundo dropped the unbeaten Russian and seemed confident of attacking Dadashev, before being taken out by a huge 2-punch combination in round 4. A very entertaining contest, even if it's nothing that will be remembered highly at the end of the year. Notable mention - Jon Jon Estrada Vs Vladislav Krasnoshein Round Akzhol Sulaimanbek Uulu vs Mike Tawatchai Round 3 We had some great rounds this past week, and one of the best was the third round of the bout between Akzhol Sulaimanbek Uulu and Mike Tawatchai. The bout overall was 1-sided, with Uulu beating up the Thai veteran, but the 3rd round really saw the Thai gritting his teeth and taking the fight back to Uulu, almost fighting out of desperation. It wasn't an effective tactic for Tawatchai, but did make for some really exciting action before he was broken down. KO Roy Nagulman KO2 Angelito Merin We had a few great KO's this week, including one suffered by Ricky Sismundo, though none was as good as the one score by Filipino teenager Roy Nagulman, who left Angelito Merin out cold, and requiring a stretcher to get out of the ring. The shot that left Merin down was a huge right hand that could not possibly have landed any cleaner. At 17 years old Nagulman looks to be a real prospect and this performance was as much of an eye opener as he team could ever have hoped for. Prospect Yuki Yamauchi (3-0, 2) Japan's Yuki Yamauchi may not be on the radar of many fight fans yet, despite our recent "Introducing..." article about him, but it's only a matter of time before fans will begin talking about him. He stepped up this week and took the unbeaten record of Claudevan Sese in 3 rounds. Yamauchi could be the best Japanese fighter you're not aware of, and is well worth following. Unlike most Japanese prospects the 23 year old has international amateur experience and fighting at Super Bantamweight he's someone capable of making a big mark on the international stage. Upcoming fight Hironori Mishiro (6-0-1, 2) vs Takuya Watanabe (35-8-1, 20) We sometimes get amazing match ups that make us lick our lips in anticipation, despite average fans not caring too much. We think we have one such bout this week, as OPBF Super Featherweight champion Hironori Mishiro takes on Takuya Watanabe. This has the potential to be a very, very special bout between two talented fighters. These might not be a world title bout, or even a world title eliminator, but it's a bout we're incredibly excited about and we suspect we'll be getting something very special here.  The Middle of March is somewhat packed, with several notable fights taking place in the space of just a few days. These include World and Youth title fights and a very interesting JBC and OPBF female title unification bout,
March 13th- Eri Matsuda (2-0) Vs Nanae Suzuki (8-2-1, 1) -Tokyo, Japan The first major bout during the middle section of March will see Eri Matsuda risk her OPBF Atomweight title against JBC Atomweight champion Nanae Suzuki in a mouth watering unification bout. The unbeaten Matsuda has impressed in both of her bouts so far, but this is a very stiffer test than hew two previous bouts. For Suzuki this is a huge chance to put her name on the boxing map. Miyo Yoshida (11-1) Vs Yoshie Wakasa (6-0, 2) - Tokyo, Japan On the same card as the Matsuda Vs Suzuki bout we'll also see Miyo Yoshida defending her JBC female Bantamweight title, as she takes on unbeaten challenger Yoshie Wakasa. This is a great example of the bouts the JBC female title will give us, and really does look like a fantastic defense for Yoshida, who also holds the OPBF female Bantamweight title, but won't be defending that here. March 15th- Daniyar Yeleussinov (5-0, 3) Vs Silverio Ortiz (37-23, 18) - Pennsylvania, USA 2016 Olympic Gold medal winner, Daniyar Yeleussinov will look to extend his unbeaten run, as he takes on Mexican veteran Silverio Ortiz. The Kazakh struggled to settle to the pro-style of boxing in his first few bouts but has settled recently with a couple of good performances. This is expected to be another win for Yeleussinov, but he may need to work for a stoppage as Ortiz has proven to be relatively tough, with just 6 stoppage losses in his 23 defeats. March 16th- Kosei Tanaka (12-0, 7) Vs Ryoichi Taguchi (27-3-2, 12) -Gifu, Japan Potentially the best fight of the month comes right bang in the middle of March and will see Kosei Tanaka make his first defense of the WBO Flyweight title, as he takes on Ryoichi Taguchi. Tanaka won the title last year in a FOTY contender against Sho Kimura and has long been linked to a fight with Taguchi. Taguchi will be fighting as a fully fledged Flyweight for the first time, and we wouldn't be surprised if his body was more suited to Flyweight than it was at Light Flyweight. This has the potential to be a very, very special and exciting match up, with styles that should gel well. Kento Hatanaka (7-0, 7) Vs Songsaeng Phoyaem (6-1, 1) - Gifu, Japan On the same show we'll see Kento Hatanaka defending the WBC Youth Flyweight title against Thai visitor Songsaeng Phoyaem. Hatanaka, the son of former world champion Kiyoshi Hatanaka, has looked really exciting so far and we'd expect to see him win here, but the key at the moment is following his progression and development as a fighter. The Thai hasn't scored a win of note, but he will see this as a chance to put himself on the map. Koshin Takeshima (2-0, 2) Vs Jian Wang (7-1-1, 2) - Gifu, Japan Also on this card, in an interesting bout, is Koshin Takeshima who will be expecting a really tough test as he goes up against Jian Wang from China. Takeshima has shown a fair bit of promise and talent but this is a clear step up and it will be very, very interesting to see how he deals with the technically limited but tough Wang. Wang will be fighting for the first time since January's war with Seong Yeong Yang and in that draw he showed toughness, work rate and stamina. This could be very fun. Batyrzhan Jukembayev (14-0-0-2, 12) Vs Carlos Jimenez (14-9-1, 8) - Quebec, Canada Unbeaten Canadian based Kazakh fighter Batyrzhan Jukembayev will be fighting for the first time since falling out with Eye of the Tiger Management, though their relationship has now seemingly recovered. He'll be up against Mexican foe Carlos Jimenez in what looks like an easy bout but should be a bit of a test for Jukembayev, who's very promising and exciting despite having a number of technical flaws. Nurzat Sabirov (8-0, 7) vs Cesar Hernan Reynoso (15-11-4, 7) - Quebec, Canada Another Kazakh prospect in action here is Nurzat Sabirov, who will be up against Cesar Hernan Reynoso. The unbeaten Sabirov scored 4 solid wins last year and although this is a step backwards from those bouts he should be able to shine, show power and move his career forward. Reynoso is no push over, but we don't imagine he can hang with Sabirov here. March 21st- Mercito Gesta (32-2-2, 17) vs Juan Antonio Rodriguez (29-7, 25) - California, USA Former 2-time world title challenger Mercito Gesta continues his career when he takes on Juan Antonio Rodriguez. This looks solid on paper, though in reality it should be a straight forward win for Gesta, who will likely be hunting another world title fight before his career is over. Gesta is probably never going to win the big one, but he does look like he's going to remain on the fringes of world level for the rest of his career. March 23rd- Michael Dasmarinas (28-2-1, 19) Vs Kenny Demecillo (14-4-2, 8) Metro Manila, Philippines All Filipino world title bouts have started to become a thing in recent years, after 90 years with out, and now we're starting to see a growth in all Filipino world title eliminators. That's the case here as Michael Dasmarinas and Kenny Demecillo battle in an IBF Bantamweight world title eliminator, to potentially get a shot at the WBSS winner. The IBF title is currently held by Emmanuel Rodriguez, who faces Naoya Inoue in May, and whilst Dasmarinas and Demecillo would be the under-dog against either man they do make for an interesting addition to the world title mix. Samuel Salva (16-0, 10) Vs Rene Mark Cuarto (16-1-1, 9) -Metro Manila, Philippines A second All-Filipino world title eliminator on this card is a match up between Samuel Salva and Rene Mark Cuarto, who battle in an IBF Minimumweight world title eliminator, to potentially get a crack at Deejay Kriel. This bout is an interesting contest between two youngsters each looking for their break out win and we're really looking forward to see how it plays out. On paper it's a very even match up and should make for compelling viewing. Akzhol Sulaimanbek Uulu (13-0, 6) Vs Mike Tawatchai (45-12-2, 28) - Ekaterinburg, Russia Unbeaten Russian based Kyrgyzstan born Akzhol Sulaimanbek Uulu will look to continue his winning run as he takes on Thai veteran Mike Tawatchai, aka Pipat Chaiporn. Following strong recent wins over Leonardo Padillo and Jon Jon Estrada Uulu will be expected to take care of the Thai with no real issues. At 33 Tawatchai can't afford any more setbacks but has yet to win outside of Thailand, and it would be a huge shock to see him changing that here. |
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