Recently we reported that a WBA Light Flyweight world title bout, set to take place in May had been cancelled. That bout was supposed to see "Super" champion Hiroto Kyoguchi defending his title against Indonesian challenger Andika "D'Golden Boy" Sabu (17-0, 8), a little known challenger who is regarded as one of the biggest hopes for Indonesian boxing.
 
Despite that bout being cancelled, at leats for now, it's worth talking about the unbeaten Indonesian, who was ranked #2 by the WBA when that bout had been put together. Despite having done very, very little to deserve his ranking.
 
"D'Golden Boy" was born Andika Fredikson Ha'e in October 1995. He was the 5th of 7 children and came from a modest family. He left he family home looking for work and followed his brother, going from Sabu to Waingapu for jobs. He did pretty much anything, from being a labourer to a bus conductor in the pursuit of the money needed to live.
 
Like many fighters from poor background Sabu found boxing and began his affair with the sport when attending the night market in Sumba. He had took part in the event, boxing for the first time, and saw the sport as a chance to change his life. He would catch the eye of a trainer who offered him the chance to practice the sport, something he accepted. 
 
Despite having no reported amateur fights Sabu turned professional, joining up with the Mirah BC Bali, where he was trained by Yance Mandagie and Ahmad Mandar.
 
Sabu would make his professional debut in November 2014, and defeat the brilliantly named Don King Fortune in 2 rounds, himself a debutant. From there he was kept busy, with another fight in December and then 6 more in 2015 as he raced his record to 8-0 (3). Whilst some of his competition during this early stretch were fellow novices, others were more well known Indonesian domestic fighters, like Heri Amol, and guys like Ardi Tefa and Silem Serang, who had some international experience.
 
Given the lack of depth on the Indonesian scene Sabu would manage to continue climbing through the ranks with no issues, and continuing stringing together wins through 2016 and 2017. Sadly he was lacking a real test. It was hoped he'd step up but the wait was taking a while. Despite things being rather slow for Sabut he did manage to claim silverware in 2018, when he beat Faisol Akbar Jr for the KTPI Light Flyweight. That was his 15th straight win and saw him moving his record to 15-0 (8).
 
With a title around his waist Sabu, obviously, wanted more. He would get his second tittle fight just 7 months after claiming the KTPI title, beating Romshane Sarguilla for the WBA Asia Light Flyweight title, a title that lead to his WBA ranking. Sadly for Sabu the bout seemed to show up his flaws, with Sarguilla losing a razor thin technical decision, in Indonesian, to Sabu. Although not a big name Sarguilla is a really good test for prospects, and made the likes of Dave Apolinario and Pongsaklek Sithdabnij work hard to beat him. 
 
The win over Sarguilla may have had some controversy, but it was a step in the right direction. Sabu would make another step when he returned to the ring, after an intensive training camp, and took on Richard Rosales. Rosales, a Filipino journeyman, had been in with a who's who and despite piling up losses was a solid test for fighters looking to move through the sport. Fighters like Jayr Raquinel and Fahlan Sakkreerin Jr had both been given good tests by Rosales.
 
Sadly the bout between Sabu and Rosales wasn't without incidents. In just the first round Rosales was cut from a headclash. The Filipino seemed in pain from it, but then seemed spurred on, trying to take Sabu out. Despite the aggression from the Filipino Sabu boxed smartly, looking like a genuine talent when he came forward with nice crisp punching and good speed. Sadly his defensive work seemed lacking and he was fortunate that Rosales was a wide puncher as several times Sabu seemed to be in trouble.
 
After 10 rounds Sabu would get the win, albeit a razor thin one, with scores of 96-95 and 97-96, twice, with all 3 judges being Indonesian judges. The step up seemed too much for Sabu, who showed nice touches, but seemingly had a lot of work still do, especially defensively.
 
The win over Rosales saw Sabu defending his WBA Asia title, but it showed he wasn't ready for a top opponent. It showed he needed time to develop. He was world ranked, but looked more like an emerging prospect than a fringe contender. His ranking opened up the opportunity to fight for a world title, which he would have done against Kyoguchi, but sadly for Sabu that would have looked like him being cashed our by promoter Daniel Martin.
 
We hope that Sabu does get a world title fight, but he needs more seasoning first. He struggled with Rosales and Sarguilla. Whilst there may have been issues in camp it's clear that he's still a work in progress and a world title bout needs too wait if he's to stand a chance of winning.

One of the great things about this "Who are you?" Series, at least for us writing them, is that there really isn't a limit on who we can cover, and whether we think they can win or lose their upcoming. The reality is that this is a chance to just shine a light on someone who isn't a prospect, look at their career, their style, their records and their achievements, without really being limited by how big of a name they are, or that they will become.
 
This week we look at someone who is a great example of hard work, dedication, and crafting a style that works for him. He's never going to be a world champion, but will always be a really good gate keeper, and someone who can test anyone over 12 rounds. Today we look at Lito Dante (17-11-4, 9), the man with one of the most misleading records in the entire sport.
 
The 20 year old Lito Dante is pretty much a 10 year veteran as we write this, and with 32 on his ledger he's a genuine young veteran. On paper he may look like a typical journeyman. A "win some, lose some" type of fighter, but the reality is he is so much more than that. He is a world level journeyman, he is one of the most rugged and mentally challenging fighters in the sport. He's technically not the best, but everyone will have problems with his toughness and tenacity.
 
Lets rewind! Dante made his professional debut in 2010 as a 20 year old. He would go unbeaten in his first 6 bouts, running up a 3-0-3 record before back to back losses to Louie Arlos and Raymond Tabugon in 2012 saw him fall to 3-2-3 after 8 bouts. Although Dante stopped the rot, with a TKO win over Gilbert Magos, he struggled to build momentum due to another loss, this time to Michael Enriquez.
 
After his unbeaten 6 fight start Dante had quickly dropped to 4-3-3 (1) and seemed unlikely to make any sort of a mark on the sport. Even when he managed to build some moment, though 2013, with a trio of wins the momentum was killed the following year, with a loss to Richard Barrios. 
 
The loss to Barrios was followed by 11 months out of the ring for Dante, who returned to stop Dexter Dimaculangan and then beat Oliver Gregorio just weeks later, taking his first 10 round decision win. Once again just as he started to build momentum he would suffer another loss, losing in South Africa to Siyabonga Siyo, in what was not only Dante's first 12 round fight but also his first bout outside of the Phlippines.
 
The loss to Siyo saw Dante fall to 9-5-3 (5), and it was the fourth time he had lost a decision to an unbeaten fighter. Despite the loss Dante's hunger didn't fade, and 4 months later he won the LuzProBA Minimumweight title by taking a decision over Lester Abutan. That was Dante's first title win and the perfect way for him to end 2015.
 
To kick off a very busy 2016, in which Dante fought 5 times, he stopped Junel Lacar in 4 rounds before facing future world champion Vic Saludar for the WBO Asia Pacific Minimumweight title. Dante came up short to Saludar, who was fighting for the first time since losing to Kosei Tanaka in a WBO world title fight, but became the first fighter to survive 10 rounds with Saludar, something he would beat in 2017. In his third bout of 2016 Dante travelled to Japan and gave the then touted Takumi Sake fits, before the bout was curtailed in round 4, resulting in a technical draw. Just weeks later Dante would be in the ring and would stop Jaysever Abcede, becoming the first fighter to stop the gutsy "Lion Hearted". The year would however end with another loss, as Dante lost a close technical decision to Jesse Espinas.
 
In 2017 we not only had Dante go 10 rounds with Vic Saludar again, something he did in December, but also notch one of his better wins, defeating Jay Loto over 12 rounds for the WBC International title. Sadly though he couldn't build on the win over Loto as that was followed, just 3 months later, by a loss in South Africa to Simpiwe Konkco, in an IBO world title fight. 
 
Dante came into 2018 on the back of his second loss to Vic Saludar and didn't have the start to the year he would have wanted, losing a technical decision to Tibo Monabesa, when Monabesa was cut from a clash of head. Despite the back to back losses Dante would go on to beat Naoya Haruguchi in Japan, taking his first win on international soil in his fifth bout outside of the Philippines.
 
Following on from the win over Haruguchi we would see Dante return to Japan and score his biggest to date on March 31st 2019. He had travelled over to Yokohama to take on OPBF Minimumweight champion Tsubasa Koura. Koura, then 14-0, was expected to move on to a world title fight later in the year but Dante ripped up the script completely and pressed Koura, out boxing him, out fighting him, and then, mid way through round 12, stopped him. Dante had not only gone over to Japan, but had battered their rising star to claim the Oriental title, and put himself in the world rankings.
 
More than 8 months after his massive win over Koura we saw Dante return to Japan, looking to make it a hat-trick of wins in the country, but lose a clear 6 round decision to talented youngster Yudai Shigeoka. The highly skilled Shigeoka, fighting for the second time as a professional, used his speed and movement to out box, out think, out speed and out skill Dante, and made the most of the shorter distance of the bout. It was a brilliant bit of match making from Shigeoka's team, who knew that the win over the OPBF champion would massively enhance his standing, but also be a good test.
 
To begin 2020 Dante took on Indonesian Sulis Barrera, and battered Barrera into submission in 2 rounds, dropping him from a barrage of body shots.
 
Next for the Filipino, we suspect, is a return to Japan to take on Masataka Taniguchi. The bout will not only be Dante's first defense of the OPBF title he won last year, but also be for the vacant Japanese Minimumweight title, giving the bout really big stakes. The bout was announced for the middle of March, but is expected to be postponed until the JBC lift's their suspension on professional boxing activity in Japan.
 
In the ring Dante isn't the best, he's not the most skilled, he's not the biggest puncher, or the quickest, or the most accurate. What he is, however, is a nightmare. He's really physically strong, scarily so for a Minimumweight, he's insanely tough, and he's mentally durable. If he doesn't have early success that's not a major problem to him, he just keeps coming. He's defensively smart, though knows he can get away with errors due to his toughness, offensively smart, delivers wicked body shots and is a physical monster. To beat him you need to either have excellent speed or stamina, or hope your fighting over a short distance.
 
Dante's fights can be ugly, real ugly, and he has 3 technical decisions on his record but ugly or not he will always be a handful, for anyone.

The Japanese domestic title scene is an interesting one, with a mix of fighters ranging from emerging hopefuls like Shuichiro Yoshino and Koki Inoue to a former world title challenger, such as in the case of Keita Obara. Others are less well known, and some are very unlikely to ever make their name on the international stage. One such fighter is today's subject of our "Who are you?" series.
 
The Japanese Light Middleweight champion Hironobu Matsunaga (16-1, 10), who defends his title this coming weekend, is not someone we expect many fans to know much about, but in fairness he is someone who deserves a lot more attention than he gets. During his 17 fight career he has proven to be fun to watch, aggressive, strong, powerful and a tough guy to beat. Sadly though he's now 32 and unlikely to reach a higher level, however we are going to enjoy every fight he has going forward.
 
Matsunaga debuted in July 2012 as a Welterweight fighting out of the Yokohama Hikari gym, the gym he has remained with right through his career. On debut he took an opening round win over Takumi Matsuda on a Dangan card. It would be almost 5 months until he returned to the ring and scored his second win, taking out Mamoru Takeuchi in 3 rounds. 
 
Sadly Matsunaga's career during these early bouts was frustrating, and full of lengthy gaps. His third bout came 7 months after his second, and saw him defeat future Japanese Welterweight challenger Makoto Kawasaki. Then he was out for a year.
 
Thankfully in June 2014, when Matsunaga returned, he was put in the Rookie of the Year, and was able to be active, with 4 bouts in 6 months, the type of activity his career really needed. His first bout of the year was a blow out win against Kenichi Kamada, that was followed by a second decision win over Makoto Kawasaki before a decision over Masaya Tamayama in the East Japan Rookie of the Year final. That run of wins lead him to the All Japan final where he clashed with the destructive Yuki Beppu.
 
Sadly for Matsunaga the power and aggression of Beppu proved to be too much at that stage, and Beppu would stop Matsunaga in the second round, ending Matsunaga's 6 fight unbeaten run to begin his career. Given that Beppu has since gone on to win the WBO Asia Pacific title this is a really interesting bout from an historical stand point, with both Beppu and Matsunaga later going on to bigger and better things, and shows that even fighters who fail to win Rookie of the Year can go on be successes. 
 
Around 5 month after losing to Beppu we saw Matsunaga move up to Light Middleweight for the first time, and defeat Middleweight Rookie of the Year winner Hisao Narita. That win was followed 7 months later with Matsunaga moving down in weight and scoring a stoppage win over Shiro Saito, in what was Matsunaga's last bout as a Welterweight.
 
After repeated lengthy breaks 2016 seemed to be a potential break out year for Matsunaga. He kicked the year off by moving back to Light Middleweight and beating Hiroshi Ohashi over 8 rounds in March. This was followed up just 2 months later with a win over former Japanese Middleweight champion Sanosuke Sasaki. Then came a huge fight for Matsunaga as he travelled over to South Korea and beat Je Ni Ma for the WBO Asia Pacific Light Middleweight title. 
 
The bout with Ma was a notable one in a number of ways for Matsunaga. It was his first bout outside of Japan, it was his first bout scheduled for 12, his first title bout and the first time he fought in an outdoor ring. He dropped Ma in round 3, and seemed like the clear winner, though one judge some how had Ma winning 115-112.
 
Sadly with 3 wins in 2016, a title under around his waist and momentum building Matsunaga was then out of the ring for 13 months! Part of that was, sadly, a bout with Ryota Yada falling through in May 2017 when Matsunaga had to pull out of the scheduled bout. On his eventual return he faced Thai foe Suchat Chaiyaporn and made light work of the Thai, stopping him in 3 rounds, on a live televised Japanese show. Given the long break we understand the low level opponent, but this was frustrating, to see a fighter winning a regional title then being in a bout like this.
 
A visit to Thailand 5 months later saw Matsunaga stop Patomsuk Pathompothong, aka Komsan Polsan, in 4 rounds to take his second win on foreign soil. This was a much better test than the one over Chaiyaporn, which was clearly done to shake some ring rust from the Japanese fighter after the inactivity. To end the year we saw Matsunaga finally get the big break out win he needed, stopping perennial Japanese title challenger Koshinmaru Saito to earn a Japanese title fight at the 2019 version of the Champion Carnival. This loss sent Saito into retirement and put Matsunaga in position for a Japanese title fight in 2019.
 
On July 10th 2019, almost 7 months after earning his Japanese title shot, Matsunaga finally got a crack at the title as he took on Japanese Light Middleweight champion Nobuyuki Shindo. Shindo, a tall, rangy and awkward southpaw, was under pressure from Matsunaga almost from the off, and retired in his corner after the 6th round, as he had began to take a bit of a battering from the challenger. Matsunaga had had trouble at times with the size difference, but when he started to cut the distance Shindo had no answer to his aggression, his pressure and his strength.
 
Aroudn 6 months after winning the belt Matsunaga made his first defense, stopping Koki Koshikawa in an exciting 4 rounder. Koshikawa, a former amateur standout, had moments but was broken down and then battered in rounds 3 and 4 before being saved by the referee.
 
Matsunaga was pencilled in to defend his title on March 7th against mandatory challenger Yuto Shimizu, though that bout has now been postponed indefinitely due to the JBC's suspension on boxing in regards to Coronavirus. Despite the postponement, we do expect the bout to take place later in the year.

​As is usually the case Matsunaga will be giving away height, but the aggressive little southpaw warrior will be the favourite against the tough and awkward Shimizu. A win there will potentially open up a unification bout with regional title holds Takeshi Inoue and Akinori Watanabe, both of which would be really exciting match ups.
 
Although not a big name Matsunaga is an exciting fighter, and someone who deserves a lot more attention than he gets. His reign isn't likely to be a long one, given he's 33 in September, but it will certainly be an exciting one.

Korean boxing is in an interesting position right now. It lacks in terms of stars, though both Hyun Mi Choi and Ye Joon Kim are pretty solid fighters and Choi is certainly marketable in Korea whilst Kim has the potential to make a mark in the fringes of world level, if he stays active. Despite the lack of top tier talent the country is developing some really interesting and exciting fighters. One of those is this week's focus for our "Who are you?"
 
We don't expect many fans to know who Jae Woo Lee (7-2, 6) is, in fact until last year he hadn't fought out side of Korea, but in just a single bout away from home he made a statement, and made us, along with others, sit up and take not. We'll get on to that bout a little later, but lets look at little more at the early part of Lee's career.
 
Lee made his debut way back in 2012 as an 18 year old and lost a decision to Boon Joon Suk. Just 3 months after his debut defeat Lee picked up his first win, stopping Woo Jin Yang inside a round. Sadly his win wasn't the start of some great run and he would suffer his second loss in his next bout, 8 months later, losing a close decision to Dong Hoon Yook.
 
With a 1-2 record after 3 bouts it would have been easy to write Lee off, that would have been a mistake. Just a month after Lee had lost to Don Hoon Yook, he moved his record to 2-2, stopping Jae Joon Hyun, and a month later he was 3-2, stopping Yun Joon Kim. Lee would add another win soon afterwards to move to 4-2, as he stopped Jong Won Won.
 
Sadly, though as is typical with Koren fighters, Lee then took a lengthy absence from the ring, not fighting for over 4 years until returning in 2017. By then his moment had vanished. His promise had been forgotten and few really seemed to have any expectations on Lee's shoulders when he returned When he returned he faced off with the tough Yong Hwan Jun, who actually won the KBM Welterweight title last year. Despite being the much smaller man Lee out worked and out fought Jun to earn an excellent and decisive decision, in a win that has aged excellently for Lee.
 
Sadly after beating Jun, in what was Lee's only decision win, he was out of the ring for 6 months. On his return he he fought for the KBM Featherweight title against Hyun Je Shin and for once Lee was in with someone who seemed to really know what he was doing, countering Lee, popping his jab in his face repeatedly and controlling the distance. This was a really tough bout for Lee who seemed unable to pull the trigger at times. As the bout went on though Lee managed to finally get his shots flowing and in round 10, whilst down on the cards, Lee's power finally paid dividends, knocking out a tired Shin with just over a minute of the bout left. This was a truly brutal finish and a great come from behind win.
 
Despite the win over Shin we again saw Lee being unable to build on his momentum, suffering an injury that ended up keeping him out of the ring for over a year. 
 
On Lee's return to the ring, more than 20 months after he'd beat Shin, we saw the Korean make his international debut, travelling to Japan to take on the hard hitting Tsuyoshi Tameda at Korakuen Hall. The bout, which was part of the Hajime No Ippo 30th anniversary tournament, was expected to be a straight forward win for the well regarded Tsuyoshi. Instead we got a 3 round shoot out, that ended with Lee breaking down Tameda, who was bloodied and battered by the time the referee stepped in.
 
On February 27th we'll see Lee back in the ring, as he takes on Japan's Shungo Kusano in one of the semi final bouts of the Hajime No Ippo 30th anniversary tournament. If he wins he'll be up against either Richard Pumicpic or Daisuke Watanabe in the final later in the year, in what would be a huge bout for the Korea, who was once 1-2.
 
At the age of 26 Lee is still young enough to make a mark on a much bigger stage. If he wins the Hajime No Ippo 30th anniversary tournament we suspect we'll see him in a regional title bout in the near future and, with some luck, move into the world rankings. We don't see him ever winning a world title, but given his styles, toughness, power and aggression he's someone that fight fans globally deserve a chance to see. He's fun, and he's one of the few Korean fighter who has the potential to fight at regional level with actual success.
 
For those who haven't seen it, we've included the bout with Tameda below, thanks to KBM and Boxing Raise.

Quite often in this wonderful sport we see fighters who are tipped for the top falling short of the expectations heaped on their shoulders. We've all seen the Olympic gold medal winners who fails to make it to the big time and the other highly regarded former amateurs who went to the top in the unpaid ranks but failed to gain the same success as a professional.
 
One fighter looking to avoid joining those is Filipino fighter Froilan Saludar (31-3-1, 22) who is now 30 years old and essentially in last chance saloon, and that latest subject of our "Who are you?" feature.
 
The heavy handed Saludar was tipped for major success very early in his professional career, more than a decade ago, and whilst he's yet to reach the top he banged on the door a few times and has time on side for one more charge. But who exactly is Froilan Saludar?
 
Froilan Saludar, dubbed "The Sniper", was a once capable amateur who competed internationally in a number of notable tournaments. Those included the Ahmet Comert Tournament, the Xinjiang International Tournament and the Asian Junior Championships all in 2007. Sadly he failed to reach the medal stages in any of those competitions, but even getting as far as he did was something. What was notable is that Froilan's success in the amateurs was overshadowed by that of his brothers, Rey and Vic Saludar, who both took medals at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.
 
In 2009 Froilan began his professional campaign and stopped his first 3 opponents, including Jhon Gemino who later became a solid journeyman. When his stoppage run came to an end Saludar continued to pick up wins moving to 6-0 (3) before suffering a technical draw in a 2010 bout against Brian Diano. That draw was the only blip on Saludar's record in his first 20 fights, in which he went 19-0-1 (12).
 
Although Saludar hadn't scored any major wins in his first 20 bouts he did have notable wins not just over a young Gemino but also Eaktwan BTU Ruaviking, aka Komgrich Nantapech. Sadly his unbeaten run came to an end in spectacular fashion when he was stopped in a world title eliminator by McWilliams Arroyo. That loss came in 2014 and was a major set back, but one that Saludar bounced back from by scoring 4 wins and securing a bout with Takuma Inoue. Sadly that was where Saludar suffered his second loss, and fell to 23-2-1 (14). Despite dropping Inoue Saludar was dropped twice by Inoue late on and was a clearly beaten by Naoya Inoue's young brother.
 
Saludar would again bounce back from a loss and run up 5 straight wins, all inside the distance, before getting a world title fight against the then WBO Flyweight champion Sho Kimura. Again the step up to world class proved too much for Saludar, who was stopped in 6 rounds by Kimura, despite a very good start by Saludar who had boxed well early on before being ground down.
 
As we've seen from Saludar after every loss, he has bounced back, and since losing to Kimura in July 2018 he has notched 3 wins, all by stoppage, including a very notable victory in September 2019 over Tsubasa Murachi for the WBO Asia Pacific Super Flyweight title. That win was enough to put Saludar into the WBO world rankings, again, and put him on the way to another potential world title fight.
 
Later this month Saludar will make his first defense of the WBO Asia Pacific title, as he takes on 33 year old Japanese puncher Ryoji Fukunaga (11-4, 11). A win there will boost Saludar WBO ranking further and potentially give the hard hitting Filipino one more chance to hit the big time.
 
Although known in the west for his loss to Arroyo, and subsequent defeats to Inoue and Kimura, Saludar is not someone to over-look. The talented boxer puncher has had to rebuild, but at 30 with experience on his side and 35 professional bouts under his belt, including 3 bouts with world class opponents, he certainly shouldn't be written off. Saludar is one of those fighters who will seemingly only lose when he takes on world class fighters, and is likely to become a genuine gatekeeper. 
 
Whilst Saludar being a gatekeeper would be a disappointment, given early expectations, it would certainly not be a terrible position to be, given the incredible depth at Super Flyweight right now, and being a gatekeeper would mean he's only a win or two away from a world title fight.
 
We don't imagine Saludar ever becoming a world champion, but not every one can. Finding success at regional level, fighting for a world title and being in the general mix is a success, and we wouldn't be surprised at Saludar getting one more crack at a major title before his career comes to an end. ​

In 2019 one Chinese fighter really broke out from the pack, announcing himself in a big way and not only claimed a world title, but completely thrilled fans who watched him. That, of course, was Can Xu, who went 3-0 (1) during the year, threw countless punches and gave us some of the best rounds of the year, with his bout against Jesus M Rojas being a forgotten Fight of the Year contender.
 
In 2020 we expect a number of other Chinese fighters attempt to make their mark and show that Xu isn't the only talented fighter in the country. One of those fighters is the unbeaten Yonggqiang Yang (13-0, 10), a 27 year old hopeful, who looks to score his biggest win to date, in early February.
 
As a professional Yang made his debut back in March 2016, fighting up at Light Welterweight, where he stopped Jizhu Han in 2 rounds. Sadly we haven't been able to watch that bout, but we did catch his second bout, which saw him stopping Biaobiao Wuin 2 rounds. Wu, who was making his debut, was dropped about a minute into round 2 and Yang just kept the pressure on after the bout resumed until the referee stepped in. For someone at such an early stage in his career Yang looked really composed.
 
Yang would continue to build his stoppage run, running his record to 5-0 (5) before being given his real test of any kind, as he faced Kuerbanjiang Qiong in January 2017. Despite not being able to take Qiong out early Yang impressed again, controlling his foe through much of the 6 round bout with crisp punches, switching between head and body and showing an ability to box on the move. It wasn't flawless, but for a guy in just his 6th pro bout it was a solid performance and saw Yang show the fundamentals that he could use for a solid career.
 
Straight after beating Qiong we saw Yang hit a career milestone, as he faced his first international opponent, Geisler AP. This turned out to be a rather pointless match up, with AP being stopped in the first round courtesy of a body shot from Yang, who moved through the gear for the finishing sequence and looked fantastic in the finish.
 
Although Yang was quietly making a name for himself as we headed into 2018 that was the year that he really began to create real buzz. He dropped down to Lightweight and scored a very notable, and hard fought win, over Takuya Watanabe. Although not well known in the west Watanabe is a talented and rugged fighter and getting past him, especially in just his 10th fight, was a legit statement from Yang, who had to dig deep at times but remained composed and earned the win. That was followed by another of note, as he stopped once touted Filipino Harmonito Dela Torre in 2 rounds.
 
Sadly the win over Dela Torre, which came in Malaysia on the same card as Manny Pacquiao's win over Lucas Matthysse, wasn't followed up on and it was more than a year later before Yang fought again, beating Filipino Ernie Sanchez. He then finished 2019 by stopping JR Magboo in November.
 
Originally the plan was for Yang to then get a shot at WBO world champion Jamel Herring, with numerous Chinese news sources reporting that was the plan for early 2020. Instead however Yang seen that bout fall by the way side. He was then up scheduled to face Masayuki Ito, himself a former world champion, before that bout fell through with Ito suffering an injury, and then the show being cancelled due to the coronovirus outbreak in China.

Although the Chinese press have described Yang as the "Chinese Lomachenko", Yang's style really isn't similar to the Ukrainian great. He is busy with his jab, and has got under-rated foot work, but he's with some nice body work. It is is however going to be interesting to see what he can do when he steps up a level. So far he has looked good, but the Watanabe bout aside things have mostly been easy going for him. The Ito bout will also be a chance to see what Yang looks like at 130lbs. He's looked solid, if somewhat basic, at 135lbs, but cutting that extra weight could be a major issue, especially against someone as talented as Ito, who will clearly be looking to make a statement here.
 ​