Typically the 140lb division in Japan has never been a glamour division in the country. There's rarely been notable Japanese fighters at the weight, though there has been notable exceptions like Keita Obara and Hiroki Okada in recent years and prior to that Akio Kameda was a notable exception. Right now however Japan does have a genuine hopeful for the division in the form of unbeaten 25 year old Andy Hiraoka (19-0, 14), from the Ohashi Gym. This coming Tuesday Hiraoka will be looking to record his second defense of the Japanese national title, as part of a stacked card headline by Naoya Inoue Vs Nonito Donaire II, as he takes on Shun Akaiwa (7-3-1, 5), in what could be one of Hiraoka's final bouts on the domestic stage before ploughing into bigger and better bouts in the near future.
Fans of the Japanese scene will know that Hiraoka has been around for years, and it's genuinely hard to believe he is still only 25. The talented southpaw kicked off his professional career way back in 2013, and the following year he reached the All Japan Rookie of the Year final, though had to pull out due to illness. At that point in time it was unclear whether he was going to actively pursue boxing as a serious career, and he was a very talented long distance runner. He ended up taking almost 2 years out of the sport, before returning in late 2016 and rising through the ranks over the years that followed. That rise saw him winning the Japanese Youth title in 2017, which he defended once, beat former world title challenger Akihiro Kondo, score two wins in Las Vegas, and then win the Japanese and WBO Asia Pacific titles in 2021 with a career best win over Jin Sasaki, which has been followed by him defending both of those titles. As we write this he appears to have the tools to compete at, if not win at, world level, though those tools do still need some work, and some honing. Stood at 5'11" and fighting out of the southpaw stance, Hiraoka is a natural athlete and is very much a fighter who could have taken up numerous other sports, but his dad has been responsible for developing Hiraoka as a fighter, something that has been really helped since he joined the Ohashi gym a few years ago and been able to train along side the likes of Naoya Inoue. In the ring he's very much an outside fighter, who uses his reach, height, speed and athletic ability to his advantage. Early in his career he was a rather crude boxer, who got by on just his athletic ability. Now a days however he's become a lot more polished, learning how to box and move, neutralising fighters, using the experience he's built up and wins over Kondo and Sasaki have proven that he does have more in his tool kit than just athletic ability. He's started to understand timing, distance and how to really set traps and counter, as well as using his jab to control fights and neutralise aggressive opponents. Whether he wins a world title or not is hard to say, but he is, genuinely, the brightest Japanese hope at 140lbs, and the only Japanese fighter at the weight with any chance of winning a world title in the next few years. As for his opponent, Shun Akaiwa is someone who has never really shown the potential to conquer even the domestic scene. The 29 year old from Fukuoka fights out of the relatively obscure Manabe Boxing Gym and has been a professional since 2014. He won his debut in just over 2 minutes, but then took more than 2 years out of the ring, before fighting to a draw and was 2-1-1 after 4 bouts. Despite that poor start he left a mark in 2020, just before the pandemic shut down boxing in Japan, with a notable upset win over Kenta Endo in a bout aired by G+. That win seemed like it ould set Akaiwa up for bigger bouts, but sadly for him he was then stopped inside a minute by Jin Sasaki, and then beaten again by the hard hitting Yasutaka Fujita in 2021, losing whatever momentum the win over Endo should have given his career. Thankfully for him he has bounced back with back to back wins over Akira Morita and Hokuto Matsumoto. In the ring Akaiwa is an a rather crude looking fighter with something of a unique style. He leans a lot from the waist, has flat feet he likes to set, and doesn't have a very busy jab, though it does find the target a lot when he throws it. His guard is high when he's under pressure but he tends to be the one coming forward, albeit in a rather awkward and gangly fashion. Sadly for him he lacks offensive crispness, and often slaps with his wide shots. He does have a style that should make for fun fights, with the right opponents, but he also looks incredibly limited a lot of the time. One thing he has going for him is decent power at the domestic level, but against top domestic fighters his power isn't enough to get their respect, as we saw when Jin Sasaki battered him in double quick fashion. Sadly this bout is less about being a competitive contest and much, much more about Hiraoka looking good before moving on to bigger and better fights. We suspect he'll take a round or two to get a look, then get to work, slowly breaking down Akaiwa, before letting heavy shots go in the middle rounds and stopping the challenger in 5 or 6 rounds, without taking much punishment along the way. This is not about testing or really challenging the champion, but instead giving him a chance to shine on a global broadcast, and we expect him to really shine. Showing his polish, poise and finishing ability along the way. Prediction - TKO6 Hiraoka
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Over the past few years the Super Bantamweight division has become one of the most interesting at elite level, with the likes of Murodjon Akhmadaliev, Stephen Fulton, Brandon Figueroa and Daniel Roman putting on some incredible performances in some great bouts. Outside of the elite level the division has also become a real hot bed of contenders all looking to break out and earn their shot at a world title. This has seen fighters like Marlon Tapales, Azat Hovhannisyan, Carlos Castro and Ra'eese Aleem all fight some of the other leading fighters in the division.
Two other fighters looking to move into title world title contention clash this coming Tuesday in Saitama as Takuma Inoue (15-1, 3) and Gakuya Furuhashi (28-8-2, 16) face off, not just to move a step closer to a world title bout, but to also unify the WBO Asia Pacific and Japanese titles at the weight, in what could be a genuinely thrilling 12 rounder. Of the two fighters the more well known, especially internationally, is Takuma Inoue. The younger brother of Naoya Inoue who we have seen develop as a fighter since making his debut way back in 2013, aged 17. Although better known as the Monster's little brother, Takuma has had an impressive career of his own, winning the OPBF title at Super Flyweight, Bantamweight and Super Bantamweight, as well as the WBC "interim" title, and holding notable wins against the likes of Tatsuya Fukuhara, Fahlan Sakkreerin Jr, Nestor Daniel Narvaes, Froilan Saludar, Hiroyuki Kudaka, Keita Kurihara and Shingo Wake. He might not be the Monster, but in regards to his own career, the 26 year old has had a genuinely very, very good one so far, and still has much of, if not all of, his prime years to come and we suspect he will become a fixture at world level as he continues to physically mature, and become a stronger, heavier handed fighter. In the ring Takuma is very different to his brother, yet they both similarities. The key difference between them is that Takuma isn't blessed with Naoya's fighter changing power, he can't take opponents out with one shot and he rarely scores knockdowns. He is however, much like his brother, very technically schooled and an excellent boxer. He understands the sports, he gets the theory behind what he's supposed to do in the ring, and he fights to his own strengths. His timing is solid, his movement is impressive and his will to win is great. Despite lacking power he can take a shot, and he hits regularly enough and clean enough to get respect of fighters, with his recent wins over Kurihara and Wake both showing that his jab is heavy enough to keep fighters at bay, with his control of range and distance are excellent. His one loss, which came to Nordine Oubaali, showed he had grit, determination and real toughness, as he battered early on in that bout, but came close to stopping Oubaali in the later rounds, and that really showed his character and stamina, and that was despite the fact he was only 23 at the time. Despite losing that bout his reputation, in many ways, was actually enhanced. Although Inoue is well known in the West the same can't be said for Gakuya Furuhashi, who has spent his entire career fighting on the Japanese domestic scene. In Japan however he is a popular fighter, with a sizable local following in Kanagawa and Tokyo. He began his career back in 2007, as a fresh faced 19 year old, and won the All Japan Rookie of the Year in 2008 at Bantamweight. In the years that followed he had mixed success, sliding from 8-0 (1) to 13-5 (4), but kept improving and in 2015 got his first shot at a Japanese title, fighting to a draw with future world champion Yukinori Oguni. Sadly that set back was then followed by back to back losses as his career seemed to stumble before losing in a second title fight, this time to Yasutaka Ishimoto. Following that bout he was 28 and then had a 18-8-1 (8) record, had gone 1-3-1 in previous 5 and it seemed like his career was about over. Since then however he has put together the ring of his career, going 11-0-1, making his international debut in Vietnam and beating the likes of Ryoichi Tamura and Yusaku Kuga whilst winning, and twice defending, the Japanese Super Bantamweight title. Now, aged 34, he looks the best he has ever looked, and is fighting like a man who has promised himself that he'll retire when he loses again, and isn't in a rush to let that happen. In the ring Furuhashi is very much a warrior type fighter, who wants to force the bout to be fought on the inside, setting a high tempo, and having a war. He's not the quickest, or the sharpest, or the most technically well schooled, but he's one of the most determined fighters out there and he sheer bloody minded a lot of the time. His work rate is amazing, his desire to come forward and have a fight is stunning and as we saw against Yusaku Kuga in their first bout, back in 2021 he can take some huge shots and shake them off to come forward. In a war he's a hard man to beat, and despite not being a massive puncher, his work rate and desire grinds opponents down. He is intense in the ring, and a nightmare to keep away from. Notably however he can also box, something he wanted to show last year when he faced Seigo Hanamori. Something that Hanamori didn't let Furuhashi show as he tried to out Furuhashi Furuhashi, and got stopped quickly for it in a thrilling 3 round war. Sadly at the age of 34, and with a lot of tough bouts on his ledger, it's hard to know what he has left in the tank, and whether winning the Japanese title last year is something that will mark the pinnacle of his career. Style wise Furuhashi does have the tools to make life really tricky for Inoue, his aggression, work rate, desire and intense forward march is the style that can unsettle Inoue's ability to control range. Furuashi however doesn't have the quickest of feet, or the skills to cut the ring off against a mover. With that in mind we expect Inoue to use his feet a lot, box and move, make Furuhashi commit to coming forward and throwing, before sliding to the side, landing a counter and making Furuhashi reset his forward march. Style wise Furuhashi is a nightmare for Inoue, but sadly his own limitations in the style, are going to make Inoue shine. The only real question is whether Inoue can close the show on a tired, and likely bloodied, Furuhashi late on. We feel he could, but we're not sure he will. Prediction - UD12 Inoue Every so often we get a bout at domestic or regional level that looks a little bit special, and like it could be something rather amazing. This Sunday we get one such bout as Japanese Featherweight champion Hinata Maruta (12-1-1, 9) takes on mandatory challenger Reiya Abe (22-3-1, 10), for both the Japanese and WBO Asia Pacific Featherweight titles. The bout screams high level, intense, high speed chess match, and looks likely to be one of the very best Japanese domestic bouts of the year, as the two men look to prove that not only are they the best in Japan, and arguably the best in Asia along with Satoshi Shimizu and Can Xu, but also suitable for a world title bout later in the year, something both men are known to want sooner rather than later.
Of the two men, the more highly regarded is Maruta, who turned professional in 2015 with a lot of fanfare from those at the Morioka Gym. His debut saw him defeat hard hitting Filipino Jason Canoy, and he soon won the WBC Youth Bantamweight title, beating Wilbert Berondo to win the belt. After 2 defense he stepped up massively and lost a clear, but competitive, decision to the then OPBF Super Bantamweight champion Hidenori Otake. The loss served as a wake up call in some ways, and made Maruta that he needed to do more than just have exceptional skills, but also needed to apply them. After the loss his team looked to get him some international experience, with bouts in Thailand and the Philippines, though the bout in the Philippines ended with a terrible draw marking his record for second time. Since that draw however he has been in the form of his career, scoring 5 straight wins including notable domestic victories over Tsuyoshi Tameda, Coach Hiroto, Takenori Ohashi, Ryo Sagawa and Ryo Hino. Of those victories the one over Sagawa won Maruta the Japanese title, whilst his win over Hino served as his first defense. In the ring Maruta is genuinely fantastic. He's a tall, rangy, long fighter who we've seen grow from a very slender and slim looking kid at Bantamweight, where he debuted aged 18, into a young man at the age of 25. He has gone from looking like someone who really needed to fill out their frame to someone who is slowly maturing into a bit of a beast in the ring. He's ultra sharp, incredibly quick, and fights to his strengths, keeping range behind his quick and clean jab, and uses good footwork to keep space, and draw mistakes. His early career saw him going through the motions a lot, and not really putting his foot on the gas as much as we'd like, but in recent years he has shown that third gear, whilst still looking like he has a lot still to give. He's a fighter who manages to exert pressure, despite fighting at range, due to his physical features, but he also has exceptional awareness, and is incredibly slippery, with very smooth defensive moves, which allows him to fight as counter puncher, whilst pressing behind his long jab. Unlike some Japanese fighters he's also willing to tie opponents up when they get too close, something that seems to have been developed from American training camps, as we really don't see it from many Japanese fighters. Notably Maruta might, still, look like he's not fully developed his frame, but he has solid power, to go with his accuracy, timing and speed and looks like he is always comfortable in the ring. Like many exceptional fighters he seems to have that amazing calm, confident composure, that separates brilliant fighters from the very good ones, and that makes he so relaxed in the ring as if he sees everything before it happens. The scariest thing about him however is that he seems to be light years ahead, in terms of skills, than many other fighters, and as a result only seems to need to show glimpses of what he can do. Fingers crossed when he steps up to facing global names we really see what he's been keeping in the locker. Whilst we talking glowing of Maruta we also need to mention the challenger, who is certainly not a bad fighter himself. In fact Abe has been dubbed a boxing genius in Japan, and is a very high level, intelligent fighter himself, and sadly for him he also suffers with a similar issue to Maruta, a difficulty in showing everything he's capable of. He turned professional in 2013 aged 20 and lost his second professional bout, to Koki Kobayashi, before bouncing back and winning the 2014 All Japan Rookie of the Year. In 2015 he lost for the second time, to Shingo Kusano, before reeling off a brilliant 11 fight winning run. That winning run saw him over-come the likes of Ryo Hino, Hikaru Marugame, avenge the loss to Shingo Kusano, Tsuyoshi Tameda, Joe Noynay, Satoshi Hosono an Daisuke Sugita. A brilliant run that saw him fight for the Japanese title in 2019, and fight to a draw with Japanese Featherweight champion Taiki Minamoto. He would also come up short 4 months later when he lost a razor close decision to Ryo Sagawa for the vacant title, which Minamoto gave up when he moved up in weigh. Since that draw he has rebuilt well with wins against Ren Sasaki, Koshin Takeshima and Daisuke Watanabe to earn a third shot at the Japanese throne. In the ring Abe is a very, very intelligent fighter. He fights out of the southpaw stance and love to control the range and tempo behind his his footwork, creating space to land counter left hands. At times he neglects his jab, which is an excellent weapon, but does let opponents be their own downfall a lot of the time. He's a fighter who loves to feint, get a read on opponents, and condition them to expect one thing before changing things up. His footwork is a job to watch and his ability to dictate the range of a bout is brilliant, especially as he often does it without really letting his hands go. For people wanting to study footwork, Abe's is some of the best in the sport. Sadly his lack of actual output is frustrating at times, and has been one of his major downfalls in his losses, as he is too patient at times, and tries too hard to draw a mistake rather than reverting to Plan B and becoming more offensive, though credit to him he has had notable success fighting his way. Whilst it's his footwork and distance control that shines, he does do a lot of things "wrong" in an attempt to draw leads. His hands are very low and whilst he's not an easy target, he can be dropped when caught clean, as Minamoto did twice. His style is also unlikely to win friends in the west, if he ever ends up challenging a top American or British fighter. Whilst we are big fans of both men, we can't help but feel that Abe, in some ways, is made to order for Maruta. The boxing brain of Abe is incredible, and if you could put his brain in to almost any other fighter it would improve them. But his style, and his laziness at times, won't serve well against a fighter with the speed, timing, and reach of Maruta. Maruta will take a few rounds to work out the distance, but then we suspect he will use his own feints to draw bites from Abe, and counter those, whilst also controlling behind his own jab. The question marks about Abe's chin, raised by the Minamoto fight, will also rear their head here and we wouldn't be surprised to see Abe on the canvas at some point due to the power and speed of Maruta. As the bout goes into the later rounds we expect to see Abe try to turn it around, and look to let his hands go more, but that will result in him taking more and we wouldn't be surprised at all by a late stoppage by Maruta, due to accumulation of shots. Prediction - TKO11 Maruta On April 23rd fight fans in Osaka are set for a treat as Japanese Super Featherweight champion Kosuke Saka (21-6, 18) defends his title against mandatory challenger Kanehiro Nakagawa (11-6, 5). On paper the bout is certainly not one which will grab the attention of international fans, especially given the records of the challenger, but for those following the Japanese scene this is a very interesting match up, and one that has the potential to be very, very exciting.
Of the two men the champion is the much more well known. The hard hitting Saka is someone who has really, really heavy hands, but is also incredibly flawed in the ring making his bouts great fun, action packed, unpredictable, and always worth tuning in for. When he's on song he's a destructive and violent force, but he's also a bully and when a fighter fires back he can be in all sorts of problems. Despite his flaws he has had a very solid career so far with highlights including being a 2-weight Japanese champion, having previously held the Japanese Featherweight title, and beaten the likes of Ryuto Kyoguchi, Shota Hayashi, Masanori Rikiishi, Masaru Sueyoshi and Takuya Watanabe. Sadly for him he has also suffered some 3 stoppage losses in his last 8 bouts, and has proven that his chin isn't made out of the same material as his hands. As a fighter Saka is very much a rock handed boxer-puncher. He comes forward, he presses the action, and uses his physical strength and power to back opponents up. We saw him dominate Sueyoshi with his straight shots, activity and power, before breaking him down to claim the title. Notable we've also seen him box and move, something he did to great affect against the tough Takuya Watanabe, who he broke down whilst mostly fighting off the back foot. When he is on form and focused, he's a deadly fighter, who comes to break opponents up. Sadly though he has over-looked fighters in the past, and switched off mentally during fights, most notably against Takenori Ohashi who knocked him out when he turned away thinking the bell had gone, when it was the 10 second clacker. Losses to Joe Noynay and Yoshimitsu Kimura have also been by stoppage, early in bouts, when they've made him pay for his poor defensive skills. On paper Nakagawa doesn't look like much of a challenger, given his rather un-pleasing looking record. That however doesn't look at what he's done, and the forms he's in, and in fairness to him, he is in some of the best form of any fighter on the Japanese domestic scene. The reason his record is so underwhelming was a nightmare start to his professional career, with Nakagawa going He started his career 4-5 (3) in his first 9 bouts, before turning things around and going 7-1 (2) since then, with wins in his last 6 fights, and in fair the "1" in that 7-1 was a very controversial loss. Whilst numbers alone don't tell much of a story, it needs to be said that Nakagawa's wins have been fairly notable, with victories over former Japanese champions Seiichi Okada and Taiki Minamoto, wins over highly ranked contenders Shinnosuke Hasegawa and Ken Osato and one over former OPBF title challenger Ryuto Araya. The 26 year old, has had to do things the hard way, and has genuinely earned a shot with his current string of wins. Despite his winning run Nakagawa will enter as the under-dog, something he's now accustomed to given his recent competition. Nakagawa has proven himself in those wins as a tough cookie, willing to wage war when he needs to. At his best however he's a rather technical fighter, who presses forward, has a rather awkward looking style but is some how hard to catch clean, and surprisingly accurate, with good timing, and gritty toughness. He's a pressure fighter with under-rated defensive skills and he looks like the sort of fighter who is hard to back up and hard to dissuade from coming forward. Technically he looks off, yet it's his technical skills and unusual rhythm that gets him success, and he's one of the few Japanese fighters at 130lbs who is less orthodox than Saka. Coming Saka should be favoured. He's more proven, more dangerous, fighting at home, and the man who enters as the champion. And we fully suspect Saka to win. However the style of Nakagawa will potentially give Saka fits at times, especially early on, as Nakagawa uses his under rated defense, and awkward strength to make Saka miss. Sooner or later Saka will land, and will make Nakagawa feel his power, but we wouldn't be surprised at all if that was in the second half of the bout, after Saka has been frustrated, tagged and made to look very ordinary. We suspect Saka will have to show some mental resolve, but will eventually get to his man. Prediction - TKO8 Saka On April 23rd we'll see a new Japanese Super Flyweight champion being crowned, or more precisely we'll see a former champion being reclaiming the throne as Hiroyuki Kudaka (28-18-4, 11) [久髙寛之] and Kenta Nakagawa (20-4-1, 12) [中川健太] clash for the belt that both have held in the past, and now want to recapture before bowing out of the sport.
The title became vacant at the end of 2021, when former champion Ryoji Fukunaga landed the opportunity of a life time, and got the chance to face Kazuto Ioka for the WBO Super Flyweight world title, losing a competitive decision to Ioka. As a result of Fukunaga vacating it lead to the JBC ordering the two top ranked fighters to face off for the vacant title, Kudaka and Nakagawa. Of the two men the more well known is Kudaka is the more well known, and with good reason. The 50 fight veteran is a 4-time world title challenger, who has faced a legitimate who's who of the lower weight classes over the last 15 years. Win or lose he has really faced a huge number of notable fighters, including Tomonobu Shimizu, Panomroonglek Kaiyanghadaogym, Hussein Hussein, Takefumi Sakata, Denkaosan Kaovichit, Hugo Fidel Cazares, Tetsuya Hisada, Oleydong Sithsamerchai Sonny Boy Jaro, Omar Andrez Narvaez, Ryo Matsumoto, Takuya Kogawa, Suguru Muranaka, Takuma Inoue, Go Onaga and Takayuki Okumoto. Whilst he has lost to most of those top names he hasn't been discouraged, and has instead proven himself to be a strong, aggressive, tough handful. Now aged 37 his career is coming to an end, but his desire to recapture the Japanese title, which he briedly held in 2018, is obvious and would be the perfect way for him to end his career. In his prime Kudaka was a big, strong and aggressive fighter, who came forward, and looked to out work, out fight and out tough opponents, in thrilling clashes. Technically he was always limited, but made up for it by having a very fan friendly style that gained him opportunities, despite his losses. His physicality often made him a handful, though his technical flaws were there to be picked apart, as we saw when he faced Narvaez and and really had no answer to the brilliant Argentinian's work rate and accuracy. In recent years he has however adapted to getting older, and although still a physical fighter he does now rely more on setting up his attacks than just wading in, relying on a high guard, and really crushing the distance down to get close. Up close he's a nightmare to fight, with his body shots being particularly notable, and fighters who do well against him typically keep him at range, use their feet and prevent him from turning the fight into an inside war. Despite the fact Kudaka is more well known, it would be rather foolish to say he's more successful, with Nakagawa being a 2-time Japanese champion and now looking to claim the Japanese Super Flyweight title for the third time in his career. The 36 year old Nakagawa began his career in 2004, but took a 6 year break from the ring after his third professional bout. Since returning to action in 2011 he has fought regularly and notched notable wins, whilst winning the Japanese title in 2016, when he beat Hayato Kimura for the vacant title, and in 2019, when he beat Takayuki Okumoto. Sadly though his two reigns have a combined only a single defense and only around 18 months with the title. He has also been stopped in both of his title losses, losing to Ryuichi Funai and Ryoji Fukunaga who both went on to fight for world titles afterwards. Nakagawa is certainly the more technical of the two fighters, with his boxing relying more on fighting with some room, and landing straight head shots from mid-range. Nakagawa has a good understanding of the ring, decent hand speed, and a an ability to mix it up when he needs to. Although a more technically rounded boxer than Kudaka, we have see Nakagawa wage war when he's had to, and he's proven he is a warrior at heart as we saw against Fukunaga in an instant classic. Sadly for Nakagawa his chin has let him down in the past, though to his credit, he has taken a lot before getting stopped and won't fold under the first sight of pressure. Instead he will stand, fight his ground and make for some thrilling back and forth action. Given the styles of the two men there is a chance, albeit a slim one, that this could be messy with Kudaka closing the distance and Nakagawa trying to neutralise his man up close. However we're expecting something a little bit special instead. What we're expecting early on is for Nakagawa to create space, work his straight shots and land regularly on Kudaka, as Kudaka comes forward. The first 4 or 5 rounds of the fight will see Nakagawa having success at mid-range though before too long Kudaka will begin to get inside, and from there on we will end up with a war with Nakagawa looking to repsond when he's hit, giving us 4 or 5 rounds of brutal bath and forth violence. By the end of the 10 round bout the early success from Nakagawa will have been relatively forgotten and Kudaa will have done enough, just, on the inside to take home the win with a hotly contested decision. Prediction - UD10 Kudaka. saOver the years the Middleweight division in Japan has long been over-looked, at least internationally, with only Shinji Takehara and Ryota Murata managing to make much of an impact on the international scene at the weight. Despite that the division has been really interesting to follow domestically and has featured a host of stunning bouts which are well worth checking out, for example Makoto Fuchigami's incredible war with Koji Sato or Tadashi Yuba's bout with Carlos Linares. On April 17th we might be in for another treat as Riku Kunimoto (5-1, 2) clashes with the unbeaten Mikio Sakai (4-0) for the currently vacant title, in what has the potential to be a really interesting bout, even if it's not set to be the most explosive of bouts.
On paper this is a hard one to call, and one that we’re expecting will be a very, very high level technical bout, unlike the aforementioned bouts with Tada and Fuchigami, but that’s certainly not a bad thing, especially given the credentials of the two men, and the level they are fighting this early in their respective careers. In fact with just a combined 10 professional bouts to their name, the bout is a sign of what makes Japanese boxing so interesting, the lack of record padding and the willingness to take risks early in careers and losses not being the end of the road, like we can sometimes see in the West. Of the two men, the 24 year old Kunimoto will be the favourite going in. He's the younger, taller, fight who's also fighting at home, with this bout being held in Osaka on a card promoted by his promoter. He is also the one with title fight experience, having challenger Kazuto Takesako for the Japanese title last year, where he entered as the mandatory challenger. Sadly for Kunimoto he was stopped within a round by the hard hitting Takesako, who vacated the title after that win. Prior to that loss Kunimoto had looked impressive, racing out to 4-0 in just 8 months, before the pandemic totally derailed his rise. During his firsy 4 bouts he had made his international debut, fighting in China, and scored a good win over Shoma Fukumoto. Sadly though more than 2 years out of the ring before facing Taksesako was not great preparation against someone as dangerous and heavy handed as Taksesako. Since that loss he has returned and picked up a low key win over Kazuki Kyohara. In the ring Kunimoto is a really solid fighter, despite the loss to Takesako. He's a boxer-puncher, with a big frame, a good amateur background, and some very polished skills. He stands at 5'10", which is big for a Japanese fighter, moves well on his feet and likes to use his straight punches to set other things up. Although he does have very nice straight shots he's not against putting up the earmuffs and walking forward with a high guard, getting inside and working away up close with some very educated body shots. At times he can be found over-committing, but for the most part he's accurate, smart, aggressive and versatile. Aged 28 Mikio Sakai is very much a pure boxer, with next to no power on his shots, but a lot of skill, energy, boxing IQ and a very, very strong amateur background. He made his professional debut in 2019, beating Elfelos Vega, and then squeaked past Ran Tomomatsu, in a really good fight. Sadly he was then inactive for a year before resurfacing in late 2020 to beat Toshihiro Kai and last year he defeated veteran fighter Koshinmaru Saito, in a real got check. With no stoppages in his first 4 bouts it's fair to say he has no real power, though with 28 rounds to his name in just 4 bouts, he has done pretty well in proving he has decent stamina and can go 8 rounds without an issue. In the ring Sakai likes to come forward, boxing behind his jab, using his footwork and drawing errors from opponents that he can counter. He's accurate, patient, very sharp, has varied offensive weapons and intelligent defensive work. Although not a big puncher he is physically strong, and he knows how to tie up opponents when he needs to. Where Sakai really excels is his boxing brain, and whether he's on the front foot or not he is constantly thinking a step or two ahead of his opponents, luring them into making errors, and conditioning their behaviour. He's not the most eye catching or glamorous of fight but he does a lot of subtle things, really well. Sadly for Sakai it doesn't really matter how skilled he is, when he's in an opponents home town, in a title fight and he has no fight changing power. Unfortunately for Sakai we expect to see Kunimoto press more of the action, and whilst Sakai will pick some gorgeous counters he will find himself being out worked, and fighting the crowd just as much as Kunimoto. The judges, almost certainly by accident, will end up giving the closer rounds to Kunimoto, and at the end of the day those close rounds will end up deciding this bout. Kunimoto will press, pressure, and try to bully the more naturally gifted Sakai. He won't dominate the bout, but will do enough to catch the eye of the judges often enough to take home the victory. Prediction - UD10 Kunimoto On April 2nd we get the next Japanese title, as Makoto Kawasaki (12-8-1, 2) and Koki Koshikawa (9-3, 6) clash in a bout for the Japanese Light Middleweight title, which was vacated by Hironobu Matsunaga who seems to have his eyes on bigger and better things.
Sadly for both men they are better known for losing in the biggest fights of their career, and to date the men are win-less in title bouts, but have had opportunities in the past. For the 37 year old Kawasaki this will be his 4th bout for a title, and he has to know it's now or never. Aged 31 Koshikawa may get another chance, but his last two bouts have seen him come up short in title bouts, suffering a stoppage loss to Matsunaga in 2019 and a wide decision loss to Yuki Nonaka last year. Although neither really deserves another title opportunity at this point in time, it's fair to say that neither man will get a better chance to win a title than here, with this bout. Aged 37 Kawasaki is certainly winding down his career. He debuted in 2012, fighting to a draw with Koki Tyson, and was 2-1-1 after 4 bouts, with his first loss coming to Hironobu Matsunaga, who would also give him his second loss. After 12 bouts he was 7-4-1 but not long after that he managed to land his first title bout, a shot at the Japanese interim Welterweight title, which he lost. He later went on to lose a bout for the WBA Asia Welterweight title and the Japanese Welterweight title. Sadly him getting a shot, at this point in time, says a lot about the Japanese domestic scene at 154lbs. He's a natural Welterweight, who has had very mixed results, and is getting this shot due to the lack of interest in the domestic title. However he's experienced and a capable fighter, though nothing special. In the ring Kawasaki is a hard worker. He's gritty, he's determined and he sets a good work rate whilst making for fun fights. Sadly though he's not quick, he's not sharp, he's not powerful, or particularly skilled and he's more of a battler than a boxer. He has slow feet, slow hand speed, and his punches are incredibly wide. He leaves himself open and whilst his style can make for fun fights he does seem like he's there to be stopped at times, especially at title level. He's been lucky to not face many decent punchers, but when he did face a good domestic puncher in Yuki Nagano he was stopped in 2 rounds. Koshikawa turned professional in 2014, following a very solid amateur career that had seen him go 46-25 (23), and there was pretty high expectations for him under the guidance of Celes Kobayashi. Sadly for him his time at the Celes Gym was a frustrating one. He won his first 4 bouts before losing a wide decision to veteran Koshinmaru Saito in 2015 and then took a break from the ring, of more than 2 years. On his he was matched softly to begin with, before stopping former Japanese Welterweight champion Daisuke Sakamoto in July 2018. He built on that win with a victory over former OPBF champion Ratchasi Sithsaithong and moved towards a Japanese title fight. Sadly for him his first title fight saw him having moments of success, before the press of Matsunaga broke him down in 4 rounds. He was then out of the ring for close to 2 years, before losing a wide decision to WBO Asia Pacific Middleweight champion Yuki Nonaka in 2021. In the ring Koshikawa shows some of his amateur skills. He knows his way around the ring, has a nice jab and looks relaxed and composed. Sadly for him however his hooks are wide and wild, his stamina is questionable, his defense is flawed and he's still very much an amateur fighting in the professional ranks, with a style that style doesn't look like ever really been able to adapt to the professional style. That means when he's under intense pressure he often struggles, and as we saw against Nonaka, he can can be out boxed by accurate and busy fighters who just do the basics really well. He is clear talented, but his talent has never really been developed and as a result he still struggles to show why there was some hype early on. Coming in to this bout we are looking at two flawed fighters, albeit two very different fighters. Of the two Kawasaki is the one who will look to dictate the tempo early on, and will bring the fight to Koshikawa, who will look to box and move. Sadly for Kawasaki we think a younger, fresher, version of him would have the tools to beat Koshikawa. In 2022 however the 37 year old inactive Kawasaki will struggle to force the tempo for long, and will struggle a lot later on. When that happens we see Koshikawa letting his hands go and forcing a late stoppage on a tired and exhausted Kawasaki. Prediction - TKO9 Koshikawa In 2018 we saw a then 18 year old Ginjiro Shigeoka (6-0, 5) make his professional debut, and it seemed he was destined for the fast track. In just over 15 months of his debut he was 5-0 (4) with notable wins over Joel Lino, Clyde Azarcon and Rey Loreto , and was the WBO Asia Pacific Minimumweight champion. Heading in to 2020 he seemed destined for a world title fight and to get one sooner rather than later. Sadly though the Covid pandemic slowed his rise and since stopping Loreto he has fought just, blasting out Toshiki Kawamitsu last July, and has also vacated the WBO Asia Pacific title.
This coming Sunday Shigeoka gets a chance to claim his second title, as he takes on Tatsuro Nakashima (11-2-1, 7) for the vacant Japanese title, which would be a huge step in the right direction for him, and, for those wondering, gives him more world title options, due to the intricacies of domestic Japanese rules, than the WBO regional title did. On paper this is a big step backwards for Shigeoka, but in many ways, it's a fight that opens news doors for him, keep him busy, and sees him fighting for a title with a lot of history. For Nakashima it's a huge chance to face someone many are tipping to be a future world champion. With that all said, how do we see this fight? And what do we think of the two fighters? Of the two men Shigeoka is the one who has the expectation behind him. The now 22 year old had a stunning amateur career and since turning professional has looked like a future world champion in the making. He's a diminutive fighter, stood at just 5', but he uses his lack of size really well, pressing forward, making himself a small target. Not only is he small however, but he's also physically imposing, incredibly strong, amazingly quick, explosive, and scarily dangerous. He presses forward, using a hurtful jab to set up his attacks, backs opponents up and then unleashes right hooks and straight left hands, which are thrown brutal intentions. Worrying for all opponents is the fact that Shigeoka has fantastic punch placement, goes to the body extremely well, and judges distance fantastically and has great footwork and balance, which is a real problem for those who are looking at his size and thinking they are safe on the outside, not realising how easily and quickly he can sneak in and out. As for Nakashima the 27 year old made his debut back in 2015 and really began to show what he could do in 2017, beating Mammoth Kazunori and reaching the East Japan Rookie of the Year final, fighting to a draw with Yuga Inoue. In 2018 he suffered his first loss, being stopped in 5 rounds by the hard hitting Kai Ishizawa. He bounced back from that loss with 4 straight wins, before losing last year when he challenged Masataka Taniguchi for the Japanese Minimumweight and was stopped in 5 rounds. Unfortunately with his two losses coming by stoppage there is a major worry for him here, as he takes on a really dangerous fighter, who will come in to this with a point to prove. In the ring Nakashima is quite an upright fighter, who looks to box behind his jab and use his long reach. He does, to his credit, have a nice jab but unfortunately for him he doesn't like being under pressure, and whilst his jab is solid it really isn't busy enough for him to get respect from opponents. His footwork is usually quite negative, and he can find himself falling off balance, especially when he throws a right hand. He has a low work rate, and unfortunately for him does seem to struggle under pressure. He's not a bad boxer, but sadly for him the likes of Taniguchi and Ishizawa have shown his level, and he's comfortably below those two. For Nakashima to win he needs to use his jab, a lot, he needs to create space, and punish Shigeoka when Shigeoka comes in. Sadly for him we don't think he'll have much success doing that. Instead we see Shigeoka taking a round to get a read on Nakashima, see what he has to offer, then begin to slip the jab, get inside and rip Nakashima apart with body shots. Taking him out in the first 4 rounds, at most. Afterwards we suspect that Shigeoka and his team will begin negotations with a world champion for a bout in late summer as he finally gets a chance to show how good he really is. Prediction - KO3 Shigeoka Over the last decade or so the Light Flyweight division has been dominated by Japanese fighters at world level such as Naoya Inoue (WBC), Kazuto Ioka (WBA), Yu Kimura (WBC), Akira Yaegashi (IBF), Kosei Tanaka (WBO), Ryoichi Taguchi (IBF and WBA), and Kenshiro Teraji (WBC), along with current world champions Hiroto Kyoguchi (WBA) and Masamichi Yabuki (WBC). The conveyor belt of great Japanese fighters at 108lbs looks set to continue with the emergence of current Japanese national champion Shokichi Iwata (7-0, 5), who makes his first title defense, as he takes on veteran Toshimasa Ouchi (22-11-3, 8) this coming Saturday, in what is the second bout between the two men.
Whilst Iwata is still early in his career, he is a notable hopeful for Japanese boxing. He had a stellar amateur career, including notable wins over the likes of Kosei Tanaka, before beginning his professional boxing campaign in 2018 with a win, in the US, against Joel Bermudez. Since that win he has been moved quickly, and won the Japanese title last year when he stopped Rikito Shiba in 9 rounds. In just his 7th professional bout. On route to his title he showed progress every fight, he showed development between fights, and matured as both a fighter and as a man. That was show cased in 2021 when he out pointed Ouchi over 8 rounds, showing that he could do 8 rounds, and when he stopped Shiba for the title. Early in his career Shiba appeared to have a lack of power, and his first 4 bouts all went a little bit longer than expected. Notably however it appears, on reflection, that he was being smart, getting ring time, and closing the show, when he could, late in the bout, testing things along the way. It's now clear that he's a solid puncher, not a KO artist, or a massive puncher, akin to Yabuki, but a solid, puncher, who's power carries late into bouts. Not that but he's also an aggressive, technical fighter, who sets a good work rate and tempo, and is well schooled, a given from his amateur background. He has all the tools to go a very, very long way, and the type of style to turn heads when he's in the ring. He also has the intention, for this fight, to not just beat Ouchi but to stop him, and continue his improvements with a man he previously went the distance with. As for Ouchi he is a true veteran of the sport and is fighting in his 37th professional bout, in a career that stretches back all the way to 2003. Now aged 36 this is probably Ouchi's last chance to claim a Japanese title, having previously come up short in 3 other title bouts. With a record that consists of 11 losses it's easy to write Ouchi off as some sort of loser, but his competition, has typically been high with losses to the likes of Taguchi, Yabuki, Kenshiro, and Shin Ono. He has also proven his toughness, with just 3 stoppage losses during his 36 fight career, and the most recent of those came against Atsushi Aburada. Notably he is the only fighter to have ever lost a decision to current world champion Masamichi Yabuki, showing his toughness. The most notable thing about Ouchi is he knows how to look after himself. You don't have a long career, like he has, without knowing how to protect yourself. He is defensively tight, uses a very high tight guard, and uses a pretty crafty jab. Sadly though he is now 36, and understandably he has slow feet, slow handspeed and doesn't have the quickest reflexes. Earlier in his career he did have enough speed, but in recent years that speed has gone and he often looks like he's pushing shots, which is an issue against quicker, younger, fresher guys. Not only is he somewhat slow, but he's also happy to have a low work rate, and whilst we might see bursts of activity from him, he's not going to set a high tempo, which is another issue against the younger guys. Coming in to this bout there really isn't too much of a doubt over who should win, but more the method of victory. It's incredibly hard to see Ouchi beating Iwata, or even coming close. Instead the question really is whether Iwata can break down Ouchi or not. Sadly for Ouchi, we do actually see Iwata doing just that. Chipping away with body and combinations round by round to force the brave Ouchi to be stopped late, likely with his corner throwing in the towel after Ouchi gets dropped in one of the later rounds. He'll be brave, he'll be determined, but sadly for him, father time and Iwata will be too much here. Prediction - Iwata TKO9 This coming Monday we'll see one of the brightest young hopes in Japanese boxing look to continue his rise through the ranks whilst an often over-looked fighter gets what could be his final shot at some silverware in a very looking contest at Korakuen Hall. That bout will see WBO Asia Pacific and Japanese Light Welterweight champion Andy Hiraoka (18-0, 13) take on the aggressive and fun to watch Cristiano Aoqui (16-8-2, 11) in what looks like a very, very interesting match up, something that we're getting a surprising amount of in Japan at 140lbs in the last few years.
Of the two men Hiraoka is more well known, especially with international audiences thanks to his wins in the US over Rogelio Casarez and Rickey Edwards. In US bouts, which took place on Top Rank shows, he looked like a really promising and athletic fighter, who was a work in progress but had enough tools to get the attention of fans, especially those who don't realise Japan has got talented fighters above Super Featherweight. Hiraoka looked big, tall, rangy, fast, athletic and powerful, showing he had the tools to go places in the sport, despite some technical flaws and limitations that clearly needed work, and a relative lack of experience. Prior to his US exploits the most notable thing on his record was a 10 round win over veteran Akihiro Kondo, where Hiraoka's speed and youth were keys against the older, slower, battle worn Kondo. Since his two bouts in the US however he has moved his career forward, and last year he scored the biggest win of his career, stopping the heavy handed Jin Sasaki in a dominant performance to claim the WBO Asia Pacific and Japanese titles, and stake his case as the best Japanese fighter at 140lbs, something that was strengthened when Koichi Aso scored a shock upset win over Rikki Naito just a few weeks after Hiraoka's win over Sasaki. As mentioned earlier Hiraoka is a big, athletic, fighter who lacks polish. He has however been developing well over the last few years. He is very much an athlete who boxes, and that's not an insult to someone who was a very good distance runner in his youth, and that means he has a lot of tools going for him, including power, speed, reflexes, co-ordination and balance. All of which shine in his boxing performances. As for his boxing skills, he is an outside fighter, who knows he has physical tools others in Japan could only dream of. He is long, rangy, has a great jab, with power and speed, and really brutal straight shots. He can also keep up a good work rate over the long distances and showed, last time out, that his power carries late, stopping Jin Sasaki late in their bout. We do worry about him when he's under pressure, and he does seem to lack natural composure when under pressure, but with experience that should change and we dare say that's partly what this bout is about, against a fighter like Aoqui, and something he'd also have to prove against the likes of Koichi Aso or Daishi Nagata, who both also love to pressure and bully opponents. Whilst Hiraoka has been seen outside of Japan, Aoqui hasn't been, though he does have something of a Brazilian following due to being a Japanese-Brazilian. His in ring style is something that few fans outside of Japan, and Brazil, will be aware of, but it is typically a fun one, with aggression at the forefront of his mind. He has been a professional since 2006 and has had to develop that style, finding what works for him over time. Unlike Hiraoka success wasn't easy to come by and he was stopped in 2 of his first 5 bouts, and was 4-2-1 after 7 bouts. Since then however he has bulked up from a young Lightweight into a solid an experienced 140lb fighter, who has developed a reputation as something of a tough guy, despite his 2 early stoppage losses. During his career he has fought something of a who's who of the Japanese scene, taking on the likes of Valentine Hosokawa, Hiroki Okada, Koki Inoue, Daishi Nagata and Akihiro Kondo. Whilst he has typically lost his most meaningful fights, he doesn't tend to be an easy opponent, giving the likes of Nagata, Okada and Hosokawa really tough battles. In the ring Aoqui is aggressive, exciting, he comes forward and tries to draw mistakes, before exploding with a combination of heavy artillery. If he can't do that he seems happy to force a war and fight fire with fire against opponents. Notably however he can also box, even if that's not something he's too well known for, and when he needs to sit back and use his brain he can. And here we suspect his boxing brain and experience will be called on to over-come Hiraoka. Trying to come forward against Hiraoka seeking mistakes, we suspect, would be an error, and allow Hiraoka a chance to use his legs and his jab. Instead Aoqui will need to apply intelligent pressure, box his way in, and get to the body when on the inside. That however is easier said than done. Sadly for Aoqui we suspect his toughness, and 33 year old legs, will be a problem for him here. Hiraoka might not be a global star in the making but he has plenty about him and we can't help but feel he's probably a level, if not two, above Aoqui who will need the fight of a lifetime to be competitive. We suspect Aoqui will try to come forward, and find out the speed difference and size difference are a major issue for him. He will have moments, due to Hiraoka's lack of experience, but in the end athletic ability, speed, size and timing will become too much for Aoqui who we suspect will be stopped late on, in something of a slow, methodical beat down by Hiraoka. Prediction - Hiraoka TKO10 |
Previews
Having canned the old "Full Schedule" of Asianboxing we have instead decided to concentrate more on the major bouts. This section, the "Preview" section will look at major bouts involving OPBF and national titles. Hopefully leading to a more informative style for, you the reader. Archives
October 2022
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