The Light Middleweight division in Asia is, sadly, a bit under-whelming despite some notable fighters in the region. Sadly that means that we have had some under-whelming title fights in recent times, and it looks likely that we are in for another less than great title fight later this week, as OPBF champion Yutaka Oishi (14-5, 7) defends his belt against Thai challenger Ratchasi Sithsaithong (7-3, 5). Without trying to sound too annoyed, the match up does little for the Oriental title and does little to move the winner on in their career. For Oishi the bout will be his first defense of the title, a title that he won last year when he upset Takayuki Hosokawa. The win was a huge one for Oishi, but seemed to be just as much about Hosokawa being a spent force as Oishi being something special. The win saw Oishi work hard, and earn the victory, but really not look like a great fighter coming of age. At 32 years old Oishi is a veteran, and one whom debuted back in 2008. He suffered a number of early career set backs and had a 7-3 (4) record after 10 fights, with a notable loss in the 2011 All Japan Rookie of the Year final. Since then he has gone 7-2 (3) suffering a notable loss to Zac Dunn and scoring his career defining win over Hosokawa. That win over Hosokawa was Oishi's third straight win and interestingly it was the 7th straight win whilst actually fighting at Light Middleweight for Oishi, who is 7-1 at the weight! Thai challenger Ratchasi, also known as Niwat Kongkan, is a 31 year old who debuted back in 2011 and has had miced success, losing by stoppage to Hikaru Nishida and Cobra Suwa, before defeating Suwa in a rematch last year. The win over Suwa is the most notable win on his record, but with two stoppages on his record, and a 0-1 record outside of Thailand, it's unclear what he really has to offer. Footage of the Thai is scarce though from what we under-stand he was a hard working but limited fighter who is unlikely to score a stoppage at this level but could make for a good fun bout with a limited foe, such as Oishi. The styles should gel well, but it's hard to see the bout being fun, or exciting, with the Thai unlikely to over-come the Japanese local. Although we struggle to defend this bout an as OPBF title fight, it should be a fun fight all the same, pitching two limited and beatable fighters against each other,
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So we've all had a bit of a break for Christmas but this coming Thursday sees title action return to Japan as Light Middleweight champion Yuki Nonaka (30-8-3, 9) defend his title against veteran challenger Yosuke Kirima (23-6-2, 16). For the champion this will be a 6th defense of the title he won around 30 months ago whilst Kirima will be hoping it's third time lucky having come up short in two previous title bouts, back in 2012 and 2013. The world ranked Nonaka is a lovely boxer to watch, who uses skills at mid-range to get his shots off, block shots thrown in his direction and get away when he needs to. He's not the fighter he once was, but at 39 he's a very capable fighter. During his career he has twice been the Japanese champion and has scored notable wins over the likes of Kazuhiko Hidaka, Dmytro Nikulin, Charles Bellamy, Koshinmaru Saito, Yuto Shimizu and Ryosuke Maruki. Despite those wins he has shown his years recent and was fortunate against both Saito and Maruki, with both having legitimate claims to feel aggrieved. At his best Nonaka was a really solid fighter but given age, and a career that goes back 17 years as a professional, he is slowing, his out put has lessened and his reactions aren't what they were. His career, although not over, seems to be getting progressively tougher and it's clear that he hasn't got long left in the sport. Whilst Nonaka is a 2-time champion Kirima's career has been one of failure at title level. He has twice challenged for the Japanese title, being stopped in both of those bouts, and has also come up short in a regional title fight losing in an IBF Pan Pacific Middleweight title fight to Michael Zerafa earlier this year. Whilst he has come up short in his major bouts he has bounced around the rankings and had consistent wins to keep him in the domestic mix. Unfortunately whilst he has done enough to remain in the title picture through his career has shown durability issues and been stopped by Daisuke Nakagawa and Tadashi Yuba as well being dropped hard by Arnel Tinampay in a 2012 loss. At 32 years old the challenger is pretty much in last chance saloon with 2 losses in his last 4 bouts. He's still a capable fighter on the lower end of the Japanese domestic scene but he's certainly not someone who can turn any domestic success into something international. In fact it's probably fair to say that he's one loss away from having his career written off. We think Nonaka has slowed down, a lot, from his prime, but it's still hard to see the limited and fragile Kirima being too much for him. Father time might have taken the best from Nonaka, but unless Nonaka has slipped a lot he should still be too good for Kirima. Of all the current OPBF champions the most lucky is probably Light Middleweight champion Takayuki Hosokawa (28-10-5, 9), who probably should have lost his title last time out to Koshinmaru Saito, and was also relatively lucky to even win the title against Dennis Laurente last November. Although a fortunate champion Hosokawa is a fighter looking to move forward with his career and record his second defense of the title as he takes on the limited Yutaka Oishi (13-5, 7) this coming Wednesday. At his best Hosokawa is a solid boxer, not amazing or world class but solid. He has notable wins over the likes of Randy Suico, Patomsuk Pathompothong, Tadashi Yuba and Dennis Laurente. Those wins have come from his boxing ability alone, and all have been by decision, though unfortunately they have all been struggles and have shown Hosokawa's lack of power and physicla strength. That lack of power was again seen last time out against Saito, and what was more worrying there was that Hosokawa was dropped twice before struggling to earn a draw. Ranked #3 by the IBF Hosokawa won't just be defending his OPBF title but also defending that world ranking, and a loss here would totally destroy any chance he has of getting a long awaited world title fight. We'll be honest and admit that Hosokawa wouldn't have much of a chance against a top world class guy but he is certainly chasing a title fight before he calls an end to his career. Whilst Hosokawa is a lucky champion it's fair to say that Oishi is a fortunate challenger, who is just 15 months removed from an upset loss to Toshihiro Kai, albeit at Middleweight. In fact Oishi has lost 2 of his last 4 bouts and has done little to earn a chance to fight for a title, with his best career wins being victories over Hisao Narita and Hiroshi Ohashi. Notably though this isn't his first title fight, with with his first being a 2014 defeat to Zac Dunn in a bout for the WBC Eurasia Pacific Boxing Council Super Middleweight title. From the little footage of Oishi there is little there that should worry Hosokawa, and that's despite the fact that Hosokawa himself looks so beatable. One thing he perhaps does have though is power, he's not a huge puncher but if Saito can hurt, and drop, Hosokawa then Oishi does have a punchers chance here. We might think that Hosokawa is incredibly beatable but we think he'll be too skilled for Oishi who really lacks the skills needed to land his power on Hosokawa. If Oishi can land his power shots he could give Hosokawa another scare, like Saito did. On July 20th Japanese fans get a pair of world title fights, they also get an OPBF title fight and a Japanese title fight. Of those bouts it's fair to say the least attention will be given to the domestic title bout, not only because it's a domestic title bout, but also because it's the least interesting of the bouts on the show. The bout in question will see Japanese Light Middleweight champion Yuki Nonaka (29-8-3, 9) defending his title against Ryosuke Maruki (12-3-1, 7). It's a veteran against a rising young contender, a wonderful to watch boxer against a fighter. Nonaka really is a veteran. He's 38 years old and has been a professional since 1999. He may “only have” 40 bouts to his name but he's had close to 300 rounds and has been in 12 title bouts, with the first taking place in October 2007. The veteran is one of the most pleasing to watch fighters out there. He's a man who fights like a boxer, and is totally dependent on skills. He's not particularly quick, he's not a massive puncher, he's not flashy but he's a wonderful fighter to watch and can either move or hold his feet, defend himself, and fight with a wonderful array of pure shots. There is nothing spectacular about Nonaka but there is very little wrong with him. That's why at the age of 38 he looks as good as he ever has. Like many in Japan Nonaka learned his trade in the ring. He suffered 3 losses in his first 5 bouts, beginning 2-3, and was once 14-7-2 (5). In recent times however he has gone 15-1-1 losing only to Akio Shibata during that 17 fight run, dating back over 8 years. Not only do the numbers look good but so do the actual results which have included wins over Kazuhiko Hidaka, avenging a loss, Lee Ota, Charles Bellamy, Koshinmaru Saito and Yuto Shimizu. There was also a draw last year with current OPBF champion Takayuki Hosokawa. Given how Nonaka has turned his career around it's hard to rule out any challenger, and the 25 year old Maruki shouldn't be ruled out because his own record. At one point he was 7-3-1 (5), with losses to the likes of Jaypee Ignacio and Petchsuriya Singwancha, but has bounced back well with 5 straight wins, including avenging the loss to Petchsuriya. Notable the two bouts with the Thai were WBC Youth title bouts and have helped give Maruki some title fight experience over the 10 round distance. Once touted as an aggressive puncher, and at one point having 7 stoppages from 9 wins, Maruki has gone the distance in his last 3 bouts and has scored just 2 stoppages in his last 7 contests. Suggesting that he's not a puncher. He is however an aggressive and strong fighter and looks like there is potentially a very good fighter there, but one that needs a lot of polishing if he's to reach the heady heights expected of him. Despite being flawed Maruki is young, hungry and a fighter who will be looking to prove himself. He'll need to have a career best performance to really give Nonaka problems, but there is certainly a lot that he could improve on, and if he uses his youthful energy, physical strength and power he could Nonaka serious problems, at least at times. Although we think Maruki has the potential to cause problems for Nonaka we don't see him bringing anything to the table that Nonaka hasn't faced before and we suspect that'll show with Nonaka adapting when things get tricky. That adaptive quality will allow the champion to retain via clear, but competitive, decision. When we think of the most exciting weights on the Japanese scene we typically think of the lower weights, the weights where the top Japanese fighters rise through the ranks quickly and move towards world title fights in the space of just a few years. Strangely though the weights around Middleweight have started to become fascinating domestically with a wave of young fighters looking to make a name for themselves. We saw that earlier this year with Hikaru Nishida upsetting Akio Shibata to claim the JBC and OPBF Middleweight titles, and we may well see it again on April 17th, when the little known Yuto Shimizu (11-2-2, 4) [清水 優人] challenges Japanese 154lb champion Yuki Nonaka (28-8-3, 9) [野中 悠樹].
Of the two Nonaka is the more well known. Of course he's the current champion, but he's also a man who has edged his way into the world rankings, been a 2-time Japanese champion, an OPBF champion and has scored notable wins over the likes of Charlie Ota, Kazuhiko Hidaka and Koshinmaru Saito. In the ring Nonaka is a joy to watch. He's not the quickest, or the more powerful but he's a joyful boxer to see in action, as he throws wonderful combinations, judges distance and timing excellently and uses the southpaw stance very well. At 38 however his career is coming to an end and any fight could be his last. That's not to say he's had a hard career, but he is physically on the slide, much like Shibata was in his loss to Nishida. In Shimizu we have a relatively obscure fighter who has only really been making a name for himself the last 2 or 3 years, despite debuting way back in 2007. In all honesty we doubt anyone thought Shimizu was going to become a contender when he began his career, and quickly slipped to 3-2-2 (1) after 7 fights, all at the 4 round stage. Since then however he has racked up 8 wins, defeating the likes of Hikaru Nishida, Toru Chiba, Takehiro Shimokawara and Yosuke Kirima. Footage of Shimizu has been hard to come by though from we can see he has began to show more power in recent bouts, stopping 3 of his last 4 opponents, including Shomokawara who was proven to be tough at this level. We're not going to suggest he's a big puncher, but he's certainly got power to trouble fighters and could well be the type of fighter who holds his power late into a fight. What's key however is that at 28 he's not only much younger than the champion, but he's also a fighter coming into his prime. It can seem odd to pick the challenger, who haven't seen much of, over the recongised champion but here we will be picking Shimizu to upset Nonaka, and maybe even force a late stoppage. We suspect that youth will play a big part in this but the key will be hunger and Shimizu's string of very good domestic wins have shown that hunger, which will continue to grow. For Nonaka however we think this could well be the end of his career, win or lose. On December 27th Japanese fans get two national title fights. In our eyes the lesser of the two comes at 154lbs where Yuki Nonaka (27-8-3, 9) defends his title, for the 3rd time, an takes on multi-time title challenger Koshinmaru Saito (22-7-1, 12), who has regularly challenged at Welterweight. The talented Nonaka is one of Japan's rare fighters of note above 130lbs. He's a talented pure boxer who uses a lovely selection of punches, movement, timing and skills to win bouts. Watching him is actually a joy, despite his lack of power, and although he is just a stereotypical boxer he is a very solid boxer. Or rather, he was. The champion is now an old fighter, he's a 38 year old who has been showing signs of ageing recently. His work rate and speed have started to show slight decline and his last bout, a draw against Takayuki Hosokawa, could easily have gone against him, whilst a win last December Charlie Ota was very close. Well liked in Osaka the champion, a 16 year veteran southpaw, has had a career to remember. He turned pro 1999 and lost 3 of his first 5 bouts, before going 24-4-3. Among those early losses was a defeat by future OPBF Welterweight champion Taisei Marumoto and a loss that was avenge to Tsunamasa Hagari. When he finally found his stride however he did rack up some notable wins, including victories against Akihiro Furukawa, for the Japanese title in 2008 to begin his first as national champion, and Kazuhiko Hidaka, in 2009 to claim the OPBF title. His current reign however began last year, when he beat Kengo Nagashima by wide decision in what may turn out to be his final impressive performance. Old and inactive in recent times, this is just his second bout of the year, Nonaka may find himself unable to rely on the skills and, movement and energy that has brought him his success so far. Whilst Nonaka is certainly showing some signs of ageing it's fair to say that his opponent, Saito, is no Spring chicken himself at 36, and is actually just a few weeks away from being 37. It's is a “youth advantage” but only a minor one and that is likely to be neutralised by the fact he's a natural Welterweight and is some 4” shorter than Nonaka. Like the champion, the challenger has had a long career. He debuted back in 2001 and lost to just one fighter in his first 14 bouts, running up an 11-2-1 (6) record with both losses coming to Keiichi Arai. He got his first tit,e bout in 2009, at 147lbs, and was stopped in 7 rounds by Daisuke Nakagawa. Since that loss he has come up short in 3 subsequent title bouts, being stopped by Akinori Watanabe in a JBC/OPBF title fight and twice being out pointed by Suyon Takayama. His only other recent loss was a surprising 2nd round TKO defeat to the criminally under-rated Arnel Tinampay, who dominated Saito for 195 seconds. Although a beatable fighter Saito has actually had a very solid time over the last 3 years. He has scored wins over Shusake Fujinaka, Yuichi Ideta, Koki Koshikawa and Takehiro Shimokawara, whilst his only losses were to Takayama and Tinampay. Though of course the loss to Tinampay was by far the most “blip” like result on his record. In good form, full of confidence and with an aggressive mentality Saito could well be on his way to topping his career with a title, at long last, or alternatively becoming one of the nearly on the Japanese domestic scene. Given recent results it's easy to favour Nonaka. He's taller and has gone on a 8-0-1 run in the last 6 years, and is actually 13-1-1 in the last 8 years, whilst Saito is 2-2 in his last 4. However we sort of think that Saito is finally going to win a big one. We suspect he gets inside Nonaka and simply out works him, with the champion looking just a tiny bit lethargic in the second half of the fight as Saito's desire to get a major title shines through, leading to a very close but fair win for the challenger. Sometimes a title fight can take a back sea to an under-card bout. That appears to be the case this coming Sunday as Dennis Laurente's (49-6-5, 30) OPBF Light Middleweight title bout with Takayuki Hosokawa (27-10-4, 9) has taken the back seat for many fans in Osaka, who are more interested in viewing the professional debut of Hinata Maruta, who faces Jason Canoy in a baptism of fire. Whilst the bout certainly has taken a back seat in fan interest it's still a really good fight and sees one of the toughest fighters take on a man looking to continue a late career resurgence, and perhaps even end his career on a high. Of the two men it's perhaps the champion who is the better known internationally. He was last seen in the US, where he lost a wide decision to John Jackson though impressed with his toughness and bravery. Although fans who have only seen that one fight will view Laurente as a limited plodder he's actually a fighter who simply up against a much better, technically capable, younger and faster fighter. Typically he's an aggressive fighter who looks to apply pressure and causes a fight, rather than chasing a fighter around. It's been Laurente's pressure that has brought him success over a 21 year career. That career has seen “Mr Humble” claim OPBF titles at both 135lbs and 154lbs as well as GAB and PABA titles in a career that really has been full of achievement, albeit without receiving a lot of plaudits. During that 21 year career Laurente has never been stopped though has taken scalps like Yosuke Otsuka, Rustam Nugaev, Zaid Zavaleta, Ben Tackie and Tadashi Yuba. He's tough, aggressive, has great stamina and is a genuine handful for most out there. He's not the best but he is a real handful and not many fighters in Asia will be able to handle his pressure. The challenger isn't well known, and certainly hasn't had the success of the challenger, but Hosokawa is certainly a late bloomer. He began his career 2-3 (1) and at one point was 11-6-3 (2), since then however he has gone 16-4-1 and scored wins over Randy Suico, Patomsuk Pathompothong and Tadashi Yuba, who he beat for the Japanese title last year. Although Hosokawa has been in good form in recent years he has still lost to the best opponents that he's faced, including Akio Shibata, Makoto Fuchigami and Charlie Ota. They have typically stopped him and in 6 of his 10 losses he has failed to see the final bell. Unfortunately he's also began suffering sight issues and it's known that he has had issues with his retina in recent times, issues that will likely lead to his retirement in the near future. In the ring Hosokawa has shown he can fight or box, though has typically been a fighter who can be forced on to the back foot and can be intimidated relatively easily. Given the styles of the two men it's hard to see how Hosokawa survives 12 rounds with Laurente who will come for 12 high paced and hard rounds. Those rounds will take their toll on Hosokawa and eventually break down the challenger. If that happens we expect Hosokawa to announce his retirement very soon after the bout. If Hosokawa can take the pressure and guts out a win, we'd not be shocked to see him fight maybe once more in a fight that could see him on the road to collect a retirement payday before spending time with his family. For Laurente the future is what he wants it to be, at 38 he should be aging but hasn't really shown those signs inside the ring. Yuki Nonaka and Takayuki Hosokawa battle for Japanese gold and potential world title shot!3/30/2015 It's not too often that we can get excited about a Japanese title clash at Light Middleweight but on April 19th we have a genuinely significant clash between two Japanese fighters who are both eyeing up potential world title clashes later in the year. One of those is current Japanese national champion Yuki Nonaka (27-8-2, 8) whilst the other, Takayuki Hosokawa (26-10-3, 9), is a man who held the title a year ago but vacated it when he was ill. Together they are both world ranked by the IBF and both are likely eyeing up this fight as being not just a Japanese title bout but a potential world title eliminator. Coming into the bout Nonaka is really riding the crest of wave. Aged 37 he is on an 8 fight winning run dating back more than 5 years and includes wins over Dmytro Nikulin, Lee Oti, Ryo Okayama, Kengo Nagashima and Charlie Ota. We won't say he's looked sensational in all of those wins, with the Ota fight in particular being close, but he has shown glimpses of being a wonderfully talented boxer. He has shown a lovely variety of punches, sharp and accurate shots, and impressive speed though at for the most part is a very basic but polished boxer. The "one hole" in Nonaka's game is his lack of power which has been an issue in finishing opponents off. That lack of power however hasn't stopped him from having success and it's clear that his skills and sharpness are a level above many Asian rivals in the division. In the ring Nonaka likes to box off his southpaw jab, uses straight punches wonderful and has found ways to neutralise a number of opponents with those sharp straight shots and his movement. Those skills neutralised the aggressive Charlie Ota, who had success of his own but not enough to break down Nonaka over the 10 round distance. Watching him we tend to notice that he is basic, but that is the beauty of Nonaka, he's got fundamentals down to a tee. Unbeaten since suffering a narrow decision loss to Akio Shibata in November 2009 it takes a genuinely good fighter to beat Nonaka. These have included Shibata, Kazuhiko Hidaka, Nobuhiro Ishida and Taisei Marumoto. At 30 years old Hosokawa is the significantly younger man coming into this bout and is in solid form himself with 4 straight wins, including victories over Patomsuk Pathompothong and Tadashi Yuba, which he have helped him claim the Japanese and IBF Asia titles at Light Middleweight. In turn those titles have helped him move into the world rankings and focus on getting a world title shot, somewhere down the line. In the ring Hosokawa is a flawed fighter but is riding high on confidence and stacking up notable wins which have helped to to more success. In fact with 8 wins in his last 9 bouts he has genuinely turned his career around following a 2011 stoppage loss to Makoto Fuchigami in a Japanese Middleweight title bout. Those wins have seen him develop more belief in his ability and power and also make a permanent move to Light Middleweight which really does suit him a lot more than 160lbs. As with Nonaka we've seen Hosokawa come up short against many of his most notable opponents. That has seen him suffer losses to the likes of Akinori Watanabe, Charlie Ota, Tadashi Yuba, Fuchigami and, most recently, Shibata in a Japanese title fight and he was also fortunate to over-come Patomsuk. He is however a much improved fighter to the one who was blasted out in the second round by Watanabe back in 2005 in fact he's nothing like the fighter who began his career 11-6-3. Coming into this bout it's a real must win for both men. Neither can afford a loss at this moment in time. The pressure to perform couldn't be much higher. Of the two however it's Nonaka who has shown a more complete ability to perform under-pressure, as seen in his bout with Ota. Nonaka may be 37 but he's a fighter who has matured and is arguably at his best now. For Hosokawa it's hard to say how good he really is under-pressure, the win over Patomsuk was close, likewise the win over a very faded Yuba and his 2012 win over Randy Suico was razor thin to say the least. The challenger hasn't had that stand out performance despite taking a number of solid scalps. With that said we need to favour Nonaka who appears to be a much better, more rounded and more intelligent fighter. His boxing, which is genuinely eye pleasing, is basic but very effective and we suspect that he'll use that to over-come Hosokawa. The southpaw jab, the simple movement and technical proficiency will be his keys to victory. Unfortunately for the winner, which we suspect will be Nonaka, they are several levels from a real world champion. They do however have a chance at picking up a paper strap, if they are lucky. (Image courtesy of boxmob.jp) The Light Middleweight division in Japan has given us some very interesting domestic champions over the years. Those champions have included Koichi Wajima, Tadashi Mihara and, more recently, Nobuhiro Ishida. It's fair to say it's not the title with the greatest history but it certainly hasn't been one of the worst titles to hold wit several fighters going on to bigger and better things. This coming Sunday sees the Japanese Light Middleweight title up for grabs again as current champion Yuki Nonaka (26-8-2, 9) attempts to defend the belt against former champion Charlie Ota (24-2-1, 16). The bout may not have intentional fans foaming at the mouth in excitement though the bout is a really good one and one that could have world level implications with both men currently holding world rankings, albeit low ones. Of the two men it's the challenger, Ota, who is better known. Originally from the US he has had carved out a successful career in Japan winning OPBF and Japanese Light Middleweight titles. Internationally Ota has fought in Canada, losing to Jermell Charlo, and in the US, beating both Gundrick King and Mike Ruiz and in Japan he is popularly known simple as “Charlie”. Whilst Ota is known internationally by boxing fans it's what he's done in Japan that has been impressive and his record reads like a who's who of Japanese boxing in the Middle and Light Middleweight divisions. Among those Japanese fighters that he has beaten are Takayuki Hosokawa, Akio Shibata, Tadashi Yuba, Taisei Marumoto and Koji Numata, all of whom have held titles themselves. When comparing Ota with top international fighters he is relatively crude and is rather short for the weight, at 5'7” he does however have hurtful power, as seen when he dropped Charlo, and an explosive style that sees him unloading heavy shots. At home however most fighters in the division are similar in stature to him and he's simply more power and tougher than they are. If he chooses to go to war he tends to win even if things aren't the prettiest in terms of boxing. This warrior attitude was seen spectacularly in his bout with King Davidson. In that bout Ota was down in the opening round before showing his fighting spirit and taking the bout to the touted Davidson and shutting down his foe with intense aggression. Like a wounded animal Ota fights back when hurt and that may be when he's at his most dangerous. Although we are big fans of Ota we also like Yuki Nonaka who is one of the most pleasant boxers to watch anywhere on the planet. Nonaka lacks major power and speed but is technically so sharp with an accurate southpaw jab, razor like left hand and surgical uppercuts, all of which he showed recently to regain the title. He combines very intelligent offensive work with smart defense that sees him slipping shots wonderfully, controlling beautifully and neutralising when he needs. He's not untouchable by any means but he's become very difficult to tag clean with anything of note and is tough enough to shots when they come back. Internationally Nonaka, who at the time of writing is the WBO #15 ranked fighter, is an unknown domestically however the 37 year old manages to draw in sizeable crowds in Osaka. Whilst we won't pretend he's known for taking on the most dangerous opponents out there he does have a few solid win over the likes of Kazuhiko Hidaka, Dmytro Nikulin, Lee Oti, Ryo Okayama and Kengo Nagashima. He has also only lost 3 bouts in the last decade with 2 of those coming at title level. If boxing was an art form Nonaka would be highly regarded however boxing is often a fight and we're not certain how a 37 year old Nonaka will perform in a fight against a very good opponent. Against flawed foes he has looked exceptionally talented and he has been able to fight to his strengths. When forced to fight opponents fights however we feel Nonaka can be out worked and a lot of his losses have only been by a couple of rounds. Going into this bout we suspect we're going to see the boxer against the brawler. Nonaka's sweet science against Ota's street fighting warrior attitude. Sadly for Nonaka we suspect that being rushed and pressured by a guy like Ota won't end well for him and will draw him into a fight that he can't win. Stylistically it's a bout that is all wrong for the champion and although he's fighting at home in Osaka, his 18th fight in the City, we don't think he'll be able to retain his title in one of the most interesting national title fights this year. (Image courtesy of boxmob.jp) The Light Middleweight division is certainly one where Asian fighters have failed, at least in recent years, to make their make internationally. Long gone are the days of Ki Soon Kim, Koichi Wajima, Jae Doo Yuh and Masashi Kudo. Despite that the OPBF Light Middleweight title is a treasured title with a rich history that dates back to the 1960's and has been by held fighters like Tadashi Mihara, In Chul Baek, Yung-Kil Chung, Daniel Geale and Charlie Ota, who have used it to gain and establish world rankings. At the moment the title is vacant though that is expected to change this coming Thursday when Japan's heavy handed Tadashi Yuba (46-9-2, 33) battles against Filipino Dennis Laurente (48-5-5, 29) in what promises to be an incredibly exciting contest between two men looking to add one more big win to their long records. Of the two men it's Yuba who is better known and the easier man to get footage of. In fact in some ways Yuba is genuinely a celebrated fighter in Japan, having managed to win national titles in 5 weight divisions, from Lightweight to Middleweight, something no one else has done on the Japanese scene. Part of that success is his insane power whilst another part is his freakish size which has helped him climb through the weights. Stood at 6” Yuba was a relative beanpole when he won the Japanese Lightweight title in the early part of the century. Since then he has filled out and although he still looks freakishly thin he still manages to hit with genuinely nasty power. As well as being heavy handed and freakishly rangy and tall Yuba is also a southpaw making him a nightmare to fight in yet another way. Although a nightmare in many ways Yuba is also an incredibly flawed fighter who is offensively wild, defensively open and doesn't have the greatest of chins. We're not saying he's “chinny” per se but he's not made of granite and with his defensive liabilities this is a major issue, as seen in a number of his losses. Another issue is that he can be bullied around by a strong fighter and although he often has success on the back foot he can be made to look negative at times as he backs up looking for his powerful left hand. If a fighter can push back Yuba and prevent him from landing the left hand then Yuba is often in trouble,. Saying that however Yuba can fire back in a slugfest and win, as he did in a thriller with Carlos Linares. There is a lot out there on Yuba and he has genuinely been in with a who's who of the Japanese boxing scene including the likes of Takayuki Hosokawa, Charlie Ota, Akinori Watanabe, Koji Watanabe and Motoki Sasaki. On the other hand Laurente isn't as well known, hasn't faced a similar level of competition and, although he is world ranked, he hasn't scored many wins that have really caught our attention. Laurente's first break out win saw him claiming the OPBF Lightweight title when he beat the then unbeaten Yosuke Otsuka in Japan. His reign as the OPBF champion was long but lacked any real substance and it wasn't until 2006 that he scored another win of note, beating Rustam Nugaev. His next wins of note came against Zaid Zavaleta and Ben Tackie, both of whom are better known for their losses than their wins. In recent years Laurente has seemed happier to pick up wins that genuinely achieve anything. As a result only 1 of his last 5 opponents, Khomkaew Sithsaithong, has actually had a winning record. Unsurprisingly he has stopped all 5 of them, with the last 3 ending via body shots, and you now need to go back more than 2 years to find his last notable opponent, Kenny Abril, who actually beat him with an 8 round split decision in the US. At his absolute best Laurente was a good fighter, as seen in his narrow win over Chikashi Inada. However aged 37, the same age as Yuba, it's fair to say Laurente isn't what he once was and now a days his wins over weak foes see him fighting like a wild man confident that his over-matched foes have nothing to threaten him. It's hard to say if he will fight the same way against Yuba though we suspect he won't. Sadly though we think his recent level of competition will end up biting him in the backside when Yuba starts to find the range for his powerful straight lefts. We think Yuba will fight as a counter puncher and have real success on the back foot as Laurente comes in and is forced to eat clean shots as he neglects his own defence. This could become a really entertaining war though at the end of it we think Laurente will suffer his first stoppage loss. It'll be fun until the end though we can only see the Japanese fighter winning this one. Unfortunately for Laurente his ambition seems to have waned to the point where we think he'll lack the fire needed to over-come Yuba. (Image courtesy of boxmob.jp) |
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
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