On Sunday we get the 4th OPBF title fight in less than a week and on paper this one is most one sided though from where we're sat we actually imagine this could be just as tough and just as good as some of the others. The reason that this one, for the OPBF Minimumweight title, looks so one sided is because it matches an unbeaten fighter, Ryuji Hara (16-0, 10), against a man with almost as many losses as wins, Donny Mabao (21-20-1, 4). Unfortunately though records in boxing can be rather misleading and deciding that a fight is won or lost on paper alone can be a major mistake. Hara's unbeaten record certainly has some "good fortune" to go alongside his solid and very credible skills. Those skills of Hara's were on show very early in his career as swiftly rose to 12-0 (10) and scored notable victories over Shuhei Ito, Ken Agena and Yokthong Kokietgym. Since then though Hara as gone 4-0 and really struggled in all 4 of those subsequent bouts. He went from fast rising star in the making to a man who may never quite fulfil his early potential, in fact he may never even come close. Whilst those last 4 bouts of Hara's have come at a higher level than his first 12, and have all been 10 rounders with the Japanese title up for grabs he's actually looked a lot worse than he did in his first 12 bouts. A clear example of that was he second bout with Shuhei Ito. After winning the first by 5th round TKO Hara only just managed to retain his Japanese title in a rematch. In fact all 4 of the Japanese title fights that Hara has been involved in were competitive with many viewing him as a lucky champion and as a fighter who perhaps lacks durability, he has certainly been down enough times for us to wonder just how tough he really is. In terms of skills Hara is genuinely really good, but his power doesn't appear to have carried up to Japanese title level, his durability is questionable at at 5'1" he's also a short fighter even in the Mnimumweight division. Thankfully though he does have good movement, solid speed and can punch equally well with both hands. He's also part of the Ohashi stable which also includes Akira Yaegashi, Naoya Inoue and Ryo Matsumoto who all offer top quality sparring and will have helped bring out the best in Hara. In Mabao we have one of those Filipino fighters, like Rey Loreto and Richard Pumicpic, who posses a misleading record. The first thing you notice is of courses the number of losses. Unfortunately for Mabao he suffered a lot of them in either controversial bouts, such as his loss to Ronald Castrodes in 2008 or his loss to Kwanthai Sithmorseng in 2009, or to very good fighters such as Wisanu Kokietgym, Noknoi Sitthiprasert, Paipharob Kokietgym, Merlito Sabillo, Yodmongkol Vor Saengthep and Ryo Miyazaki. When you look at that second list of names it's no wonder Mabao has been picking up losses, it's a whose who of Asian boxing including world champions, top contenders and a veritable list of top level boxers. Mabao hasn't got an awful record due to losing to weak opponents but has a bad record due to the sheer number of quality fighters he has faced. Not only has Mabao been losing to notable names but in recent fights he has also been beating them. He has actually scored very notable victories over both Mateo Handig, famous for beating Katsunari Takayama, and Florante Condes, the former IBF world champion. They may have been back a few years but they proved that Mabao has the ability and he is tough having only been stopped 3 times in 42 fights, With his toughness and experience we actually view Mabao as having a great chance to upset Hara. The one thing holding back the Filipino though will be his lack of power. With just 4 stoppages in 42 fights it's to see him hurting Hara, though we do view him as a fighter capable of dragging Hara into a very tough bout, certainly tougher than the records would indicate. Whilst Hara did defend the Japanese title 3 times, we think this could well be his toughest test and anything but a convincing win could see him dropping down the world rankings. Considering Hara is in the top 5 according to the IBF, WBA and WBO this could be a major opportunity for Mabao and a possible huge fall from grace for Hara if her under-performs in what we're sure will be a really tough day in the ring. (Photo courtesy of Ohashi Gym)
0 Comments
One of the greatest things about the OPBF title is the fact that some of the matches ups are really world class and could effectively be world title eliminators. It may sound over-the top but we really do see some absolute belters made. The next "world class" OPBF title bout takes place on March 25th and not only pits two world level fighters but also two Filipino's against each other in a battle that has real significance on both men, the world rankings and the OPBF scene. This bout in question, for the OPBF Light Flyweight title recently given up by Naoya Inoue, will feature former WBC Light Flyweight title challenger Jonathan Taconing (17-2-1, 14), pictured, against recent IBF Minimumweight title challenger Vergilio Silvano (18-3-1, 10). Of the two men it's Silvano who is probably fresher in the mind. His title challenger, late last year, saw him being widely outpointed by Japan's excellent Katsunari Takayama who literally boxed circles around the Filipino fighter. Whilst Silvano was made to look less than world class that had a lot more to do with Takayama who was genuinely sensation in the fight. Prior to his failed world title challenger Silvano had been on an impressive 15 winning streak which had seen him winning the Filipino title and the WBO Oriental title, bot at Light Flyweight. Although his competition was no better than domestic level the 24 year old Southpaw had looked like a man likely to be a fixture on the world stage at some point and the loss to Takayama, whilst a set back, is unlikely to be his only world title fight. Whilst Silvano was made to look second rate in his world title fight Taconing was made to look like the victim of genuine "BS" when he was controversially beaten by Kompayak Porpramook back in 2011. In that fight Taconing appeared to boss his experienced foe and cut him. Some how the doctor ruled a small cut, and we mean small, was enough to take the bout to the score cards which saved Porpramook with scores that failed to reflect the nature of the bout. As with Silvano the loss in the world title bout snapped Taconing's unbeaten run of 10 fights. The loss, a hugely controversial one, was quickly forgotten and Porpramook would lose his title to Adrian Hernandez soon afterwards denying Taconing a chance for revenge. Not only have both men lost in world title fights but both are, as mentioned, world ranked. Taconing is currently the WBC #3, WBO #10, WBA #15 at Light Flyweight whilst Silvano is the WBO #4 and IBF #8 at Minimumweight, in effect this is a major fight ignoring the regional title. With what we've seen of the two men it's Taconing that has impressed us more. His fight with Porpramook was supposed to be a mismatch but the Filipino proved that he was world class and has speed, talent, bravery as well as genuine power. He may not by dynamite fisted but his shots aren't the type a fighter wants to take on a repeated basis and he has stopped his last 4 opponents, all Thai's in a combined 12 rounds. It's unfortunate that Silvano was so clearly beaten by Takayama as it actually made Silvano look a lot worse than he is. In that bout he looked unable to deal with the movement or speed of the "Lightning Kid". Silvano is a better fighter than that though we do think that Taconing will grind him down in a genuinely exciting "must watch" OPBF fight. For fans capable of getting to the Sofitel Hotel in Pasay City we'd really advise you to go to this it could well be one for the ages and pure war between two men looking to get their second world title fight. (Photo courtesy of boxrec.com) When it comes to Japanese fighters on the verge of a world title fight few are closer than "Eagle Eye" Ryosuke Iwasa (16-1, 10). Iwasa, who could well be favoured to beat some of the current champions, is a man who the WBC view as the #1 contender, the WBO have him at #3 and the IBF have him at #12. Despite his high rankings Iwasa's next bout won't be for a world title though it will be a title bout as he attempts to make the first defence of his OPBF Bantamweight title in a bout that seems likely to be one of his last bouts before stepping up to fighting for a world championship. Blessed with toughness, heart, power, speed and skill Iwasa is one of the most complete fighters to have not yet fought for a world title. Unfortunately for Iwasa he probably would have fought for a world title some time back had he not had the misfortune to run in to Shinsuke Yamanaka in a Japanese title fight back in 2011. Prior to that fight, the only loss on Iwasa's record, he seemed to be heading straight to the top. The loss to Yamanaka really delayed the progress of Iwasa who went from being on the fast track to the top to being a man in need of rebuilding. Thankfully though the rebuilding process was a quick one with Iwasa claiming the Japanese title just 8 months later as he bounced back in style. Since losing to Yamanaka some 3 years ago Iwasa has gone on an 8 fight winning streak claimed both the Japanese and OPBF titles and scored a hugely impressive victory over 2-time title challenger David De La Mora. He'll be hoping to extend that winning run to 9 fights on March 25th when he defends the OPBF belt for the first time and battles the criminally under-rated Filipino Richard Pumicpic (14-5-2, 4). Whilst Iwasa is one of the rising stars of Japanese boxing Pumicpic is a man who has been over-looked and under-sold through out his career. Unfortunately for the Filipino he began his career 5-3-1 (1) after 3 close and somewhat debatable decision losses as well as a technical draw. From then on he was always fighting an up hill battle with people looking at his record and claiming he wasn't a fighter to really make a note of. Those early losses on Pumicpic's record did seem to haunt him somewhat and although he moved to 9-3-1 more losses were on the way with the Filipino dropping hard fought decisions to more experienced fighters to drop to 9-5-1. Since those last 2 losses Pumicpic has really developed in to a much better fighter and gone 6-0-1 whilst claiming the WBC Youth Silver and Philippines Boxing Federation (PBF) Bantamweight titles. He has turned his career around excellently and proven to be much better than one would have imagined. So impressive has Pumicpic been recently that he came incredibly close to upsetting the highly regarded Yohei Tobe just over a year ago, needing to settle for a draw in that particular bout. Although Pumicpic is less proven than Iwasa we have been impressed by the little Filipino who has looked tough in his bouts to date, through some lovely combinations, seems defensively capable and hits harder than his record indicates. That's not to suggest he's world class, he has too many issues to be considered that highly, but he is very capable and upset minded, as he showed against Thailand's Ratchasak Kkg back in February 2012. Although we do think highly of Pumicpic we're not as high on him as the OPBF who have him as the #1 ranked challenger, We do however agree that he is a very credible opponent for Iwasa and should bring the best out of the Japanese fighter who will be hoping that a victory here will move him on to world title fights in the first half of 2014. From what we've seen of both men we do favour Iwasa who is a lot more clinical and well rounded than most of the men that Pumicpic has fought so far. Pumicpic isn't likely to fold under Iwasa's power but is likely to be widely out boxed by the Japanese fighter who can do it all when he's switched on. If Iwasa tries to make it a brawl and tries to take Pumicpic out he could find himself making life very difficult for himself, though he should still manage to come out on top in a brawl with Pumicpic's lack of power limiting him against the talented Japanese fighter. When you see a fighter with a record like 34-15-3 (16) you tend to write them off by default, especially in this day and age of padded records, protected fighters and selective match making. That however can prove to be a costly mistake and sometimes you just need to realise that a record doesn't actually tell us a lot about a fighter. Although we think they do show us something about a fighter a record is rarely the bee all and end all of a boxer's ability. We had a great example of misleading records just a few weeks ago when Filipino Rey Loreto, who boasted a 17-13 record, upset Nkosinathi Joyi who was 24-2-0-1. Loreto, like a number of Filipino fighters, has a record that is hugely misleading due to controversial losses, losses in hard fights early in his career and just generally being matched tougher than he should have been. Another Filipino in a similar position to Loreto is Vinvin Rufino (34-15-3, 16) who boasts the record used at the beginning of this preview. Rufino, the OPBF #1 contender, has won less than 66% of all his fights. Of his 15 losses though at least 6 are highly questionable and 12 have come on foreign soil where results are rarely expected to go in favour of the visiting fighter. If you switch the highly questionable losses to victories Rufino's record would be a somewhat respectable 40-9-3. On March 24th Rufino will be hoping to shock the boxing world like Loreto did as he takes on OPBF Featherweight champion Hisashi Amagasa (25-4-2, 16) in a bout that is a lot more interesting than the records of the men would indicate. Amagasa goes in to the bout a clear favourite. That's just stating the obvious, he's at home, he's the defending champion, he's world ranked by the WBC #11, WBO #12 and IBF #13, he's a man in the form of his life with 10 straight victories and he's a tricky customer at the best of times. As we all know however upsets happen and Amagasa will need to be fully aware that he's not fighting an over-matched foe, he's fighting his #1 challenger. Amagasa won the title last year by scoring a decision victory over former world champion Ryol Li Lee who had beaten Amagasa back in 2010. The victory over Lee saw Amagasa avenging his most recent loss and putting his name on the world rankings in the process. Despite the victory many questioned whether he was fighting the real Lee or a man who was had mentally retired from the sport. Lee, not quite looking himself, managed to keep the fight close and although Amagasa was the rightful winner one has to wonder what a determined Lee could have done that fight. Interestingly Amagasa had to himself turn around a poor looking record. After just 12 fights he had a record of 7-3-2 (6) and the only decision he had won in that time had come against Yoshiharu Yajima who was 3-2 entering his bout with Amagasa. Of course since then Amagasa has improved though should be fully aware that a bad looking record doesn't tell you how good a fighter is, as he himself has proven by winning 18 of his subsequent 19 contests. Unlike Amagasa, Rufino doesn't hold a really notable win. His best victories are over the likes of Adones Aguelo and Rene Bestudio. He does however deserve major credit for his losses to Aleksander Bajawa, Naoki Matsuda, in an absolute thriller, and Sipho Taliwe all on the road. A number of which could easily have gone in his favour. It's fights with South African Taliwe that really show how competitive this bout is. Taliwe gave the popular Daud Yordan a very close fight last year and with Rufino arguably deserving of two victories we refuse to write him off. Whilst we won't write off Rufino we do think he'll struggle with the both the power and reach of Amagasa. The Japanese fighter is almost 5" taller than the Filipino, much rangier and a very solid hitter. If he uses his strengths then Amagasa should box off the jab, fire in powerful straights and slowly break down Rufino. Rufino, to his credit, will try and get inside the champion and rough him up with his under-rated power and strength. If Rufino gets his way this could turn into a genuine war and a FOTY contender though the question is whether or not he can get inside. If he can't there is only one winner and it's not the brave and under-rated challenger. We'll be picking the obvious choice in Amagasa though we do not expect this to be easy for him and we'd expect a least a few hairy moments for the champion who will know he's been in a real fight at the end of it. This fight is one of two title fights on the same card, the other is the very good looking Japanese Super Bantamweight title bout between Hidenori Otake and Takafumi Nakajima. (Photo courtesy of Boxmob) In a number of boxing's lower weights we look at OPBF champions as future world champions. It's a regular stepping stone title that sees a title progressing from national champion to Asian champion and then on to fight for world titles. As we go through the divisions however we tend to find fewer and fewer OPBF champions managing to progress on to the world stage. The cut off, if we can use such a term, appears to be the Lightweight division from there up the best in Asia simply can't compete with the best in the world. Whilst the significance of the OPBF belt above Lightweight does seem to fade on the world scene it is still a title that coveted through out Asia as it allows a fighter to declare that they are the best in Asia, the Asian champion if you will. It's that honour that will drive Japanese Koji Numata (21-7-1, 16) and Takehiro Shimokawara (19-8-2, 6) when they meet on March 11th in a battle for the OPBF Light Middleweight title, a title recently vacated by Charlie Ota. Of the two men it's Shimokawara who is venturing into new territory. Although he's had 29 fights, just like Numata, he has never before fought for a title, of any type. Unfortunately for him his lack of title fights has seen him never take part in a 10 rounder and he's only been scheduled to go 10 rounds twice, reaching the final bell in just one of those bouts. With the same amount of fights Numata has become a fixture on the title scene. He has already been involved in 5 title fights, winning the Japanese Welterweight title in he process and has featured in 11 bouts scheduled for 10 or more rounds. Although Numata did lose his sole 12 rounder, being stopped by former OPBF Light Middleweight champion Ota, he has fought at that level. This level of experience is arguably the key for Numata. He has shared the ring not only with Ota but also Tadashi Yuba and Daisuke Nakagawa and actually managed to stop Yuba almost 6 years ago. When comparing like for like Shimokawara's most notable opponents have been Akio Shibata, twice early in his career, Akinori Watanabe and Daisuke Nakagawa, with Shimokawara losing all 4 of those bouts. As well as having an edge in quality of experience Numata also holds the edge in power having stopped significantly more opponents than Shimokawara and he's also younger. As for Shimokawara he does himself have some notable advantages in his favour. He's notable taller than Numata, in fact he has a 4" height advantage, and he's also tougher. The only stoppage on Shimokawara's record was against the monstrously hard hitting Akinori Watanabe. He may have lost 8 bouts but he has 2 less stoppage losses than Numata who was stopped by Ota was also stopped by both Dan Nazareno Jr and Tomoyuki Shiotani in what must go down as major blips. We're happy to put Numata's stoppages to both Nazareno and Shiotani down to his struggles with weight and with that in mind we do favour Numata to win. He has the experience at going 10 rounds and he has the experience of winning championship fight. We don't imagine Numata will manage to stop Shimokawara but we expect him to do enough to take home the OPBF title and to call himself the best Light Middleweight in Asia. It's not often that we get to have a serious conversation about the Asian Middleweight scene but it seems that we have one of very rare situations where we can talk about it, and in fact we can talk about it in some detail as the division headlines the 522nd Dynamic Glove. We all know Gennady Golovkin is the most feared Middleweight on the planet and that Ryota Murata is destined to to go places. There is little point in Murata staying around at Japanese or even Asian level and he knows it. He may not have ever won the Japanese or OPBF titles but in all honesty he has bigger fish to fry. On March 1st however we get to see the next two best Middleweights in Japan in action. In one corner we have the Japanese champion Daisuke Nakagawa (22-3-2, 17), a hard hitting 36 year old who was formerly a Japanese champion at Welterweight and Light Middleweight. In the other corner we have OPBF champion Akio Shibata (21-8-1, 9), a former unified champion at Light Middleweight who seeks to unify titles in a second division. Not only titles on the line here, but so to is personal pride an honour. The men, who are fighting for the second time, know that this will likely be their last fight together and with Shibata winning their first encounter it's certainly a personal battle for Nakagawa. Aged 36 Nakagawa is the older man and having had his career start way back in 1997 he is the man with the more miles on the clock in terms of time. Thankfully though, for him, he has had the power to keep the mileage down and with an impressive 17 stoppages in his 22 wins he certainly possess a killer instinct. Those 17 stoppage victories have seen him keeping his career rounds down and despite being a professional for well over a decade he has only fought in 140 professional rounds. Stood at 5'11" Nakagawa is the slightly smaller man though that's unlikely to be an issue. The bigger issue is whether or not his body can go to the well once again at his relatively advanced age. Saying that though he did do very well against the hard hitting Tomohiro Ebisu last year in the bout that saw Nakagawa claiming the title. Since losing to Shibata in their first meeting, back in Summer 2012, Nakagawa has gone on a 3 fight winning streak and stopped his last 2 opponents, including the aforementioned Ebisu. Whilst things have been good since their first meeting for Nakagawa things haven't been so rosy for the 32 year old Shibata. Although he is the younger man man Shibata has both competed in more fights and more rounds. He has been in 30 bouts for 164 rounds, that's only 3 bouts more and 24 rounds but he has squished it into a shorter career that began in 2003. Like Nakagawa, Shibata actually began his career at Welterweight before his body naturally filled out to that of a Middleweight. Unfortunately as he's gone through the weights his power has completely gone and from stopping 4 of his first 6 opponents he has ran up just 5 stoppages in 24 subsequent contests including just 1 in his last 7 bouts. This has been an issue that has certainly not helped him and when he fought Murata last year he simply couldn't get the Olympic champion to respect him despite landing some clean looking shots. Skillwise and speed wise Shibata is talented and brave. Though unfortunately for him he hasn't been able to show the greatest of durability with 5 stoppages losses on his record, including the stoppage last time out to Murata and two stoppages to Charlie Ota. Despite those notable losses he does have some notable victories including his decision over Shibata, and decisions over Makoto Fuchigami and Takehiro Shimokawara. When it comes to this fight there are a lot of questions. Can Shibata take the power of Nakagawa again? This is a key when you consider just how much the Murata fight will have taken out of him. If he can, has Nakagawa got a plan B? We know that Shibata is a good boxer despite his lack of durability and if he pumps that jab out and uses his movement he can really out box plenty of fighters. Has father time caught up with Nakagawa? At 36, going on 37, just how much life is there left in Nakagawa's legs? As well as the questions there is also the manner of incentives. Nakagawa was recently given a world ranking from the WBO and will know that if he keeps winning he could get a world title shot before his career is over. Likewise Shibata may see a win here as a chance to get a second Murata bout or put himself on to the world stage, albeit the fringes of the world stage. With everything considered it's a hard fight to call. We are, however, leaning towards a Nakagawa stoppage in the middle rounds. We think Shibata will be cautious early on and try to use his speed and jab though it won't be long before Nakagawa starts to land his own shots and eventually those heavy hands of his will take their toll. We believe that Shibata will be stopped after having a small lead on the cards in what will really be a great fight as both men try to force they style on to the fight. If one Japanese fighter impressed us last year, without getting major acclaim, it was the sharp shooting Shingo Wake (15-4-2, 8) who really came in to his own. Wake, a relative unknown prior to last year, began to live up to his promise in 2013 and also claimed the OPBF Super Bantamweight title in the process as he moved from Japanese domestic class to fringe world class. The talented Wake, who kicked off his 2013 with an upset stoppage over the previously unbeaten Yukinori Oguni, went 3-0 (3) in the year. This was his year, the year that saw him believing in his talent and putting a few forgettable years well and truly behind him. Despite the success of 2013 Wake will be hoping to keep his career momentum going when he returns for his first bout of 2014, a bout that sees him defending his OPBF title against Japanese based Filipino challenger Jovylito Aligarbes (10-2, 4) on February 10th at "Dangan 93". Although on paper Wake will be the favourite, Wake himself will know all too well that being the under-dog can be a blessing in disguise. Of course Wake's biggest win was the victory over Oguni, an upset that wasn't foreseen by many. At the time Oguni was 10-0 (2) and world ranked, Wake was a distinctly average looking 12-4-2 (5). It's fair to say that Wake was in the situation Aligarbes is in now, a man looking to score their break out victory. For Wake though he'll not be wanting to through away what he has accomplished over the last 12 months, especially not to a fighter like Aligarbes. Wake, at his very best, is a nightmare to fight. He's slippery, he's fast, he's accurate and most frustratingly is the fact he lures opponents in time and time again before countering with a sharp straight shot. He's just as frustrating as he is talented and if he doesn't beat you physically with his sharp accurate shots he beats you mentally by making you chase shadows and tag the air. What makes Wake even more frustrating to fight is that he's a southpaw and a tall for the weight at 5'8". At his worst though, Wake can be very disappointing, lazy and lacking the fire to really be a star. Thankfully however Wake did seem to find his fire in 2013 and hopefully that will continue in to 2014. Aligarbes, also known as Jovy Katsumata, is a fighter who as just 19 years old is improving and is clearly talented. Unfortunately for the youngster he's still a long way from beating the likes of Wake. From his career so far Aligarbes has shown some genuine class, though he's also making a lot of mistakes still. He's a typical diamond in the rough that we often see with promising Filipino fighters. Unfortunately he suffers from one of the other problems of being a talented young Filipino, he's being matched in an harsh and unfair manner. Sometimes it works, as it did when Aligarbes took on Monico Laurente, but there is a big difference between the likes of Laurente and Wake. Added to Aligarbes problems regarding his unpolished skills is the fact he's moving up in weight. Aligarbes is the WBC Youth Super Flyweight champion and moving up to Super Bantamweight to take on Wake just seems like a ridiculously tough step up in terms of weight and class. Of course a loss to Wake isn't the end of the world but he certainly doesn't need another loss. Aligarbes should be given more fights in his division at his level than taking this big step up. We're expecting Aligarbes to start confidently and try and get to Wake but Wake's movement and accuracy will make him pay. By round 3 or 4 Aligarbes will be getting broken down and whilst we expect him to go out on his shield he'll never really be in the bout. Hopefully, for Wake, this will be his final bout against a lesser foe before moving on. He can, by all means, continue defending his OPBF title though he should only really continue defending it if he can get someone like Hidenori Otake, Genesis Servania or Albert Pagara in the ring with him. No one else in the OPBF Super Bantamweight rankings deserve to be in the ring with him and none of the other others would even give Wake a competitive bout. The first big Asian fight of 2014 is penciled in for January 11th as Yoshitaka Kato (26-4-1, 7), the Japanese and OPBF Lightweight champion, attempts to defend his OPBF title. Kato, ranked #10 by the WBC and WBO, is a fringe world level fighter. He's not a name known in the west but he does hold a notable 1-1 record against Nihito Arakawa and is a man who has been impressing on the Japanese domestic scene. Not only has Kato been one of the rising domestic forces but he's a man who has been on a solid winning run. His last loss came via a shock stoppage to Mitsuya Omura back in April 2010 and since then he has won 9 straight. Those 9 fights have included 5 successful defenses of the Japanese title and of course him winning both the Japanese and OPBF titles. Those victories, on the whole, have come by decision with Kato needing to show his boxing skills to over come the likes of Rey Labao, Akihiro Kondo and Takashi Inagaki. He has scored the odd stoppage, including a 91 second TKO over the very limited Kota Koike, but they have been rare and haven't come against any sort of quality. Aged 29 Kato will have his eyes on a world title fight at some point. That however is dependent on him keeping his world ranking and also the OPBF title title that he claimed last year with a decision over Motoki Sasaki. Although Kato has already defended the OPBF title once, defeating Rey Labao, he's now set to defend against one of the most promising fighters in Japan, Masayoshi Nakatani (6-0, 5). For many Nakatani is a real obscurity. He's not a fighter who has climbed into any world rankings, he's not even ranked in the top 100 by the IBO but he is a man who has probably flown under-the-radar a bit more than he should have. He's not only a member of the Ioka Gym alongside world champions Kazuto Ioka and Ryo Miyazaki, but he's widely regarded as the "third" best fighter at the gym. What Nakatani has done as a professional is look exceptionally promising and highly dangerous. His most impressive performance to date was a stoppage over the very dangerous Shuhei Tsuchiya. It was that fight more than any other that really showed what Nakatani was about and in fact some described him as showing glimpses of Tommy Hearns about him. Aged 24 and stood at 5'11" Nakatani is a Lightweight giant. He has long arms which he has used to great effect, he has genuine power and with the Ioka training you know he is well skilled. Of the two fighters it's clear that Kato is the more experienced man. He has an impressive 31 fights behind him with 206 professional rounds. These have included numerous bouts that have gone the scheduled 12 rounds. Nakatani has just 6 bouts and a mere 21 rounds under him with the longest fight of his career going just 6 rounds. Despite the experience edge we think the most telling edge will be in power and size. Kato isn't a big puncher at all. He's only managed 2 stoppages in his last 12 bouts dating back to 2009. Nakatani though is a monstrous puncher and we have seen Kato stopped once before, by Mitsuya Omura. We're expecting a repeat of that and will be calling the apparent upset. As well as the main event we're expecting to see 5 other bouts on the show. These will include former OPBF Super Bantamweight champion Yukinori Oguni (11-1, 2) fighting against Yuki Fujimoto (7-2-1, 2) in the chief support bout. This contest is scheduled for 10 round. The other bouts on the card will include Kenji Kubo (3-2, 1) and Yusuke Sakashita (10-4-2, 6). The card, put on by Kadoebihoseki, will be held at the Korakuen Hall and will be expected to feature some really great action. Although far from a super card we expect the show to be very interesting, most notably because of the main event which bares a lot of importance on the domestic scene and the world scene. |
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
Categories
All
|