One of the unique, but truly brilliant, things about Japanese boxing is their domestic Youth title. It helps stop young hopefuls from meandering early in their career's and gives them something to fight for, before maturing and preparing for a proper Japanese title fight. The title might not have the reputation of the full national title, which is one of the most highly regarded titles below world level, but it's added a new spice in recent years to the Japanese domestic scene and has given us some amazing bouts since it was created just a short few years ago.
 
We expect another when Tsubasa Narai (7-0, 6) and Kyonosuke Kameda (6-2-1, 5) clash for the Japanese Youth Featherweight title, and put it on the line in what should be a very, very explosive, and very exciting clash.
 
The match up isn't one that will get international attention, but fans at the EDION Arena Osaka are in for a real treat, between two men who are young, exciting, heavy handed and flawed. Neither are the smartest or smoothest boxer. Neither has an impenetrable defenses, but both like to let their hands go, and both have fight ending power.
 
Of the two men it's fair to say Kameda is the more well known. He's the cousin of the Kameda brothers, and turned professional in with a lot of noise around him, on a show that was put together essentially put together by Koki Kameda at the very start of 2018. Despite the chatter around him, and his cousin matching him up, he also actually lost on debut, being stopped in 2 rounds by Shinnosuke Kimoto. Since then however Kameda has bounced back and gone 6-1-1 (5) with his two set backs being relatively understandable ones. The first was a draw in 2019 to the awkward Ryugo Ushijima, in the East Japan Rookie of the Year, and the second was a split decision loss in the All Japan Rookie of the Year final, against Jinki Maeda.
 
Between his losses we saw Kameda pick up some genuinely solid wins, including a victory over the then unbeaten Tom Mizokoshi, and a TKO win over the then 5-0 Daiki Imanari. He also score a notable win last year against Daiki Asai last year. He's not the most polished fighter out there. In fact he is very much a rough around the edges fighter, but he's very heavy handed and is a freak at Featherweight, standing at around 6".
 
Whilst Kameda has the Kameda name helping him with his career, and with the attention he's had, Narai doesn't have that and has instead depended on making a mark with his fists. Something he has done really well. He debuted in April 2019, with a TKO win overKento Nakano, and stopped Taison Mukaiyama just weeks later. At that point it seemed like he was well on the way to a place in the 2019 East Japan Rookie of the Year, before he sadly had to pull out of the tournament. At that point in time he was fighting at Super Bantamweight. More than a year after the victory over Yazan we saw Narai return to the ring as a Super Featherweight and re-enter the Rookie of the Year, and this time he went all the way, stopping all 4 of his opponents on route to winning the All Japan tournament. In fact he stopped all 4 of his foes in the tournament in a combined 9 rounds and looked very, very impressive doing so.
 
Interestingly, despite being the All Japan champion at Super Featherweight, Narai isn't a big fighter. He's he's around 5'4" and will be the shorter, smaller man when he gets in the ring with Kameda. In fact Kameda will seriously tower over him. Despite that Narai looks to be the more polished boxer, he's certainly the more aggressive and the bigger puncher. He does appear to have some defensive issues, and has been tagged in the past by lesser fighters than Kameda. Given how small he is, he will have to take risks, he will struggle with the size, but if he can sneak in, land his devastating right hand, we could end up seeing Kameda's chin being given a real check.
 
On paper Narai is likely to enter as the favourite. He's unbeaten and will have a lot of momentum coming into this on the back of his Rookie triumph. He's in great form, the man moving down in weight, and is a very, very dangerous fighter. He is however the man who will be much smaller, and could find himself really struggling to get around the jab of Kameda. If that happens, and if Kameda fights a responsible and intelligent, performance, he could frustrate Narai, rack up the rounds, and eventually catch Narai coming in, when he gets desperate. If he can do that we suspect he'll unload and force a late stoppage, or cruise to a clear decision.
 
That however would take a lot of concentration from Kameda and is not something he's consistently shown through his career. Instead we suspect Kameda will look to use his jab, use his reach, but end up making mistakes and getting tagged by Narai. When that happens we expect to see Kameda seeing red and trying to fight fire with fire. When that happens it'll become a shoot out, and we favour Narai in that situation.
 
We might see him hit the canvas at some point, but we favour Narai here, by stoppage.
 
Prediction - Narai TKO4

This coming Wednesday we get the chance to see a really compelling match up in New South Wales as under-rated Filipino slugger Joe Noynay (18-2-2, 7) looks to defend his WBO Asia Pacific Super Featherweight title against unbeaten Australian challenger Liam Wilson (9-0, 6). For Wilson the bout is a massive step up in class and his first for a well regarded internationally recognised title, whilst the bout will be Noynay's first in Australia and his first in well over 18 months. For the winner the WBO Asia Pacific title is a major honour, but the winner will also begin a real move towards getting a world title fight, making this bout a genuinely significant one.
 
Of the two men it's Noynay who is the more well known and the more recognisable. Although not a major star the 25 year old southpaw is a very dangerous fighter with a solid record and has shown no fear of fighting on the road. In fact many of Noynay's best performance have been on the road, including a very competitive loss with Reiya Abe back in 2017, along with wins over Jinxiang Pan, Kosuke Saka and a career best win over Satoshi Shimizu. Not only has he impressed on the road, but he also seems to get more aggressive when fighting on foreign soil and has shown under-rated power, with his punches being much more destructive than a typical fighter with a 32% KO rate. That actually is likely due to the fact he went the distance a lot early in his career, after debuting as a teenager.
 
During his career Noynay has proven to be a fighter who can box, though his boxing is usually quite clumsy, and puncher. He's shown good patience in bouts, but when he lands clean he can hurt guys. Sometimes he is a bit too rough around the edges to really show what he can do, as we saw in his most recent bout against Kenichi Ogawa in what was a messy affair plagued by head clashes, but he is more skilled than some would give him credit for. He's also very tough and took some big bombs from Satoshi Shimizu, and Kosuke Saka, before stopping both of those men. He will believe in his chin, his power, and experience here.
 
Wilson, also 25, was a very solid amateur competing in a variety of major international tournaments such as the 2018 Common Wealth Games and the 2014 AIBA Youth World Championships. Unlike Noynay he is a boxer first, and his amateur fundamentals do show when he's in the ring. As a professional however he's very unproven with just 9 bouts since making his debut in June 2018. To date his most notable results are a decision win over Brent Rice for the Australian national title in 2018, a KO win over Jesus Cuadro, a TKO win over Rodynie Rafor and a 10 round decision win over Francis Chua earlier this year. He's managed to go 10 rounds a few times but has never shared the ring with someone like Noynay before.
 
In the ring Wilson is an aggressive boxer. He's technically well schooled, looks very relaxed in the ring and puts his shots together well, however we have seen him taking risks and being punished for them, as he was against Jackson Woods in 2020, when he was clearly hurt in the opening round. He has gotten away with it in the past but there's a good chance his aggressive nature, and surprisingly sloppy defense, could be an issues against a heavy handed fighter like Noynay here. He often stands in front of opponents, and relies on his own crisp punches, to get to opponents but he is certainly there to be hit.
 
Coming in to this Wilson should be regarded as the favourite. He has the amateur pedigree, he has home advantage and he has a lot of momentum behind him, helped in part by being active over the last 18 months or so, in fact he's fought 5 times since Noynay was last in the ring. We however would not be surprised, at all, if Noynay ended up doing what Woods, among others, couldn't. Noynay is a hungry fighter, the reigning champion and a man risking a lot here, including the WBO Asia Pacific title and several world rankings. He'll be there looking to take Wilson's head off, and we suspect, sooner or later, he will land with a huge left hand and will close in for the finish, taking Wilson out. We really do think this is too soon for Wilson, and comes far, far too early in his career. Wilson will have success, and is dangerous himself, but we really do think this is perhaps 2 or 3 fights too early in his career.
 
Prediction - TKO6 Noynay

Every so often a match up comes around where the first impression isn’t a guess at who’s going to win, or how, but is instead a feeling that “that’s gonna be awesome”, and that was the case in December 2019 when Kosuke Saka (20-5, 17) won the Japanese Super Featherweight title knowing that Takuya Watanabe (37-9-1, 21) was waiting in the wings as the mandatory challenger. Following Saka’s win the bout was supposed to take place in April 2020, as part of the Champion Carnival, though was sadly postponed due to the ongoing pandemic, which ended up postponing almost all of the Champion Carnival bouts from last year.

Despite the delay to the fight it is still a bout that seems almost certain to be something special. Really, really special. And really brutal. 

For those who don’t follow the Japanese scene, the easiest way to sum this up is “aggressive monster with brutal power, up against insanely tough blood and guts warrior”. That sort of combination always makes for spine tingling action, thrilling back and forth exchanges and the sort of fight that reminds you why you love this sport. And that’s exactly what we are expecting here. Neither man is world class. Neither man will be expected to use the Japanese title and leapfrog into a world title bout. But that doesn’t really matter, this is going to be an hellacious fight deserving of your time, attention, and eyes.

The 28 year old Kosuke Saka doesn’t have a record of a champion, with 5 losses in 25 bouts. He is however much better than his record suggests and his losses have, for the most part, not been embarrassing ones. His first loss was in 2012, in the All Japan Rookie of the Year final against Masayuki Ito. That was quickly followed by him losing 2 of his next 4, including a TKO loss to Hiroshige Osawa. The loss to Osawa was followed up by Saka reeling off 8 T/KO wins, including victories over Ryuto Kyoguchi - Hiroto Kyoguchi’s older brother, Takafumi Nakajima and Shota Hayashi. Winning the Japanese the Japanese Featherweight title with his win over Hayashi. Sadly though his reign was an embarrassing one, losing the title in his first defense, against Takenori Ohashi, when he misheard the 10 second clacker and confused it for the bell, giving Ohashi a free shot, which he took, knocking Saka out cold.

Saka bounced back from his title loss by moving up in weight, stopping touted prospect Masanori Rikiishi in 2 rounds and then taking out the limited Gusti Elnino, before being brutalised by under-rated Filipino Joe Noynay in a bout for the WBO Asia Pacific Super Featherweight title. That looked like a bad loss, until Noynay followed it up and battered Olympic bronze medal winner Satoshi Shimizu a few months later. Since the loss to Noynay we’ve seen Saka fight twice, a nothing win against Isack Junior and then a sensational win against Masaru Sueyoshi last December to win the Japanese Super Featherweight title. That win over Sueyoshi was Saka at his best. He was marauding throughout, bullying Sueyoshi, taking the space away from the technically well schooled Teiken man, and breaking him down round by round, until Sueyoshi was left a ruined man midway through round 6.

In the ring Saka is a monstrously hard hitting bully. He has brutal power, in both hands, he presses forward with one thing in mind, destruction, and he fights like every punch he throws is designed to break bones. He loves coming forward, applying pressure behind a stiff jab, pushing opponents on to the ropes and going to work. He’s all about heavy shots, coming forward and not taking a backwards step. His mentality is to break his opponents. Offensively he is a brutal monster. Where he is flawed however is defensively. He can be countered, he can be caught clean, and he can regularly over-commit. His footwork isn’t the sharpest out there, crossing his feet much more often than he should, and when hurt he can be slow to recover, as we saw against Noynay where he never regained his composure after the first of several knockdowns. 

Saka’s biggest issue however is his mental state. It was a mental lapse against Ohashi that cost him and it was his lack of composure after being hurt that was his downfall against Noynay. If he can be locked in, as he was against the likes of Hayashi and Sueyoshi, he is very hard to beat. But his two recent stoppage losses does leave us wondering about how consistent he is, and where his mind is focused coming into this bout with Watanabe.

The 31 year old Takuya Watanabe is a true veteran of the ring, having debuted almost 14 years ago to the day. He is one of the most experienced men currently fighting in Japan, with 47 bouts and 289 rounds to his name, and he is also a surprisingly well travelled fighter with bouts in Thailand, South Korea, Hong Kong, China and Taipei. In fact 14 of his 47 bouts have been fought outside of Japan, including his infamous 2014 blood bath with Jae Sung Lee in South Korea. A bout that really did see Watanabe leaving his blood all over the Gwanakgu Hall, in Seoul. 

Of course there is much more to Watanabe than just being a road warrior, in fact there’s a teak tough competitor, with a hugely under-rated skill set, an amazing will to win, and a real hunger to win a Japanese title before he hangs them up. A title he wants to add to a collection that includes a WBC Youth world title, an IBF Asia title, a WBO Asia Pacific title, a WBO Oriental title and an OPBF “silver” title. Despite his collection of silverware he has been eluded by a Japanese title, losing in previous bouts for the title against Hisashi Amagasa and Satoshi Hosono.

Through Watanabe’s career he has really built his reputation and has had nothing handed to him. He turned in 2007, as a teenager and won his first 6 before losing to the mysterious Saengachit Kiatkamthorngym, in what appears to have been Saengachit only professional bout. He quickly fell from 6-0 to 10-3-1 (3) and struggled to find his identity in the ring. By 2012, when he fought Hisashi Amagasa, he had advanced his record to 15-3-1 (4) but had no idea how to deal with Amagasa and the “Slimming Assassin’s” unique physical features. Rather than biting down and fighting hard, like he would now, he looked lost and confused. But then Watanabe started to find himself, and built a reputation as a legitimate warrior on the back of his 2014 bout with Jae Sung Lee, where he spent much of the bout painting the canvas red, but refused to back down, and ran Lee close. By then he was a 25 year old fighter boasting a 20-5-1 (8), but also a man building a reputation as a warrior.

In 2015 Wayanabe got his second Japanese title fight and ran Satoshi all the way in a loss that helped solidify him as a solid, upper domestic level boxer. He wasn’t a fighter, he was a boxer. A tough as nails boxer, with a busy work rate and the ability to hold his own in exchanges with Hosono. In fact he was unlucky not to get the nod in a bit of a forgotten classic. Since then he has been really busy, facing a mix of lower level talent, to tick over and get experience on the road, and upper level talent, with losses to Masayuki Ito and Hironori Mishiro, where they simply out boxed him. In 2019 however he earned another Japanese title fight, this one, on the back of winning a brutal 8 round decision against Taiki Minamoto in a Japanese title eliminator. That was supposed to secure Watanabe in 2020 but due to Covid19 the bout, as mentioned, got postponed and will not be taking place this coming Friday.

In terms of his style Watanabe is probably quite fairly described as a fighter-boxer. He can box, and is a solid boxer, with a solid and busy jab, and he likes to use his footwork, setting shots up at midrange and using some very underrated skills. However he’s at his best when he turns into a fighter, taking a fight into the trenches with his educated uppercuts, hooks, crosses and lovely flowing combinations. When he gets the fight at mid to close range he covers up a lot of his flaws, such as his slow feet and his almost trudging pressure. At range he can be out boxed, as Amagasa, Ito and Mishiro showed. In the trenches however he will hold his own with anyone at domestic level. What helps there is his incredible chin, his amazing hunger and his willingness to take a bomb to land his own shots. If a fighter wants to go to war, Watanabe will go to war.

It’s the willingness of Watanabe to go to war, and his eagerness to fight fire with fire that makes us so excited here. It’s Saka’s power, pressure and aggression, against Watanabe’s toughness, sneaky combinations and inclination to respond when he’s hit that should make for something special here.

Saka is certainly the heavier puncher, the more destructive fighter, and the man who, if he lands clean, can genuinely do damage. But what happens when the irresistible force hits the immovable object? Watanabe is certainly the better boxer, but can he withstand the tenacity of Saka? Likewise can Saka mentally stay strong when shots that have been forcing men to crumble have no effect on Watanabe?

Predicting this one is tough, though predicting any Saka fight is tough, with the only sure thing being that this will be something truly captivating.

If pushed to select a winner, we’ll be going with Watanabe to weather out the storm from Saka, make him question himself and crumble late. Despite that the reality is that any outcome here is possible and that the journey to the final result is going to be thoroughly engrossing, beautifully brutal and fantastically physical.

If you’re a Boxing Raise subscriber you will not want to miss this one. And if you don’t subscribe to Boxing Raise, you should, even if it’s just to watch this bout! It may have taken over a year of waiting for this one, but we are just as excited as we were when we went into 2020

Prediction - TKO9 Watanabe

On December 10th fight fans at Korakuen Hall get a really interesting card featuring some of the top fighters from the Watanabe Gym, including the unbeaten OPBF Super Featherweight champion Hironori Mishiro (8-0-1, 3) defending his title against the once beaten Yoshimitsu Kimura (12-1, 7). For fans outside of Japan this bout won't really set pulses racing, but for those in Japan, and those who follow the Japanese scene, this is a really interesting match up and one worthy of attention.
 
Mishiro was a former amateur standout who has been on the fast track under the Watanabe gym since he turned professional. In just his 5th bout he went in with the touted Shuya Masaki and in his 6th bout, just 15 months after his debut, he became the OPBF champion, out pointing Carlo Magali. Whilst he failed to unify the OPBF and Japanese titles, just a fight later, when he fought to a draw with Masaru Sueyoshi, he has come on and gone from strength to strength. His last two bouts have seen him defeat the teak tough Takuya Watanabe and former OPBF champion Ryo Takenaka, and he's on the verge of a world ranking after just 9 fights.
 
Despite having so little experience Mishiro has shown he can box, he can brawl and he can fight. He originally looked like more of a boxer early on, and the fight with Magali was an interesting match up due to Mishiro boxing rather than fighting. As he's developed however he has shown a willingness to really fight, and that was on show against Sueyoshi, with Mishiro falling behind when he was boxing, then becoming a fighter to claw back the bout in an excellent contest. He's still got areas to work on and we still don't know how sturdy his chin is, but he has ticked a lot of boxes, and has proven his stamina can take him 12 rounds and that he can bite down and adapt.
 
At 23 years old Kimura is a young gun looking to make his mark on the sport and continue the momentum he has began to building following his sole career loss, back in Spring 2018 to Richard Pumicpic. He first broke through back in 2016 as a fresh faced youngster, winning Rookie of the Year, and on paper seemed ill-prepared for Pumicpic, but still managed to give the talented Filipino a real fight. That loss has really brought him on, and since then he has stopped 3 decent fighters, including Filipino Allen Vallespin.
 
In the ring Kimura is a talented fighter with a nice jab, good movement and a good boxing brain. Sadly however he does have the look of a kid in their at times, and although really talented there is a feeling that he might be someone who matures a little later than some other fighters. That could be a major question mark when faces a strong Super Featherweight, and it seemed like Pumicpic managed to rough him up in their fight, albeit with a few accidental headclashes early on. We've always been impressed by Kimura's composure in the ring, but the lack of real physicality has lingered as a potential issue in our mind for the youngster. That is despite the fact Kimura looks great when he works up close and applies pressure.
 
We see this being a really interesting fight, but one that Mishiro should win whatever happens. If Mishiro decides to box we feel he'll be just a touch too polished for Kimura, and will take a clear, but well fought, decision over the younger man. If Mishiro wishes to make life more fun for fans however he could look to make this into a fight, and try to drag Kimura into a tear up. If that happens we'll have a high intensity fight, fan friendly war. Either way we're expecting this to be a clear decision win for Mishiro in a fun and exciting late contender for Japanese fight of the year.
 
Prediction - UD12 Mishiro

The first Saturday of December is set to be a huge one at Super Featherweight for Japanese fans who get a Japanese title fight and a WBO Asia Pacific title fight, both on the same show. For us the most interesting of those bouts is the regional title one, which will see WBO Asia Pacific champion Joe Noynay (18-2-1, 7) look to continue his run in Japan as he takes on former Japanese champion Kenichi Ogawa (24-1, 18). On paper this good, and with Noynay's recent momentum we are expecting something very exciting.
 
The 24 year Noynay made his debut as a baby faced youngster in 2013 and had a nice winning run to begin his career, before a draw with Alie Laurel and a loss to Richard Pumicpic saw him fall from 10-0 to 10-1-1. A loss a few fights later to Reiya Abe showed how good he was, but ended up with him dropping to 12-2-1. Since then however he has gone 6-0 (4) with the biggest struggle being a tough 10 round win over Hector Garcia in 2018. That win over Garcia was a hard win, but seemed to inspire real belief in Noynay, and his power, and he has subsequently stopped Kosuke Saka and Satoshi Shimizu, both in upset wins in Osaka.
 
In the ring Noynay is a very talented boxer, who picks the right shots at the right time. Despite his recent run of stoppages he's not a "big hitter", but he's a very, very clean hitter, and his shots have more than just a bit of spite on them. He can be dragged into a brawl at times, but tends to get back behind his boxing before taking too much punishment. His current run of form is fantastic and the way he has become a Japanese-Killer this year has been incredibly impressive, and suggests he won't care too much about Ogawa and his reputation.
 
The 31 year old Ogawa is best known for his 2017 bout with Tevin Farmer, which he won by decision before having the result over turned due to a drug test. After serving a ban of a year he returned in February and has scored two relatively low profile wins over Filipino fighters. This bout is is however a huge step up from those wins, and on paper may actually be the toughest bout of Ogawa's career. At his core Ogawa is a boxer-puncher. He has shown plenty of basic boxing skills, though was made to miss a lot against Farmer, and has got heavy hands. It's really his boxing skills that are his biggest issue though, and he can be out boxed, as we've seen at domestic level against the likes of Kento Matsushita and Satoru Sugita.
 
At the moment Ogawa can ill afford a loss, and whilst he hasn't been beaten since having his jaw broken way back in August 2012 this is a bout where he needs to put on a great performance to take a win. He's up against a man who can out box him, who can hurt him, and who fights from the southpaw stance. Ogawa needs to be careful, he needs to fight smart and he needs to avoid a tear up. He really needs to be disciplined, use his 1-2 and avoid the power shots from Noynay. If Ogawa believes he can take the power of Noynay he will almost certainly find himself in problems here.
 
We suspect that Noyany's boxing skills, his control of distance, and movement will be key early on. He'll get on his toes, box, make Ogawa look silly and slow. Noynay's power may not have the effect on Ogawa that it had on Saka and Shimizu, but it will still be enough to shake Ogawa, a natural Super Featherweight. For Ogawa the key is to get through the early rounds, hope that Noynay slows down a bit, and try to land the big right hand in the later rounds. Ogawa certainly has the power to take Noynay out, but will need to see off the early storm.
 
Sadly for Ogawa his recent performances don't make us believe he has what it takes to see out the early part of the bout, especially not against the clean left hands of Noynay. Ogawa is tough, but his technical limitations and openness to counters will be a major issue here.
 
Prediction - TKO8 Noynay

The Champion Carnival in 2020 is still having it's eliminators and title bouts being fought for through November and December. Among the bouts that are left are a Japanese title fighter, between Masaru Sueyoshi and Kosuke Saka, which is set to take place in December, and an eliminator between Taiki Minamoto (16-5-1, 13) and Takuya Watanabe (36-9-1, 21), with the winners fighting next year. Whilst the title bout is an excellent match up, we wouldn't be surprised by the eliminator actually being the better bout, pitting a true puncher against one of the most insanely tough guys in the sport.
 
The 28 year old Minamoto is a former Japanese Featherweight champion, and is someone who left his previous division due to issues making weight. Hisreign was a short one, beginning in April 2018 and ending after just 2 defenses, when he vacated following a draw with Reiya Abe. Despite the short reign reign he left an impression, winning the title in an excellent performance against Takenori Ohashi and pulling himself off the canvas to stop Tatsuya Otsubo and then twice dropping Abe to earn a draw. Prior to winning the Featherweight title he had challenged for the Super Bantamweight belt, but been beaten by Yukinori Oguni, before moving up.
 
As a fighter Minamoto is a very good boxer-puncher. He's got real venom in every shot he throws, he sets a good work rate and has under-rated speed. He's good at getting behind his jab and working at range, boxing and moving. Where he lacks, is just touches of polish, and if he had that polish there's a good chance he'd have taken the win over Abe. He's defensively a little bit open, though usually his offensive work keeps opponents from taking advantage of those flaws. To date his chin has proven to be generally good, and it's unlikely the extra 4lbs will be a major issue in how he takes a punch, but he has been down in the past, and can get dragged into a toe-to-toe brawl. Something that is not good for him.
 
Watanabe has been around or years, and it's genuinely hard to believe that he's only 30 years old. The teak tough Watanabe has been around, and around, and actually debuted way back in 2007. His career has been a road less travelled, and he has legitimately fought through much of Asia with bouts not only in Japan but also Thailand, South Korea, Hong Kong, China and Taiwan. Given he such a road warrior it's worth noting he's actually had success on his travels, though is best known for his bloody and brave effort against Jae Sung Lee than any road win. His bout with Lee was a genuine blood bath with Watanabe bleeding profusely from very early on. Despite his long career he's never been stopped, and has gone the distance in all of his losses, including defeats to Satoshi Hosono, Masayuki Ito and most recently Hironori Mishiro.
 
Watanabe is a very capable boxer. He's got solid size, power, speed and very impressive toughness. Sadly though being solid in all areas doesn't make you great in them, and his toughness alone won't win all fights. He can be out boxed, as Ito and Mishiro did, and he can be out fought, though fighters will have to go through hell to outfight him. Like Watanabe he prefer to box than fight, though perhaps he would have had more career success if he had been a fighter and swarmed opponents bringing them into a war and testing his toughness against theirs. Sadly it does appear that Watnaabe is slowing down, and although he was competitive, at times, with Mishiro he lacked the foot speed to really push Mishiro all the way when the two men fought back in March.
 
At his best Watanabe is a nightmare for anyone at domestic level, and we would love to see him to go up against either Sueyoshi or Saka, though unfortunately we do think he's slipped a little. Against a fighter like Minamoto, who can box at range and land sharp shots, we see Watanabe struggling for sustained success. We do see Watanabe having moments, but not enough of them to convince the judges that he's doing enough to win. Up close Watanabe has the ability to out work and slow Minamoto's foot work down, but we don't imagine that happening early enough for Watanabe to ever be in control of the bout. Instead we see Minamoto as a little bit too good, too light on his feet and too quick.
 
Prediction - UD8 Minamoto

The Super Featherweight division is an interesting state right now. It lacks a real star, especially with Gervonta Davis leaving the division, but has a lot of interesting contenders chasing world title bouts. Among those contenders are Tajik born Russian based Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov (14-0, 11) and South African Azinga Fuzile (14-0, 8), who will face off in an IBF world title eliminator on September 29th in South Africa. Although both men are risking their unbeaten records the reward is big, as the winner will get a shot at the IBF title, currently held by Tevin Farmer.
 
Originally Fuzile had been scheduled to face Kenichi Ogawa earlier in the year, though visa issues derailed that fight and the IBF then ordered Fuzile to face Rakhimov, whilst Ogawa went a different route. On paper Fuzile Vs Ogawa was a really good fight, however we actually prefer the look of this one, which looks more even on paper, and should be a more intriguing bout in terms of styles.
 
For those who have seen Rakhimov they will know what to expect. He's a technically solid, heavy handed and aggressive boxer-puncher. In some way's he's comparable to Sergey Kovalev, with naturally heavy hands and a very solid boxing mentality, though he's more willing to work on the inside than Kovalev and obviously smaller and quicker. There's nothing amazingly flashy with Rakhimov, but he's very solid, finds gaps and uses his straight power shots to back opponents up. When he has his man hurt he goes for the finish, and has very combinations and upper body movement.
 
Although very promising so far Rakhimov has fought his entire career his entire career in Russia and this could prove to be his biggest issues here. He's having to enter enemy territory for the first time, with the bout taking place in East London, South Africa. Of course there's a worry that being the away fighter will be an issue here, however if he can put the location and fans to the back of his mind, it would a big positive for him.
 
Watching Fuzile we see a talented and big looking Super Featherweight with really nice handspeed sharp punching and impressive composure. He's a defensively smart fighter, but also a very sharp punching one, and his jab is a great table setter, backing up opponents and allowing him to apply his pressure. He's the type of fighter who looks like he has fun in the ring, and enjoys fighting, showing off his skills and out thinking opponents. Despite the obvious talent we do wonder how his style will hold up when he's under real pressure from a puncher.
 
We see a real talent in Fuzile, be we also see a young man who needs time to develop the experience needed to get the most from his skills. His competition so far hasn't been the best, and wins over Macolm Klassen and Romulo Koasicha really are his most notable wins. Maybe this fight is coming a touch too soon for him, and he could have done with another couple of decent tests before facing a guy like Rakhimov.
 
We always worry when a fighter travels to South Africa, it's a really hard country to get a decision in. Saying that however we don't see Rakhimov leaving this in the hands of the judges. Fuzile needs to keep the bout in the center of the ring, he needs to avoid being backed up by Rakhimov's jab and needs to move, a lot. If Fuzile can keep range, dictate behind his jab and avoid being backed up, he should win. Sadly for him however Rakhimov isn't going to be a willing dancer partner, and instead the Tajik visitor will be applying pressure, and sooner or later he will trap Fuzile, bang him to the body and begin to take his wheels away.
 
We see Fuzile posing Rakhimov real questions, but we suspect the power difference will prove to be too much.
 
Prediction - TKO9 Rakhimov ​