 Earlier today Japanese fight fans in Tokyo had the chance to see the fifth show in the Victoriva series of shows. The card are all female shows, and today's co feature bout was a WBA Atomweight title unification contest between "interim" champion Ayaka Miyao (23-8-1, 6) [宮尾 綾香] and the WBA regular champion Monseratt Alcaron (13-4-2).
Originally this bout was pencilled in to take place last November, but was cancelled when Alcaron was forced out with an injury. Today however we saw the two put on an ultra-competitive, but sadly for the local fans it wasn't to be for Miyao. The opening round was a good one for Miyao, who's speed seemed to bother Alcaron. Sadly though it wasn't long until Alcaron found her footing in the bout and she swept rounds 2 to 4 on all 3 cards. The Mexican had taken the lead with her pressure, and although she seemed to struggle to land really hurtful blows her aggression was impressing the judges. Strangely the judges really struggled to agree on things after round 4, with only 2 of the last 6 rounds have complete agreement from the judges. They were either caught up with the aggression and pressure of Alcaron or the speed and movement of Miyao. From the last 6 rounds one judge gave the Mexican rounds 5 through to 9, whilst another gave Miyao everything in the second half, other than round 6. It was the third scorecard that was the most interesting, giving Alcaron rounds 5,6 and 9 and Miyao rounds 7,8 and 10. The only rounds all 3 agreed with was rounds 6, to Alcaron, and 10, to Miyao. Although the judges were obviously seeing different things to each other what they were all seeing was a high tempo fight between fighters with styles that just gelled really well and made for an action bout. Sadly for Miyao however the success of Alcaron in the first half was essentially the difference and after 10 rounds the Mexican was declared the winner of a split decision, with scores of 98-92 and 96-94 in her favour against a score of 96-94 for Miyao. At the moment it's unclear what is next for the two. Miyao would likely be very interested in a rematch, and a chance to avenge this loss, though Eri Matsuda, who picked up a win on the under-card, may also be interested in favour Alcaron for the WBA title. Alcaron on the other hand might prefer to go back to Mexico and build at home from this win. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)
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 Today there was two world title fights in Osaka, as the boxing world turned it's attention to Japan. What wasn't given much attention however was a Japanese card in Tokyo, headlined by a female world title bout between WBA female Flyweight champion Naoko Fujioka (18-2-1, 7) [藤岡 奈穂子] and Tenkai Tsunami (26-12-1, 15) [天海 ツナミ].
This was a bout that seemed to be pitting two of the greats of Japanese female boxing against other, and delivered the hidden gem of the week with an incredibly hotly contest 10 round affair at Korakuen Hall. The younger, though more experienced, Tsunami got off to a great start. She managed to dictate the pace, using a good sharp right hand to help her dictate the distance and tempo of the bout in the early going. It was this game plan that saw her race into the lead on all 3 cards, leading 40-37 and 40-36, twice, after 4 rounds. She was making Fujioka look old, slow and clumsy, and putting on the sort of performance that many knew she was capable of, but hadn't shown on a regular basis. As we've seen so many times through her career however Fujioka wasn't going to just sit back, hand over her title and lose. Instead she bit down on her gum shield, refuse to accept defeat, and began to turn the fight around in round 5, then starting a serious fight back, clawing back round after round. She showedthe determined doggendess of a champion and forced the action on to Tsunami, upping her out put and grabbing the bout by the collar. The change in attitude from Fujioka was incredible, and saw her doing just enough to retain he title, with a split decision draw. After 10 rounds the judges had the bout 96-95 Fujioka, 96-94 Tsunami and 95-95, with Fujioka holding on to her title by the skin of her teeth, in a fantastic 10 round female bout, that certainy deserved more attention than it got on a great day for Japanese fight fans. (Image courtesy of boxmob.jp)  Earlier today in Korea fight fans saw Hyun Mi Choi (17-0-1, 4) [최현미] record her 7th defense of the WBA female Super Featherweight title, with a clear decision over Japanese challenger Wakako Fujiwara (8-3-2, 2) [藤原芽子] in Incheon.
The talented Choi was under pressure early on as Fujiwara looked to make a fast start and seemed to surprise the champion in the first couple of rounds. Sadly though it didn't take long for Choi to find her timing and her rhythm and from there on it was rather easy for the Korean. Choi would establish her her range and begin to use her youth, speed and technical ability in round 3, and would essentially control the bout from there on, making Fujiwara look like a game but out classed challenger for much of the bout. Fujiwara, to her credit, always looked to make a fight of it, but was simply second best following her sprightly start. With Fujiwara looking to fight hard there was always the potential for head clashes, and in round 9 the Japanese challenger was deducted a point for a head clash. The deduction didn't really make much of a difference to the out-come, with the judges scoring the bout in Choi's favour 98-91, 97-92 and 96-93. For Fujiwara this was a good effort, but not good enough to over-come the unbeaten 2-weight world champion. For Choi the bout continues her run at world level, and hopefully she will get stiffer tests in the near future.  Earlier today at the Korakuen Hall fight fans saw Ayaka Miyao (23-7-1, 6) [宮尾 綾香] finally over-come Nao Ikeyama (18-5-3, 5) [森脇恵子], in what was their third meeting, to claim the WBA "interim" Atomweight title.
The bout, which came about when regular champion Monseratt Alcarron (11-4-2) was forced to pull out of a clash with Miyao, had a good sense of history behind it. In their first bout, years ago, Ikeyama had stopped a then fresh faced Miyao, whilst in 2016 Miyao was stopped again after suffering a freak leg injury. It was clear they had unfinished business from their 2016 clash, and both wanted to use this bout to put the final chapter in their rivalry. The fight saw the 35 year old Miyao using her feet and boxing well on her toes, using her significant edge in speed to out box the much older Ikeyama, who at the age of 49 really has impressed in her longevity but has slowed significantly in recent bouts. The speed of Miyao and her energy and work rate, as ever, impressed as she made Ikeyama look slow and clumsy, dropping her in the first round, en route to a clear 10 round decision, with scores of 97-92, twice, and 96-93 in favour of Miyao. We're expecting Miyao to now face Alcarron in 2019, whilst Ikeyama is almost certainly going to be retiring. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)  This past Saturday in Switzerland fans had the chance to see Swiss based Japanese fighter Aniya Seki (34-4-2, 5) fight in the most significant bout of her career. The veteran took on WBA female Super Flyweight champion Maribel Ramirez (13-9-2, 3) and unfortunately she came up short, losing a clear decision to the Mexican fighter.
Ramirez took control of center ring and from the opening moments and scored a knockdown in round 2 that really allowed her to take clear early control of the bout. To her credit the 39 year old Seki didn't just roll over and instead she fought back, though was always on the back foot and regularly came off second best to the under-rated Mexican champion. At the end of the 10 round bout there was no doubting that the Mexican had won, and the judges, from Switzerland, France and Spain, all scored the bout to Ramirez with scores of 98--91, twice, and 97-92. Sadly it's unlikely Seki will get another shot at the top, but for Ramirez this was a great win. She made her first defense and has now scored notable back-to-back wins on the road, having won the title in Peru this past May by defeating Linda Laura Lecca. (Image courtesy of www.20min.ch) The multiple WBA titles do frustrate everyone in the sport, especially when the interim title is held by someone not even close to the level of the regular champion. All too often we don't get to see "regular" and "interim" champions face off, and show the difference in class between the today. Today however we had the chance to see WBA "regular" female Flyweight champion Naoko Fujioka (18-2, 7) [藤岡 奈穂子] dominate her "interim" counterpart Irma Sanchez (30-8-1, 8) in a 1-sided and uncompetitive contest. After only a few rounds the real question was whether Sanchez would hear the final bell, and not whether she would spring a major upset. Sanchez looked like she meant business to begin with, getting her jab pumping out. it wasn't long however until Fujioka found her with a counter right hand, the a left to the body. From then on Fujioka began to take control of the bout, and forced Sanchez to fight the wrong fight, trading blows in an exciting second round. As the bout went on Sanchez became less and less competitive, being hurt in round 3 and being tagged repeatedly in round 6. Through the final round Fujioka actively chased the finish, but Sanchez gritted it out and survived the 10 rounds, though would go on to lose a unanimous decision, with scores of 100-90 on all 3 score cards. Interestingly Sanchez fought in the controversial "No Boxing No Life" gloves, the same make that Saul Alvarez wasn't allowed to use against Gennady Golovkin. We believe this is the first time the gloves have been used in a world title fight. (Image courtesy of boxmob.jp)   Earlier today in Korea fight fans had the chance to see WBA female Super -Featherweight Hyun Mi Choi (16-0-1, 4) [최현미] record her 6th defense, as she easily out-boxed Argentinian challenger Mayra Alejandra Gomez (18-8, 4).
Choi, who boasted a 7cm reach advantage, boxed on the outside and made the most of her sharp jab and accurate straight right hands. The shots from Choi began to take their toll on the challenger as early as the third round with Gomez's face beginning to bruise and swell. What made things even easier tor Choi was the style of Gomez, which seemed to be based on creating space, the same space that Choi could use to make the most of her natural size advantages. Whilst Gome was struggling to land, and looking really uncomfortably Choi looked happy, smiling at times in the corner and looked incredibly relaxed. As the bout went on Choi picked up her work rate whilst Gomez became more and more apprehensive, looking to avoided trading shots. It made for a really poor challenge from the Argentinian but Choi couldn't have asked for a more straightward win as she seemed to comfortably win every round. After the bout a sporting Gomez paraded Choi to the crowd, knowing the local had been the better fighter, before randomly climbing the corner and celebrating, likely patting herself on the back for lasting the 10 round distance. Choi, who won a WBA female Featherweight title on debut, won't enhance her reputation with this win, but will continue her reign and will likely be asking her team to get her a more serious test for next time out. For Gomez this is her third straight loss, and sees her fall to 0-3 in world title fights.  Earlier today fight fans in Korea saw WBA female Super Featherweight champion Hyun Mi Choi (15-0-1, 4) [최현미] record her 5th defense, as she narrowly over-came Mexican challenger Jessica "La Magnifica" Gonzalez (7-4-2-3, 1) with a technical majority decision, in what was a tough bout, marred by a huge fight ending head clash.
From the opening seconds it was clear that Gonzalez had travelled with the intent of taking the title home, and she immediatelytook the fight to Choi, forcing the Korean to cover up and retreat. It was an incredible work rate from he challenger that forced the champion into her shell and made it hard for Choi to to get her shots off. There were moments where the champion managed to land an eye caching counter, but for the most part it was Gonzalez who looked the early boss. As the bout went on Gonzalez's attacks seemed to be getting read by Choi, who slowly began to have more and more moments and she seemed to get her range more as the rounds went on. Despite Choi getting more success she was never looking the boss, as Gonzalez refused to back off and continually press forward looking for an inside ward. Mid way through round 6 the two fighters clashed heads in the center of the ring. The head clash drew an immediate scream from one fighter with Gonzalez's head instantly showing the effect of the headclash, a huge gaping wound on top of her left eye. The cut was an instant bleeder and after a prolonged inspection by the ringside doctor the bout was stopped. Due to the cut coming from a clash of heads the bout went to the cards for a 6th round technical decision, and the cards were 59-56, 57-56 and 57-57, giving he champion a razor thin decision to retain her title, and continue to be the only Korean world champion. (Image courtesy of Yonhapnews)  Earlier today Korean fans got an absolute treat as WBA female Super Festherweight champion Hyun Mi Choi (13-0-1, 4) [최현미] successfully retained her title with a hard foight 10 round decision win against Japanese challenger Kimika Miyoshi (13-10-1, 5) [三好 喜美佳], in what should go down as one of the best female bouts of 2017. From the opening round it was a clear case of skill Vs will with Choi being the much more naturally talented fighter but Miyoshi being the much more aggressive and energetic. From the opening round to the final round Miyoshi was applying intense pressure, getting inside and letting her hands go. Unfortunately for the challenger her pressure did come at a cost with Choi regularly landing eye catching right hands, and some vicious uppercutts up close. At times, particularly in the later rounds when both fighters were tired, both looked to be hurt, but in the end the two fighters saw out the 10 rounds. Although Miyoshi was the one bringing the pressure through out she struggled to impress the judges, and it seemed like to them she was just making life difficult for the champion, with the score cards reading 100-90, 99-91 and 97-93. The cards were unfair, though they did all get the winner in what was a genuinely thrilling contest and one well worth watching. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)  This past Monday Japanese fight fans saw a small slice of history being created as female boxing icon Naoko Fujioka (16-2, 7) [藤岡 奈穂子] defeated Mexico's Isabel Millan (18-3-1, 8) to claim the the WBA female Flyweight title and become the first 4 weight world champion from Japan.
From the early stages it was clear that Millan was out of her depth with Fujioka applying pressure and making the Mexican pay for her less than snappy shots. Although one judge managed to find a way to score the opening round to Millan there was no case for the Mexican to take round 2, with Fujioka unloading the heavy artillery and dropping Millan. To Millan's credit she came back well in round 3, the only round the judges scored in her favour, but from then on it was a slow and gradual beating for the visitor who took heavy shots in rounds 4 and 5 as Fujioka looked to make a statement. Although Millan did well to see out the final rounds she was falling further and further behind, and starting to look not only like a beaten fighter but also like a tired one as we entered the latter stages. Although Fujioka was slowing she was still looking for a stoppage and made it clear that just winning wouldn't be enough to please her. Fujioka's pursuit for a stoppage finally payed off in round 10 as she started quick, cornered Millan and started to unload until the referee saved the visitor. At the time of the stoppage the judges had Fujioka up 89-81, twice, and 88-82 and there was no doubting that she could have cruised to the decision had she wanted to, but instead she wanted to score the stoppage and that's what she did, whilst continuing to prove that she is still one of the best female fighters on the planet, despite a recent controversial loss in Mexico to Jessica Chavez. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp) |
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