The only female fight involving an Asian this past weekend saw Russian Natalia Smirnova (7-0, 4) scoring a dominant victory over the over-matched, though incredibly game, Hana Horakova (3-10).
Fighting in Rostov-na-Donu Smirnova took control of the bout early and was never really challenged by the out classed Horakova who struggled to take take just a single round on two of the three cards.
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It's not too often that boxing see's two fighters facing off five times but that's exactly what Japanese fans have managed to see thanks to the hard hitting Riyo Togo (11-5-1, 9) and the determined Kimika Miyoshi (8-7-1, 3).
The two women, who first fought each other back in 2008, came to blows for the fifth time as Togo looked to prove who was the better fighter. Although Miyoshi had beaten Togo just once from the four previous meetings she entered this bout as the defending OPBF female Bantamweight champion. A title she had claimed courtesy of a split decision victory over Togo back in February. Togo, with her eyes on reclaiming the title went in to this fight with the intention to stop Miyoshi, and whilst the bout didn't go the distance things didn't go quite how Togo would have expected. The bout was competitive from the off. Miyoshi's blows seemed the speedier but it was Togo's power that was the more eye catching and had seen her claiming most of the first 4 rounds on the judges scorecards. Sadly we never got the second half of the contest as an accidental injury in round 5 forced us to go to the scorecards early with Togo's early work being enough to get her the revenge Mioyshi that she had hoped for, and the OPBF belt. Despite the victory Togo may not be hugely happy about how she got it. Whilst she was winning the bout going in to round 5 she did suffer an accidental injury and forced the bout to the score cards, resulting in a fifth round technical decision. For Togo the victory will have meant a lot. It was her first victory following a gloves scandal against Mariana Juarez in their first meeting and it was a victory over her most notable domestic rival. For Miyoshi however this is proof that she's the lesser fighter and that her controversial victory over Togo in February was at least partly due to her being the home fighter. At the DK Moskovsk in Russia fans got to see the professional debut of Ukrainian Nadezhda Khaenok (1-0) who made an impressive start to her professional career as she defeated Russian Viktoriya Aleksandrova (0-1). Unfortunately the fans in attendance would likely have preferred a victory for Aleksandrova though she was thoroughly out classed and shut out over the 4 round distance.
Thai teenager Keanpetch Superchamps (5-5-1) may only been 18 but she's already began to turn her once floundering career into something that appears to have potential.
The Thai youngster began her career with just 1 win in her first 6 bouts (1-4-1) having been matched tough from the off losing thrice to one time title challenger Sainumdoi Superchamps. Since then however she's turned her career around with 5 wins from 6 bouts with the most recent of those coming this past Tuesday as she defeated Japanese debutant Noriko Watanabe (0-1). Although the victory over Watanabe might not mean a lot on paper it surely means the world to Keanpetch who will now feel like she has gotten over the awful start to her career and developed the skills and experience to help her progress in to what could be a fruitful career. For Watanabe it's hard to say though if she follows the same career path as Keanpetch then she too could have the potential to grow in this great sport of ours. This past weekend saw just a sole female bout of not, though one that was genuinely worth noting as Thai teenager Buakaew Onesongchaigym (6-2-1) stepped up to the top level. Unfortunately however Buakaew couldn't match the talent or overall skills of experienced Mexican Mariana Juarez (38-7-3, 16).
Whilst Buakaew was out classed she gave her all against a fighter who is earning a reputation as an Asian beater. In fact Buakaew's name has been added to a list that includes In-Young Lee, Asami Shikasho, Shindo Go, Tenkai Tsunami and Riyo Togo as Asian's who have been beaten by "Barbie" Juarez. Despite the loss the experience of fighting such a great fighter could well help Buakaew develop her skills and talent as she looks to mix in world level on a regular basis. On Sunday Japanese boxing fans at the Daihatsu Kyushu Arena saw the debuting Kana Fukuda (1-0) get off to the perfect start in her career as she scored a 4 round decision against 23 year old novice Yuma Kaino (0-2).
Friday saw a duo of female bouts in Thailand as the country searches for it's next great female fighter.
The least interesting of these bouts, at least on paper, saw the debuting Nongnun Mor Krungthepthonburi (1-0) defeat fellow novice Chabaprai Kiatsanram (1-1). This bout is hard to say too much about other than that it's good for Nongnun to have a debut victory. In the other bout Nonggift Or Wanchoed (6-1, 1) claimed her biggest victory to date defeating former WIBA title challenger Napaporn Superchamps (7-8, 1) via decision. Whilst Napaporn has now lost her last 4 bouts this is still a good win for Nonggift who, at just 17, looks like she has a lot of potential Female action returned to Thailand earlier this week as part of a 5 fight show in the Ban Rai Temple.
The lesser of two female bouts saw the experienced Thai Kanittha Kokietgym (20-5, 7) taking a decision over the debuting Ngamta Kwanjaisrikot (0-1) in what was, at least on paper a massive mismatch. With Kanittha having previously fought for the WBC female Minimumweight title, and putting up a half decent effort against Japan's Naoko Fujioka, who was defending her belt for the first time, this really was about "levels". Ngamta may have seen out the final bell but don't be confused about the winner. The more important of the two female bouts saw the destructive Rika Matsumoto (5-0, 5) claiming not just her 5th straight stoppage victory but also her first title. Matsumoto, facing off against win less Thai Lamnammoon Kwanjaisrikort (0-5) needed just 2 rounds to finish off the bout and claim the WBC Asian Boxing Council female Light Flyweight title. Prior to this bout Matsumoto had defeated 4 debutants. We now hope she will be facing a fighter with a victory on their record next time out as she looked to build her record. There is talent there in the Thai based Japanese fighter though just how much talent is the real question. This past week in Japan we saw two female bouts as Katsumata Promotions put on their excellent "Fil Japan Boxing Festival Vol. III".
The first first of those bouts saw Japanese based Filipino teenager Honey Mae Bermoy (5-2, 5), aka Honey Katsumata, stopping the previously unbeaten Japanese fighter Saki Yamada (6-1-1, 2). Yamada, who went in to the bout ranked highly by the OPBF, was unable to cope with the power of Honey. In the second bout the highly popular Tomomi Takano (3-0, 2) recorded her second stoppage win over coming a Filipino debutant. Tomomi used her height and reach well to establish her jab and it didn't take long for the bout to become incredibly one sided. This was over quickly with the model-boxer again showing some natural talent and some actual promise. |
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