Today was an historic day for the WBO and the Atomweight division as, for the first time ever, the WBO crowned a champion the smallest division in professional boxing. Surprisingly we think they may also have crowned the oldest ever "first time" champion as recognised by one of the big 4. That fighter was the 44 year old Nao Ikeyama (14-3-1, 4) who added the newly created WBO Atomweight title to the lightly regarded WIBA title she he held, for a short period, back in 2007-2008. Ikeyama's victory was a real shock as she took on the previously unbeaten Filipino Jessebelle Pagaduan (6-1, 4) who was not only unbeaten going in to this bout but was also 15 years younger than Ikeyama. We, like many, had thought this was a forgone conclusion and the younger, fresh Pagaduan was going to walk through the older fighter, out work her, out speed her and generally dominate with youth. Instead however it was a masterclass like a teacher gives a young student and Ikeyama, despite her age, was still too quick for Pagaduan, not only that but she was also too good for the younger fighter who was made to look completely out of he depth. Although older and with a lot more miles on the clock this bout proved, a lot of Bernard Hopkins bouts do, that skills can over-come age, knowing how to box can be the key to winning. That's not to say that Ikeyama is half the fighter that Hopkins is but this was nothing short of a fighter proving that father time can be held off if a fighter is simply on another level to their opponent. For Pagaduan this is embarrassing though probably less embarrassing than if she had faced Momo Koseki who would have mauled her, roughed her up and mentally broke her. As it was Ikeyama just took a clear decision with cards of 98-92, 99-91 and 99-91 again, there was no doubt over who deserved the victory. With Ikeyama saying she would retire if she lost we're expecting to see her make at least 1 defence of the title, though we're unsure who the WBO will accept as an opponent for their newest champion. By the time of her first defence Ikeyama may well be 45 years old though if she can fight as well as she did here then there may well be no need for her to even consider retirement again any time soon. (Image courtesy of http://www.zukunft.co.jp)
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Whilst the dominant Momo Koseki recorded the 13th defense of her WBC Atomweight title her compatriot, and WBA Atomweight champion, Ayaka Miyao (17-5-1, 2) was also in fine form. Miyao, defending her title for the 4th time, faced Buangern Onesongchaigym (10-5-1, 1) and looked in control from the opening bell as the the Challenger failed to keep up with anything she did. Miyao, known for her impressive output, took control of the bout early with her speed and combinations putting Buangern on the back foot. Although the shots didn't have thunderous power in them they were coming from all angles with Miyao showing amazing movement as well as great work rate. The shots were simply too much for Buangern to cope with and the Thai was really unable to land much on the Japanese fighter. The skills of the champion was making the bout look thoroughly one sided and the challenger was looking completely helpless against the skills of Miyao. The only thing saving Buangern from serious harm was the fact Miyao doesn't have thunderous power in her hands. Despite the lack of power from the champion the shots were simply too frequent and too clean with every shot landing on the challenger. The accumulative effect of the shots were breaking down the challenger who was clearly out of her depth. The shots were taking their toll and in round 5 Buangern went down. She was a beaten fighter and although her heart wanted to continue she was unable to beat the count, probably a good thing in all honesty as Buangern was seriously taking a shellacking. Rather interestingly this was Miyao's first stoppage in 7 bouts and just the second in her career. Whilst we wouldn't suggest that Miyao is developing serious power she did seem to have genuine snap on her shots and they were hurting Buangern from the early stages. Whilst we know that Buangern isn't the toughest fighter and was stopped by Su-Yun Hong we didn't expect Miyao to stop her. This impressive performance from the WBA champion will lead to fans calling for the much wanted Miyao/Koseki unification bout. Sadly we believe that fight isn't on the agenda of either fighter, a real shame considering that it looks a natural match up from where we are sat. (Picture courtesy of http://boxingnews.jp/) The Atomweight division (102lbs) is the smallest weight class in professional boxing and is a division that only has females compete in it. Despite being the smallest division it has one of the longest reigning world champions in all of professional boxing, Momo Koseki (18-2-1, 5). Koseki, the WBC Atomweight champion, is unbeaten since 2007 and has been a world champion since 2008. Earlier today she recorded her 13th world title defense, equalling the national record held by Yoko Gushiken, as she stopped the previously unbeaten Thai Angor Onesongchaigym (5-1, 3) in impressive and one-sided fashion. Angor, reportedly a former elite level Muay Thai fighter, was seen as the big under-dog before the opening bell and by the end of the opening round things proved to be as one sided as we expected. Koseki looked confident from the off and swiftly took control of the bout. She applied careful and intelligent pressure and swiftly forced Angor on to the back foot. Although this was expected it was simply happening too easily for Koseki who had quickly began to assert her dominance on the Thai youngster. Angor, looking out of her depth, tried at times to fight back but she simply couldn't do anything to dissuade the teak tough Koseki from walking her down. It was obvious that this was a girl against a woman and when Koseki continued to walk through the bigger shots of Angor it really didn't look good for the Thai challenger who resorted to holding. It had quickly turned from Angor trying to fight back to Angor trying to survive. The Thai's bravery was impressive though it was all in vein. She was a mile down on the scorecards, wilting and being beaten up by Koseki through the middle and later rounds. With her domination of the bout it seemed that Koseki felt the urge to hunt a stoppage and put an exclamation mark on the performance. It seemed that the challenger was going to reach the final bell but then Koseki turned it up, launching a huge attack in round 9 that eventually forced the referee to step in and call a halt to the proceedings to save the Thai who was taking shots with out throwing much left. It was late in the day though with another round to go it was a stoppage that saved the out classed Angor from further punishment Although Koseki accepted that her 13th defense was impressive she also accepted that it wasn't as important as Gushiken's record and suggested that there was a big difference between men and women. Although that's true it's still a very impressive achievement from Koseki who hinted that she wants to return to the ring soon to make her 14th title defense and make a new record breaking that of Gushiken. This fight was part of all female show "G Legend 6" (Picture courtesy of http://boxingnews.jp/) The Atomweight division may be boxing's smallest professional division but what the fighters lack in stature they make up form in action. We saw that earlier today as WBA champion Ayaka Miyao (16-5-1, 1) successfully retained her title and made the third defense of her title. Fighting against Filipino challenger Gretchen Abaniel (13-5, 4) the champion was given an incredibly tough nights work. The fight started in a very close manner with Abaniel counter punching well and more than holding her own as Miyao's reign was put under real threat by the Filipino. Fortunately for Miyao her engine and work rate came to her savior in the second half of the fight as a tiring Abaniel was battled backwards and no longer able to time Miyao or fight back as she had done early on. Although brave and refusing to be stopped Abaniel did look like the loser after the final bell. The judges had it close with scores of 97-93 (twice) and 96-94 which reflected the closeness of the contest though the judges did, thankfully, get it right. We're now hoping the promoters get together and make the only Atomweight contest fans really want. Miyao against Momo Koseki in a WBA/WBC unification bout, it's a bout that makes too much sense to let it go by and it's a bout for supreme domination of the 102lb division. Come on folks, lets have this fight in 2014! Note-This bout headlined the "47th Phoenix Battle". Just a day after Naoko Fujioka announced herself on the Super Flyweight division her compatriot Momo Koseki (17-2-1, 4) showed why she is regarded by many as the best Atomweight on the planet. Fighting mandatory challenger Nora Cardoza (8-5-2, 4) of Mexico, Koseki recorded her 12th defense of the WBC Atomweight title, which we believe is actually a divisional record. The 31 year old Koseki, who won the title way back in 2008 was in charge of the bout from the off and although she was cut she was never in danger of losing the bout which was fought at an excellent high pace. The early part of the bout was impressive from both. Koseki, whilst in charge, was being forced to take some shots in return. Later on however the pace began to take it's toll on the challenger who was unable to keep up with the impressive champion. By the time we got to the final bell there was only one winner and the clarity of the contest showed on the scorecards with Koseki taking the decision 97-91 (twice) and 96-92 showing the clear victory that Koseki had earned. With Ayaka Miyao set to defend her WBA Atomweight title in the coming weeks there is a big Atomweight clash that everyone wants to see. Miyao/Koseki. It's a bout that we'll certainly have on our Christmas list and a bout that would deserve a TV slot due to the intrigue of having the #1 against the #2 in a unification bout. Hopefully we get that, if Miyao gets past Gretchen Abaniel in a couple of weeks time. Note-This bout was the headline bout from "Earnest Efforts" |
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