Earlier today Japanese fans got the chance to see two female world title fights. The more anticipated of those was a WBC female Minimumweight title fight between the defending champion Mari Ando (11-7, 5) and first time world title challenger Yuko Kuroki (11-5-1, 6). Surprisingly it was the first time challenger who came out on top taking a very well fought decision over the hard nosed Ando. Ando, as she always does, was coming forward through out the bout but it turned out that the talented Kuroki managed to neutralise the aggression of the champion and find the distance to unleash her brilliant southpaw straight left. The bout, which was competitive through out, saw a few momentum shifts but in the end it was Kuroki's accuracy and more refined shot selection that helped her over-come the determined and aggressive Ando who again lost a close one. Sadly this is another set back for Ando against a world class opponent. For many her record now looks like that of a journey woman but the former WBC Minimumweight and WBA Atomweight is a 2-weight world champion and a very high-risk low reward fighter who may now struggle to get opponents. It's a shame as she has the style, which she showed again here, that is fun to watch even if it is some what crude and cave-woman-like. At 26 years old however there is a chance Ando will be able to get another chance and she will be able to smooth off the rough edges in her style that do let her down, as we saw again here. The win for Kuroki puts her in to the frame for a big unification bout with teenage sensation Mako Yamada, the current WBO champion. Though we actually think she'll be more likely to face Saemi Hanagata or Etsuko Tada who both currently hold wins over the newly crowned world champion. As for the WBC Minimumweight title it's unfortunately becoming a case of a hot potato with it's third champion in just 19 months. Hopefully Kuroki will manage to keep it around her waist for a while, as Naoko Fujioka did from 2011 to when she vacated the belt in 2013. (Image courtesy of Joe Koizumi and features Kuroki on the left and Ando on the right)
0 Comments
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/) When we think of the top Asian female fighters right now it's fair to say that no one matches Naoko Fujioka, the stand out Asian and one of the top pound-for-pound female fighters on the planet. One of the chasing pack behind Fujioka is Japanese Flyweight Shindo Go (13-2, 8). Go, real name Megumi Hashimoto, showed why she is so highly regarded earlier today as she made the first defense of her WBC Flyweight title. Defending the belt she took from Renata Szebeledi 7 months ago Go made a great start using her boxing skills and aggression to fight off Mexican challenger Judith Rodriguez (6-6, 4). Rodriguez, despite her record, proved to be a fighter unwilling to just lose and she tried to fight back and made life very difficult for Go with her Latino spirit keeping her competitive through the bout despite being behind on the cards. Despite mostly looking in control Go did get stunned at one point as she faced a rare struggle. She managed to see it out and went on to take the unanimous decision by a closer than expected 96-94 scoreline across the board. Whilst the cards did reflect a very close bout it was hard to see anyway in which Go was to lose the bout. She was in control for large portions and even seemed to be robbed of a knockdown early on, a knockdown that would have made the scores very clear on the cards. Thankfully though the right fighter won and few will complain about the result, despite the spirited effort of Rodriguez. Female fighters are often looked down up on in a number of Western countries due to their lack of action and competitiveness. This Saturday however fans in Japan got the chance to see some female boxing at it's absolute best as Mari Ando (11-6, 5) and Jasseth Noriega (16-2-1, 5) put on an absolute war over the WBC Minimumweight title. The WBC title, which had been vacated earlier this year by Naoko Fujioka, may have previously had a dominant champion but this time around we had a competitive bout and one that fans, worldwide should try and get their hands on. Noriega started incredibly fast and her intentions were clear. She was going to try and break down Ando or make sure that she was winning rounds so clearly that the judges were forced to give her them. Through the first 4 rounds it was was clear the Mexican wasn't traveling around the world to just lose. By round 5 the pace was taking it's toll on Noriega and from then on Ando began to come back into the bout. Having shown her trademark toughness the Japanese fighter found the ability to go to the well once again as she began to let loose. Although Ando was beginning to fight back it was an uphill battle for the former WBA Atomweight champion who clearly in a hole at the half way mark. The tenacity of Ando seemed to have done enough to make it close. As we reached the final bell it was obvious neither fighter had managed to dominate the fight but both had made a genuine claim to the world title. Thankfully for Ando fighting at home seemed to sway the judges as she took a very narrow split decision with scores of 96-94, 95-94 in her favour, against a score of 96-92 in favour of Noriega. Had the fight been in Mexico we imagine Noriega would have got the decision proving that home advantage really can be the difference between a win and a loss. For Ando this result sees her just her second win in 5 fights following losses to Ayaka Miyao and Su-Yun Hong. For Noriega however this was her 3rd successive loss. 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" |
Archives
September 2022
Categories
All
|