Midweek bouts are well known for being poor contests and we saw one such case this week as we had a complete mismatch involving a big Russian puncher.
Panama-Panama City Unbeaten KO machine Zapir Rasulov (27-0, 24) continue to rack up stoppage victories as he took just 95 seconds to blow out the limited Ever Garcia Hernandez (16-37-2, 10). Rasulov, fighting in Panama for the 3rd time, really needs to be stepped up as these sorts of bouts are no use at all to his development.
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Oval Plaza Covered Court, General Santos City, Cotabato del Sur, Philippines
Although there was a pair of cards this past Tuesday it's fair to say neither was hugely important on the grand scale of things. Unfortunately when a WBF International title fight is the biggest fight of the day then it's a forgettable day. The aforementioned WBF title fight saw the unbeaten Jake Bornea (5-0, 3) claim the Flyweight belt by defeating Michael Enriquez (7-1-1, 4) via a split decision. The victory, a hard fought one, was the only 10 round bout on the card. Although the sole 10 rounder went the distance the co-feature, an 8 rounder, went less than a single wound with Daryl Basadre (10-1-1, 7) swiftly blasting out Nelson Llanos (22-31-3, 9). This was Llanos's 11th stoppage loss and his 6th in 9 rounds, possibly suggesting that he needs to call an end to his long career. Considering the "blink and you miss it" co-feature it may be a surprise to many that 3 or the 4 bouts scheduled for 6 rounds went the distance. These included a unanimous decision victory for former world title challenger Jether Oliva (20-1-2, 10) who defeated the tough Michael Rodriguez (13-38-1, 3). Oliva's victory was the clearest of the decision 6 rounders with Freddie Bisande (2-0-2) taking a majority decision over Johnrey Lorico (2-5) and Renante Suacasa (6-9, 1) taking a split decision over the previously unbeaten Junuel Lacar (3-1-1, 1). The only 6 rounder that didn't go the distance saw "the Gentle Giant" Roskie Cristobal (7-0, 7) continue his KO streak by stopping the fragile Michael Manambay (0-6) in 4 rounds. Whilst it was Cristobal's 7th straight win it was also Manambay's 5th stoppage defeat. The only other fight on the card saw Ronnie Tanallon (2-0, 1) take a majority decision over Joel Paragoso (0-2-1). Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan Whilst the biggest name, Oliva, and the biggest fight, Bornea/Enriquez, was in the Philippines that didn't stop their being some low level action in Japan. The main event on the Japanese show saw a minor upset as Masahito Igawa (12-7-2, 4) took a unanimous technical decision over the hard hitting Tatsuya Takahashi (15-5-3, 10). This was Igawa's second successive victory since returning to the ring after more than 2 years out, unfortunately for Takahashi this is his 3rd bout with out a victory. In the chief support bout Yuto Sasamori (6-4, 3) managed to take a hard fought decision over Tatsuya Hayashi (4-4, 1) in the only 6 rounder on the card. The remaining 7 bouts on the card were all scheduled for 4 rounds. From the 4 rounders we saw 2 two stoppages. These saw the debuting Yuichiro Kasuya (1-0, 1) stopping the win-less Takaya Matsumaru (0-2) in 2 rounds whilst Tetsuya Kudo (3-1, 2) stopped the fragile Michio Oki (2-6, 2) in round 3, this was Oki's 5th stoppage loss. As well as the stoppages there was a third bout that failed to go the distance with Takashi Sakamoto (4-2, 1) taking a technical decision over Bejita Ishikawa (2-5-1, 1). In the bouts that went the distance Koji Kase (3-4, 2) out pointed Yuya Nemoto (1-3) to take his first decision victory; Ryohei Takahashi (1-1-1) claiming his first career victory as he over-came Satoru Morishita (2-5,1); Takahiro Kinoshita (4-3-1, 2) scored a majority victory over Takuo Watanabe (2-7-3) and in a split decision Rei Ochiai (2-2-3) defeated Kenta Yokoe (2-7-1, 1). Pathum Thani, Thailand
In what appears to have been the only bout of the day Singdet Nonpitayakom (12-15-1, 9) stopped the debuting Songyos Por lasua (0-1) in 2 rounds. We're unsure about this bout though it would appear to be have been a "gimme" for Singdet who had lost 6 of his previous 7 including his last 2. Although Singdet took a victory here, it's worth noting he was stopped the last time he took on a debutant, being taken out inside a round by Payakdam Singwancha. Nakatani claims big win and Oguni scores rare stoppage in Tokyo, Condes and Jaro both score wins!1/11/2014 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
The first OPBF title fight of the new year took place today and saw a new champion crowned as Masayoshi Nakatani (7-0, 5) managed to claim the biggest victory of his career. Nakatani, stepping up big time to challenge Yoshitaka Kato (26-5-1, 7) for the OPBF Lightweight title, may have been viewed by many as taking the fight too soon though showed exactly why so many rate so highly. Despite coming in to the bout with just 21 rounds of career experience Nakatani looked like a veteran at times. He made the most of his sizable reach and height advantages to make Kato fight from range and also made the defending champion pay for his lack of accuracy in the later rounds with great counters. With this victory we expect Nakatani to move into the world rankings. Prior to the bout Kato was ranked by both the WBC and WBO (#10 in both) and it'd not be a shock if Nakatani moved into a similar position when the rankings for those organisations were updated. Sure he's not ready for any of the active world champions but he's certainly a man who we think will be fighting on the world stage over the following few years. With his size, power, skill and developing experience this kid will be going a very long way. In the chief support bout, at least in terms of professional contests, there was a rare stoppage victory for the promising Yukinori Oguni (12-1, 3). Oguni, a former OPBF Super Bantamweight champion, took time to get going though didn't really struggle with Yuki Fujimoto (7-3-1, 2) who suffered his first stoppage loss via an 8th round stoppage. Although Oguni was stopped last year by Shingo Wake we've no doubt that this young kid has the potential to make his mark on the world stage. The least surprising result on the card saw Yusuke Sakashita (11-4-2, 7) take a stoppage over Thai tomato can Petchek Sithkorpolkanpim (0-12) who suffered his 11th career stoppage via this second round loss. In a disappointing result the highly touted Kenji Kubo (3-2-1, 1) fought to a split decision draw with Kota Sato (9-5-1, 4). Kubo, who began his career with a very impressive decision over Nouldy Manakane, appears to have flopped and is now starting to look very unlikely to ever live up to his potential. Of course credit needs to go to Sato here though in all honesty it's hard to hide our disappointment over Kubo's career. If Kubo suffering a draw was disappointing then it's fair to say that Yusuke Suzuki (4-1, 3) scoring a 3rd round KO over Takaaki Ishikawa (10-5, 5) was a delightful surprise. Of course Ishikawa hasn't got the greatest chin, suffering 5 stoppage losses now, but it was still a very solid win for Suzki who is still a novice himself. As well as the competitive bouts on the show there was also the Heavyweight spar of Nobuhiro Ishida (25-9-2, 10). Ishida, a former Japanese Light Middleweight champion, shared the ring with Yamato Fujinaka (4-3, 1) and seemed to do relatively well. There were issues with his sparring but it's expected that he will be given a Japanese ranking and he will be able to challenger Kyotaro Fujimoto on April 30th. It's not yet confirmed but indications are suggest that the JBC ranking committee WILL grant Ishida a Heavyweight ranking. Barangay. Namayan Basketball Arena, Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila, Philippines As well as the show in Tokyo there was also action in the Philippines thanks to Aljoe Jaro. This card, which had made headlines before it had even started, turned out to be a pretty interesting one for numerous reasons. With 13 fights on the show, yes, you read that right 13 fights, it was bound to have talking points and that's certainly what we got. The lowest level bouts on the card were a trio of 4 rounders. These saw Joel Tamayo (1-1) taking his first victory courtesy of a 4 round decision over the debuting Jeromias Aguinaldo (0-1); Joyjoy Formentera (2-1) winning a tight split decision over Jeffrey Alejandre (1-2) in an excellently made bout, and a good stoppage victory for the promising Rolly Sumalpong (3-0, 1) who stopped Rodney Ramirez (0-1-1) in the 4th and final round. The card amazingly had 7 bouts scheduled for 6 rounds. Surprisingly only 3 of those bouts actually went the distance. These distance bouts saw Rowel Rosia (6-2, 3) score a very credible win over Lionel Legada (11-6-1, 5) with a unanimous decision, Danilo Gabisay (5-2, 3) scoring a narrow victory over Regan Delos Santos (2-2-1, 2) with a majority decision whilst the unbeaten Joey Canoy (4-0-1, 3) was unexpectedly held to a draw by Felipe Cagubcob Jr (1-1-4) who is starting to become an expect in scoring draws. Of the other scheduled 6 rounders the longest lasted 5 rounds as Jonathan Francisco (5-3, 2) struggled to finish off Mac Mac Canisio (2-4-1). This was somewhat the opposite of Lloyd Jardeliza's (5-0-3, 4) 159 second blow out of the fragile Marco Niones (3-11-1, 1) who suffered his 9th stoppage loss. For us some of the most noteworthy results came in the other 6 rounders. One of those was a 3rd round victory scored by the very promising Neil John Tabanao (6-0, 5). Tabanao, fighting Warren Mambuanag (6-4-2, 3), showed why he is so highly regarded as he dropped Mambuanag in the opening round before finishing him in round 3. The second noteworthy result in the 6 round bouts saw former IBF Minimumweight champion Florante Condes (26-8-1, 22) stopping journeyman Marzon Cabilla (9-11-1, 4). On paper this shouldn't be noteworthy though it is for several reasons. Firstly this was Condes's first bout in well over a year and his first win since 2010. Both interesting facts, though the key is that Cabilla was supposed to be a better opponent, despite being a very late replacement, than Condes's original opponent Rey Morano who the GAB refused to sanction for the bout. If Cabilla, who lasted just 133 seconds, was better then just how bad do the GAB think Morano is? In the shows sole 8 round bout, the unbeaten Ardie Boyosi (9-0-1, 6) stopped the experienced Prell Tupaz (8-23-4, 1) in just 111 seconds as he showed off why his is touted as a really credible prospect. Tupaz might have collected losses but he has rarely been stopped and actually came in to this bout following an 8th round technical decision loss to one time world title challenger Sylvester Lopez. We believe the card had 2 bouts scheduled for 12 rounds. One of these saw Jomar Fajardo (13-4-1, 6) claim the new Asian Boxing Federation (ABF) Light Flyweight title courtesy of a 3rd round stoppage over the limited Robel Villegas (9-8, 3), whilst the other again brought question marks to the GAB. Former WBC and Linear Flyweight champion Sonny Boy Jaro (35-13-5, 25), originally scheduled to fight Pit Anacaya, instead took on Charlie Cabilla (13-13-4, 2) and took him out inside a round. Cabilla, a late replacement for Anacaya who the GAB said was an unfit opponent for Jaro, was also unfit though with the matchmaker given less than a week to sort out an opponent it's questionable as to what the GAB expected. Auditorio Benito Juárez, Veracruz, Veracruz, Mexico In Mexico things went as expected for a trio of Filipino's who were thrown in hard and expected to sink. Things for Vergel Nebran (11-7-1, 7) went exactly as most would have expected, with the Filipino being stopped by former WBC Super Flyweight world champion Tomas Rojas (42-14-1-1, 28). In fact if anything was surprisingly here it was how long Nebran lasted, refusing to be stopped early on he survived until round 8 against the rangy Mexican fighter. Rojas wasn't the only former world champion beating up on a Filipino foe as Ramon Garcia Hirales (19-4-1, 12), the former WBO Light Flyweight champion, over came Lionel Mark Duran (11-10-2, 5) in what looked like a mismatch on paper. Although the expected winner won Duran impressed by refusing to be stopped The closest a Filipino came was Adones Aguelo (20-9-2, 12) who gave Mexico's Nery Saguilan (27-4-1, 10) a good run for his money in a competitive 10 round bout. Aguelo, who was narrowly beaten, proved he was on an even keel with Saguilan and a rematch in a neutral venue may well see the decision reversed. Lad Sawai, Pathum Thani, Thailand
The weekend's action, as it often does, kicked off in Thailand earlier today with a small fight card televised courtesy of Thai channel 7. The show, although not the longest show, it did feature some genuinely interesting moments and a very disappointing moment as well. The show began with a single under-card bout, a 6 rounder between the debuting Petchmanee Kokietgym (1-0) and Filipino Wilber Andogan (9-14-4, 3) . The fight, although having a clear winner in the Petchmanee, was entertaining with the Andogan coming to fight despite a relative lack of skill. Thankfully the desire and work rate of the Filipino, who started excellently, saw him surviving the 6 round distance despite looking very tired in the final round or two. Following the under-card bout we moved on to the main event which saw former world title challenger Terdsak Kokietgym (52-4-1, 33) successfully defend the PABA interim Super Featherweight title with a clear, but tough decision over Filipino hardman Mark Sales (20-36-3, 6). Despite the fact Sales sports a journeyman's record he proved to be a difficult foe giving Terdsak real issue with his spoiling and sharp counters. The bout, whilst never in doubt, will have served Terdsak well with a solid work out and good chance to sharpen his tools against a genuinely tough foe. Despite the fact the Terdsak/Sales bout was hard fought the most striking thing about it was Sales's resemblence to Filipino star Manny Pacquiao. Sure Sales didn't have the skills, speed or power of "The Pacman" but he had clearly styled his facial hair on the political puncher and one would be forgiven for suggesting that they looked like brothers. We were supposed to get a second televised title fight on the broadcast, an PABA Minimumweight title bout, unfortunately the TV time ran out after just 3 rounds of what looked like a very entertaining contest. Through the 3 rounds we got to see it appeared Filipino fighter Jimmy Masangkay (who entered 4-2-1, 1) was getting the better of Thailand's very own Samartlek Chaiyonggym (who entered 14-4, 5) who was defending the title he won last March. Unfortunately with the broadcast being cut after 3 rounds so we were originally unsure who won. It turns out that Samartlek took a clear decision though from we saw we'd be shocked if the bout was as clear cut as the scorecards indicate. On the untelevised portion of the card we had a further 4 contests. These saw Petchjohee Kokietgym (1-0, 1) coming out on top of an all debutant clash with Santos Kwanjaisrikod (0-1), with Petchjohee taking a second round TKO, an opening round blow out for Rick Paciones (6-15-2, 3) over Saifah Sithpokrieng (0-2) and a pair of decisions. The decisions saw former female world title challenger Amara Kokietgym (13-3-1, 5) come put on top against the debuting Nampetch Kwanjaisrikod (0-1) in a 6 rounder whilst Saenganan Sithsaithong (3-0, 2) claimed a 4 round decision over Wanhaeng Or Siththichai (0-1). There was one other bout on the card, a rare stoppage victory for Rick Paciones (6-15-2, 3). Unfortunately we've no idea who he faced in his bout, though he did apparently take an opening round KO over his unknown opponent. Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan As well as the show in Thailand there was also a card, of novices, in Japan. The show, the first Dangan show of the year, featured 11 bouts, all scheduled for 4 rounds, with none of the fighters on the show having more than 8 previous bouts. Of the 11 bouts 2 of them took place at Light Flyweight. These saw Yoshiki Abe (3-1-1, 1) taking a unanimous decision over the limited, though more experienced, Naoki Akagi (2-4-2, 1) whilst Shoji Ebisawa (4-1, 1) narrowly claimed a split decision over Tatsuji Kakumoto (2-4, 1). As well as the 2 Light Flyweight bouts there was also 2 bouts at Flyweight. These saw the 19 year old Naoki Mochizuki (2-0, 2) scoring a second round KO over Takamasa Kawahara (1-2) who suffered he second successive stoppage loss. The other Flyweight contest, an all unbeaten bout, saw both men keeping their "0" as Sonin Nihei (2-0-1) and Yuma Kudo (2-0-1) fought to a majority draw. This bout, one of 3 bouts to end in a draw was incredibly close and played out much like it looked on paper, with both men being very evenly matched. We saw another draw in one of the 2 Super Flyweight contests as the win-less Daichi Yamamoto (0-2-1) and Hiroki Ishii (0-2-1) also fought to a majority draw. The other bout at 115lbs went as expected with the hard hitting Masayasu Nakamura (4-0, 4) stopping Kazuma Ishikura (2-2, 1), the unbeaten Nakamura took 2 rounds to finish off Ishikura who had never previously been stopped. In the Bantamweight division the 17 year old Ryusei Ishii (2-0, 1) took his most notable victory to date as he out pointed the previously unbeaten Ippei Azuma (2-1-1, 1). The bout, a close fought decision, was a much better test for Ishii than his 98 second blow victory in his debut bout. The show's remaining draw came at Featherweight where featherweight Yuta Itagaki (2-1-1, 1) fought to a split draw with the most experienced man on the card, Tsuyoshi Naito (3-3-3, 1). The biggest upset on the card came in the Lightweight division where the previously unbeaten Shoma Koga (3-1, 3) was unexpectedly stopped, inside a round, by Masahiro Kobayashi (3-1-1, 2). Koga, who we had been tipping as the potential star to come out of this show, lasted just 103 seconds with Kobayashi who bounced back well from his loss last time out to Osu Inoue. At Light Welterweight, where we had the two remaining bouts, fans saw the debuting Rice Hayashi (1-0, 1) stopping fellow debutant Kodai Suga (0-1) whilst unbeaten teenager Andy Hiraoka (2-0, 1) took a decision over Yoshikuni Hashiguchi (2-4, 1). Although just 17 years old we'd advise keeping a serious eye on Hiraoka who is a very rangy 17 year old with real potential as long as it's developed well. Tacoma, Washington, USA Over in the US we unfortunately saw Mongolian Bayan Jargal (17-5-3, 11) lose to American veteran Zahir Raheem (35-3-0-1, 21) in what was really a slow burner. The first 6 rounds were genuinely awful to watch with Raheem's speed and movement being too much for the slow starting Jargal who was unable to get any traction in the early rounds. Despite being the better fighter Raheem was unwilling to put his foot on the gas and instead we got a very dull start to the fight. Thankfully by the end of round 7 however Raheem was beginning to look tired and Jargal did make a good late charge for the victory, though had simply left himself too much with not enough time to do it and it was clear that he'd lost by a round or two. Despite Jargal's late charge there unfortunately 2 judges who appeared unwilling to give him any credit scoring the bout 99-91 in Raheem's favour. The right guy won though those cards did leave something of a foul taste in the mouth Suanpalm Farmnok, Chachoengsao, Thailand
We know that the year is young but we've already come across a notable upset in the first Thai show of 2014. The show, a 5 fight card televised by Thai channel 7, saw Tiger Tor Buamas (15-1, 12) suffer the first loss of his career as Filipino visitor Alie Laurel (11-3, 7) ripped the WBO Oriental Bantamweight title from the Thai. Laurel took the fight to Tiger and eventually forced the 5th round TKO as he secured the biggest victory of his career. Although Laurel's victory was a shock it's fair to suggest that he's a much better fighter than his record indicates and all 3 of his losses have been razor thin, with 2 of them coming against unbeaten fighters. Although it's an upset we dare suggest that the 21 year old Laurel could well be one of those Filipino youngsters that everyone should be keeping an eye on. Whilst the main event was a shock the rest of the card went as expected, including a stoppage victory for Kaewfah Tor Buamas (13-0, 8) who defeated Brazilian debutant Brababosa Jefferson (0-1) in 2 rounds. Unfortunately despite this being his 13th victory we really don't have any idea how good Kaewfah actually is as he's now fought 10 pro boxing debutants from 13 bouts. It's a shame that he's not yet fighting journeymen of some sort, though hopefully that will come later this year. Kaewfah wasn't the only fighter to score a second round stoppage as the hard punching Tabthong Tor Buamas (14-2, 12) did the same thing to the debuting Hongdam Chor Vachira (0-1). This was Tabthong's first bout since May 2012, when he lost to Indonesia's Hendrik Barongsay, and whilst he'll never be a star his power and aggression will always make him fun to watch. Not all the bouts finished inside the distance, in fact 2 went the scheduled 6 rounds. These included a decision for Thai novice Chatpetch Tor Buamas (2-0) who out pointed Brazil's Macelo Santos (0-1) in an all novice bout, whilst female former world title challenger Hongfah Tor Buamas (17-5, 2) defeated An-An Chor Vachira (0-2). This was Hongfah's first bout since May 2012 and the 20 year old, who debuted way back in 2007, will hopefully not be inactive for 20 another months. Ota-City General Gymnasium, Tokyo
Although the final boxing upset of the year occurred in Osaka that doesn't mean fans in Tokyo had any less reason to enjoy their new year's eve with a world title double header taking place at the Ota-City General Gymnasium on a show plastered with notable names. The notable names on the show included female star Tomomi Takano (4-0, 3) who stole the headlines at the weigh-in with her wedding outfit. The former model-turned boxer showed once again that she has talent to add to her looks as she made light work of Kumi Oishi (1-3, 1) with a second round TKO. Takano, who many view as a potential starlet, may not have the talent of Naoko Fujioka but she certainly draws a lot of attention to female boxing like very few others. Another big name on the card was former WBA Super Flyweight champion Kohei Kono (29-8, 11) who made light work of tune up opponent Daut Manopkanchang (0-1). Kono, fighting for the first time since his loss to Liborio Solis back in May, shook off his rust and kept his attention on the job here ahead of his scheduled world title bout with Denkaosan Kaovichit in March. Kono, looking to recapture his old title in that bout will be hoping for a similarly easy time with Kaovichit, though it would be unlikely. Also on the under-card was WBC #1 ranked Super Flyweight Carlos Cuadras (29-0, 24). Cuadras, of Mexico, made very light work of Songseanglek Phosuwangym (1-10) and we now assume he's angling towards a fight with either WBC champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai or even the winner of Kono's bout with Kaovichit. Remaining with the "names" on the under-card the most well matched contest saw former Japanese Light Flyweight champion Ryoichi Taguchi (19-2-1, 8) takes a hard fought decision over Ryan Bito (22-13-3, 8). This was Taguchi's comeback fight after losing his title to Naoya Inoue in August and surprisingly he struggled here with Bito who has only won 1 of his last 6 and that came against a debutant. Taguchi needs to get back on top of things and show off the talent that saw him being world ranked earlier this year though unfortunately it could be a tough rebuilding process. On the bottom of the under-card we had 3 much lower level bouts. These saw Noriyoshi Taki (3-4, 1) taking a 3 round technical decision victory over Yusuke Matsuda (1-2); the debuting Hikaru Komori (1-0, 1) stopping fellow debutant Mamoru Suzuki (0-1) in 2 rounds and Hideki Suzuki (4-3-1) taking a 4 round decision over Yuki Arai (3-3, 1). Of course fans weren't really there for the undercard, even if it did have big names on it. Instead they were there for the 2 world title fights that the show had, both in the Super Featherweight division. The first of the world title fights saw WBC champion Takashi Miura (27-2-2, 20) dominate Mexican challenger Dante Jardon (24-4, 20). This was, on paper, the fight of the day though from the first round it seemed the men were in completely different leagues and Miura just beat up and broke down Jardon who was tough but thoroughly out-classed before being stopped in round 9. The Mexican challenger, a much vaunted puncher himself, was down in rounds 5 and 8 before being stopped after a third knockdown early in the ninth. Miura's victory was his second title defense and his third victory over a Mexican this year. With that in mind it may be fair to call him the new Mexecutioner and with that in mind he may well be thinking about bouts in 2014 with either Daniel Ponce De Leon or Miguel Berchelt, 2 of the top Mexicans in the Super Featherweight division. The other world title fight, and for us the fight that was the best of the day, saw Takashi Uchiyama (21-0-1, 17) successfully retain his WBA title with a very hard fought decision over former Japanese national champion Daiki Kaneko (19-3-3, 12). Although the scores, which all read 117-110, made the fight look easy it was anything but as the strong and powerful Kaneko gave Uchiyama all he could handle and actually dropped the champion in round 10. The difference between the two men was the experience that Uchiyama has at the world level though with out a doubt Kaneko put himself on the map with a very strong performance that saw him really impressing in a thoroughly competitive contest. Having seen how impressive Kaneko was here we've no doubt that he has the potential to become a world champion at some point, though it may be at Lightweight and not Super Featherweight. With Uchiyama and Miura both retaining the likeliness is that the two will fight in a unification contest in 2014. Whether that is the first thing on the agenda for them is up for debate but it's a bout both seem intent to have. This would be a rematch, with Uchiyama having beaten Miura back in January 2011, though it's one everyone seems to be calling for, including ourselves. Bodymaker Colosseum, Osaka
The Japanese know how to end a year and yesterday saw them drawing a close to 2013 with 2 fantastic cards of action that involved big names, title fights and a number of world ranked fighters. Of the 2 shows it was the one at the Bodymaker Colosseum that left us with the shock of the day with former WBA Minimumweight champion Ryo Miyazaki (20-1-3, 11) suffering the first defeat of his career. Miyazaki, who had vacated his Minimumweight title to campaign at Light Flyweight, looked out of sorts from the weigh-in, in which he collapsed, and there was real concern about him going into his bout with Fahlan Sakkreerin Jr (23-2, 15). That concern was well placed with Miyazaki being stung late in the opening round and never recovering. Although he survived into round 3 there was nothing good to take from the bout for Miyazaki. Having just moved to Light Flyweight it's probably fair to suggest that Miyazaki will be making an immediate leap to Flyweight if not Super Flyweight in 2014. How he ever made 105lbs is a mystery and this kid, for his own health, needs to stop trying to boil down so much. He's an entertaining fighter but this was a stupid fight to take part in if he couldn't comfortably make weight. Of course for Fahlan this is a career best result but unfortunately it's one that could feel tainted due to Miyazaki's ill health. Of course Miyazaki/Sakkreerin Jr wasn't the main event in Osaka, that was the honour for Kazuto Ioka (14-0, 9) who successfully defended his WBA Light Flyweight title with an exciting, though comprehensive, decision over Nicaraguan challenger Felix Alvarado (18-1, 15). The bout, a phone booth war from the off, was fought in a style that on paper should have favoured the challenger though Ioka's class saw him winning it relatively comfortably by picking his spots and avoiding much of the Alvarado onslaught. Although we had anticipated this being Ioka's last fight at Light Flyweight it would seem likely the 24 year old will remain at 108lbs, at least for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately the division is somewhat weak and perhaps the most logical match up for Ioka right now is a contest with Fahlan Sakkreerin Jr, especially after the Miyazaki fight. The undercard was a splattering KO's and TKO's, some of which were surprising others of which weren't. The least surprising stoppage of the day came in a flat out mismatch as KO machine Masao Nakamura (18-1, 18) defeated the fragile Fasanghan Or Benjamad (0-6). Nakamura, a huge puncher, should never have been matched with Fasanghan who had already been stopped 5 times and it was no shock he was stopped in just 2 rounds. In an equally expected result Sho Ishida (15-0, 8) made light work of the wonderfully named Comeback Wor Por Srisaket (0-1) who lasted just 75 seconds with the gifted Ishida. Although not a huge puncher in regards to his record this was Ishida's 6th stoppage in 8 bouts and all 6 of those have come in the first 2 rounds. It's now time that Ishida was put in a big bout and it'd be no surprise if he took on title holder of some variety in 2014. Amazingly Ishida's 75 second victory wasn't the quickest on the show, that honour was instead achieved by Daiya Shimazu (5-0, 4) who took just 63 seconds to defeat the debuting Songpol Sithsaithong (0-1). This quick blast out was the second successive opening round blow out by Shimazu though unfortunately we don't know much about his potential as he's now fought 4 of debutants. Ishida and Shimazu were joined in taking opening round KO's by 20 year old south-paw Masayoshi Hashizume (2-0, 2) who defeated Rotthang Wor Por Srisaket (0-2) in just 73 seconds. As with Shimazu we don't know a great deal about Hashizume though we'd like to see him progress from fighting Thai novices sooner rather than later. As well as the opening round KO's there were several second round KO's, not just that of Nakamura. One these second round KO's belonged to former world title challenger Atsushi Kakutani (14-4-1, 7) who defeated the limited Thaminkhao Sor Tharnthip (3-7-1, 2), who suffered his 6th stoppage defeat in 10 bouts. Tharnthip, who did defeat Yuki Sano in Japan back in 2008 is now 1-3 in Japan having been stopped in round 2 in all 3 of the losses. Another man who scored a second round victory was Takahiro Yamamoto (12-3, 9) who scored his 6th straight win by taking out Nongdear Sor Bangkhru (0-3). Although this was an expected victory for Yamamoto the stoppage is impressive considering that Nongdear had gone 6 rounds with the higjly regarded Kwanpichit OnesongchaiGym just 2 months ago. The least expected second round KO came in the only female bout of the show as the light hitting Kei Takenaka (6-0, 2) took out Thailand's Yinglek Sithsaithong (6-3, 4). This result says more about Yinglek, who has been stopped in all 3 of her losses which have all come in Japan. In the only bout that went the distance the light hitting Hikaru Matsuoka (5-1-3, 1) defeated the hard hitting but limited Toshiya Yokogawa (5-5-1, 5) over the scheduled 6 rounds. This was the second meeting between the 2 men who fought to a draw back in September, and although Matsuoka won this bout the two men are actually quite even, despite their vastly different records. |
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