Bangkok, Thailand
Boxing might not be back to full swing as of yet but there has been enough action this week to say the year is beginning to warm up and it was seen again this Friday when Thailand hosted a televised card with several notable prospects.

For us the pick of the bunch in regards to the prospects was the brilliant Kongfah CP Freshmart (11-0, 6) who recorded his first win of the year as he stopped the limited Fahpikard Twins Gym (2-8) in the 3rd round. Kongfah really impressed us last year with 8 wins, including a beautiful knockout of Santhong Chor Pakdee that was possibly the most visually pleasing knockout of the year and a brutal knockout of an unknown opponent in December, which isn't yet included on his boxrec record, and it seems he'll be doing the same this year as well.

Another unbeaten prospect to pick up a win here was WBC Youth silver Bantamweight champion Petch Sor Chitpattana (29-0, 19) who made relatively light work of Chinese novice Hou Tin Long (1-1) who was out sized and under-prepared for a fight with Petch, who scored a 4th round TKO. Despite his 29 fight record we're very unsold on how good Petch really is and his competitive has, on the whole, been terrible leaving us to question how much potential he really has. Amazingly Petch has been a pro for close to 4 years and at just 21 years old he may well end up being in a ridiculous amount of fights before his career comes to a close.

A third prospect on this show, albeit one with a loss as a professional, was the much touted Palangpol CP Freshmart (7-1, 4) who was given a solid work out by Filipino veteran Donny Mabao (21-24-1, 4) who has continued to show he is better than his record indicates, despite having now lost 4 in a row. dating back 10 months. Palangpol won a deserved 8 round decision though really doesn't look close to being ready for a world title fight as he team seemed to be indicating last year.

In the only other fight on the card fans saw saw Iranian fighter Mohamadreza Hamze (5-5-1, 2) scored a 4th round KO against Kwanpichit Twinsgym (0-2). Sadly we were unable to see this one to say anything more about it.

Tokyo, Japan
Earlier today at the Korakuen Hall saw a small but interesting card as fans had the chance to see a model, a former world title challenger and a former domestic title challenger all in action.

The model on the show was the curvaceous Riyako Goshi (3-2) who recorded her 3rd successive win as she notched a majority decision over Thai visitor Kanittha Saknarong (0-2) in what was a second successive meeting between the two. In their first meeting, last September, Goshi took a narrow unanimous decision and this was equally as competitive.

Another majority decision on this undercard saw Minimumweight hopeful Desierto Nagaike (4-1-1) take a razor thin win over Masayuki Sakurai (3-8-2). This was Nagaike's third success win though it's clear he's not going to go as far as he'd have hoped. A third undercard bout that went the distance saw Naoyuki Sakamoto (2-1, 1) over-come Kazunori Kakishima (2-5) with a clear unanimous decision.

The other two under-card bouts both resulted in blow outs. Sadly for us one of them saw a friend of the site, Koji Benjamin Watanabe (0-2-1) suffer as he was stopped in 32 seconds by Masaya Sakamoto (1-0, 1) who made a very impressive debut. The other stoppage saw Kabereen Yuya (2-1-1, 2) score a 71 second win over Takafumi Miura (0-5).

On the main part of the card we had a trio of notable fighters. The most well know internationally of those was probably former world title challenger Masayuki Kuroda (23-5-3, 14) who who scored his second win in 3 years as he defeated Kazuaki Moriya (11-7, 1) in an 8 round bout. Although Kuroda isn't a world class fighter he is known for having once given Juan Carlos Reveco an interesting fight a years back and it's clear he'll be wanting to reclimb the ladder to become a champion in the future.

Another notable fighter in one of the main bouts was Akihiko Katagiri (16-7-2, 7) who stopped Yoshihisa Yokota (7-11-1, 2) in the 7th round. Katagiri, best known for losing to Jhonny Gonzalez, was simply too good for the game but out matched Yokota who put up a brave effort before eventually being stopped by the referee.

In the main event fans saw Hikaru Nishida (11-7-1, 3) score a very close and competitive decision over Hideo Mikan (7-8-1, 2). Nishida, who was last seen losing to Akio Shibata, just seemed that little bit better than the under-rated Mikan was gave his career best performance here though still came up short.

(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

Before we start with the results for January 28th we want to say a massive thanks to James Goyder for providing all the results for this particular Thai card and the image.

Hua Hin, Thailand
Pankorn Singwangcha won the ABF 140 lbs title this afternoon in Hua Hin with a stoppage win over Chinese light welterweight Hi Li Fu who didn’t come out for the ninth round after having been second best throughout the fight.

Pankorn made a blistering start and landed a right hook to the cheek of his southpaw early in the opening round which caused some immediate swelling and was followed up by a hard cross which put him down for the first time in the fight.

Moments later the Chinese southpaw was down again and barely beat the count but he survived the round and started to hold his own in the second and third, although he was badly hurt again in the fourth round by right hands to the body.

At some stage a clash of heads opened up a small cut above Pankorn’s right eye and the Thai fighter, who was able to us his head movement to easily evade the punches of Fu, seemed to be taking it easy and cruising to a decision win.

The damage to the face of the Chinese fighter was starting to show and after some fierce exchanges in the eighth round his corner decided not to send him out for the ninth handing Pankorn a win which takes him to 5-2-1 while Fu drops to 1-1.

The co-main event of the card which was televised on Channel 11 in Thailand saw faded former world champion Sirimongkol Singwangcha (83-2) score a somewhat predictable third round KO win over outmatched American school teacher Jacob Martinez (0-1).

A third bout on this card saw WBC Youth Light Middleweight champion Petchsuriya Sinwancha (13-8, 7) record a 2nd round KO over the debuting Sonyang Jongren (0-1).

Tokyo, Japan
As well as the Thai card there was also a show in Japan that we have results for.

This was the second successive day of 4 round bouts on a Dangan show, Danagan 120, and although none of the names were big they were busy and action packed with 12 bouts all on the same show.

The card began with a female fight between two fighters without a win, somebodies had to go. That 0 was was of Yumiko Shimooka  (1-1, 1) who stopped the still win-less Ozora Hikaru (0-4) in the 3rd round.

The stoppages really were frequent on the card and the first 5 bouts all ended early. The second of the stoppages saw Ryoji Fukunaga (2-1, 1) defeat Seita Shimamiya (1-3, 1) in the 2nd round. The third stoppage of the show went to debutant Nao Hirahara (1-0, 1) who stopped fellow novice Mitsuo Yamagata (0-1) in the 2nd. Another debutant who began his career in style was Daiki Wakamatsu (1-0 ,1) who defeated Junpei Hakoda (0-2) in just 33 seconds. A third debutant to take a win was female fighter Ami Ujiie (1-0, 1) who stopped Natsuki Tarui (0-2) in the 3rd round.

Amazingly the first bout to go the distance was the 6th bout and this saw a really competitive match up both on paper and in the ring. The first saw Masaharu Hanaka (4-1-1, 2) take a razor thin majority decision over Raiki Kameyama (3-2, 2) in a bout that really could have gone either way and Kameyama has every reason to request a rematch given that many felt he deserved a draw at worst.

Sadly after the first competitive match up we went back to early finished for the a while with Yuichi Kitayama (2-1-1, 2) stopping Takayuki Nakaebisu (2-6-1, 1) in the second round and Kosuke Arioka (3-1, 3) stopping Kohei Hasegawa (1-2, 1), also in the second round.

We got our second decision bout in the show's 9th overall bout as Hikaru Ota (4-3, 1) out pointed Yoshiki Abe (3-3-2, 1) in another well matched bout on paper. Another decision came in the 10th bout as Akihiro Yashiro (2-1-1) defeated Tesu Narisawa (1-3) in another very competitive match up. Unsurprisingly however we could finish the card with out another early ending which came courtesy of Tsubawa Koura (2-0, 2) who stopped Naoyuki Tsukada (3-3-1, 2) in the penultimate contest of the show.

In the final bout Yuku Nagayoshi (4-6, 1) took a competitive decision win over the win-less Satoru Araki (0-2).

(Image courtesy of James Goyder)

Tokyo, Japan
It's fair to say January has been a disappointing month for Japanese boxing fans and today they got only their second show of the year so far. Adding to the disappointment of very little action was the fact the second show wasn't a big one, instead it was a very minor one with 11 bouts, all scheduled for 4 rounds. Although not a big show it was certainly not a bad one and the fans at the Korakuen Hall certainly got their monies worth.

The show began with an all debutant affair as Kazunori Yorimasa (1-0, 1) got his career under way with a winning start as he scored a 2nd round TKO against Yuto Sakuma (0-1). In the shows second bout fans saw Kenji Sato (2-3, 2) score his second win as he defeated Katsuya Abe (2-6) in the 3rd round and inflicted Abe's third successive defeat. The show's third bout also ended with a 3rd round stoppage as Kanehiro Nakagawa (1-1, 1) scored his first win and over-came Hironobu Suzuki (1-3, 1). The stoppage kept coming and the 4th bout of the show saw Masaya Kohama (3-2-1, 1) score his first stoppage, as he over-came Tetsuya Hirokawa (2-4, 2) in just 111 seconds.

The 5th successive stoppage on the card saw the unbeaten Takayoshi Miyachi (2-0, 2) finish off Takuya Muto (1-2, 1) with 6 seconds left of their bout. Another stoppage to begin the card fans saw Toshinori Kikuchi (1-1, 1) win a battle of previously win-less fighters as he stopped Shogo Endo (0-3) in the 3rd round.

The stoppages came to an end in the show's 7th bout as Tasuku Nakagawa (3-1) took a razor thin majority decision over Kei Iwahara (3-2, 2) in what was a really competitive match up, both on paper and in the ring. The was the final bout before we moved on to the "C Class tournament" bouts that made up the headline features of the bout.

The first of the C class tournament bouts saw Koji Ida (3-0) maintain his unbeaten record and claim the Bantamweight crown for the small tournament as he defeated the previously unbeaten Satohiko Haga (3-1, 1) with a well fought unanimous decision. The second of these bouts also ended in a unanimous decision as Naoaki Kumagai (4-2, 2) defeated Renji Ichimura (2-2, 2).

Only one of the C Class tournament bouts ended in a stoppage and that bout saw Genki Ishikawa (3-0, 2) stopping the previously unbeaten Yamato Sasaki (2-1) in the second round in a bout at Super Featherweight.

In the main event Rice Hayashi (3-0, 2) saw his stoppage run come to an end though his winning run continued at the expense of Pon Ponta (3-1, 3) who was beaten by the thinnest of decisions, a majority decision scored 39-38, 39-38 and 38-38.

(Image courtesy of http://danganboxing.com)

Jakarta, Indonesia
Indonesian boxing might not be flying high but it's fair to say there is some hope that the country may be able to develop another world champion in the coming years. One of the country's few promising fighters is Tibo Monabesa (7-0, 3) who maintained his unbeaten run as he defeated compatriot Samuel Tehuayo (18-32-2, 3) courtesy of a 12 round decision. With this win the unbeaten Monabesa successfully defended the Indonesia Boxing Association (ATI/IBA) Light Flyweight title.

Krasnodar, Russia
It wasn't just in Indonesia that we saw an unbeaten man retaining his perfect record as Russian Cruiserweight Ruslan Faifer (5-0, 1) also managed to retain his 0. The 23 year old Russian took a clear 8 round decision over the more experienced Sergey Beloshapkin (12-11-1, 4).

Colorado, USA
There was no action in Asia this past Saturday however we did have a trio of Russian fighters fighting in the US.

Sadly from the trio only one managed to record a win, the unbeaten "Talant" Konstantin Ponomarev (27-0, 13). Ponomarev was battling against the tough and hungry Canadian fighter Steve Claggett (20-3-1, 14) in a very good looking bout that was competitive overall. The busier Ponomarev showed some lovely skills, movement and work rate though at times was so defensively porous that he seemed to get himself into a lot of trouble. It's clear that is the Russian is to become a star, as some suspect he could, then he'll need to tight up defensively, and quick.

Things weren't so good for another man who entered the weekend unbeaten, Aik Shakhnazaryan (15-1, 6). Shakhnazaryan entered the weekend looking like a very promising prospect but was dropped twice by the unheralded Abner Lopez (22-4, 19) who recorded the biggest win of his career with a very good decision win. We hope this loss won't be the last time we see Shakhnazaryan as he does look fun to watch though Lopez deserves all the plaudits he gets and he won us over with his victory.

Another Russian to come up short was Maxim Vlasov (30-2, 15) who was out pointed by the much touted Gilberto Ramirez Sanchez (31-0, 24). Vlasov had limited success early on as "Zurdo" Sanchez battered his ribs though later in the bout Vlasov managed to come on strong and found a home for his right hand. By then however it was too little too later for the Russian.

Bangkok, Thailand
On Friday Thai fans got treat to a televised card, unfortunately however it was a card that consisted primarily of mismatches.

The biggest of the mismatches, at least on paper, was a clear stay busy fight that saw former WBC Super Flyweight champion Srisaket Sor Rugnvisai (32-4-1, 29) make light work of the game but thoroughly out classed Ardi Tefa (6-3, 4), who was stopped in the 3rd round. Srisaket is lining up a WBC world title eliminator with Jose Salgado and this bout literally a tune up bout prior to that one which is expected in late Spring.

Srisaket wasn't the only former world champion in action here as his close friend Suriyan Sor Rungvisai (39-6-1, 18), himself a former WBC Super Flyweight champion, defeated the debuting Daoden Sithsaithong (0-1), also in the 3rd round. Suriyan is expecting to be moved towards a WBC Bantamweight title fight later in the year and this was, like Srisaket's bout, a stay busy contest.

The main event of the card wasn't a stay busy fight, but was an interesting development in the career of the limited but incredibly fun Kongfah Nakornluang (19-0, 11). Kongfah is among the most limited 19-0 fighters you'll find but he made light work of the badly matched Rendi Stone (3-4-1, 2). Stone, an Indonesian journeyman, was battling for the WBC Silver youth Super Flyweight title but was stopped in the 3rd round by Kongfah.

Another promising unbeaten fighter on this card was Jirapan Nakornluang (2-0, 2) who stopped Ratchasi Himalaigym (0-1) after 3 rounds. We were impressed by Jirapan on his debut and it seems like the talented Thai is going to be one to keep an eye on for the long term, especially given his big stablemate. As for Ratchsai he appeared to have a lot of promise though was retired with what appeared to be a damaged hand

One other bout on this card saw Jaipetch Chaiyonggym (4-3, 1) score a 6 round decision win over Denchai Por Korbkua (1-2) in what was a second meeting between the two men who first fought last November.

Camarines Sur, Philippines
In the Philippines fans also got some action though, as with the Thai show, much of it was mismatches.

The main trio of bouts went a combined 9 rounds an all went to the expected winner. One of those bouts saw former world title challenger Bernabe Concepcion (33-6-2, 19) quickly take care of Indonesian visitor Rasmanudin (18-8-3, 9). Rasmanudin was stopped in the 2nd of a scheduled 10 rounds  and suffered his 5th stoppage loss as a result. Sadly for the Indonesian "Lost Boy" this was his 4th loss in 5 bouts and it seems any hope he had of fighting for a major title are now dead and buried.

A second of the main bouts saw Al Sabaupan (24-2-1, 19) pull himself off the canvas in the opening round en route to stopping Geisler AP (6-5, 3) in the 3rd round. Geisler is probably best known for being stopped in a round by IK Yang in Macau last year and it's clear that also Sabaupan is exciting he's never going to reach the top. He will however always be fun to watch.

The remaining main bout saw saw Jestoni Autida (7-2, 2)  score a 4th round TKO over the experienced Pit Anacaya (9-25-2, 2).

As well as the 3 headline bouts there was also 5 other bouts. The weakest of these was a 4 rounder which saw Jerwin Mejes (2-1, 2) pick up his second win as he stopped the debuting Ali Francisco (0-1) in the 3rd round. Mejes's win was one of just two stoppages on the under-card with the other one being scored by Philip Luis Cuerdo (7-1, 4) who took out Ryan Bajala (3-2-1, 1) in the second round.

The remaining three undercard bouts all went the distance. Of the three bouts only one of them ended in what we would describe as an upset as Gabriel Royo (10-11-2, 8) managed to overcome Michael Rosal (5-4, 3), though it was a minor upset with Royo taking an 8 round split decision. The other undercard bouts saw Ariel Arevalo (4-1-2, 1) over-come Diover Mangaya-ay (1-6-1) with a 6 round unanimous decision and JayAr Diama (3-5-4, 1) defeat Alberto Pentecostes (1-4-1), also by 6 round unanimous decision.

California, USA
In the US we saw Cruiserweight hopeful Murat Gassiev (20-0, 13) take a stay busy win over Terrance Smith (8-18-3, 5) with Smith being disqualified in the 4th round. Gassiev was well in charge and Smith knew it as the out classed American did all he could to prevent a fight, eventually being DQ'd for his holding.

Cebu, Philippines
This past Sunday may not have been a busy day of action but Filipino fans at the Gaisano Country Mall Parking Lot did get treat to a domestic title fight as well as several promising and unbeaten prospects.

The title fight actually featured one of the most under-rated Filipino prospect's, Melvin Gumban (19-0, 10) who successfully claimed the Philippines Boxing Federation Super Flyweight title with an opening round blow out of Weljan Ugbaniel (13-3-1, 4). We suspected this would actually be a good test for Gumban but he cruised through it with ease and really made a statement with the way in which he won and now we're hoping to see him stepping up a level.

Unfortunately the co-feature was also a blow out as Elmo Traya (7-1, 6) blew out Giovani Rota (8-8, 5) in just 160 seconds. Rota was down 3 times and his lack of durability was shown up as he suffered his 7th stoppage loss in 16 bouts.

One of the most competitive bouts saw Vicente Casido (4-0, 2) claim a very close 6 round majority decision win over the limited Bryan Samson (4-5, 2) in a bout that managed to expose Casido's record somewhat, however at 19 years old Casido does have a lot of time to develop.

Another young and unbeaten fighter on this card was Melvin Jerusalem (4-0, 3) who stopped Rez Padrogane (2-8, 1) in the 2nd round. Padrogane was dropped twice in the round and was stopped for the 5th time in his career.

One other stoppage on this card saw the debuting Joepher Montano (1-0, 1) stop the win-less Junie Villacrucis (0-4) in the 2nd round of a scheduled 4 round.

As well as Monatano's stoppage win we had 3 other 4 round bouts. The closest of those saw Michael Estrella (2-0) extend his winning run with a very narrow majority decision win over the debuting Jonnel Burlado (0-1). Another competitive decision saw Junder Gregorio (2-0) take a well fought decision over Jesson Horteza (1-1). The only shut out decision early on the card saw the heavy handed Gerard Suico (3-0, 2) dominate Junrex Saldivia (0-2), with Saldivia being dropped in the 2nd round.

This past Saturday was the first major day for Asian fight fans as we got a major bout in Asia, some notable debuts and action involving a number of unbeaten prospects. It may not have been a day of world title fights but it's certainly been the highlight of the year so far.

Tokyo, Japan
The biggest of two Asian cards came from the Korakuen Hall and was televised NTV G+, a subscription based channel in Japan. The show was the first Japanese show of the year and featured the first OPBF title fight of 2014 as well as several other notable bouts.

We'll begin with the main event which featured Thailand's very highly regarded Jomthong Chuwatana (9-0, 4) successfully retain the OPBF Super Featherweight title and record his best win to date. Jomthong, defending the belt for the 4th time, looked awful on the scales on Friday but looked brilliant in the ring as he out boxed, out landed and generally out fought the teak tough and Hercules-like Daiki Kaneko (21-4-3, 14). Coming in to the bout it seemed like a 50-50 contest though through the middle rounds it seemed like Jomthong was in a league of his own as he bloodied the face of the Japanese fighter, who had previously given Takashi Uchiyama a tough bout in a world title contest.

Although it's not been stated we now suspect that Jomthong will be hunting a world title bout and on this performance you'd have to give him a chance against any of the current world champions at 130lbs.

In the key support bouts we had Middleweight action with two separate Middleweight bouts.

The more competitive of those Middleweight bouts saw the heavy handed Shoma Fukumoto (6-1, 5) take his first distance win as he took a majority decision over the tough Kazuyuki Fukuyama (9-6, 2). The 8 round win will serve Fukumoto well going forward though we do wonder just how promising he really is.

The other Middleweight bout saw former Japanese Middleweight champion Tomohiro Ebisu (13-4, 13) score an opening round victory over the poor Tatsuro Kawabata (6-6, 2) who really lacked the toughness to hand with Ebisu.

Lower down the card we had a pair of 6 rounders. One of those saw Hideki Suzuki (6-4-1, 1) score his first stoppage win as he stopped the chinny Hikaru Takaki (6-6, 5) with just seconds left in round 5. The other 6 rounder lasted little more than a minute as the heavy handed Naoki Mochizuki (6-1, 5) quickly dispatched Takuma Okara (5-10, 2).

The card began with 4 rounders. One of those was an all debutant contest that saw Masato Niijima (1-0, 1) kick off his career with an opening round win over Kenji Haruta (0-1). Another stoppage on this portion of the card saw Ryosuke Yokota (4-1, 3) stop the previously unbeaten Eisuke Hara (3-1, 2). One unbeaten man who maintained his unbeaten record was Teppei Kayanuma (3-0, 2) who had his stoppage run ended by Seiryu Toshikawa (1-2, 1) in a genuinely competitive contest.

Cotabato del Sur, Philippines
As well as the action in Japan there was also some in the Philippines. This was at a lower level to the Japanese card but still an important one.

In the main event fans saw former Filipino amateur stand out Adam Diu Abdulhamid (4-2, 1) avenge his loss to JR Mendoza (10-18, 4) with a 10 round decision. Abdulhamid lost his first bout with Mendoza in November though will take great solace from this win. Incidentally this is Abdulhamid second rematch with an opponent in just 6 pro bouts and some would have suspect that he's not going tio live up to the expectation many had of him.

In the chief support bout fans saw Ronie Tanallon (5-1-1, 1) take an 8 round decision over journeyman Jonathan Ricablanca (7-46-2, 1) in what was the sole 8 rounder.

Much of this show consisted of 6 round bouts, with two of those going the distance. One of those saw Markquil Salvana (6-0, 1) take a decision win over Dave Ogbamin (2-3-2, 1) whilst the other saw Raymart Gaballo (7-0, 5) take a decision over the debuting Paolo Romero (0-1).

The other 6 rounders were both over quickly with Michael Angelo Plania (4-0, 2) taking out Marwin Cristota (2-12-1, 1) in the 3rd round and Romero Duno (4-0, 3) blowing out Rey Liparanon (4-11-1, 1) inside a round.

In the sole 4 rounder of the card fan saw the debuting Benny Jade Slight (1-0, 1) blast out the win-less Michael Manambay (0-10).

Connecticut, USA
In the US we had a trio of Chinese fighters in action, including 2 debutants and a touted Heavyweight hopeful.

The Heavyweight was Zhang Zhilei (2-0, 2) who scored his second early victory as he took out the much smaller Perry Filkins (0-1) inside a round. To our knowledge Filkins is an MMA fighter and and he may well stay away from boxing after this 70 second defeat. Incidentally Filkin's did last almost a minute longer than Curtis Lee Tate who faced Zhilei in Zhilei's farcical debut.

One of the debutant was Wang Zhimin (1-0), a much touted Chinese fighter than some feel could go a very, very long way. Zhimin took a clear decision over fellow debutant Kin Moy (0-1) and it's hard to see anything but a fantastic future in the sport for Zhimin. The other debutant was Olympian Meng Fanlong (1-0) who over-came Marcellus Yates (0-2) via a majority decision. Strangely Fanlong won a shut out on 2 cards whilst the 3rd judge had it a draw.

(Image courtesy of boxmob.jp)

Sawan Vegas Hotel, Suwannakhet, Laos
This past Friday saw a small profile card in Laos which was televised on Thai TV and featured a pair of title bouts as well as a bout featuring a former world title contender.

The most notable of the bouts, at least for us, was at Super Bantamweight where WBC Asian Boxing Council silver champion Kongthara KKP (7-0, 5) continued his unbeaten run with a clear decision victory over China's debuting Tan Zheng (0-1). For Kongthara this was a second successive distance bout, following his decision win over Nouldy Manakane, and it appears clear that he's proven his stamina. We're now hoping to see him step up in class as he has the ability to go a very long way.

The other title bout saw Nampetch Kwanjaisrikod (4-1, 1) retain her WBC Asian Boxing Council Continental female Light Flyweight title with a 10 round decision victory over China's 21 year old Ouyang Jianping (0-1). For Nampetch this was her second defence of the belt and although she a long, long way from being world class it is nice to see her being kept active and this was her 3rd bout in just 5 months.

The remaining bout saw former world title challenger Pigmy Kokietgym (55-7-2, 22) take a 6 round decision over the debuting Liempetchlek Sor Sekong (0-1).