Queensland, Australia
For many prospects the early part of their career is about building up their record, getting plenty of knock outs and easing themselves into a professional career. This is usually done by facing weak opponents that can be used to pad a record and safely allow a fighter to feel confident in the professional ring. Sometimes however the supposedly "light touch" opponent is tougher and more game than they are supposed to be and they don't just get in the ring to lose, instead they go in with the intention of upsetting the apple cart and taking the unbeaten record of the much hyped fighter. That was exactly what Korea's Young-Don Um (5-2, 2) did this part Wednesday as he took on the very highly touted Damien "Super" Hooper (7-0, 6) and gave Hooper a really good fighter. The first round saw Hooper doing what he's supposed to and make Um look second rate, from then on though Um began to find his confidence and gave Hooper a real test cutting both eyes of the unbeaten man. Unfortunately though Um was unable to keep up the effectiveness in the later rounds though had given Hooper the sort of bout Hooper's team would not have been expecting and has left fans wanting to see much more of the fun to watch Um. On the same card Hooper's compatriot Matt Casboult (4-0, 1) had an easy night with Filipino fighter Mark Ramirez (5-7-1, 1) in a 6 rounder.
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This past Monday wasn't one of boxing's busiest days of 2014 but yet their was title action on a small but interesting card at the Korakuen Hall where the only Asian fights of the day took place. Tokyo, Japan The card, which was promoted by Kadoebi Jewel Promotions featured just 6 bouts in total though was hard to ignore with title fight and several notable fighters in action. The title fight, the main event, was by far the most interesting contest on the show as Japanese Welterweight champion Suyon Takayama (20-1, 7) was dragged into a real fight by challenger Tetsuya Suzuki (29-12, 17). Suzuki, a former Japanese and OPBF Middleweight champion, was written off before the fight but put in a stirring performance to really test Takayama's mettle. Unfortunately for Suzuki he didn't have quite enough to take the victory. Following his loss, we've since heard that Suzuki has announced retirement. Although he went out on a loss he did finish with a very admirable performance and one that will not be forgotten in a hurry. Interestingly the main event was the only bout to reach the scheduled distance. The only other decision on the card came after a early finish from an accidental injury that saw the unbeaten and ranked Gosuke Seki (15-0-2, 3) taking a 6th round technical decison victory over Kazunari Fujisawa (9-12-4, 2). None of the shows other 4 bouts required the judges. The stoppages, in the other 4 bouts, included Yoshihisa Tonimura (17-9-4, 4) taking a very expected victory over debuting Thai Wangthorn Sithsaithong (0-1), who was stopped in round 4. In another mismatch Koji Aoki (16-7-2, 6) stopped the limited Yoshihisa Hirayama (10-10-1, 4) in 3 rounds. One of the better matched bouts, at least on paper, between Yuta Nakagawa (12-4-1, 8) and Kaname Tabei (10-8-2, 7) got as far as round 6 though it was over rather early in the round. Rather amazingly the shortest bout on the show lasted just 139 seconds as Wataru Takeda (1-0-1, 1) scored his first victory stopping the debuting Seita Shimamiya (0-1) in double quick fashion. (Photo courtesy of Boxingnews,jp) Sunday might not be a big day for boxing in the west but this past Sunday was a notable one for Japanese boxing fans who had the chance to see two interesting cards in their country. Aichi, Japan The most notable show of the day was in the International Conference Hall where Hatanaka Promotions put on one of their "SoulBox" shows. The card was headlined by one of the real gems of Japanese boxing, Kosei Tanaka (2-0). Tanaka, dubbed "Knockout Dream Boy", is regarded as not just one of the best young fighters in Japan but world wide and he showed his belief in himself by out pointing world ranked Filipino Ronelle Ferreras (13-7-2, 5) in a scintillating 8 round performance. Although Ferreras came in to the bout the WBA #12 ranked Minimumweight he was unable to ever test Tanaka who was too quick, too skilled and too tough. That's not to say that Ferreras had no success, he did land plenty of body shots, but Tanaka took it all in his stride in an excellent showing that saw him beating his second successive world ranked foe. Right now it seems almost certain that Tanaka will be looking to fight for either a national or OPBF title in his third professional bout and few would doubt his ability to win such a belt later this year. Although Kosei Tanaka is being compared to both Kazuto Ioka and Naoya Inoue the actually comparisons are surprisingly not far out and whilst he may not have the power of those two men he certainly has a similar level of ability. Whilst Kosei was the main event he wasn't actually in a title fight, that was instead the honour that befell the chief support bout which saw the unbeaten Yushi Tanaka (12-0-3, 8) successfully defended his WBC Youth Bantamweight title. Yushi Tanaka, defending his belt for the second time, managed to stop Indonesian challenger John Bajawa (12-6, 6) in round 8. On paper Bajawa was a good test, in reality however the bout was a mismatch considering that a young Ryo Matsumoto stopped Bajawa inside a round just a few fights back. The other notable result from this card that we have at the moment saw the ranked Shota Hayashi (22-5-1, 14) scoring a second round KO over the over-matched Zuri Kannan (15-6-3, 4). The fight, with an official time of 3:07 of round 2, was Kannan's 4th stoppage loss and his third stoppageloss in just 4 fights. Lower down the card Yusuke Nakagawa (6-3-1, 3) scored a second round victory over Masayuki Watanabe Iyonokami (11-8, 4) who was stopped for just the second time in his career whilst Hiroki Yajima (1-4, 1) also scored a second round KO over Yosuke Kato (0-2). The only other bout on the card saw Kazuaki Okada (3-1, 2) out pointing Toshikatsu Nishio (2-2, 1) over 4 rounds. Fukuoka, Japan A second Japanese show took place at the Kyuden Gym in Fukuoka City. This one was headlined by world ranked female action as Yuko Kuroki (9-4-1, 5) stopped the over-matched Aisah Alico (5-3, 4) in just 3 rounds. Kuroki, a former world title challenger, seems likely to be moving back in to world class and another world title fight either this year or next would be likely is she can string together another win or two. Kuroki wasn't the only female to win as Ayaka Sato (1-1, 1) scored a 72 second stoppage over the debuting Sayuri Koto (0-1). The second most notable bout on this card saw the experienced Yosuke Kirima (18-4-2, 13) stopping the debuting Kularob Sor Sompong (0-1) in just 2 rounds. This bout was one of a number of mismatches between Japanese fighters and Thai novices which also saw Aiki Koto (6-1-1, 4) stopping Namphol Sithsaithong (4-7, 4) in a round and also saw Takumi Sakae (8-0, 5) stopping the debuting Slot Sithsaithong (0-1). The stoppages continued through out the card and some of the shows opening bouts also saw early finishes as Yuya Kondo (1-0, 1) scored a 3rd round debut victory over Yu Nomiyama (0-1) whilst Yukinori Yamaguchi (2-0, 1) stopped Rikiya Takekawa (0-1) in the 4th round of their bout. Only 2 bouts on the show actually went the distance. One of these saw Koki Ono (7-2, 4) taking a 6 round unanimous decision over Takayuki Teraji (4-7-1, 3) whilst the debuting Hiroki Goto (1-0) scored a majority decision over Takeshi Oishi (0-2). (Photo courtesy of http://boxingnews.jp and shows Kosei Tanaka landing a right hand on Ronelle Ferreras) This past Saturday was a busy day for fighters from Russia and the Philippines and although not everything went to plan it was certainly a noteworthy day. Metro Manila, Philippines The biggest Asian card of the day took pace in Metro Manila with a staggering 13 bouts on the show. The highest profile bout on the show featured former IBF Minimumweight world champion Florante Condes (27-8-1, 13) who claimed the IBF Pan Pacific Minimumweight title thanks to a 7th round KO over Cris Alfante (10-2, 3). Condes, who has now won 2 fights following more than a year out, seems likely to to try and rebuild himself in to world title fight though it is admittedly still early in his comeback. Although Condes's win was expected the card did have some shocks. One such shock saw the hard hitting Rex Olisa (10-23-1, 8) stopping the once touted Bebong Manalo (8-2, 5) in just 3 rounds. Although Olisa has a poor record he is tough, has power and is dangerous. If fighters think they will be having an easy day with Olisa they are very much mistaken. One bout that went the way we'd have expected saw the win-some lose-some Jonathan Ligas (7-5-1, 1) manage to out point the win-some lose-lots Elbert Guardario (8-24-1, 2) via a hard fought 10 round decision. Likewise Virden Rivera (7-0-1, 2) 10 round victory over Jovill Marayan (8-16-3, 3) was also expected, especially when you consider the lack of power in Rivera's shots. In the shows only bout to be scheduled for 8 rounds we saw an accidental clash of heads call a halt to proceedings in round 6. This saw Romulo Ramayan Jr (6-3-3, 3) and Lester Abutan (5-1-2, 2) needing to settle for a draw with each other. One of the most expected results of the day saw former OPBF title challenger Dennis Tubieron (17-3-1, 8) stopping the over-matched Samuel Apuya (7-17-1, 4) at the end of 2 rounds in one of the 6 round bouts. The other 6 rounders also saw the "expected" winners coming out on top as Kenjie Monenio (6-3-3, 1) stopped Mabert Paulino (2-17, 5), Roldan Aldea (7-1-1, 3) out pointed Jomar Borbon (3-17-2, 1) and Lionel Mark Duran (12-10-2, 5) took a decision over the relatively hapless Roy Albaera (2-22-5). In the shows 4 rounder bouts we saw mixed results for debutants. We Joe Noynay (3-0) widely defeat his debuting opponent Vicencio Rubas (0-1), in an all debutant bout Mark Baribar (1-0) took a clear decision over Joshro Lindon (0-1), whilst Jun Blaso (1-0, 1) marked his debut with an early victory over Jomar Manlangit (0-2). The only of the 4 rounders with out a debutant saw Pablo Gabunia (4-2, 2) wipe out the win-less Charlie Gabriel (0-5) inside a round. Moscow, Russia If there was something that we seemed to get a lot of today it was Russian Crusierweights with an impressive array of them in action. Amongst them was the WBC Asian Boxing Council Cruiserweight champion Maxim Maslov (13-1-1, 8) who defended his belt courtesy of a clear and dominant decision over Azerbaijan's 30 year Anar Mammadov (6-2). Mammadov, fighting in his first title bout, really did look like a novice and failed to win a round on any of the cards. Another title bout involving a Russian Cruiserweight saw recent world title challenger Rakhim Chakhkiev (18-1, 14) claim the WBC Silver Cruiserweight title with a dominant victory over the over-matched, though game, Juho Haapoja (10-5-1, 13) who was stopped in the 9th round. In a third title bout Grigory Drozd (38-1, 27) quickly took out France's Jeremy Ouanna (14-9, 3) inside a round. The bout, a clear mismatch on paper, lasted just 160 seconds. As well as the Cruiserweight bouts in Moscow there was 3 other bouts. The highest profile of those saw Sergey Ekimov (9-0, 3) taking a decision over Britain's light punching Nathan King (13-22, 1) whilst another saw the unbeaten Mikhail Smirnov (6-0, 3) took a 6 round decision over the debuting Davron Mamedov (0-1). The remaining bout saw Super Bantamweight debutant Evgeny Smirnov (1-0, 1) scoring a debut victory over the more experienced Vladislav Sagalakov (2-12, 1) who was stopped in the second round. Liverpool, England Staying with Russian's they unfortunately didn't have a great time outside of Moscow. This was partly shown in Liverpool where former world title challenger Valery Brudov (41-5, 28) was stopped in the 12th round. Brudov, attempting to claim the WBO international Cruiserweight title, gave a great effort against Tony Bellew (21-2-1, 13) though was stopped by the fofmer Light Heavyweight title challenger. The bout, a good one over-all, may end up being Brudov's final as a professional given that he is now 37 and hasn't really got anywhere to go for another big pay day. Pennsylvania, USA The lack of Russian success on foreign soil was also seen in the US where Light Heavyweight Denis Grachev (13-3-1, 8) lost to the talented Isaac Chilemba (22-2-2, 9). Chilemba, himself a former opponent of Tony Bellew, was too complete for Grachev who was repeatedly tagged by straight shots from an often moving target. Grachev, to his credit, proved he was tough though his technical limitations did let him down massively here. California, USA It wasn't all bad for Russian's though with Maxim Vlasov (29-1, 14) restoring a bit of faith for Russian boxing fans due to a decision win over American journeyman Derrick Findley (20-13-1, 1). It was an expected victory but still a good one following the losses for Russian's fighting out of their homeland. KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa As well as the poor results for Russian's fighting outside of Russia things didn't much better for Filipino's fighting outside of the Philippines and in South African Jether Oliva (20-2-2, 10) came up short in an IBO Flyweight title bout. Oliva, fighting former IBF champion Moruti Mthalane (30-2, 20), put up a stirring effort but didn't quite do enough to convince enough of the judges to give him decision, though Filipino judge Danrex Tapdasan did give the fight to his countryman. Although Oliva lost he certainly didn't harm his reputation and many who saw this will want to see him in another major contest sooner rather than later. Baja California Sur, Mexico Things were worse for Filipino Silvester Lopez (21-7-2, 15) who, in Mexico, suffered his second stoppage loss inside a year. Lopez, fighting against Mexico's hard hitting Rey Vargas (19-0, 16), lasted until round 8 though was unable to repeatedly take the heavy shots of the destructive Mexican. Lopez, a former world title challenger, has now lost 3 of his last 4. We hope to bring you results from two cards in the Philippines sooner rather than later, though they are currently unavailable. (Picture, of Lopez, is courtesy of Boxrec.com) This past Friday was a funny day for Asian boxing fans. It was funny because the most notable bouts featuring Asian fighters weren't in Asia and in fact the only competitive match ups were also not in Asia. That's not to say Asian's were in mismatches outside the continent but the most clear mismatches happened close to home.
Lop Buri, Thailand The only Asian card of the day was in Thailand and was a shown on Channel 7. The show, promoted by Kokietgym, has only got 3 results currently available though they do somewhat show the mismatched nature of the action. The most notable fighter on show was former interim world champion Paipharob Kokietgym (23-0, 18) who scored an expected stoppage victory over the over-matched Johan Wahyudi (9-28, 5) who had already been stopped 13 times. Paipharob, a very talented fighter, obviously used this bout to stay sharp and stay active but Wahyudi was really an unfit opponent having not won in almost 2 years. Whilst the Paipharob fight was a mismatch from the onset we do need to applaud Saiyok Kokietgym (2-0, 2) who claimed the WBC silver Asia Welterweight title by stopping the usually durable You-Jie Zeng (5-6, 5) who had never been stopped before. Whilst this was a corner stoppage it was still a fantastic victory for Saiyok who is clearly one to watch despite his novice status. Hopefully it won't be a year before he returns to the ring again. The only other result from the show that we currently have is that Petchchorhae Kokietgym (4-0, 2) scored a credible decision victory over Indonesia's experienced Heri Amol (34-15-5, 14). Queensland, Australia Whilst the card in Thailand was the only on in Asia there was also a show in Australia that featured more than it's share of Asian fighters. One of the bouts in Australia saw Thailand's Jaikom Paitoon (1-3) being very narrowly out pointed in a 3 round split decision by the previously win-less Cory Hess (1-1). In an all Asian bout the Australian based Filipino Jack Asis (30-18-5, 15) managed to out point Indonesia's Arief Blader (20-13-1, 7) in an 8 rounder. This bout looked like it could have been competitive on paper though Asis seemed to be the boss from the first round to the last in an excellent shut out victory. Whilst those two other bouts featured Asian fighters it's fair to say that the real attention of the day was on the bout featuring Indonesian Eddy Comaro (27-18-5, 11) who travelled to Australia to fight the ever popular Michael Katsidis (29-6, 24). Comaro, given the opportunity of a life time, was battered, beaten and demolished by Katsidis who scored knockdowns in rounds 2 and 3 to finish the show. It often seems that boxing goes through quiet periods only to be followed up by a show that is both exciting in terms of the fights or fighters on it or interesting in terms of the significance of fights taking place. This past Tuesday however fans got treat to a show that bad both excitement and significance. Tokyo, Japan The card, the only Asian one of the day, took place at the fabled Korakuen Hall and saw two title bouts as well as 4 non-title bouts. The first bouts on the show saw less than 3 completed rounds of action as Gen Kawasaki (1-1, 1) stopped Ryo Irie (1-4, 1) in the second round and the debuting Noko Takagi (1-0, 1) took just 155 seconds to see of fellow debutant Yuki Nakagawa (0-1). Unfortunately these weren't the only quick blow outs. In a Middleweight attraction Japan's Shoma Fukumoto (3-1, 3) made very light work of Korean champion Kyung-Joon Ahn (6-2-1, 5) who lasted in to the third round. Fukumoto, fighting for the first time since suffering a "shock" stoppage loss to Arnel Tinampay, showed off his power and strength though some question marks about his toughness will remain. The only other non-title bout on the show could only be described as a mismatch with Cobra Suwa (13-11-2, 6) scoring a 155 second KO over the still winless Thai Chokchalerm Wor Surapol (0-6). This was the Thai's 6th straight stoppage loss and it'd be a surprise if he saw that run coming to an end any time soon The first of the two title fights looked like a great one on paper as former world title challenger Saemi Hanagata (9-4-2, 4) fought the unbeaten Satomi Nishimura (6-1, 1). The big question going in into this one was "how good is Nishimura really?" and "Will Hanagat be able to bounce back from some disappointing results?". Both of those questions was answered in round 5 with Hanagata stopping Nishimura to claim the OPBF female Minimumweight title. The second of the title fights turned out to be the show stealer as Koji Numata (21-7-2, 16), the #3 ranked, fought compatriot Takehiro Shimokawara (19-8-3, 6), the #8 ranked challenger for the vacant OPBF Light Middleweight title. The two men, seen in the photograph, took it in turns to take rounds in a brilliant and highly competitive bout that swung one way and then the next and by the end nether man was going to be confident they had done enough. The even nature of the bout saw few complaining with the draw though Numata, a former Japanese Welterweight champion, did announce his retirement following the contest. (Picture courtesy of boxingnews.jp) This past Sunday may have been a relatively quiet day in world boxing though it still managed to have two cards and two title fights in Asia. Osaka, Japan The most notable card of the day was in Japan where former Japanese female amateur stand out Yoshikawa Nana (3-0, 1) was in action. Nana, who has been a professional for less than 7 months, was taking on the highly ranked Thai Krikanok Islandmuaythai (4-4-1, 2) in a battle for the vacant OPBF Light Flyweight. Krikanok, who had previously fought Momo Koseki for the WBC Atomweight title, lasted less than a round with Nana who announced herself in a very impressive way. As well as he title fight this show featured a further 8 bouts. These all seemed be either very competitive or very one sided. Amongst the most one sided bouts were 4 early knockouts including a first round blow out for Shota Kawaguchi (17-4-1, 7) who needed 152 seconds to put away Thai debutant Kulathawat Pengsaengthong (0-1). Another first round blow out saw Masashi Wakita (3-1, 1) score his first stoppage by defeating Takuya Hashimoto (3-4, 3) in just 86 seconds. As well as the 2 opening round blow outs we also saw a pair of second round victories with Yuta Uetani (14-5-1, 6) stopping Thailand's Sunthornpetch Korat Sports School (0-1) 32 seconds into the round and Shingo Kawamura (9-1, 4) taking 64 seconds of the round to defeat Masami Moriizumi (5-3-1, 4) who had never previously been stopped. The sole one sided bout that went the distance was a near shut out decision victory for Shunji Nagata (8-11-2, 3) over Takashi Nishimura (8-12-1, 1) in one of the better matched bouts "on paper". Although Nagata/Nishimura turned out to be one sided not all the contests did. Amongst those given a close run was Toshiya Yokogawa (6-5-1, 5 who scored his first decision victory, a split decision, by taking a 6 round victory over the tough Riichi Kawase (4-6-2, 1). Yokogawa's victory was one of two split decisions on the show with Shachihoko Dragons Keita (3-2, 1) also taking a split decision as he defeated the previously unbeaten Kosei Toyoda (1-0-1). The one remaining bout on the show was a 4 round majority decision which saw Michio Mizuno (1-1-1) defeat Ken Chandra Kozuki (1-2). The men were split by just 1 point on two of the score cards. Mamasa, Indonesia Although we don't have many of the results from the Japanese card we do have a full card's worth of results from Indonesia where there was a 4 fight show. The undercard here saw a series of early knockouts with Ibrahim Usman (1-1, 1) stopping the debuting Philipus Ndawa Laki (0-1), Een Nuryanto (4-2, 1) beating the win-less Mico Stone (0-2) and Sahlan Coral (11-2, 5) defeating Ray Rahardjo (4-8-3, 2). All of these bouts were stopped in the second round. The only Indonesia bout to go beyond a round saw Larry Siwu (13-4, 11) stopping Untung Ortega (10-15-3, 6) in 3 rounds to claim the vacant Indonesia Boxing Commission (KTI/IBC) Welterweight title. This is Siwu's second Indonesia title having previously held a Lightweight title and was also his 11th straight victory. (Photo courtesy of http://www.ynana.jp) Saturday seemed to feature no action in Asia though it did feature numerous fights involving Asian fighters in various parts of the world. Unfortunately however they didn't tend to fair very well in what probably should go down as a bad day for Asian boxing. Nevada, USA The highest profile bout was in the USA where Teiken promoted Venezuelan Jorge Linares (36-3, 23) managed to take a clear but hard fought decision over Japan's very own Nihito Arakawa (24-4-1, 16). The bout, which had great promise from the off, proved to be one sided though was never dull. Linares, by far the more complete boxer, showed off all the traits that make him so great to watch and unloaded some wonderful combinations on to Arakawa who showed his toughness by walking through the shots in an attempt to grind down the more talented fighters. Though the bout was a title eliminator it was oddly scheduled for just 10 rounds and this certainly seemed to help Linares who still, unbelievably, hasn't completed the 12 round distance. The victory for Linares is likely to put him into a WBC Lightweight title fight with the big punching Omar Figueroa whilst the loss for Arakawa leaves him in a bit of a no-mans land. American fans would likely be happy to welcome Arakawa back again, he has made fans and impressed with his toughness, though who he would fight could be a question. Oddly though we don't think fans would care too much on who he fights as long as he's matched with someone who likes a fight for example Takashi Miura's old opponent Sergio Thompson, who also fought on the same card. Queensland, Australia Whilst Arakawa's loss in the US was by far the biggest bout featuring an Asian the majority of them actually took place in Australia with 6 different fighters from Asian being featured. Unfortunately they faired just as badly as Arakawa. The first to lose what Thai debutant Artit Jumpatong (0-1) who was stopped in 2 rounds by fellow debutant James Katz (1-0, 1) at the very end, 2:59, of round 2. Although Artit was taken out quicker than any of the other Asian's on the card he did technically only survive 21 seconds less fighting time than compatriot Ngaotawan Sithsaithong (10-13-1, 5) who was stopped after 20 seconds of round 3 by Jason Cooper (9-2-1, 4). Cooper, by no means a great fighter, bounced back well following a decision loss in China to Qiu Xiao Jun back in February. A third Thai, Non Sithsaithong (11-6, 7), suffered a similar fate. Non was also stopped in round 3, although he did last over 2 minutes longer than Ngaotawan, as he fell in his battle with Brett William Smith (18-2-1, 9) in the show's main event. Things weren't much better for Filipino's with Michael Correa (3-9-3, 1) being forced to retire after 4 rounds against the wonderfully talented and very promising Cameron Hammond (8-0, 4) and the tough Roberto Oyan (20-42-5, 7) being out pointed over 6 rounds by Waylon Law (8-5, 2). Oddly the one Asian who did put up a great fight was a Korean. That was Hwi Jong Kim (5-11, 1) who was unfortunate to drop a split decision to Brent Elliot (11-4-3, 3). Kim came in to this fight in no form at all with 5 straight losses and just 1 win in his last 10 though gave Elliot a very good run for his money in a tough scrap for both. (Photo courtesy of http://boxingnews.jp) The biggest fights of this weekend are all on Saturday, no argument there, though Friday did have it's share of interesting bouts in Asia with a card in Thailand and a card in Japan. Bangkok, Thailand It was the card in Bangkok, Thailand that was first to take place and was televised, in it's entirety, on Thai Channel 7. Originally the only bout we knew was taking place was that of former world champion Suriyan Sor Rungvisai (34-5-1, 15), pictured, who was defending his WBC Asian Boxing Council Bantamweight title for the third time. Unfortunately Suriyan was in with an over-matched foe in the form of Albert Alcoy (14-18-7, 4) who stood no chance. Alcoy tried as he hard as he could though he was quickly despatched by the talented Suriyan who is almost certainly looking for another world title fight later this year. Although Suriyan was the "known bout" on the card it wasn't the show's opener. That honour instead fell to the unbeaten, though entirely untested, Kongfah Nakornluang (11-0, 5) who put in a dull and uninspired performance to out-point the awfully limited Safwan Lombok (1-23-1). We're wondering what Narkornluang Promotions are treating Kongfah with kiddy gloves, they are certainly doing him a dis-service and he really should be facing more notable opponents by now than fighters like Safwan. Whilst Suriyan is a former world champion their was also a current world champion on the show in the form of Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (26-3-1, 24) who scored a straight forward stay busy victory over the debuting Den Nattapol Gym (0-1) inside a round. The bout was a mismatch though it was clearly used to keep Srisaket in shape and draw extra attention to the card with the current WBC Super Flyweight champion having some "name value". This was amazingly Srisaket's third victory of the year and it seems he is just staying active whilst details of his WBC world title defense with Carlos Cuadras are finalised. As well as the three bouts already mentioned the show had a pair of much lesser bouts. These saw Yodpichai Sithsaithong (10-11, 4) stopping recent world title challenger Lookrak Kiatmungmee (7-6, 4) inside a round, much quicker than the then WBC Minimumweight champion Xiong Zhao Zhong, and Chatchai Sithsaithong (2-5, 1) scoring his first KO as he defeated the debuting Fahpetchnoi Muangsima (0-1). Tokyo, Japan As well as the show in Thailand there was also a small card at the Korakuen Hall in Japan. The show, which featured 6 bouts in total had several interesting bouts. The first of the bouts we have the result for saw the hard hitting Kenta Nakagawa (7-2, 5) managing stop the limited, though powerful, Takeshi Hagiwara (7-8-3, 6) in just 3 rounds. This was just the second stoppage loss in Hagiwara's 18 fight career though it was just the second time he had faced someone with real power and he's probably not as tough as some would expect considering the low quality he's been in the ring with. The second bout we had the result for was from the bout involving Yuya Sugizaki (19-9-1, 6) and Kazuya Soma (6-5-2, 5). On paper it was a match up between Sugizaki's experienced and Soma's power and in the case the experience was the big difference between the two fighters with Sugizaki taking a unanimous decision over this big punching bit limited foe. It was in show's 5th overall bout that we actuallyhad the most important contest as former female world champion Tenkai Tsunami (20-9, 9) successfully claimed the previously vacant OPBF female Bantamweight title. Tsunami, fighting for the second time this year, used her experience and toughness to see off the hard hitting but limited Honey Katsumata (6-3, 6). Katsumata, who is a big puncher, had never fought near the level of Tsunami and the difference told as Katsumata was stopped in round 7, the first time she had gone beyond 6 rounds. The show closed out with an upset as Tsukasa Saito (18-3, 13) was stopped at the hands of the supposedly light hitting Hirotsugu Yamamoto (17-9-2, 3). The bout, which was in the final round of a scheduled 8, was just 22 seconds from going to the scorecards. On the undercard Shoji Ebisawa (5-1) managed to out point the limited Keita Kurihara (3-3, 3) over 4 rounds whilst novice Daisuke Uchikawa (1-1-1, 1) picked up his first victory courtesy of a 3rd TKO over the debuting Kimihiro Suda (0-1). California, USA In the US two Russian's were in action. The first of those was Khabir Suleymanov (16-4, 6) who was easily defeated by the unbeaten Roman Morales (18-0, 9). Suleymanov was dropped numerous times and looked incredibly poor in terms of skills, balance and durability and he did relatively well to actually see out the final bell. The second Russian in action was Rustam Nugaev (27-6-1, 17) who was very fortunate to defeat Mexico's Marvin Quintero (25-5, 21). Quintero seemed to win the first 4 rounds though unfortunately was forced to retire between rounds 4 and 5 with an injured hand. Prior to the stoppage it appeared that Quintero was bossing the fight with movement, combinations and accurate punching and Nugaev will certainly feel relieved that he had this lucky break, excuse the pun Estonia, Kohtla-Järve It wasn't all bad for Russian's on the road however and in Estonia, of all places, the very promising Aik Shakhnazaryan (11-0, 4) scored his biggest win. The Russian, fighting against Uzbekistan's Alisher Rahimov (25-3, 12) became the first man to stop Rahimov who was stopped just a minute in to round 2. Amazingly good win for the man known as "The Humanoid". (Photo courtesy of boxrec.com) Wednesday didn't see a lot of boxing in Asia though there was one notable show. Japan-Tokyo The show in question was a Dangan Class B torunament show which featured a total of 8 bouts, including 7 Class B bouts. The first bout was a non-Class B bout which saw Shinya Aso (1-0, 1) scoring a 58 second stoppage over Akira Onishi (0-1). This all debutant contest was over in a blink of an eye and was a very impressive victory for Aso. Aso's stoppage was the question on the card. The second quickest was scored by Kazuki Matsuyama (8-5, 4) who stopped Yuzo Mitani (5-3, 2) in the second round of the scheduled 5 rounds. This was Mitani's third stoppage loss in 4 bouts and his second successive. The other two stoppages came in round 4 as Shota Kumazawa (6-5-1, 5) scored a victory in a shoot out with Ryuta Nakajima (5-3-1, 4) whilst, in another shoot out, Ken Otokawa (6-4, 5) stopped Takuya Matsusaka (5-3, 5). Of the bouts that didn't see a stoppage the clearest winner was Takumi Takahashi (5-3-1, 1) who took a clear unanimous decision over Tatsuya Mukai (5-3-2, 1). Takahashi was one of two men who claimed a unanimous decision with other being from Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi (7-5-1, 3) who claimed a very narrow decision over the once promising Jun Koseki (7-2, 3). There was very little to separate Ryoichi Tamura (2-1) who narrowly took a majority decision over Naoya Okamoto (7-4, 4) in a highly competitive bout. Although Tamura did turn professional with high expectation it seems like his career is going to fall a long, long way short of what he's have hoped. The one remaining bout saw Masatoshi Tomita (5-6-1) fighting to a draw with Ryo Hishikawa (5-3-1, 2). (Courtesy of http://danganboxing.com) |
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