It's rare for a Tuesday to be a big day in boxing but this past Tuesday was a major day in Asia with a trio of title fights and two major shows. Bangkok, Thailand The first of the shows was in Thailand and televised, at least partly, on Thai Channel 7. Not only was the Thai card the first show to get under-way but in terms of significance it also had the "biggest" bout of the day as WBA "interim" Flyweight champion Yodmongkol Vor Saengthep (34-2, 20) defended his title for the first time. Yodmongkol had genuinely impressed when he won the title ripping it from the hands of Japan's exciting but limited Koki Eto. Unfortunately though this time he disappointed us. Fighting against Takuya Kogawa (22-4, 13) we knew this was set to be a good fight and proved every bit as good as anticipated though it was Kogawa making much of the action and bringing the fight with amazing combinations and bundles of energy. Unfortunately for him however the judges weren't impressed and it was Yodmongkol, pictured, who controversially retained his title. Whilst Kogawa had impressed there was some suggestion after the fight that he's considering retirement. We're really hoping that he doesn't as he proved himself here and he belongs in other top fights amongst some of the best at 112. Another man who impressed on the show was Thai novice Palangpol CP Freshmart (2-0, 2) who scored a hugely impressive stoppage over Indonesia's experienced Jack Amisa (20-30-2, 14). Whilst Amisa is beatable and has regularly lost through his career he rarely gets stopped and very rarely gets beaten by such a novice. Excellent win by Palangpol. The only other bout on the show that we have the result for saw former world title challenger Panomroonglek Kaiyanghadaogym (39-2, 22) stopping Rick Paciones (6-17-2, 3) in 3 rounds. Tokyo, Japan Over in Japan we had two national fights on an excellent domestic show. The first of those title fights saw the excellent and unbeaten Hiroki Okada (8-0, 7) managing to over-come his toughest so far. Okada, fighting against Masayoshi Kotake (9-8-1, 5), was taken the distance for the first time though did more than enough to secure the Japanese Light Welterweight title. The second title fight saw a slight upset as Tadashi Yuba (45-9-2, 32) lost his Japanese Light Middleweight title to Takayuki Hosokawa (25-10-3, 8) via a majority decision. Yuba, aged 37, now seems likely to retire and hang up his gloves after a memorable and historic career. As well as the title fights there were a further 5 bouts on the card. These included a 6th round KO victory for Masahiro Ishida (14-5-2, 8) who saw off the over-matched Ryuta Wakamatsu (9-9, 6). Ishida's victory was one of two stoppages on the card alongside one scored by Hideto Miyoshi (7-2-1, 5) who stopped Hitoshi Ando (4-6-1, 3). The biggest name on the under-card was Dai Iwai (14-3-1, 5) who managed to win a competitive 8 round decision over Shogo Ishikawa (10-6, 3). Another victory on the under-card was scored by Yoshiyuki Takabayashi (7-3, 3) who managed to score a 5 round victory over Ryuto Araya (5-2-1). The only other bout on the show show saw Mitsumasa Takahashi (8-4-1, 2) fighting to a draw with Takeshi Goda (7-2-1, 2). (Picture courtesy of WBAnews.com)
0 Comments
Tokyo, Japan In Japan March 3rd is a special festival called "Doll's Day" to celebrate this Japanese promoters put on a great show full of female fighters as a special thank you to the ladies of Japanese boxing. This particular, "G Legend 6" featured 6 bouts in total including 3 world title fights. The undercard kicked off with two bouts scheduled for 4 rounds. One of these 4 rounders was an all debutant bout which saw Chie Higano (1-0) narrowly over-come Maho Isono (0-1) via an incredibly close split decision. The other of the 4 rounders saw Yunoka Furukawa (2-1-2, 2) scoring a second round stoppage against Marina Isami (2-2). As well as the 4 rounders the show also featured a 6 round bout which saw Kai Johnson (4-5-3, 1) scoring her most notable victory to date. Johnson, fighting Tamao Ozawa (6-2, 2), was expected to lose though managed to take out Ozawa in just 2 rounds to secure a genuinely notable victory. Following the under-card bouts we then moved onto the first of the world title bouts which saw the talented, though nervous, Naoko Shibata (12-3, 3) making the first defense of her IBF Light Flyweight title. Shibata, who won her belt last time out narrowly over-coming Alondra Garcia, dominated Mexican challenger Guadalupe Martinez (6-6, 3) in a very one sided contest that helped establish Shibata on the world stage. Following Shibata's defense we then moved on to another world title bout. This time it was the turn of WBC Atomweight champion Momo Koseki (18-2-1, 5) who recorded a Japanese national record tying 13th world title defense. Koseki, fighting against the previously unbeaten Angor Onesongchaigym (5-1, 3), was simply too strong for her challenger and eventually stopped the Thai late in round 9. Koseki wasn't the only Atomweight champion to defend her belt as WBA champion Ayaka Miyao (17-5-1, 2) made the 4th defense of her belt. Miyao saw off Buangern OnesongchaiGym (10-5-1, 1) in just 5 rounds to maintain her reign as champion and score just her second professional stoppage. (Picture courtesy of Boxmob) Sometimes boxing can be a strange business. We can have the biggest punchers in the world fighting and we end up going to the cards or we can have powderpuff punchers managing to find a stoppage. The sport, for all it's worth, is unpredictable. That was shown on Sunday in the only Asian card of the day.
Camiguin, Philippines The card, at the Agoho Tiger Boxing Club had just 5 fights in total though seemed to have a bit of everything. The undercard, which consisted of 2 bouts scheduled for 6 rounds lasted just 2 rounds. These saw the promising Light Flyweight Charles Canedo (7-0, 4) stopping Marwin Cristota (2-10-1, 1) and the other saw "non puncher" Rimar Metuda (3-0, 1) blowing out Joel Escol (7-14-3, 4) in what was a huge step up for the 19 year Metuda. With 2 undercard bouts being blow outs the fans may have expected to see more from the main card. That however wasn't as forth coming as perhaps expected. The main card was 3 bouts scheduled for 8 rounds. One of those saw another blow out as the big hitting Jeson Umbal (6-1, 6) swiftly took out Al Grumo (7-8, 1). Thankfully though the other two bouts on the card did go the distance. These distance bouts saw a slight shock as Richard Betos (21-8-1, 7) defeated the big punching Rege Pahayag (6-2, 5) via decision over the 8. Pahayag was the only big puncher on the show to lose as fellow banger Jenny Boy Buca (7-1, 6) took a decision over tough journeyman Amero Ricablanca (7-42-2, 1) to claim his first decision victory. Boxing through February was a bit disappointing if we're all being honest with ourselves. Thankfully it seems like March is going to be exactly the opposite and it kicked off in style this past Saturday with major cards held in both Japan and the Philippines. Metro Manila, Philippines The bigger of the two major Asian cards of the day was "Pinoy Pride XXIV" and took place in the Philippines. On paper it looked like their was a few good bouts on it though the surprise bout of the day was one of the contests that looked like a mismatch proved to be the fight of the day. The main event on the show saw the unbeaten Genesis Servania (24-0, 10) continuing to impress as he stopped former 2-time WBA Super Flyweight champion Alexander Munoz (36-6, 28). Servania dropped Munoz several times and although he was cut himself he was dominant, sharp and showed off all the traits that have Filipino fans so excited about him. Although Munoz showed off his toughness he was stopped in round 12 with the referee deciding enough was enough and giving the young Servania his 4th stoppage victory in 5 bouts. Servania's impressive performance in the main event came fellow prospect "Prince" Albert Pagara (19-0, 13) put on scintillating performance to stop Indonesia's Isack Junior (22-5-2, 8) inside a round. The fight, which ended with a devastating body shot, hardly saw Junior throw a punch before crumpling to the canvas in absolute agony. It was little surprise that Junior stayed down for the full 10 count and he'd have been happy for the referee to count to 100 and remained on the canvas. The one fight that was supposed to be a mismatch turned out to be anything but as "King" Arthur Villanueva (25-0, 14) was dragged in to an all out war with late replacement Fernando Aguilar (9-7, 1). Aguilar, a late replacement for the injured Juan Hernandez, forced the action through out and although he was bloodied he refused to ever believe he was beaten in a bout that can only be described as a war. Unfortunately for Aguilar fighting away from his native Mexico likely cost him a draw in a bout that should serve as a real wake up call for Villanueva whose world rankings didn't reflect the skill he displayed here. On the undercard the very promising and highly touted Mark Magsayo (5-0, 4) recorded a 6th round knock out over Roy-Roy Sumugat (9-10-1, 3) to continue his impressive winning streak. Going in to this bout Magsayo had never been beyond 4 rounds so will have been very pleased to have gotten a few rounds under his belt. The unbeaten fighters really were on a role through the under card with Melvin Gumban (16-0, 8 KOs) stopping the limited Dino Lelis (10-12-2, 5) in round 5 and Cuba's Reymi Castellano Aleye (4-0, 1) easily out pointed Diover Mangaya-ay (1-4) in what proved to be a mismatch. Amazingly only a single fighter with a loss actually managed to score a victory as the much touted Vic Saludar (3-1, 3) over-came the previously unbeaten Philip Luis Cuerdo (3-1, 1), who in turn was the only unbeaten fighter to suffer a loss on the card. Tokyo, Japan As well as the show in the Philippines there was also a big show in Tokyo. This card was headlined by the much anticipated rematch between Akio Shibata (22-8-1, 9) and Daisuke Nakagawa (22-4-2, 17). The bout, which pitted the OPBF Middleweight champion against the Japanese Middleweight champion saw Shibata recording his second decision victory over Nakagawa who was just a bit too slow for the accurate and light hitting Shibata. With the victory Shibata unifies both the Japanese and OPBF Middleweight titles and bounces back well following his loss last year to the then debuting Ryota Murata. The Shibata/Nakagawa bout wasn't the only Japanese Middleweight bout on the card. Another, on the undercard, saw Hikaru Nishida (10-6-1, 3) upset former world title challenger Makoto Fuchigami (20-9, 11). Nishida, who was just 6-6-1 (1) a year ago has really turned his career around in very impressive fashion with not just this victory but also one over Kazuhiko Hidaka and probably deserves a fight with Shibata, even though he would clearly be the under-dog. As for Fuchigami he's fallen a long way from fighting Gennady Golovkin less than 2 years ago. A third notable bout on this show saw the world ranked Shin Ono (17-5-2, 2) taking a 5th round technical decision over the massively over-matched Takumi Suda (10-10-2, 2). This was Ono's second bout since suffering a major tendon injury and whilst he clearly won this fight we are curious as to whether or not he's confident in himself to take on a more competitive opponent. In one more notable match up the hard hitting Kenichi Ogawa (11-1, 9) stopped Indonesian Yon Armed (11-5-1, 6) in just 2 rounds. The bout was a mismatch with the power puncher simply having far to much for the visitor. On the undercard Hisashi Owada (5-8) narrowly over-came Kenichi Ohara (4-8) in an excellent 6 round match up that was about as even as they come. It may have been a "throw away" match for many though this sort of competitive match making is what makes Japanese boxing so good. The show also saw Shinya Ito (1-1) defeat Takumu Kawano (0-2) via decision and Kensuke Sasaki (1-1) stopping Thai visitor Yodradab Jor Perm Thongmak (0-2) in 3 rounds. Victoria, Australia "Down under" we saw Ibrahim Balla (4-0, 3) score his third successive victory over a Thai opponent as he took out Thongtaeng Muangsima (5-4) in just 2 rounds. Whilst this was Balla's third victory against a Thai it was his fourth straight against a fighter from Asia. (Picture of Shibata landing a punch on Nakagawa is courtesy of http://boxingnews.jp) February has, on the whole, been a disappointing day with only a handful of notable contests. Thankfully though the month did end on a high with a trio of notable Asian cards. Bangkok, Thailand The first of the cards took place in Thailand and was televised on Thai Channel 7. The show, which featured a total of 4 bouts, including a title bout, was arguable the show with the most significant fight of the day on it. The notable fight in question saw the world ranked Noknoi Sitthiprasert (48-4, 28), pictured, successfully defending his WBC international Silver Flyweight title against the previously unbeaten Rajah Renoel Pael (12-1-1, 5) of the Philippines. Unfortunately for Pael he was denied what seemed like a clear victory with the judges some how preferring the work of Noknoi who was very fortunate to retain his belt. Fights like this one explain why Thailand do struggle to get over top class fighters. The judging is simply too questionable and with Noknoi's world rankings, including a WBC #4 and WBA #5 placings, there was no chance he was going to lose unless Pael could knock him out. Very unfortunate for the poor Filipino. Thankfully no other bout on this card much in terms of controversy, though unfortunately they weren't great match ups. The most notable of which included the promising Petch Sor Chitpattana (24-0, 16), who stopped the debuting Carlo Bavetta (0-1) in 4 rounds. The other two bouts saw novices fighting each other with Petchchumpol Sor Visetkit (2-1, 1) defeating the debuting Kengkaj Sakpracha (0-1) via a decision and Morakote Patanakan Gym (3-3, 1) stopping Petch Twins Gym (1-4) in just 3 rounds. Tokyo, Japan Although the most important bout of the day was in Thailand the best shows were both in Japan. These included "Dangan 94" which was headlined by a fantastic international contest between a highly regarded Japanese fighter and a world ranked Filipino. The fighters alluded to were WBO #12 ranked Light Welterweight Jimrex Jaca (39-7-3, 22) and former Japanese national champion at 140lbs Shinya Iwabuchi (23-4, 19). The fight started well for Jaca who looked sharp from the opening round and dropped Iwabuchi in the first half of the fight. Unfortunately for the Filipino he was unable to see off the brave Japanese fighter who began to turn the fight around as it progressed and eventually stopped Jaca in round 7 with the Filipino being saved after taking some bombs. Below the main event this show had a notable upset as Koji Umetsu (21-14-3, 9) defeated Tsuyoshi Tojo (12-13-3, 2). On paper we accept this wasn't a shock but Tojo was the #1 ranked Japanese Super Featherweight challenger whilst Umetsu was unranked. As a result of this bout we expect to see a major shake up of the domestic rankings. Further down this card, though staying with the more important under-card bouts Koshinmaru Saito (20-5-1, 11) stopped Yuichi Ideta (13-10-1, 7) in 6 rounds and Yusaku Kuga (8-1-1, 5) stopped Yuki Iwasaki (11-5, 6) in round 5. On the undercard, where we had 4 other bouts. This included the shows opening 4 rounders which saw Gaku Sato (1-1) take a split decision over Takaya Tsuji (1-3, 1) and Kazunori Sato (2-4, 2) stopping the debuting Masato Nunotani (0-1). As for the 6 rounders, they saw Norimitsu Ebine (9-7-1, 6) taking 6 rounds to stop Yuichi Asano (7-8-1 6) in a bout that looked like a shoot out on paper, and Tomoyuki Kaneko (7-2, 4) taking less than a round to defeat Takuma Okada (4-9, 2). Hyogo, Japan A second major card, "Real Spirits 35", was held in Japan in Hyogo. This card, a 7 bout show, was headlined by a contest between Akihiko Katagiri (14-7-2, 5) and Kota Fukuoka (15-4-2, 13). Going in to this bout Fukuoka was ranked by the OPBF whilst Katagiri was ranked by the JBC. Amazingly it was the "non-puncher" of the two who managed to take home the victory with Katagiri opening a cut on Fukuoka's eye that caused the end of the bout and handing Katagiri a 6th round TKO. Whilst the main event was brilliant on paper it wasn't joined by other great match ups. Despite that lack of great bouts on paper the chief support bout, between Ryotaro Kawabata (10-2, 4) and Kenta Toi (3-4) proved to be great fun whilst it lasted, even if it did prove to be 1 sided with Toi being stopped in round 5. Another mismatch on the card saw Tokiya Nishioka (8-3-2, 4) quickly stopping Thailand's Thiendaeng Manoprungroj (1-4, 1) in 2 rounds. It took Kazuki Hashimoto (9-4, 5) just as long to stop Khunkhiri Wor Wisaruth (10-8-1, 5) in another mismatch. The under-card wasn't all mismatches and Yuichi Arai (7-8-1, 2) only just managed to over-come Kenta Sugimoto (6-6-1) in a brilliantly even match up. There is no debating that this one was close though could have been swayed by "what you like" as shown in the score cards. Unfortunately the other lower card bouts were both lacking the competitive edge as Tatsuya Yoneo (6-3, 1) put on a great performance to clearly defeat Ryuto Maruo (5-6, 2) in a 6 rounder whilst the debuting Takaaki Maeda (1-0) scored a shut out over Masashi Katayama (0-2). California, USA In the US Filipino prospect Bruno Escalante (12-1-1, 6) proved he his harder than his record indicates as he swiftly took out Lorenzo Trejo (33-29-1,20) and claimed the lightly regarded International Boxing Association Super Flyweight title in the process. It took Escalante less than a round to see off Trejo and whilst the IBA might not be a major title it will still have boosted Escalante's confidence no end to wrap the belt around his waist. (Picture courtesy of boxrec.com) |
Archives
October 2015
Categories
All
|