Thailand The most notable action this past Tuesday came from Thailand where fans saw a number of really notable fighters in action. One of those notable men in action was Kompayak Porpramook (51-5, 36) who made very light work of an “unknown” foe. This was Kompayak's first bout since his sensational bout with Koki Eto back in 2013 and although he was facing a limited foe it was still great to see him back in the ring. Another notable fighters in action was former WBA Super Flyweight champion Tepparith Kokietgym (29-3, 18) who easily beat Indonesian visitor Hendrik Barongsay (28-22-3, 18). As with Kompyaka it is nice to see a former top Thai continuing their career and third was Tepparith's 3rd bout of the year so far after spending 51 weeks out of the ring. A third bout of note here featured former WBA interim Minimumweight champion Paipharob Kokietgym (29-0, 22) who easily beat Indonesian Stevanus Nana Bau (2-4-1, 2)*. Paipharob is known to be targeting a world title fight at 108lbs and this bout seemed to be focused on staying busy as opposed to really forwarding his career. This card featured one other bout but we're unsure on the names of either man involved. Tokyo, Japan There was also a small card in Japan. In the main event fans saw recent Japanese Bantamweight title challenger Tatsuya Takahashi (19-6-4, 14) fight to an 8 round split decision draw with the tough Ken Achiwa (9-11-4, 3). Takashi, who caught our attention last year in a thriller with Kentaro Masuda, wasn't able to shine here in a genuinely shocking result. It was however the only real shock on the card. In the chief support bout Yasuhiro Okawa (14-11-3, 5) saw off Indonesian foe Maxi Nahak (3-10-2, 1), with an 8th round TKO. This was Nahak's 6th stoppage defeat and his first bout outside of homeland however the fact he got stopped in the 8th says more about Okawa's lack of power than Nahak's toughness. Another of the main supporting bouts went the distance as Masashi Noguchi (8-5-1, 4) took a competitive decision win over Keisuke Okta (9-8, 2) in a bout that was as competitive as we'd have expected, due to the limitations of the two men involved. The middle portion of this card hard a pair of 6 rounders. One of those saw Toshizane Kinoda (5-1, 1) take a clear decision over the limited Tetsuya Koyama (5-7, 2). The other saw the heavy handed but flawed Hiroki Okubo (5-5, 4) take a rare decision win over Kosuke Hakamata (3-11-2). The under-card had a trio of low level bouts, all of which ended early. The first of those ended at the end of the opening rounds as Ikki Fukutome (1-0, 1) stopped Takuya Numasawa (0-1) in an all debutant bout. Another debutant picking up a win was Norichika Kozu (1-0, 1) who stopped Nao Hirahara (1-1, 1) in the 2nd round. The third of the under-card bouts saw Yuya Nemoto (3-4, 1) take out Daiju Kogo (0-1) in the third round. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)
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This past Sunday was a hectic day in Asia with 3 notable shows in Japan as well as a small Filipino card. Tokyo, Japan The best of the 3 Japanese shows came from Tokyo where reason, along with Shirai-Gushiken-Sports, put on a very good looking “Dangan” card. The card, in total, had 9 bouts with 4 of them being genuinely notable. The main event saw former Japanese Super Featherweight title challenger Shingo Eto (16-3-1, 9) take a close and competitive decision victory over Tomoya Yamada (12-6, 3). This, on paper, was supposed to be an easy win for Eto but he was pushed all the way in a bout that would have been great to keep Eto on his toes and help prepare him for another, eventual, title shot. In the co-feature we saw Filipino warrior Ardin Diale (28-9-3, 14) take a split decision win against Yuta Matsuo (7-2-1, 4) in a fantastic bout that showed Diale at his best. The Filipino was fighting in Japan for the first time since his dramatic 8th round TKO loss to Koki Eto last year and seemed to quickly shake off any issues he had with that loss as he notched his 5th straight win. For Matsuo this loss sees him dropping to 2-2-1 in his last 5. A third 8 round bout saw Spice Matsushita (14-8, 2) take a competitive decision victory over the hard hitting Takumi Koyama (9-4-1, 7) in a slight upset win. In a 6 rounder we saw the destructive Daigo Higa (5-0, 5) quickly take care of Filipino visitor Virden Rivera (8-2-1, 2). Rivera, who's only previous loss was a 7th round defeat to Rex Wao, was unable to cope with Higa who was aggressive from the opening and finally saw off Rivera in the 2nd round. On the under-card were 5 bouts, two of which ended early. The quicker of those ended in the 2nd round as Taisei Hayashi (1-1, 1) defeated Toshihiko Saito (0-2), the other saw Sho Nagata (4-1, 2) upset Hokuto Kawana (4-1, 3) with a 4th round KO. In a more competitive under-card action Hideaki Onuki (2-0) claimed a majority decision over the win-less Koji Fujimoto (0-2) whilst Taiga Higashi (2-1, 1) took home a split decision victory as he over-came Yusuke Moriya (1-2). The only clear decision on the under-card saw Yoshimitsu Kimura (1-0) take a victory over Yuki Nishikawa (0-1) in an all-debutant affair. Wakayama, Japan In Wakayama fans has an interesting show with 3 notable bouts as well as a relatively forgettable under-card. The main event saw former OPBF Super Bantamweight title challenger Eita Kikuchi (17-4-4, 7) take a decision win against Keita Ito (8-20-2, 4). For Kikuchi this was a third successive win after back-to-back stoppage losses in 2013, including a loss to Shingo Wake. Interestingly Ito managed to surpass expectations and gave one of his best performances in recent years, unfortunately however it was his 8th straight loss. The unbeaten Shohei Kawashima (10-0-2, 2) continued his unbeaten run with a clear decision victory against Yuta Sasaki (6-7, 1). This was Kawashima's first 8 round bout and the 23 year old will have learned so much from the experience, even if Sasaki wasn't a top tier opponent. The third main bout saw Kazuki Hashimoto (11-4, 7) take a very quick victory over Chikashi Hayashizaki (6-5-1, 2). Hashimoto saw off his foe after just 97 seconds. The under-card, surprisingly, all went the distance with all 5 bouts completing their schedules. The most competitive of those saw Yosuke Shimagawa (5-5-1, 2) take a very narrow split decision victory over the win-less Koichi Sumiya (0-2-1), who proved to be better than his record suggested. Another very competitive bout saw the debuting Shintaro Ukezono (1-0) take a majority decision over Shinen Nakayasu (0-3). Even the “non-close” decisions were close. These saw Ryo Sumiya (2-1-1) take a thin unanimous win over Kazuaki Okada (3-4) and Koichi Wakita (2-1) take an even slimmer win over Kazuki Koyanagi (3-9). The only clear decision from the under-card saw Katsushito Kudo (2-2, 1) over-come Teruyuki Nogami (0-2) Hiroshima, Japan In Hiroshima there was a 10 bout card which featured 2 main bouts alongside 8 under-card bouts, each of which was scheduled for 4 rounds. The main bout saw Koji Itagaki (14-9-2, 6) take a wide decision against Filipino visitor Benezer Alolod (16-7-5, 5). This was Itagaki's second win following an horrific 0-4-1 run whilst Alolod has now lost back-to-back fights after having a good string of results in 2014 The other main event saw Ryuji Ikeda (9-2-1, 5) blow away journeyman Kosuke Iwashita (14-18-2, 8) in just 160 seconds. We didn't expect this one to be so one-sided and it perhaps spells the end of Iwashita who is now 1-8 in his last 9 bouts The under-card featured a bit of everything, with a number of competitive bouts as well as a number of stoppages. One of those stoppages came in an all debutant bout as Katsushi Shiga (1-0, 1) scored a 4th round TKO against Hiroyuki Tsujimura (0-1). Another 4th round TKO came at Lightweight as Satoshi Yamamichi (4-3, 4) took out Takahiro Maeda (1-2, 1). A third 4th round finish saw the unbeaten Kazuya Okubo (3-0, 1) extend his perfect record with a victory against Kota Hama (2-1, 1), who lost his unbeaten record. One other stoppage on this card saw Ryoya Ikema (4-1, 4) stop the win-less Hayata Komen (0-2) in the 3rd round. In more competitive action J Soul Maeda (3-2-2, 1) took a split decision over the previously unbeaten Riku Inokuchi (1-1), another split decision saw Takahiro Morisaki (3-1, 1) defeat Takumi Konod (1-1-1, 1), who also lost his perfect record. Another close bout saw Hiromichi Kurokawa (4-2-1, 1) take a majority decision over Masashi Kamon (1-2). The only clear under-card bout saw Hironori Miyake (4-3, 1) take a wide decision over Masafumi Suda (1-2, 1) Siquijor, Philippines In the Philippines there was a small card with no major bouts on it though the main event did feature an unbeaten prospect taking a step up in class. That aforementioned main event saw Jayr Raquinel (5-0, 3) take a 3rd round DQ win against Jimboy Haya (7-2-1, 4), who was unable to keep his shots above the belt against the unbeaten man. The 18 year old Raquinel may be worth making a note of, though unfortunately this bout failed to really tell us how good he is. In both the under-card bouts fans saw early blow outs. One of those saw Marjun Pantilgan (5-2, 4) blast away with Rajah Jetro Tulod (0-1) inside a round whilst the other saw Filjun Taneo (3-1, 1) defeat Salvador Crispin (0-1), also inside a round. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp) This past Saturday was one of the busiest and most interesting days of the year with numerous notable bouts taking place across the planet. Texas, USA Things have been really disappointing for the Kameda brother's recently and it's fair to say that the most recent hit to their once impressive empire came late on Saturday when the previously unbeaten Tomoki Kameda (31-1, 19) came undone in a thrilling encounter with WBA Bantamweight champion Jamie McDonnell (26-2-1, 12). Tomoki had vacated his WBO title ahead of this bout and stupidly threw away round 12 which cost him the bout and the WBA title. Were it not for the non-effort in the final round Tomoki, who dropped McDonnell in round 3, would still be unbeaten. For fans who missed this one we suggest you give it a watch as it was an incredibly close and well fought bout. One of the best of the year so far. Hyogo, Japan In regards to action in Asia one show certainly got more attention than any other. That was the Shinsei promoted card from Kobe with featured a world ranked prospect and a former 2-weight world champion, as well as several other notable contests. The main event here saw former Bantamweight and Featherweight world champion Hozumi Hasegawa (34-5, 15) roll back the clock and put on a stirring performance as he dominated the previously unbeaten and world ranked Horacio Garcia (29-1, 21) of Mexico. Hasegawa took a few rounds to feel his way into the bout but dominated it soon afterwards with Garcia coming off second best time and time again. We're unsure if Hasegawa will get another world title fight but he looked great here. World ranked prospect Shun Kubo (7-0, 5) moved towards a title fight, likely to be a Japanese title fight or an OPBF title fight, as he made light work of domestic foe Masajiro Honda (6-6, 4) with a 7th round TKO. The talented Kubo is very promising and needs a more challenging bout than this one. A very interesting looking 8 rounder bout saw Filipino veteran Jonathan Baat (29-6-3, 14) out point the once promising Takahiro Shigee (12-2-1, 10) over 8 rounds. The bout was moderately competitive but Baat was the well deserving winner. This was great second win in the space of a few weeks for Baat who has got to be approaching a more notable bout in the near future. Another bout that went the distance saw Shota Yamaguchi (13-2, 8) take a wide decision win over Filipino visitor Roman Canto (10-6-2, 5). For Canto this loss ends a 2-fight winning streak, however he's better than his record suggests and he could test decent fighters in the future. Another 8 rounder on this show saw Tetsuya Hisada (22-9-2, 12) score an 8th round KO against the light hitting Shun Kosaka (9-2), who suffered his first stoppage loss with this defeat. Interestingly the win for Hisada was his first in around 18 months. Osaka, Japan In a separate Japanese show fans got the chance to see a female world title fight as well as some low level support bouts. The main event saw southpaw fighter Yuko Kuroki (13-4-1, 6) retain her WBC female Minimumweight title as she easily out pointed close veteran Masae Akitaya (9-6-2, 3) in a very 1-sided contest. Kuroki found a home for her straight left hand early on and dominated with it, but couldn't finish off Akitaya, who has now lost in 4 world title challenges. On the under-card we did see stoppages with Ryota Yada (7-3, 5) making very light work of Thai visitor Teerapong Sithsaithong (0-1), who lasted just 165 seconds. Another quick blow out saw the limited Hisashi Kawanishi (5-7, 2) over-come Prabpram Sithsaithong (0-4) in just 2 rounds. Seoul, South Korea Korean fans got a title double header in Seoul with a weak under-card but a pair of notable feature bouts. The main event saw Eun Chang Lee (9-4, 5) claim the WBA Asia Middleweight title with a 4th round KO against Australian based Thai John Ford (6-7-1, 5), real name Nawakon Kitee. Ford was stopped just 2 months ago in a bout at 140lbs and we really do wonder what made anyone think he was going to be competitive at Middleweight. The other title bout saw Nam Joon Lee (8-4-3, 4) claim a variant of the PABA Featherweight title with a 2nd round TKO win against Thailand's Rachamongkol Sor Pleonchit (14-10, 6). From what we understand this was a bout for the PABA junior title, similar to the “youth” titles that we see. On the under-card their was 3 bouts involving novices. The most notable of those bouts came in a scheduled 6 rounder as Kyoo Hwan Hwang (1-0, 1) began his career with a 4th round TKO against Jung Ho Jang (1-1-1, 1). A more competitive bout saw Jong Hyuk Yoon (2-1) take a clear decision victory over Chang Kyoo Lee (0-1-1) whilst a very close bout saw Jae Hyung Ahn (1-0) take a split decision over Myung Soo Kim (0-1). Texas, USA Back in the US fans saw Chinese Heavyweight giant Taishan Dong (4-0, 2) struggle to a win over over the limited Jamal Woods (6-19-3, 6). Dong looked exhausted in the final round and it's clear his stamina, power and speed are going to be an issue when he steps up. He is however a big of a circus figure and one that Golden Boy seem happy to wheel out on a regular basis as he continues his development. Vratsa, Bulgaria In Bulgaria, and shown on our live stream, fans saw the heavy handed Kazakh Zhanat Zhakiyanov (15-1, 18) score a 6th round KO of the previously unbeaten Hector Rolando Guzman (14-1, 9) of Argentina. On paper the bout was interesting with Guzman down twice in the early rounds and Zhakiyanov himself down in round 2, however the bout felt like a really low quality contest until Zhakiyanov finally showed some world class ability and knocked out Guzman in eye catching fashion in round 6. The win for Zhakiyanov netted him the WBA International Bantamweight title though seemed to show that he wasn't ready for a world title fight and although he has a very potent right hand he is very predictable. Wellington, New Zealand In New Zealand fans saw Thai visitor Anrey Onesongchaigym (7-2-1, 3) suffer her first stoppage loss as she was beaten in the 6th round by Gentiane Lupi (4-1-1, 2). As a result of this win Lupi claimed the WIBA interim Super Bantamweight title. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp) This past Friday was a busy day in the world of Asian boxing, though few of the fights were particularly big.
Chiang Mai, Thailand The most notable of two Thai shows came from Chiang Mai where we got a couple of notable Thailand Vs Philippines bouts. The most notable of these was the main event which saw talented youngster Saenganan KKP (11-0, 6) take a clear decision over Danilo Gabisay (6-4, 4) to claim the WBC Asian Boxing Council Continental Bantamweight title. The bout was competitive at times and it certainly will have helped Saenganan's development. The other bout saw veteran Chaiyong Sithsaithong (37-13-4, 26) claim a 6 round decision win against Nathan Bolcio (12-7-2, 4). Samut Prakan, Thailand In the other Thai show, held in Samut Prakan, fans got a pair of Thai Vs Indonesia bouts which also ended with the hope fighters winning. In the main event Chatpetch Sithmorseng (10-3-2, 5) took a decision over the always competitive Espinos Sabu (12-6-1, 5), who is quickly becoming a “go to guy” to check out prospects. Chatpetch successfully retained his interim PABA Super Flyweight title with this win and is now unbeaten in 12 after starting his career 0-3. The other bout saw the hard hitting Amin Sor Wangmoo (12-1-1, 10) blow away Frans Yarangga (10-10-1, 7) in the 4th round. This was Yarangga's 8th straight loss and it's clear that he's becoming little more than a record padder. Kunming, China From China we've only got a single result, sadly, from what looked to be a fascinating card. The result we have was a minor shock as the world ranked Xiang Jing (8-4-2, 1) was stopped in 3 rounds by Filipino visitor Macrea Gandionco (11-2-2, 7), who claimed the WBC Eurasia Pacific Boxing Council and WBO Asia Pacific Flyweight titles with this win. Coming in Jing was the #14 ranked Flyweight according to the WBO, though we've no idea how they managed to justify that ranking. Western Australia, Australia In Australia we saw a number of Asian's in action, sadly however they all came up short. One was Thai veteran Sapapetch Sor Sakaorat (31-18, 20), who came up short against the talented Steven Willis (18-2-2, 9). Another was Australian based Filipino Lloyd Jardeliza (6-2-3, 5), who failed to claim the WBO Asia Pacific Youth Featherweight title as he was beaten by Nathaniel May (11-1, 5). For us the most notable result was a female bout that saw Louisa Hawton (5-0, 2) out point Jujeath Nagaowa (12-15-1, 8) over 6 rounds. This was a big step up for Hawton, who is said to be eyeing up the Atomweight world champions, though it was a step up she made comfortably to keep the pressure on the champions. Pennsylvania, USA In the US we saw Korean fighter Gang Yong Kim (4-1) return from a 3 year hiatus to out point Edgardo Torres (2-4, 2). This was a very clear win for Kim who was fighting outside of Korea for the first time as a professional. Tokyo, Japan On Thursday Japanese fans had a small but notable card at the Korakuen Hall. In the main even fans saw former Japanese Middleweight champion Tomohiro Ebisu (14-4, 14) continue his run of “stop or be stopped” as he took out Kazuyuki Fukuyama (9-7, 2) in the 7th round. This was Ebisu's 18 bout and he is yet to see the final bell of a contest with all of his wins and losses coming by stoppage. The antithesis of Ebisu's record is that of Jo Tanooka (11-2-3) who claimed his 11th decision win as he defeated Junnosuke Nagayasu (13-11-2, 3) with a clear 8 round decision. Tanooka's been the distance in all 16 of his bouts and whilst he's not unbeaten he is a young fighter worth keeping an eye on and does have some real potential. In the middle of the card we had a pair of 6 rounders. One of those saw Takahiko Suzuki (6-1, 4) take a very narrow victory over Soichiro Murata (4-4-3, 2) in a bout that was much more competitive than anyone would have expected. The other bout saw Hironobu Matsunaga (7-1, 3) take a clear win over Hisao Narita (9-2, 4) in what ended up being much more 1-sided than the records would have indicated. On the under-card there were 4 bouts each scheduled for 4 rounds, yet not one of them went the distance. The closest to reach the final bell was a bout between Tasuku Nakagawa (4-1, 1) and Junpei Hakoda (1-3, 1), which saw Nakagawa claim a 4th round KO win. All 3 of the other bouts over the shorter distances lasted less than a round with Tadashi Nunoya (2-2, 2) taking a 72 second blow out against Yuki Miyoshi (2-4), it didn't take much longer for Daichi Yamamoto (3-2-1, 2) to see off Satoshi Hongo (2-4, 1) the other bout saw Ryoji Fukunaga (3-1, 3) stop Yamato Kikuchi (2-7-2) in 139 seconds. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp) Tokyo, Japan After Saturday night we were told “Boxing is dead”, nobody told the Japanese and on Wednesday they had a brilliant card at the Ota-City General Gymnasium with a trio of world title fights. The most notable of those title bouts was at Super Featherweight where WBA “super” champion Takashi Uchiyama (23-0-1, 19) scored a KO of the year contender against highly touted Thai Jomthong Chuwatana (9-1, 4). Coming into the bout Jomthong was an established tough guy following an extensive Muay Thai career. That however didn't help him here with Uchiyama bullying him from the middle of the opening round before blasting him out with a vicious right hand in the second round. For Jomthong this is a set back but one he'll likely bounce back from, as for Uchiyama this was one of his best performances, a real vintage display from the 35 year old Japanese puncher. A second world title fight saw Ryoichi Taguchi (22-2-1, 9) make the first defense of his WBA Flyweight title as he bounced Thai veteran Kwanthai Sithmorseng (49-4-1, 26) on and off the canvas. Kwanthai was down in rounds 2,5,6,7 and 8 before being stopped in what was a gutsy but flawed performance from the challenger. For Taguchi the hope now is for a big fight before the year is over, possibly with Ryo Miyazaki or Randy Petalcorin, both of which would be great bouts. The remaining world title bout saw Kumiko Seeser Ikehara (7-1-2, 3) retain her WBO female Minimumweight title bout with a 7th round split technical decision win against Kayoko Ebata (8-6, 4). Unfortunately for Ebata this was her 4th world title loss and at the age of 39 it seems very unlikely that she'll manage to get another shot. Things aren't great for Ikehara either who has now score back-to-back technical decision defenses and has been cut in each of those bouts. Prior to the world title bouts there had been some under-card bouts. One of those saw Takumi Suda (12-10-2, 3) score an 8 round split decision win over Yoshinori Wakahara (7-5, 4) in a very close contest. Another under-card bout saw Tsuyoshi Naito (4-3-3, 2) take a 4th round TKO win over Tatsushi Kagawa (4-9-1, 1) On the lower end of the card there were also a pair of 4 rounders. One of those saw the debuting Taiu Shiratori (1-0, 1) score an opening round blow out against Nao Sugawara (0-1) whilst the previously win-less Sayaka Aoki (1-2, 1) managed to score a 3rd round win against Akiko Oe (1-2, 1). Chiang Mai, Thailand In Thailand fans has 6 bouts and saw their fighters doing significantly better than they did in Japan. The main event of the show saw former WBO Bantamweight champion Pungluang Sor Singyu (50-3, 34) take a 3rd round KO against Indonesian fighter Nouldy Manakane (29-17-1, 18). For Pungluang this was win #50 and kept him in the hunt for a WBO world title fight later in the year, likely to be against Ryo Akaho. Another well known name in action on this card was Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo (54-2, 25) who made light work of the light hitting Yakobus Heluka (8-11, 1) with a 4th round KO. This was Chonlatarn's second win since he was out pointed in Macau last year by Vasyl Lomachenmo. On the under-card fans saw a pair of stoppages. One of those saw Thewa Onesongchaigym (7-2, 2) take a 4th round KO against the debuting Theira Meik (0-1) whilst the other saw Rakniran Muadransarakam (5-0, 4) stop the win-less Saichon Or Ounsuwon (0-22) in the 5th round, this was the second meeting between Rakniran and Saichon with Rakniran taking a decision in their first bout at the end of last year. The two remaining under-card bouts, both female contests, went the distance. These saw Yodying Superchamp (3-0, 1) continue her winning run with a victory against Kularbgoen Sor Visetkit (0-2) and a win for the debuting Petchwaree Mor Krungthepthonburi (1-0), who out pointed Fasung Kietmanop (0-1). (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp) Queensland, Australia
There wasn't much action last Sunday but there was a couple of bouts in Queensland, though things ended in disappointing fashion for a couple of Filipino fighters. One of those fighters coming up short was Marlon Alta (12-6, 9) who was widely out-pointed by the once touted Damien Hooper (10-1, 8). For Alta this was a 4th straight loss, though he did surprisingly see out the final bell, which he hadn't managed in his previous 3 bouts. For Hooper this was a comeback win following a shock loss to Rob Powdrill last November. The other Filipino fighter was Sinitar Dipaculang (2-2-2, 1) who fought to a 5 round draw with the limited Daniel Hoskins (8-25-4, 6). As well as these two results from Australia, there was also a Japanese card. Though unfortunately the JBC haven't yet published the results, which means we will probably not be getting them in a “timely” enough fashion to include them. May 2nd 2015 was a date we all had marked in our calendars for several months. Sadly however it came and went with out leaving a lasting memory. Las Vegas, USA We had the biggest bout of the day, in fact the biggest bout of all time, in the US as the era's two biggest fighters met in the supposed “Fight of the Century”. Sadly however it turned out to be more of a damp squib than a great and memorable fight. The bout in question saw Floyd Mayweather Jr (48-0, 26) unify the WBC, WBA and WBO Welterweight titles as he out pointed Filipino legend Manny Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38) in a bout that had it's moments but over-all lacked drama. Mayweather was his usual self showing great technical ability and movement but unfortunately Pacquiao failed to show his usual aggression and only really fought in spurts winning only a handful of rounds. The bout, on the whole, felt like we were watching two men coming to the end of their HOF careers and sadly it left us wondering what would have happened a few years. For Mayweather however it was a career defining win and proof that technically he is the best boxer of his era. Tokyo, Japan Prior to the big show in Las Vegas there had been action in Tokyo with Dangan 127. The show wasn't anywhere near the profile of the Las Vegas card however there was still a number of interesting bouts on it. One of those interesting bouts was the main event, a Light Welterweight bout between former Japanese champion Shinya Iwabuchi (25-5, 21) and the under-sized Ryusei Yoshida (26-7, 13). Coming in both men were ranked by the JBC however Iwabuchi was too strong from the off and stopped Yoshida in eye catching fashion with a vicious salvo in round 6. Another of the main bouts saw Hayato Kimura (23-7, 15) take a 6th round technical decision win over Filipino brawler Jomar Fajardo (14-7-2, 7). The bout was unfortunately curtailed due to a cut on Fajarado that had been caused in round 4. Notably the the Filipino had taken this bout on short notice after Takuya Kogawa pulled out due to an upcoming Japanese Flyweight title fight, and unfortunately he appeared to be under-sized from the off. The third of the main bouts saw Ribo Takahata (11-5-1, 3) score a shock stoppage win over the previously unbeaten Japanese-based-Filipino Johnriel Maligro (12-1, 9). Maligro had looked really promising in his previous two bouts but trouble with the weight saw him looking flat before being stopped in the 5th round. The sole 6 rounder on this card saw Takahiro Araki (6-4, 3) take a clear decision win over Koki Yoshida (4-5, 2). Prior to this bout Araki had lost back-to-back bouts though his win sees Yoshida suffering his third successive loss. Prior to the notable bouts this card had had 6 under-card bouts, each scheduled for 4 rounds. One of those bouts was a female contest that saw the debuting Emi Iwashita (1-0) take a clear but competitive decision over the win-less Natsuki Tarui (0-3). Another clear but competitive bout saw Koji Ida (4-0) extend his winning record with a decision win over Shogo Dairakuin (2-3, 1). A much closer bout saw Naoki Morooka (3-2, 2) take a majority decision over Yuki Uchida (2-3). In less competitive bout Masaya Sakamoto (2-0, 1) dominated Takuya Tamaguchi (1-3-2, 1) to a very wide decision, another wide decision saw Ryota Ishida (3-0, 2) dominate Akira Watanabe (1-4-1, 1). The only under-card bout to end inside the distance was a win for Masaya Kohama (4-2-1, 2) who stopped Masafumi Suzuki (3-4-1) in the opening seconds of round 3. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp) Miura blows away Dib, Murata stops Ataide, Yaegashi blows away Thai but Ao gets stopped in the US5/2/2015 Tokyo, Japan The first show involving Asian fighters this month came from the Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo where fans get a genuine treat that combined a a trio of notable main bouts as well as some early blow outs on the under-card. We won't pretend it was the most competitive card of all time but the local fans certainly enjoyed what they saw, as did fans watching tape-delayed footage on Fuji TV. The show began with a series of 4 rounders, from those bouts only one went the distance as Seiyu Gunji (1-0-1, 1) fought to a majority draw with Shinya Ito (3-1-1). The other 3 bouts over the shorter distance ended in clear fashion. The shortest saw Kazuto Nakane (3-2, 3) scoring a 2nd round KO against Chikashi Takahashi (0-2), whilst Yuichi Kiyama (3-1-1, 3) scored a 3rd round KO against Raiki Kameyama (3-3, 2) and Mao Kawanishi (2-1, 1) scored his first stoppage, also with a 3rd round KO, against Takahiro Onjuku (2-4, 1). In the sole 6 round on the card fans saw the 2014 Bantamweight Rookie of the Year Ryohei Takahashi (6-1-1) easily out point Hokuto Sakata (5-5-1, 3) with a dominant 1-sided decision. Despite the early career stoppage loss on his record we've been impressed with Takahashi and hope to see him step up through the ranks this year as it's clear he has talent, even if he does lack power. The first notable name in action was former WBC Minimumweight and former WBC Flyweight champion Akira Yaegashi (21-5, 11) who made the move up to Super Flyweight following a less than successful campaign at Light Flyweight last year. The extra weight didn't seem to slow down Yaegashi who made very light work of Thai foe Songsaenglek Phosuwangym (18-12, 5)*. The Thai was dropped hard at the end of the opening round before being knocked out part way through the 2nd round as Yaegashi scored a high-light real finish. This was a clear mismatch but we can forgive Yaegashi for taking an easy fight following the past few years which has seen him fight a relative murder's row. The second major bout saw WBC Super Featherweight champion Takashi Miura (29-2-2, 22) score one of his most impressive victories and record the 4th defense of his world title. Miura was fighting former IBF Featherweight champion Billy Dib (39-4-0-1, 23) and managed to really make an impression with a 3rd round TKO that left many fans realising just how good Miura is. The fight started slowly but ended in spectacular fashion with Miura dropping Dib in high-light reel fashion. To his credit Dib did recover to his feet but was rightfully stopped and ruled unfit to continue as he stumbled across the ring. In the main event of the show we saw Japanese Olympic gold medal winner Ryota Murata (7-0, 5) score a sensational 5th round TKO victory over world ranked Brazilian Douglas Damiao Ataide (13-2-1, 6). We thought this had the potential to be a banana skin for Murata but the Japanese fighter bided his time, applied intelligent pressure for 4 rounds and then suddenly went through the gears at the start of round 5, dropping Ataide in the opening seconds and then flooring him again before he recovered his senses. The referee then stopped the bout to give Murata one of his most noteworthy wins to date. Las Vegas, USA Sadly things ended badly for Teiken fighters with Takahiro Ao (27-4-1, 12) suffering his first stoppage defeat courtesy of Mexican fighter Raymundo Beltran (30-7-1, 18). Ao, fighting for the WBO Lightweight title, looked under-sized from the opening bell and it showed in the second round when Beltran dropped him hard. Ao should his heart by getting back up and continuing but Beltran smelled blood and went for the kill, eventually forcing the referee to save Ao who was out on his feet and taking bombs. Sadly the belt remains vacant due to the fact Beltran failed to make weight for the bout. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp) *Boxrec 's record is incomplete. The weekend is just around the corner but we've already seen several notable fights on a Thursday that was packed with fighters worth giving plenty of attention to. In fact in Japan there was 3 national title bouts whilst in the US fans had the chance to see a former world title challenger continue his ascent back to the top. Tokyo, Japan In the Japan the card began with a pair of intriguing non-title bouts before a trio of bouts for belts. Although it's fair to say it was the title action that got the attention the under-card was certainly not something that could have been ignored. One of the under-card bouts saw recent Japanese Flyweight title challenger Yusuke Sakashita (13-5-2, 8) score a 6th round TKO against the tough but very limited Yasuhiro Sakurai (7-19). Sakashita, who was last seen being stopped by Suguru Muranaka, was too good for Sakurai and it showed here in what was, essentially, a comeback fight for Sakashita. The other under-card bout saw former Japanese Featherweight title contender Yuki Ogata (21-1-1, 3) take a clear decision win over Kentaro Yamada (8-6-1, 6). Ogata had narrowly beaten Yamada last year with a split decision last year but this time he was a clear winner with no doubting the result. The first of the title bouts saw Yukinori Oguni (14-1-1, 4) successfully retain his Japanese Super Bantamweight title with a 10 majority draw against Gakuya Furuhashi (17-5-1, 7). This was Oguni's first defense since winning the belt late last year with a narrow decision victory against Yasutaka Ishimoto and although it's a successful defense it's clear Oguni is a long way from being ready to move up a level. For Furuhashi it's clear that he'll feel he deserves a rematch even if he's not likely to get one any time soon. The second title bout saw Kota Tokunaga (15-2, 10) claim the biggest win of his career as he stopped Yuya Sugizaki (20-10-1, 6) in the 8th round of their bout and claimed the Japanese Lightweight title. Toklunaga was narrowly behind at the half way mark but turned the screw from round 6 and eventually forced the referee to save Sugizaki. Impressive for Tokunaga's gym, WOZ Boxing, this is their second title win in the space of a few weeks following Shohei Omori's excellent victory over Kentaro Masuda for the Japanese Bantamweight title. Notably this title was vacated by Yoshitaka Kato, a stable mate of Sugizaki's. In the main event fans saw Japanese Heavyweight champion Kyotaro Fujimoto (12-1, 6) narrowly retain his title with a split decision win over Nobuhiro Ishida (27-11-2, 11). This bout was nip and tuck through out and whilst it wasn't a classic it was compelling with neither man really knowing if they'd done enough to deserve the win and title. Sadly following the bout it's been revealed that Ishida is now likely to retire from the sport and wave good bye to what has been a genuinely memorable career. California, USA In the US fans saw the popular and exciting Mercito Gesta (28-1-2, 16) fight to a split decision draw with Carlos Molina (17-2-2, 7) in a solid fight that was genuinely entertaining. Going in Gesta did look under-sized and, especially early on, seemed to struggle but he found his range and rhythm in the middle rounds to get a well deserved draw. The only issue with the bout was the appalling 98-92 score card in favour of Molina from judge Eddie Hernandez, a genuinely shocking card for such a close and well contested bout. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp) |
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