This past Saturday was one of the busiest days in Asian boxing with fights taking place all over the globe. In fact it have been one of the busiest and most varied days since we started this site. Macau The biggest show the day was in Macau as Top Rank returned to the Special Administrative Region of China and show cased a number of promising fighters. Whilst it wasn't the best Macau card we've seen it really did have a bit of everything. The opening bout saw Olympic champion Egor Mekhontsev (4-0, 4) defeat brave Filipino Mike Mirafuente (2-1, 2). In terms of skills the bout was a mismatch but Mirafuente did try and make a fight of things by trying to catch the much bigger Mekhontsev with hayemakers, unfortunately for the Filipino the shots just bounced off the giant Russian. The second bout on the show was the most confusing as the world ranked Filipino Mark Anthony Geraldo (31-4-3, 14) saw his bout with Mexico's Efrain Perez (17-5, 12) cut from 8 rounds to 6 rounds with out the fighters being informed. For Geraldo it was possibly a lucky escape as he was beginning to look ragged but the Filipino looked genuinely sensational in the first 3 rounds. Hopefully we get to see a rematch but if not we want to see a lot more of both fighters who both look good to watch for very different reasons. Geraldo looks sensationally skilled and has some of the prettiest boxing we've seen since we last saw Jorge Linares, for Perez his toughness will always make him fun to watch. Well done to the match makers for putting these two together. In the third bout we saw a crushing body shot as Brian Viloria (34-4-0-2, 20) stopped the game Jose Alfredo Zuniga (11-6-1, 5). Viloria is trying to work his way towards another world title fight and was given a very good test here by Zuniga before pulling out a tremendous body shot to send the Mexican fighter down for the count. It really was one of the best fights on the card in terms of competitive action. The first of the "Chinese" fighters in action was Hong Kong's highly entertaining Rex Tso (14-0, 9) who put on a very decent showing to finish off Indonesian John Bajawa (12-7, 6). The fight, thought to be a stay busy fight for Tso ahead of a possible world title fight in November, saw Tso showing improved movement though we still question his power and defence and although he stopped Bajawa in 5 rounds he never really seemed to hurt the Indonesian. Whilst Tso is always entertaining we dare say he was over shadowed by the all action Ik Yang (16-0-0-1, 11) who dismantled Thailand's Rachamongkol Sor Pleonchit (14-9, 6) in fantastic fashion. Yang dropped Rachamongkol inside the open round and then rocked him in the second before finishing him off to score his 3rd stoppage in 4 bouts in Macau. Although not the most skilled Yang has all the traits of a fan friendly fighter and hopefully he will be given more exposure. Ranked #1 by the OPBF a fight between Yang and OPBF champion Masayoshi Nakatani would certainly be on out list of fights we want to see. The final bout on the internationally streamed under-card saw Kuok Kun Ng (5-0, 2), AKA "The Macau Kid", put on a solid performance against the game and previously unbeaten Beau O'Brien (4-1-1. 1). The performance may have only resulted in Ng taking a decision but he continued to interest us and we're really looking forward to his development and in all honesty we think he may be the most interesting of the "Chinese" youngsters on the show. Following the under card we then moved onto the main card which was kicked off, surprisingly, with a world title fight. Unfortunately however it was a bout shrouded in controversy as Cuba's talented Guillermo Rigondeaux (14-0, 9) appeared to finish the fight with a cheap shot over Thailand's Sod Kokietgym (63-3-1, 28) who had been stunned by a nasty headclash just moments earlier. The bout, for the WBA "super" and WBO regular Super Bantamweight titles was expected to be a dud though actually got the internet community chatting, en masse about the ending, something we didn't expect when the bout was announced. The penultimate bout on the card didn't feature an Asian fighter but did feature the very exciting Gilberto Ramirez Sanchez (29-0, 23) who just destroyed Junior Talipeau (20-3-1, 7) inside a round. Talipeau was dropped 3 times in what was, on paper, a decent test for Sanchez. In the main event we saw a polished effort from Chinese double Olympic champion Zou Shiming (5-0, 1) who went 10 rounds and claimed a clear decision over former world title challenger Luis De la Rosa (23-4-1, 13). De la Rosa managed to give Shiming some issues, especially in round 3, but it was a clear win for the Chinese fighter who is now being linked to world title fights and in fact a fight with former amateur foe Amnat Ruenroeng looks to be on the cards for either the end of this year or, more likely, the start of next year. We know some fans hate Shiming but this really was a great performance and showed that he is developing a real professional style. Wonju, South Korea Korean fans got to see the return to the ring of Japan's Takuya Watanabe (21-5-1, 9) who made light work of Thailand's Yodpichai Sithsaithong (10-12, 4) and claimed the vacant IBF Asia Featherweight title as a result. The result, recorded as a KO at the start of round 7, was a happy return to Korea for the man who lost a lot of blood last time he fought in the country. For those who haven't seen Watanabe's previous fight in Korea, a bout that saw him battling Jaesung Lee, we advise you give it a watch and it will almost certainly be the bloodiest bout of the year. Guerrero, Mexico In Mexico and live on WBCboxing.tv fans got to see Mexico's Nery Saguilan (30-4-1, 11) stop former Japanese Super Featherweight champion Seiichi Okada (18-5, 11) in 8 rounds. The loss was a painful one for Okada who has now got to seriously consider his future in the sport. This was his 4th stoppage loss in 6 fights and his glory days are long gone. For Saguilan this result may set up a fight with another Japanese fighter, Takashi Miura. Miura, the WBC Super Featherweight champion, would make for a great fight with Saguilan and has a reputation for beating up Mexican so both camps could sell this one as a nationalistic revenge contest making it very easy to market. Western Australia, Australia Australia played host to two cards featuring Asians. In Western Australia we saw a trio of Asian's losing. In the main event Indonesia's Roy Tua Manihuruk (15-11-2, 11) came up short against the unbeaten Clint Hosking (10-0, 2). The bout, fought for the WBC Eurasia Pacific Boxing Council Lightweight title, saw Manihuruk going the distance but he always needed a knock to get a win. Lower down the card we did see a knockout in a bout involving an Asian, sadly however it was a knockout loss for Thai female Kaenpetch Superchamps (6-9-1) who was blasted inside a round by Erin McGowan (16-2, 9). Things weren't much better for Baikon Lokromklao (1-4) who was shut out by Jacob McBride (1-1). Queensland, Australia The second Australia show saw Arnon Yuchareon (0-4) suffer a clear loss to the debuting Miles Zewski (1-0). Zewski dropped Yuchareon in round 3 to secure a 40-35 victory on all 3 cards. Also on this card Jerry Nardo (19-5, 10) suffered a 7th round technical decision loss to Brett Williams Smith (19-2-1, 9). The bout saw both men cut from head clashes though they seemed to just occur and occur despite both being warned. (Photo courtesy of Sumio Yamada)
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Not every day is a great day for Asian boxing and it's fair to say this past Friday wasn't a great one with more lows than highs, despite some interesting action all over the word
Kobe, Japan The most significant of the shows came at the Portopia Hotel in Kobe. The venue, making it's professional boxing debut, looked stunning though sadly couldn't help Japan's Teiru Kinoshita (19-1-1, 3) over-come South African puncher Zolani Tete (19-3, 16) in a bout for the IBF Super Flyweight title. Kinoshita did impress, in some ways, with his toughness but that was the about all the positives he could take out of the bout that he clearly lost. The fight, Kinoshita's first world title bout, could well be his last and we'd not be shocked if he fell back to Japanese domestic level following this loss. In the chief support bout to Kinoshita's contest fans got to see a rematch between Shinichiro Morikawa (16-4-1, 11) and Ryota Kihara (6-9-4, 5). The two men fought last year with Morikawa taking a close decision over 8 rounds. This time around the judges weren't needed as Morikawa saw off Kihara in just 4 rounds as he dominated his limited foe. A third bout of note on this same card saw Jonathan Baat (26-5-3, 12) dominate Yubon Kanayama (10-5, 3) to inflict Kanayama's 5th loss in 8 bouts. For Baat this was a bounce back victory follow a loss last time out to Qiu Xiao Jun, in what was a third bout between the two men. Lower down the card Naoki Yamamoto (5-7-2, 3) managed to out point Ryoki Hirai (3-2-1, 1) over 4 rounds in a very competitive contest. Another 4 rounder saw Hayato Shimosakoda (1-1) take a decision over Yosuke Goto (1-5) whilst the hard hitting Takuya Hashimoto (4-4, 4) upset Masashi Wakita (4-2, 2) with a 2nd round KO. Tokyo, Japan A second card in Japan took place at the Korakuen Hall. Although the supposed main bout, a Japanese Super Bantamweight bout between Hidenori Otake and Daisuke Furuhashi, was cancelled the card it's self went on with some interesting contests. After the main event was cancelled the previous chief support became the new main event and that saw Ryuto Oho (6-1-1, 2) fighting to a very competitive majority draw with Shuji Hamada (12-6-4, 2). Sadly for the 19 year old Oho this was a second successive set back following his sole loss to Jo Tanooka and we dare say that he's not matured into a Super Flyweight,yet. Oho did impress us last year when he was fighting at Flyweight, where he won the Rookie of the Year, and maybe he needs to try and return to 112lbs. In the chief support bout on this card fans got to see the return to the ring of Spice Matsushita (12-8, 2) who returned to the ring after more than a year out of action. Matsuhsita not only returned to the ring but did so with a hard fought decision over Toshimitsu Goto (12-11-1, 5) A third bout on this card saw Takuma Okada (5-9, 2) take a 6 round against the light hitting Tsuyoshi Nishimura (4-7-1, 1). The win for Okada saw him ending a 2 fight losing streak though it did extend Nishimura's losing run to 2 fights. We know at the moment that we have more results to come from Japan though for now these are the only ones we have. Pathum Thani, Thailand On a televised card in Thailand fans got to see the world ranked Nawaphon Por Chokchai (22-0, 16) successfully defend his WBC Asian Boxing Council Flyweight title for the 9th time! Nawaphon defeated Thailand's usually durable Jay-ar Estremos (10-8, 4) inside the distance the retain his title and inflict just the second stoppage loss on to Estremos. Interestingly Estremos had, earlier this year, pushed Kwanpichit OnesongchaiGym all the way in a bout many felt Kwanpichit had been gifted a win in and with that in mind you need to realise just how good this win was. There were other bouts on this card but at the moment we aren't sure on the specific results. What we do know however is that Suriyan Sor Rungvisai (37-5-1, 16) won a decision and Kongfah Nakornluang (14-0, 8) took a stoppage. Hopefully we'll be able to fill in the full results in the coming day or two. New South Wales, Australia In Australia we had more disappointment as former Japanese and OPBF Bantamweight title challenger Jerope Mercado (26-7-3, 9) suffered a very debatable split decision loss to Valentine Borg (7-1, 4). Jerope, best known for his fights with Rolly Lunas, Ryosuke Iwasa and Kohei Oba, was judged to have been shut out on two of the cards though it's doubtful that anyone else could possibly have had the bout a shut out. Notably for Borg this was his first bout since his stunning stoppage loss to Joebert Delos Reyes and it appears that loss has damaged the confidence of Borg who was previously unbeaten and tipped to move on to bigger and better things. East Cape, South Africa It was also a disappointing day in South Africa as Filipino Edrin Dapudong (29-6, 17) lost the IBO Super Flyweight title in a controversial split decision to South Africa's very own Lwandile Sityatha (17-3-1, 7). The bout was the first defence of the title by Dapudong, who took the belt with an opening round KO against Gideon Buthelezi, though unfortunately this is his second controversial loss in South Africa following a split decision to Buthelezi back in 2012. With 2 split decision losses in 3 bouts it's fair to question whether or not "The Sting" will ever return to fight in South Africa. New York, USA The disappointment for Asian fighters continued in New York where "Mongolian Mongoose" Bayarn Jargal (17-5-3-1, 11) saw his bout with Cletus Seldin (13-0-0-1, 10) end in a No Contest. Jargal was injured around the eye from a clash of heads and was unable to continue forcing the bout to a No Contest. Prior to the ending Jargal was making Seldin look limited, though we're not sure if he was managing to over-come the naturally bigger American fighter. California, USA It wasn't all bad for Asian's however and in California we had the chance to see the impressive debut of Chinese Heavyweight giant Taishan Dong (1-0, 1). The 6'11" giant managed to drop Alex Rozman (2-7, 1) several times before he told the referee that he couldn't go on. Dong didn't have things all his own way though he he'll have learned more by fighting Rozman, who came to win, than fighting someone who was happy to fold the first time they were hit. For those who missed this fight it's now on our video section. Also on this card was a victory for popular Filipino Mercito Gesta (28-1-1, 16) who looked genuinely sensational as he beat up and broke down the experienced Luis Arceo (28-13-4, 18) who was stopped by the doctor late in the fight. Arceo came to fight but Gesta was too good, too fast, too talented and too powerful, in fact this was possibly the most complete performance we've ever seen from Gesta who looks to be finally be reaching his potential. No one doubted how good Gesta could be but they had questioned whether he would ever fulfil his promise, this performance suggests he can. Sanaa, Yemen We had a quiet day today in terms of not just Asian boxing but all boxing and in fact all of today's Asian action was in the Yemen capital of Sanaa. The first of 2 bouts saw teenager Ali Rafik (4-0, 3) go the distance for the first time in his career. The 15 year old Rafik continued his winning run by taking a 4 round decision over the debuting Muhammad Rasheed (0-1) and we'll admit that we're excited about Rafik as long as he's not trapped in a series of nothing matches for too long. The second bout, and by far the more significant bout, saw world record holder and world ranked Ali Raymi (21-0, 21) in action. Raymi made headlines last year when he scored 16 opening round KO's in the year to move to 20-0 (20), with all of his wins coming in the opening round. This time around he almost got taken into the second round as Prince Maz (8-1, 6) gave as good as he got for over 2 minutes before apparently quitting with just a few seconds of the round left. The Raymi/Maz bout was uploaded by "Yemen Boxing" soon after it took place though was quickly removed when people, including ourselves, questioned the result. Thankfully one of our team managed to capture the video before it was taken down and re-uploaded it and for those wanting to see the bout it's below, sadly however the ends looks inconclusive on the footage and in all honesty the way the video was taken down leaves us with some real conspiracy theories about how the bout really ended. Some days are very quiet in boxing with only one or two bouts being worth mentioning. This past Saturday was one such day with only 2 bouts involving Asian fighters, though one of them was a massive fight for the men involved and really announced one fighter on the international stage as a truly world class boxer. Las Vegas, USA The man who made his mark on the day was WBO Bantamweight champion Tomoki Kameda (30-0, 19) who successfully retained his world title with a stunning knock out victory over Pungluang Sor Singyu (46-3, 31). Both men went into the bout making their US debuts and both men tried to use their advantages to impress the fans and judges. From Kameda that saw him using his movement, hand speed and combinations to win rounds whilst for Pungluang it was his pressure that he was trying to impose on the Japanese fighter. At the end however it was the placement of Kameda's shots that impressed as he landed one of the best body shots you will ever see and sent Pungluang down in agony midway through round 7. The shot, which looked even better on replay, will likely go down as the best punch Tomoki will ever land and will almost certainly see fans around the world clamouring to see more of him. As for Pungluang this was his third stoppage loss and by far the most painful with the body shot effectively paralyzing him for a few moments on the canvas. The only black mark on this fight was, sadly, the judging. Some how Patricia Morse Jarman had Pungluang winning the bout 58-56 prior to the stoppage, a score that is simply inexcusable, fortunately for her however Tomoki prevented her from getting too much attention after the bout. For those historians out there Tomoki became the first Japanese fighter since Toshioka Nishioka to defend a world title in the US almost 3 years ago. Western Australia, Australia Whilst the biggest bout was in the US there was another bout featuring an Asian fighter in Australia. Unfortunately however South Korea's Hwi Jong Kim (5-13, 1) was unsuccessful as he took on Nathaniel May (6-1, 4). Kim was dropped 3 times in the 3rd round forcing the referee to wave off the bout. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp) This past Friday was a relatively disappointing day in the world of Asian boxing but it did still feature some action. Tokyo, Japan The most notable action featuring any Asian fighters was in Japan where OPBF Super Middleweight champion Yuzo Kiyota (26-4-1, 24) scored a 4th round retirement victory over Indonesian visitor Hero Yauw Katili (6-7-1, 4) in a non-title fight. The bout, the result of Kiyota not managing to secure a suitable opponent to defend his belt against, saw Kiyota looking only a shadow of usual self but in such a mismatch as this on he didn't need to find even second gear to score an easy win. Sadly the main event wasn't the only mismatch on the card and the chief support bout was equally as uncompetitive as Yoshitomo Watanabe (5-1, 4) easily took care of Pinit Manopchaigym (0-1). The bout, Watanabe's first in 16 months, was ended after a beautiful body shot sent Pinit down for the count. Watanabe's bout with Pinit was in one of two 8 rounders and the other failed to go the distance, though the judges were needed as Kota Oguchi (9-13, 1) scored a 5th round technical decision victory over Satoshi Hagizaki (7-8, 3). This victory was Oguchi's first since 2009 ending a 9 fight losing streak whilst Hagizaki has now lost 6 of his last 8 contests. Earlier on the card had had 5 bouts scheduled for 4 rounds. These included a female bout that saw Yunoka Furukawa (3-1-2, 2) taking a unanimous decision over Chisa Tanaka (1-2, 1) in one of the 4 bouts that went the distance. Another of the 4 rounders, in fact the only other one to end in a unanimous decision, saw Tatsuya Matsumoto (1-1) defeat the debuting Hiroaki Tokuoka (0-1). Another of the 4 rounders saw Akihiro Yamanaka (2-3) taking a very narrow victory over Yuki Miyoshi (2-3) in a majority decision. The Yamanaka/Miyoshi bout was one of two majority decisions with the other resulting in a draw between Desierto Nagaike (1-1-1) and Takuya Suzuki (1-1-1, 1). The only one of the 4 rounders that failed to go the distance saw Soichiro Murata (4-2-3, 2) stopping Mikio Kage (3-5-1, 3) in the 3rd round. California, USA The only Asian fighting outside of Japan was Kyrgyzstan's Timur Shailezov (17-8-1, 4) who was unfortunately out pointed by the emerging Victor Ruiz (16-3, 11) in a 10 round contest. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp) Nonthaburi, Thailand
Thursday might not usually be a big day in the boxing world but this week saw Thai fans getting the chance to see some pretty notable action involving a former interim world champion a future world title challenger and a number of promising men who will, one day, be hoping to fight for titles of their own. The most notable of the men in action was former WBA interim Minimumweight champion Paipharob Kokietgym (25-0, 20). Paipharob, now campaigning as a Light Flyweight, over-came Filipino Bobby Concepcion (11-5-1, 5) in a bout that saw a WBO regional belt on the line. Sadly we're unsure if it was the WBO Oriental Light Flyweight title, that Paipharob won in his previous bout, or the WBO Asia Pacific Light Flyweight title which was previously vacant. The one thing we are certain about was that the contest was a mismatch and Paipharob took an expected early victory stopping Concepcion in the 3rd round. Whilst Paipharob has fought at the top level, scoring a notable win over Jesus Silvestre, he has never faced someone like Naoya Inoue. Inoue is now waiting for Samartlek Kokietgym (17-4, 5), who was on this show defeating limited Indonesian journeyman Domi Nenokeba (11-19-1, 7). The bout, a warm up contest for Samartlek, won't have helped prepare him for Inoue though will have helped him stay fresh and the 6 rounds of the bout will perhaps have helped Samartlek shaking off any rust he may have had, though he was in the ring just 5 weeks ago. For those wondering Samartlek was previously known as Samartlek Chaiyonggym. Another fighter on this show who was recently in action was Ratchasak Kokietgym (23-3-1, 10) who of course fought Rex Tso in Macau on May 31st. Ratchasak, now going by the name "Ratchasak KKP", bounced back from his loss to Tso by over-coming the experienced and tough Samuel Tehuayo (17-24-2, 3) in a 6 round decision. As well as the recognisable trio of Paipharob, Samartlek and Ratchasak the card also featured a trio of lesser known, but very promising, youngster who all secured stoppages. One of those youngsters was Petchchorhae Kokietgym (6-0, 4) who continued his impressive career start by stopping Denmanee Sor Praithong (0-1) in the 6th round. On paper this isn't a notable bout however Petchchorhae has already over-come both Yokthong Kokietgym and Heri Amol so he certainly seems like a man to keep a close eye on. Another of the youngsters was Saenganan KKP (6-0, 5) who took out Fahpichit Or Ekarin (0-1) in 2 rounds. Whilst Saenganan hasn't beaten the quality of opponents that Petchorhae has beaten it is worth noting that he does hold wins over over a Yodmongkol, an Oleydong, a Wanhaeng and a Pornsawan sadly non of whom were the fighters we know with those names. The other bout saw the debuting Petchnamchai Sor Sakulwong (1-0, 1) scoring a third round KO against fellow debutant Nongmai BangmodSport (0-1). Tokyo, Japan It's fair to say that this week isn't the most exciting for boxing fans however there was a very interesting female bout earlier today as the amazing Naoko Fujioka (12-0, 6) made the first defence of her WBA female Super Flyweight title with a decision victory over the challenging Tomoko Kawanishi (9-2, 4). The female world title bout was the headline contest on "Fighting Bee 8" and saw Fujioka given one of the toughest challenges in her 12 fight careed though saw her adapting to overcome a tiring Kawanishi down the stretch. Sadly much of the rest of the card paled in significance and interesting to the female bout. These included a 2nd round TKO victory for the hard hitting Kazuya Soma (7-5-2, 6) who saw off Thailand's very poor Fasanghan Or Benjamad (0-7). We know the records of Thai's can be hard to verify but the 0-7 record of Fasanghan looks likely to be spot on. In another 8 rounder Toshikuni Wake (8-13-3, 2) took a close decision over Ryuta Wakamatsu (9-10, 6) in the most competitive bout of the show. One of the two 6 rounders saw Yudai Tamagawa (6-5-1, 2) over-coming Tsubasa Mochizuki (6-4, 2) to end a 3-fight win-less run that began late last year. The other 6 rounder saw Yudai Arai (4-2-3, 2) taking a clear victory over Kenta Yamada (6-4). The show actually began with back-to-back opening round KO's. These saw Hiroyasu Shiga (3-0, 2) taking out Keita Kurihara (3-4, 3) in 52 seconds and Takuya Kihashi (1-1, 1) beating Shoken Yamazaki (2-3) in 142 seconds. (Image courtesy of Boxmob.jp) Some days in boxing are important with out making international headlines and that's exactly what happened this past Sunday with several notable bouts, only one of which would have made a dent on the international boxing circuit. Grozny, Russia The one major bout that we had a turgid Heavyweight affair as an out of shape Ruslan Chagaev (33-2-1, 20) fought a lackadaisical Fres Oquendo (37-8, 24). Chagaev managed to claim a victory in the end, taking a majority decision, but not with out some cheer leading from the Chechen president who offered words of encouragement toe Chagaev between rounds. Unfortunately not only was the bout an awful contest in terms of a spectacle but it was made even worse by the fact it was dressed up as a world title fight and now, as a result , Chagaev is a 2-time Heavyweight world champion. On paper this should be a great result for Asian boxing, after all the Uzbek born Chagaev is now a 2-time Heavyweight champion from Asia, but in all honesty it's yet more proof of the mess the Heavyweight division sits in. Whilst Chagaev was less than impressive there were some good wins for several unbeaten fighters on the show. They included Viskhan Murzabekov (9-0, 4) who managed to take a solid 10 round victory over Igor Faniyan (14-9-2, 7) to claim the WBC Youth Intercontinental Welterweight title. Murzabekov, dubbed "Little Tyson" looked like an interesting prospect with his victory but there is still a lot to work on. Another unbeaten prospect on this show was Apti Davtaev (7-0, 7) who scored a sensationally quick blow out against Oleksandr Nesterenko (9-3, 4), needing just 12 seconds to score the win. A third unbeaten man in action here was Movsur Yusupov (7-0, 3) who took a 6 round decision over the more experienced Aliaksandr Sushchyts (16-3-1, 9). In other bouts of note for ourselves Arbi Madaev (5-1-1, 2) managed to take a 5th round TKO over Chupaki Chipindi (13-7, 8) whilst Apti Ustarkhanov (6-1-2, 1) beat the win-less Gor Akopyan (0-5) in a 6 rounder. Osaka, Japan Whilst the results in Grozny may have received some international attention the results from Japan probably didn't despite filling 3 shows of fights. The most notable bout on those shows took place in Osaka as former title challenger Kenichi Horikawa (26-13-1, 4) over-came fellow Japanese ranked fighter Naoki Matsumoto (9-8-2, 2) in an 8 round majority decision. The bout may not decide the next Japanese Minimumweight title challenger but Horikawa will certainly be hoping to get another chance at the title following this victory. On the same show there was also two very interesting bouts involving unbeaten Japanese prospects. One of those saw the hard hitting Ryuto Kyoguchi (12-0-1, 9) taking out Kenta Takahashi (10-8-3, 3) in the 5th round of their scheduled 8 rounder. The other saw Tatsuya Ikemizu (11-0, 4) defeating recent Japanese Bantamweight title challenger Satoshi Niwa (15-18-3, 2) in a very competitive 8 rounder. We did expect Niwa to give Ikemizu a tough test and although the veteran came up short he used his experience to great effect to really push Ikemizu. Lower down the card fans saw an upset as Tomonori Ota (6-4, 4) stopped Shoya Kawashimo (6-3, 1) in 4 rounds and Kosei Toyoda (2-1-1, 1) over-came the limited Kenji Nakayoshi (2-3, 1) in a 4 round decision. Fukuoka, Japan On a second show in Japan fans got to see 8 bouts in Fukuoka. The main event of this show saw the experienced Yosuke Kirima (19-4-2, 13) defeat the previously unbeaten Takahito Osaka (6-1-2, 4) via an 8 round majority decision. It was competitive though Kirima managed to come out on top by relying on his extra experience. It wasn't all bad news for unbeaten fighters and Takumi Sakae (9-0, 5) extended his winning run with an 8 round unanimous decision over Indonesian visitor Boy Tanto (6-15, 9). Sakae went 8 rounds for the first time though we tend to feel he needs more bouts at this level before he steps up to thinking about title action. In a female bout Satomi Nishimura (7-1, 1) took an 8 round victory over Thailand's win-less Saosukhothai Por Preechagym (0-2). The bout did feature some competitive rounds though was a clear victory for Nishimura on the cards as she bounced back from her sole loss, a stoppage to Saemi Hanagata more than a year a go. Oddly a good chunk of this card resulted in draws, in fact 3 of the 8 bouts saw no winner rendered. These draws included a 6 round unanimous draw for the experienced Yoshihiko Matsuo (17-5-6, 3) who fought a very even bout with Tatsuya Miyamoto (10-12-1, 6). In 4 rounders J Soul Maeda (1-1-2, 1) fought to a split draw with Bejita Ishikawa (2-6-2, 1) whilst the unbeaten Kotaro Ishibashi (2-0-1, 2) fought to a draw with Tsunehiko Aitoku (1-2-1). In the opening 4 rounders of the show Satoshi Yamamichi (3-3, 3) wiped out Hikaru Nagamine (0-2) at the end of the second round and Yusuke Yamanouchi (5-1-1, 2) took a decision over Kazuyuki Hirayama (4-3-1, 3). Aichi, Japan The third Japanese show as at the Aioi Hall in Aichi. This show had a surprisingly competitive main event which saw Yuji Shimizu (16-8-1, 1) narrowly out point Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi (1-4) in an 8 round split decision. On paper it was a mismatch with Yamaguchi ending a 7 year break from the ring though it turned out being incredibly tight with Shimizu being pushed all the way. In another surprisingly competitive contest Shinji Takayama (22-3, 11) narrowly over-came Shota Okuda (4-2, 2) in a 6 rounder. In all honesty much of the card was competitive with many of the 4 rounders on the card being nip and tuck. These included a draw between Reiko Sugiyama (3-4-3, 2) and the unbeaten Takuya Mizuno (2-0-1, 2) and another draw in a bout between Akihisa Buma (1-0-1, 1) and Kyosuke Takaoka (2-3-1, 1). Another of the 4 rounders saw Daiki Yamamoto (1-0) winning a majority decision over fellow debutant Takashi Kagamihara (0-1) whilst Kenta Matsui (4-2, 1) took a split over Hiroki Yajima (1-5, 1). Not all the bouts were competitive however and we saw 3 stoppages on the show. One of those saw the hard hitting Daisuke Hayakawa (7-2, 6) taking out the usually durable Kenta Sugimoto (6-7-1) in the 5th round of a scheduled 6 rounds and another saw Shuichi Ingaki (1-1, 1) blast out Tatsuya Shibayama (0-2) inside a round. The most notable stoppage however was scored by the promising Genki Hanai (2-0, 2) who made light work of Thailand's Fahrung Porsuwangym (0-1) with a second round KO. Although Hanai's opponent seems to be unproven Hanai himself has been in 2 bouts scheduled for 6 rounds and was a former amateur standout. From what we understand the plans are huge for this youngster and hopefully we'll see him in with a decent opponent sooner rather than later. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp was taken during the Horikawa bout) Shibata retains unified crown, Taguchi dropped but wins, Taconing on form and Rufino bounces back7/6/2014 This past Saturday wasn't a major one for Asian boxing fans but there was still a host of action, much of which was involved fighters at or around the OPBF title level. Tokyo, Japan The most notable of all the matches involving an Asian fighter took place at the Korakuen Hall as the unified Japanese OPBF Middleweight champion Akio Shibata (23-8-1, 9) retained his unified crown for the first time. Shibata was always expected to over come his opponent, Hikaru Nishida (10-7-1, 3), but was forced to use all hsi experience to over-come a fighter that we believe will come again in the future. Nishida, although not a world class fighter, is a man who will give everyone at this level a hard bout and we doubt Shibata will be in a rush for a rematch. Whilst Shibata is a unified OPBF/Japanese champion we did see a former world champion on the undercard in the form of former IBF Minimumweight champion Florante Condes (27-9-1, 23). Condes, travelling to Japan, took on former Japanese Light Flyweight champion Ryoichi Taguchi (20-2-1, 8), seemed on the verge of scoring a shock stoppage over the gutsy Japanese fighter but Taguchi showed all his heart to recover from a very hard knockdown in the second round. Taguchi's heart saw him recovering over the following round to take a very hard fought decision but neither man came out of this bout with any shame and we're going to look forward to seeing both in action again. One man who did manage to see off his hurt opponent was Hayato Hokazono (18-4-1, 11) who took out Osamu Hashimoto (9-7, 1) in the 6th of a scheduled 8 rounder. Likewise Yuji Wauke (18-4-1, 9) managed to take out his opponent, Jonel Gadapan (8-7-1, 4), needing just 5 of the 8 scheduled rounds to close the show. The quickest of the contests saw the monstrously hard hitting Yuichi Yokoyama (14-2, 13) take out Tatsuya Yanagi (10-2, 4) in just 169 seconds as the power of Yokoyama was felt in a big way. Yanagi managed to recover his feet but he was counted out doing so following a huge straight right of Yokoyama's. In a 5 round bout Yoshihisa Yokota (6-10-1, 2) took a decision over Yamato Nakagawa (4-4, 2) whilst in the opening bout Shinya Ito (2-01) took a 4 round decision over Shinnosuke Yoshimori (1-2, 1) in what was the show's opening bout. Metro Manila, Philippines In the Philippines fans had the chance to catch a 7 fight show in Metro Manila. The main event on this show saw recent OPBF Featherweight title challenger Vinvin Rufino (35-16-3, 16) retain his GAB Featherweight title but trade knockdowns in a very competitive bout with Cristian Abila (11-13-3, 3). Rufino was dropped in the 11th round but managed to even it out by scoring a knockdown of his own in the following round to give us a bout what was more competitive than the records of the fighters would have suggested going into the contest. Whilst Rufino had failed in his OPBF title challenge earlier this year the co-feature had a man who had taken his chance with both hands and claimed the Light Flyweight title with a stunning victory over Virgilio Silvano back in March. That was the hard hitting Jonathan Taconing (19-2-1, 16) who stopped the previously unbeaten Jaipetch Chaiyonggym (3-1, 2) with a devastating body shot in the 3rd round. Another man who scored a body shot KO was the unbeaten Randy Braga (13-0-1, 3) who stopped the very poor Dexter Mendoza (11-14-2, 3) in just 47 seconds! Some of the bouts, other than the main event, on this show did go the distance, including the sole 6 round bout which saw Glenn Suminguit (13-2, 7) take a very wide decision over Jomar Borbon (4-18-2, 2), a very narrow 4 round majority decision for the unbeaten Roderick Flores (3-0-1, 1) over the debuting Jayson Dogelio (0-1) and a debut victory for Marlon Paniamogan (1-0) who took a shut out over Jaymark Borbon (0-1). The only other 4 round bout on this card saw Raymond Yanong (2-1, 2) defeating Christian Rayta (0-2), who retired at the end of the second round. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp) The month of July has certainly started slowly though on Friday we did see some notable names in action, sadly however none of them were in genuinely interesting match ups. Phichit province, Thailand The most notable action of the day was in Thailand where the world ranked, and very promising, Teerachai Kratingdaenggym (26-0, 20) successfully defended his PABA Welterweight title. Teerachai, ranked #5 by the WBA, had no problems despatching of over-matched Kazakh Kanat Kartenbayev (10-8-2, 4) who has now lost 5 successive bouts. Whilst we'd love to see Teerachai in a meaningful bout we really can't see him facing anyone of note until the WBA force someone to fight him in an eliminator type of fight. Whilst the Teerachai contest was most important bout on the show it was one of 5 bouts on the show which also included a contest for former world champion Denkaosan Kaovichit (63-4-1, 26) who over-came the very limited Indonesian visitor Gaspar Ampolo (2-23-2, 1). Ampolo managed to show his toughness by lasting 6 rounds with Denkaosan, but his record does some up his ability level and he was never likely to give Denkaosan any real issues. Also on the card was the unbeaten Stamp Kiatniwat (8-0, 4). Stamp, one of the most promising young Thai's out there, stopped the atrocious Johan Wahyudi (9-29, 5) who has now been stopped 15 times in 38 bouts. In another bout Inthanon Sithchamuang (22-7, 13), best known for losing to Jerwin Ancajas in Macau, stopped Saengchai Sithprayoon (0-1) and Amin sor Wangmoo (7-1-1, 5) stopped Fahsang Singmanasak (0-1). Queensland, Australia In Australia we saw a trio of Asian's in action, including two who faced each other. The all Asian bout saw Australia based Filipino Jack Asis (31-18-5, 16) score a surprisingly quick victory by blasting out Indonesia's Rivo Rengkung (32-20-5, 12) inside a round. We had expected this to actually be a very competitive bout though with Rengkung being blasted out this quickly we do wonder about his future. The other Asian in action was Eddy Comaro (27-21-5, 11) who was stopped in 4 by Australian based Brit Darren Askew (11-6-1, 3). This was the 6th straight loss for Comaro who needs to seriously think about his future in the sport. (Image, of Teerachai, courtesy of boxrec.com) |
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