Hiroshima, Japan One of the many rising stars of Japanese boxing is Naoto Uebayashi (6-0-1, 4) who continued his rise through the rankings with an easy victory over Thailand's previously unbeaten Singnoi Singmanasak (1-1). It's fair to say Uebayashi has a lot of improving to do but his continued success it almost expected due to his days as an amateur. Sadly after wins over wins over Marjohn Yap and Anis Ceunfin this was a notable step backwards from Uebayashi who should be put in more developmental fights considering he's now in his mid 20's. As well as Uebayashi's win on this card there was another early blow out with Ryuji Ikeda (7-2-1, 3) taking out debuting Thai Fasung Manopchaigym (0-1) in just 2 rounds. For the fans who were wanting something in terms of distance fights the under-card featured a trio of distance bouts. These saw Kazuya Okubo (2-0) extending his winning run as he over-came Takuya Fujio (1-3-1) with a clear cut decision, Taiyo Inoue (2-1, 1) moved to a plus even record with a divisive decision over Hayata Komen (0-1) and Hironori Miyake (2-3, 1) who over-came Masashi Kamon (0-1) (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)
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Tokyo, Japan For a third successive day we got titles action involving Japanese fighters, this time we got a double however as fans at the Korakuen Hall got a show to remember. The card, like a good concert, began relatively softly with a couple of low profile 4 rounders but grew into a crescendo with a memorable ending. The 4 rounders saw the debuting Kohei Isozaki (1-0) take a 4 round majority decision over the win-less Tomohiro Tsunoda (0-3) and a 2nd round KO win for Toshiya Tanaka (1-1, 1) who got off the mark by stopping Kimihiro Suda (0-2). Interestingly both of these bouts were at Super Featherweight. As well as the 4 rounders on the undercard we also had a couple of 8 rounders. These included a Featherweight bout that saw the Japanese ranked Ryo Takenaka (11-2-1, 6) secure a 6th round stoppage over Yuki Ozawa (10-4, 2). For Takenaka this was a 4th successive victory since suffering back-to-back losses in 2012 whilst this was a 4th straight loss for Ozawa who began his career 10-0. The other 8 rounder was highly competitive as former Japanese title challenger Yukinori Hisanaga (16-5-2, 9) narrowly over-came the heavy handed Taiki Minamoto (9-4, 8). The contest was the sort of domestic under-card contest that warms up fans really well for the main bouts and was thoroughly engaging from early on. Hisanaga did deserve the victory, just, but a rematch certainly wouldn't go a miss. After the under-card we moved on to the first of two title bouts. A clash for the Japanese Super Flyweight title with Yohei Tobe (8-2-1, 5) attempting to make the first defence of his title. Unfortunately for Tobe he came up against the very talented and still unbeaten Sho Ishida (17-0, 9) who secured the title with a hard fought and close decision in what was great display, by both, of boxing. The jabs, counters and straights were on show and although it wasn't a war it was still a very solid bout as Ishida moved a step closer to a world title fight. Although the loss for Tobe will hurt we wouldn't be shocked to see him bouncing back with out too many issues. For Ishida the focus has to be on bigger and better things and we'd not be shocked to see him in with a world champion in the next 12 months. In the main event we had a bout that looked great on paper and proved to be great in the ring, despite a nervous start. This bout saw monster puncher Keita Obara (12-1, 11) successfully retaining his OPBF Light Welterweight title with a 12th round stoppage against fellow hard hitter Shinya Iwabuchi (23-5, 19). Obara was in the lead on the scorecards going into the final few rounds and looked likely to be taking a decision before stylishly closing the show within 20 seconds of the final round. Whilst this was Obara's first fight to go beyond 8 rounds it was also Iwabuchi's 1st stoppage loss, an impressive feat for Obara considering that Min Wook Kim couldn't finish off Iwabuchi when the two fought in a highly entertaining contest last year. With Iwabuchi taking a WBO world ranking in to this fight we're now expecting to see Obara, a stable mate of Ryota Murata, moving into at least one of the world rankings. We're hoping to bring you videos of the main fights from this card over the next day or two. (Image, of Obara and Iwabuchi, courtesy of boxingnews.jp) Lets be honest we are still reading about how great the recent Takayama/Rodriguez fight was in Mexico with more and more people proclaiming it to be the FOTY. The bout was great though in many ways it's in the history books now as we move on with more fights and more title contests. Osaka, Japan The first "post-Takayama/Rodriguez" bout of note came less than 24 hours later as Japanese fans got to the chance to see an old favourite return to title winning form. That was because the highly skilled, and still popular, Yuki Nonaka (26-8-2, 9) put on a showcase of boxing to over-come the sluggish and crude Kengo Nagashima (14-11-2, 13) and reclaim the Japanese Light Middleweight title. Nonaka, one of the best "pure boxer" in Japan, showed off the sweet science to easily out point his heavy handed foe with intelligent shot selection, good movement and an all round solid display. If you're interest in seeing this fight the full contest can be viewed here. Prior to the title fight the card had given us 5 undercard bouts. These included a trio of 4 rounders. The 4 rounders saw so less proficient boxing than in the main event though did see some more exciting moments, such as head snapping shots of Toshiki Kawanishi (2-2, 1) who scored his first stoppage victory with a second round win over Yosuke Taniguchi (2-2). Although Taniguchi was dropped hard we are of the view the bout was stopped a little bit early, however it was the second knockdown in around 30 seconds so it's "understandable" stoppage. If you wish to see this bout the footage is here. The other 4 rounders both went the distance as Ryusei Kitamura (2-0, 1) extended his winning run with a decision over Arata Matsuoka (1-2, 1) and Tesu Kanayama (2-0) took his second decision victory with a shut out over Hiroyuki Takahashi (2-6). As well as the 4 rounders we also had a pair of 6 round bouts. These include a minor upset as Riichi Kawase (6-6-2, 1) took a majority decision over Shachihoko Dragons Keita (4-3, 1). The other 6 rounder saw Kenta Shimizu (7-4-1, 4) earn a 4th round TKO over Munehito Kijima (5-6-1), though we do think the referee stepped in too early. Interestingly the Shimizu/Kijima bout was the second meeting between the two men with Kijima making his debut against Shimizu back in 2010 and earning a draw. Again we have footage of this fight, with the full fight video being here. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp) A day that begins in Australia and ends in Mexico can be an insanely long day in the boxing world. Sometimes it's not really worth it but this Saturday really was worth it as we had one of the best fights you will see in 2014! Nuevo Leon, Mexico Although it was the last bout of the day, by some margin, we can't help but start the results with the war in Mexico between Katsunari Takayama (27-7-0-1, 10) and Mexico's Francisco Rodriguez Jr (15-2, 10). The bout, a rare unification contest at 105lbs, saw the IBF and WBO titles being unified by Rodriguez who won a very hard fought decision in a bout many are dubbing the fight of the year. From the first round to the last the bout swung one way then the other, one man looked in charge then the other did, the action, relentless and pulsating from the off was the sort of thing worth staying up for and although Takayama, a man we love, lost on the scorecards he enhanced his reputation as a warrior. We're hoping for a rematch though we'll be honest and say that we don't imagine it happening which is a shame but considering how good the bout was we'll be remembering this one for a very long time. If you're interested in watching this fight we have the video here. Crimea In the hotly disputed area of the Crimea we had a Russian promoted card that featured a "world title" fight that was little more than a criminal mismatch between one of the rising Russian stars and someone who has seen much, much better days. The card began with a trio of low level decision bouts. These saw debuting Heavyweight Pavel Doroshilov (1-0) take a decision over British veteran Danny Williams (46-23-0-2, 35) to announce himself as a man to keep an eye on. Although Williams is a "shot" fighter he's still an interesting opponent to debut against, especially when you consider who many other fighters have been debuting against in recent weeks. In a 6 rounder Azerbaijan's feather fisted Ramal Amanov (6-0) took a disputed majority decision over the more experienced Wilfrido Buelvas (15-3, 9). This wasn't the only debated decision on the card with Dilmurod Satybaldiev (5-1, 2) narrowly taking a split decision over Konstantin Piternov (15-6, 6). Although some of the decisions on this show were debatable no one would argue with the decision that went in favour of the very promising Arif Magomedov (12-0, 8) who totally dominated Britain's Patrick Mendy (15-7-1, 1). Mendy, who fought to a draw with Dmitry Chudinov last year, was dropped in rounds 2, 7 and 8 as Magomedov did everything but stop his foe. By the end of the bout the scorecards didn't really matter as it was so one sided, though somehow onely 1 judge gave it a shut out with scores of 120-105, 119-106 and 118-117 all being returned from the judges. The video of this fight is available here. In the main event Dmitry Chudinov (14-0-2, 9) simply destroyed French veteran Mehdi Bouadla (30-6, 11) to retain the WBA "interim" world title. Chudinov dropped Bouadla 5 times in less than 3 rounds forcing the referee to wave off the bout and save Bouadla from any further punishment. Bouadla was down once in the opening round then twice in rounds 2 and 3 as he found out just how hard Chudinov punches. The video of this fight is here. Gauteng, South Africa We had two title fights of note in South Africa earlier and sadly neither of them went "our way". For Russian fighter Denis Grachev (13-4-1, 8) the action was exciting though he was unable to over-come the unbeaten Ryno Liebenberg (16-0, 11) who took a clear decision to claim the WBC Silver Light Heavyweight title. Grachev brought a lot of pressure in the fight but was unable to land the clean blows needed to over-come the clean counters of Liebenberg who deserved the decisions, though he cards were frustratingly wide in favour of the home fighter. For Filipino fighter Roli Gasca (22-5-1, 6) things were equally disappointing as he gave his all against the heavy handed Thabo Sonjica (20-2, 14) in a bout for the IBO Super Bantamweight title. Gasca, who was up against it when the bout was signed, found himself up against a man who failed to make weight and that was simply too much for him, despite a good effort. Sonjica came in above the Featherweight limit and was naturally bigger anyway. That size came in handy and despite being dropped in round 7 Sonjica was simply too strong, dropping Gasca in round 11 to secure a clear decision victory, though one which will come with many people feeling disappointed in the South African fighter. New South Wales, Australia The boxing began in Australia today with 2 cards. The most important of the bouts involving an Asian "down under" took place in New South Wales as Filipino fighter Ryan Sermona (16-6 9) attempted to make the first defence of his WBC International Super Featherweight title. Unfortunately for Sermona, who took on the light hitting Corey McConnell (14-1-1, 2), he became just the second stoppage victim of McConnell after suffering a cut that caused the referee to stop the bout. It's a shame for Sermona to lose his title like this but hopefully he will be able to secure a rematch with the Australian. Queensland, Australia The other bout of note in Australia saw Aussie debutant Luke Hall (1-0) over-come Thailand's win-less Arnon Yuchareon (0-5). Arnon managed to win 1 of the 4 rounds on all 3 cards losing 39-37, surprisingly this is as close as he's got to winning a professional boxing contest since he turned professional 6 months ago. Pennsylvania, USA In the US fans were rightfully impressed by the performance of the unbeaten Vasily Lepikhin (16-0, 9) who put on a text book display of boxing to defeat the heavy handed Robert Berridge (24-2-1, 20) over 5 rounds. It was an incredibly solid performance from the unbeaten Russian fighter who seems likely to become a genuine contender over the next few fights. Again if you are interested in the video of this bout we have it here. (Image courtesy of Nakazato boxing) This past Friday so plenty of fights taking place involving Asian fighters tough few bouts from Asian's really stood out as being competitive or great fights. Nevada, USA In the US fans got to see the biggest Asian of the night, China's huge Heavyweight hopeful Zhang Zhilei (1-0, 1). It took just 17 seconds for Zhilei to see off rotund American Curtis Lee Tate (7-5, 6) in what was a bit of a waste of time, though for a debut it was the impression Zhilei's team have been wanting to leave. The footage of this bout is available here. Tokyo, Japan The biggest show, in terms of fights, in Asia took place at the Korakuen Hall an was headlined by a contest between one-time Japanese title challenger Tetsuma Hayashi (24-2-2, 8) and Hideyuki Watanabe (7-6-3, 5). We had expected Hayashi to be far too good for Watanabe but a very good performance form the under-dog reduslted in a well earned split draw. We also saw a shock in the co-feature as Toshio Arikawa (9-4, 7) upset former 2-time title challenger Yoshihisa Tonimura (17-10-4, 5) with a 6th round technical decision. This was Arikawa's first win in well over a year and seems to have given his career some life having looked all but over prior to the contest. One bout that did go the way we expected saw former Japanese Featherweight champion Koji Umetsu (22-14-3, 10) stop Thai novice Chamuakpetch Por Panya (0-3) in 3 rounds. Aged 37 we're unsure how long Umetsu has left in the sport but this is his second win of the year. In the mid part of the card we had a trio of 6 rounds. One of those saw Jo Tanooka (9-1-3) continue his winning run as he over-came Jun Koseki (7-4, 3) in a very hard fought 6 round majority decision. Another of the 6 rounders saw Yoshinori Wakahara (7-4, 4) score a 5th round TKO over Dragon Jun (6-12, 3). The win for Wakahara was his first bout since he lost to Takumi Sakae last December whilst for Jun this was his second stoppage loss this year. The other 6 rounder, arguably the most important, saw the hotly tipped Kenya Noguchi (2-0, 1) make very light work of Thai visitor Yodarewut Torpran (0-2). Noguchi showed a great body attack en route to stopping the Thai. Aged just 18 we would advise keeping a very close eye the progress of this fantastic young fighter. The card began with a trio of 4 rounders. These saw Daisuke Uchikawa (2-1-1, 1) out point Jun Ogawa (1-2-1) in a clear cut decision, Hidetoshi Ueki (4-9-1) take a hard fought decision over Yamato Kikuchi (2-6-2) and Takahiro Yoneshige (1-1, 1) score a 98 second blow out victory over Adisorn Kesornsombat (0-1). Bangkok, Thailand In Thailand we saw youngster Stamp Kiatniwat (9-0, 4) announce himself as a real prospect as he out pointed former WBA Minimumweight world champion Kwanthai Sithmorseng (46-3-1, 24). The bout was a huge step up for Stamp though will have done him the world of good showing that he can compete with experienced top tier fighters. We have to say, once again, that this kid is possible the brightest shining light in Thai boxing. For those who want to know just how good Stamp is, we would advise watching the footage of this bout. Suwannakhet, Laos In Laos we had a number of Thai's in action on a 4 bout show in Suwannakhet. The main event of this show saw the world ranked Norasing Kokietgym (11-0-1, 8) making very light work of Filipino journeyman Geboi Mansalayao (9-17-4, 3). The victory for Norasing saw him claiming the WBC Asian Boxing Council Silver Super Flyweight title and moving a step further towards a world title fight. We've managed to get footage of this bout for those interested in seeing how good Norasing looked. On the same show in Laos there was also a female contest that saw Nampetch Kwanjaisrikod (2-1, 1) take a 10 round decision over Kanda Por Muangpetch (1-1). This victory saw Nampetch claiming the WBC Asian Boxing Council Continental female Light Flyweight title though we're unaware how exactly this bout went. What we do know is that Nampetch became the first ever fighter from Laos to win a professional boxing title. Another bout that went the distance saw the unbeaten Saenganan KKP (7-0, 5) take a 6 round decision victory over Indonesian journeyman Domi Nenokeba (11-20-1, 7). This was Nenokeba's 20th straight loss and it seems likely he will just be matched up time and time again with Thai's that are meant to beat him. It's hard to say how good Saenganan is despite his 7-0 record because of the fact he has faced awful opposition so far, though we are expecting to see him step up next time out. A fourth bout on this show saw former female world title holder Kanittha Kokietgym (21-6, 8) score a 4th round KO against the debuting Sroipetch Sithphosai (0-1). Kanittha's win saw her bouncing back from a loss, last November, to Kledpetch KKP. Queensland, Australia In a low level bout in Australia Thailand's Pramool Boonpok (1-7) finally secured his first win as he took a 4 round unanimous decision over the the debuting Brent Dames (0-1). New South Wales, Australia It wasn't all good news "down under" as Stevi Ongen Ferdinandus (15-7-1, 8) was stopped, in 5 rounds, by Chad Bennett (34-4-3, 25). Bennett, with this victory, picked up the WBC Eurasia Pacific Boxing Council Light Welterweight title. (Image, of Hayashi and Watanabe, courtesy of boxingnews.jp) Some days are amazing with great fights all over, others are merely interesting. We would suggest that this Thursday was certainly an interesting day for Asian boxing fans. Tokyo, Japan Probably the most notable card of the day was in Japan where Ohashi Gym promoted "Phoenix Battle 50". The show it's self wasn't a mind blowing card but it did feature a number of notable fighters, the most notable of which was WBA Atomweight champion Ayaka Miyao (18-5-1, 3) who was in the main event and defeated Thailand's still win-less Yokfah Mor Krungthepthonburi (0-7). As you may assume from the records this was a clear stay busy fight for Miyao who stated she'd be back in action in October to defend her belt. Another major name on this card was Shin Ono (18-6-2, 2) who, like Miyao, was in a stay busy fight as he out pointed Petchnamchai Sor Sakulwong (1-1, 1). This was Ono's first bout since his loss to Katsunari Takayama in an IBF Minimumweight title fight and from what we've been told this bout was certainly not a memorable affair. As well as the bigger names on his show there were 7 other bouts with them all featuring either novices or young hopefuls. One of the young hopefuls was Kenichi Miyazaki (6-1-1, 1) who took a 6 decision win over the more experienced but less talented Naoto Takanashi (4-8-2, 3) and another was the heavy handed Yoshimichi Matsumoto (6-1, 5) who blasted out the completely over-matched Petchjah Sithphasean (0-4) inside a round. In terms of the bouts with novices there was a quintet of 4 rounders. These included an all debutant affair between Ryoji Suzuki (1-0) and Masayoshi Yamazaki (0-1) which Suzuki won via clear decision. Another debutant to pick up a win was Reo Watanabe (1-0) who out pointed Rasher Aoki (1-2) in a competitive contest. The only other man to secure a win on the undercard saw Kentaro Endo (4-4, 3) struggle to a majority decision win over Kensuke Sakamoto (3-6, 1). The two remaining bouts both resulted in draws as judges struggled to split Shin Tomitaka (1-0-1) and Yo Takekawa (1-0-1, 1), in what was a split decision draw, or Daigo Yamamoto (0-1-1) and Takaya Tsuji (1-3-1, 1) which was a 38-38 draw across all 3 cards. Bangkok, Thailand In Thailand we had another notable show, even if it was a short one with just 3 contests on it. One of those bouts saw the very promising Kongputorn CPFreshmart (3-0, 2) take a clear 10 round decision over Zhu Yuan Kai (0-1) to claim the WBC Youth Flyweight title. Kongputorn again showed off the traits that have caught the eye since he made his boxing debut back in June though did fail to see off his Chinese foe which may some question just how good the Thai really is. In honesty however you just need to watch Kongputorn to see his potential and if you've not yet seen him we have got the video of this bout here. The other notable bout on this show saw the much touted Palangpol CP Freshmart (4-0, 4) continue his stoppage run and successfully defend his WBA Asia Light Flyweight title as he over-came Filipino Joan Imperial (9-5-6, 4) to defend his WBA Asia Light Flyweight. For Imperial this was his 5th loss in 7 bouts and it seems that his 9-0-4 start to professional life is now well behind him. As with Konputorn's bout we managed to get the video of this bout here for those interested in giving it a watch. A third bout on this show saw Petchmai Chor Sungnork (1-0, 1) score a debut blow out victory over Kwanpichit Twinsgym (0-1). Barranquilla, Colombia Another bout of interest took place in Colombia as the heavy handed Light Middleweight contender Kanat Islam (18-0, 15) defeated the experienced Fidel Monterrosa Munoz (32-10-1-1, 26) in the 5th round. Munoz had come out to attack early on and made a good start but Islam never looked in any danger and managed to turn the tables when he went on the offensive with his heavy artillery being far too much for Munoz. Hopefully Islam's next bout will be a step up towards a world title as this is enough of him wasting time on opponents that aren't capable of really challenging. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp) Tokyo, Japan The only Asian show on Monday was at the Korakuen Hall as fans got the latest of the Dangan cards. The show wasn't the most exciting on paper though it did have one stand out bout, a Japanese Bantamweight title contest between defending champion Kentaro Masuda (20-6, 11) and former world title challenger Konosuke Tomiyama (24-7-1, 8). We have expected the bout to be a competitive one, after all Tomiyama had given world class fighters like Nobuo Nashiro in 2009 and Genesis Servania in 2013 tough bouts, but what ended up happening was a total beat down by Masuda who made the first defence of his title in real style. From the opening minute Masuda looked in the mood to make a statement and that's what he did dropping Tomiyama 3 times in round 3 to force the referee to stop the bout. Following the contest Masuda indicated that he'd like to challenge former foe Ryosuke Iwasa, the current OPBF Bantamweight champion. A rematch between the two would give Masuda a chance to avenge his 2012 loss to Iwasa and also give Iwasa a very good challenger for his belt. We're hoping Masuda gets his way here though we could understand if Iwasa decided to focus on a world title bout instead. Prior to the main event we had a trio of interesting looking support bouts, each of which was scheduled for 8 rounds. These included a very goo win for the once beaten Yuta Matsuo (6-1-1, 4) who stopped the light punching Yusaku Ishikawa (4-5) in the 4th round. Another 4th round stoppage amongst the 8 rounders saw Takumi Koyama (9-2-1, 7) taking out Takahisa Nayuki (11-11, 2). The other 8 rounder almost made it to the final bell but Masaki Saito (11-10-3, 3) just managed to see off Yosuke Kawano (7-4-1, 3) with 40 seconds of the contest left. The show's sole 6 rounder also came to an early conclusion as Naoto Fujimoto (7-3-1, 4) recorded a 5th round KO against Toru Kudo (4-3-2, 1). Thankfully it wasn't all blow away's and some of the under-card did manage to go the distance including the shows opening contest between Kazuo Shimada (2-7-1, 1) and Daisuke Fukuyama (2-2-1, 2) which ended in a 4 round majority draw. This draw was immediately followed by a 4th round stoppage victory for Seita Shimamiya (1-1, 1) who over-came the debuting Nobuhiro Chikuda (0-1). The remaining 4 rounder from the undercard managed to complete the schedule as Tatsuji Kakumoto (4-5, 1) narrowly out pointed Muneyuki Kishii (3-4, 2) in a genuinely competitive contest. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp) This past Saturday was a ridiculously busy day in Japan with several shows and a lot of action. Osaka, Japan The most significant of the shows in Japan was at the IMP Hall in Osaka, one of two shows in the venue. What made this one in particular, the Green Tsuda one, most important was the debut of a star and the return of an exciting local boxer as well as a very promising unbeaten fighter. The card's highlight for regional fans was the return to an Osaka ring for Tosho Makoto Aoki (18-12-2, 14). Aoki had been fighting in the Philippines recently and had, twice, seen decent opponents pull out on him leading in to this fight. Sadly that left Aoki's home coming looking less than competitive as he easily defeated Thai debutant Ekayut Saksomchat (0-1) in 4 rounds. Whilst Aoki was the main event his bout probably only the 4th most interesting on the show. The best, for us anyway, was the debut of Ken Shiro (1-0) who completely dominated Indonesian veteran Heri Amol (34-18-4, 14) over 6 rounds. Amol was dropped from a body and dominated by the jab of Ken Shiro who never looked in any trouble during his outstanding debut. Another of the notable bouts saw the unbeaten Shohei Okuda (11-0, 4) extend his winning run with a decision victory over the very tough but limited Shohei Kanemoto (9-8-1, 3). Okuda will have seen this bout as a warning not to step up to title level, yet, but the potential for the 23 year old to move to title level is clear. The other contest saw Takayuki Okumoto (12-6-2, 5) taking a 7th round technical decision over Shota Kawaguchi (17-5-2, 7). The show had a relatively long under-card with one of the better bouts on it being a 6 round victory for Hiroshi Konoura (5-4, 1) who defeated Hisashi Kawanishi (4-7, 1) whilst in another 6 rounder Ryota Yada (5-3, 4) made light work of Takayuki Morimoto (5-9, 3). The show had 4 bouts set for 4 rounds. Of those 4 contests 3 went the distance, the only one that didn't saw Naotoshi Nakatani (2-0, 2) blasting out Ryo Hirai (1-3-1) in just 115 seconds. Nakatani was one of two fighters to extend his unbeaten record on this part of the card with Takeshi Kajikawa (3-0, 2) over-coming Yuki Nagashima (5-1, 2) via a decision. In the other 4 rounders we ended up with draws as Kazuma Fukuyama (3-2-3) shared the spoils with Yosuke Shimagawa (3-5-1, 2) and Ryosuke Nasu (0-0-1) fought to a split decision draw with Ryo Miyagaki (0-0-1). Osaka, Japan The other show at the IMP Hall was a card held by Taiho and headlined by a very good bout between Ryota Kajiki (23-9, 15) and Shota Yamaguchi (12-2, 8). The bout was competitive going into round 8 but Kajiki's power managed to see off Yamaguchi in the final round to secure the win and move back towards a domestic title bout. In the co-feature we had an upset as Shunji Nagata (10-11-2, 3) took an 8 round split decision over Akiyoshi Kanazawa (11-3-4, 5), In the 6 rounders in the middle of the card Ippo Nishiwaki (6-3-1, 4) managed to claim a 6 round unanimous decision over Katsuhiko Kanno (8-9-7, 3). The other 6 rounder saw the once beaten Ken Osato (6-1, 3) out point Ryo Shirakawa (5-7-2, 2). The early portion of the card with the 4 rounders had a trio of bouts though, like the other IMP Hall show, only 1 finished early. That was an 80 second blow out win for Keisuke Tabuchi (6-1-2, 5) who made light work of the previously unbeaten Batten Ryosuke (1-1-1, 1). The other bouts saw Daijiro Yuki (3-0, 1) taking a narrow split decision over the debuting Yuki Nakanishi (0-1) and Noboru Osata (3-2-3, 1) defeating Ryusuke Tanaka (3-2, 1) with a split decision. Osaka, Japan A third show in Osaka took place at the Sumiyoshi Ward Center. This card featured 7 bouts in total as well as a very interesting Ring Girl's contest with the winning of that contest being a ring girl for the upcoming domestic title fight on August 10th. The main event in terms of boxing was the return to winning ways for former world title challenger Hirofumi Mukai (10-3-2, 1) who managed to out point Filipino journeyman Marjohn Yap (19-11, 10) in an 8 rounder that felt anti-climatic in many ways. Mukai's jab was simply too much for Yap to have sustained success though Yap, as he always does, did try to make a fight of things. The chief support bouts, both scheduled for 8 rounds, fans saw Kota Tokunaga (13-2, 9) score a 7th round stoppage against Tatsuya Yoneo (6-5, 1) whilst Yuki Strong Kobayashi (8-3, 4) out pointed Kengo Maruhashi (5-12-2, 5). The sole 6 rounder from the undercard was incredibly competitive with Yukitaka Nishida (6-8-2, 1) taking a narrow split decision over Kojiro Takada (13-7-3, 9). It wasn't the only close bout on the card and one of the 4 rounders from the undercard resulted in a draw as Kaminoko Okamura Kentakid (3-0-2, 2) kept his unbeaten record alive courtesy of a draw with Hiroya Kojima (2-3-1, 2). In the other under-card bouts Golgosaithon Kenji (2-0) took a 4 round decision over Keita Yamamoto (0-2) to continue his winning run, whilst Takuya Olivia Hase (1-0-1) secured his first win with a decision over Kazuhiro Hirahara (1-6, 1). Aichi, Japan The remaining Japanese action was in Aichi at the Aioi Hall and featured a further 9 bouts. One of the main bouts here resulted in a draw as the judges were split over who won an 8 rounder between Shinichi Tsukahara (8-6-3, 3) and Yuji Iwata (6-5-2, 2). Thankfully the other main bout left no so doubt as Kazuya Maruki (17-2, 11) scored a dominant KO over Indonesian visitor Wellem Reyk (17-10-3, 5) who was stopped in round 3. Unfortunately for Reyk this was his 6th stoppage defeat and it now seems cleam that his career is now going to be that of a "professional" loser as opposed to a journeyman capable of giving it a go. The rest of the card, all 7 bouts, were 4 rounders fought as the finals of the Central Japan Rookie of the Year. At Light Welterweight fans saw Tetsuya Morisada (2-3, 2) scoring a 2nd round TKO over Tetsuya Yamaguchi (2-2-1, 1), another second round stoppage saw Lightweight Shogo Yamaguchi (4-0-1, 3) extending his unbeaten run with a 2nd round stoppage over Hayato Takeshima (3-3. 3) whilst Minimumweight hopeful Jun Takigawa (4-0, 3) scored a 4th round KO over Hideaki Kamiyasu (1-2). At Super Featherweight Yuya Shimakura (3-0) out out pointed Kazuaki Okada (3-2, 2), in the Featherweight division Takashi Igarashi (4-0, 1) out pointed Tetsuya Kudo (3-3, 2), at Super Flyweight Eita Sakurai (4-0, 1) defeated the experienced Teruyuki Kobashi (2-10-1, 1) and at Light Flyweight Kenta Matsui (5-2, 1) dominated Takashi Matsumoto (2-1). (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp and shows Ken Shiro celebrating his knockdown of Amol) Shibata and Koseki stop challengers, Kovalev Krushes Caparello, Novikov thwarted by judges and more!8/3/2014 It's fair to say this past Friday lacked activity in a big way. There was very little to comment about or be excited about. Saturday however was the complete opposite with more notable bouts than some weeks have had so far this year. In fact we had 4 world title fights, 2 former world title challengers and numerous contenders, pretenders and prospects. New Jersey, USA The most notable bout of the weekend for us was in New Jersey as WBO Light Heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (24-0-1, 23) successfully retained his world title with a 2nd round TKO over the previously unbeaten Blake Caparello (19-1-1, 6). Kovalev was officially knocked down in the opening round, after having hsi foot stopped on by southpaw Caparello, though managed to get up with no issues to then beat up the Australian challenger. Poor Caparello was almost snapped in half by a body shot early in round 2 and was dropped twice more in the round forcing the referee to wave the bout off. Following the bout Kovalev was interviewed ringside along with Bernard Hopkins and now the two are set to fight in November in a huge unification bout at 175lbs. On the same card in New Jersey another Russian was victorious as Dmitry Mikhaylenko (17-0, 6) dominated Sechew Powell (26-6, 15) in a 1-sided Light Middleweight bout. The only issue with this contest was the lack of power that Mikhaylenko had which allowed the bout to go the 8 round distance. Nevada, USA Staying in the US, and staying on the theme of Russian's, it wasn't a good night for the previously unbeaten Anton Novikov (29-1-0-1, 10) who was widely out pointed by Jessie Vargas (25-0, 9) in a WBA Light Welterweight title fight. For all intents and purposes this was a thoroughly competitive bout which neither guy dominated and neither guy was really ever hurt though some how the "3 wise men at ringside" managed to see the bout a clear win for Vargas. The result in favour of Vargas was no surprise but the cards, which made the bout seem thoroughly one-sided, were revolting and really need to see the judges looked at. Sadly on the same card referee Vic Drakulich made headlines by disqualifying Argentinian Diego Chaves in an act that is likely to help disguise just how disgustingly bad the judging was here. We're not sure why but it does seem like this was a bad night for official, in fact actually it was a bad weekend for officials when we look at some of the scorecards from the UK from Friday night. Tokyo, Japan It wasn't just Russian men in world title fights this past Saturday and in Japan we had a pair of female world title fights. The first of those saw the long standing WBC Atomweight champion Momo Koseki (19-2-1, 6) secure her national record setting 14th title defence as she stopped British title challenger Denise Castle (2-1, 2) in 8 rounds. We had expected this bout to be competitive, given that Castle was a former Muay Thai champion, but it ended up being thoroughly 1-sided with Koseki winning the first 7 rounds before forcing a referee's stoppage in round 8. This defence sees Koseki over-taking Yoko Gushiken for the most successive title defences by a Japanese fighter. On the same card IBF female Light Flyweight champion Naoko Shibata (13-3, 4) proved she was still improving as a fighter as she stopped Mexican veteran Ana Arrazola (20-10-2, 13) in 9 rounds. As with Koseki's bout this one was completely 1-sided before the stoppage though surprisingly this was the first stoppage loss suffered by Arrazola in 32 fights suggesting that Shibata isn't as feather fisted as we had all imagine. As well as the world title bouts this show also featured 5 other bouts on the under-card. The most important of which was an 8 round majority draw between Ryuji Yokoyama (11-1-1, 3) and Ken Achiwa (9-11-3, 3). Interestingly one judge had Achiwa as a relatively clear winner, 77-74, whilst the others both had the bout 76-76. The Yokoyama/Achiwa draw was one of 3 draws on this card with Daishi Nagata (0-0-1) fighting to a 6 round draw with Takeshi Inoue (0-0-1) and Ryusuke Arai (0-2-1) fighting to a 4 round draw with Shunya Saito (0-0-1). Thankfully the other two under-card bouts did see winners crowned. In a 6 rounder we saw Takashi Sakamoto (5-3, 1) out point Kyohei Tsunashima (4-4, 3) whilst in a 4 round the debuting Shunsuke Nakamura (1-0) took a very narrow decision over Handsome Mizukami (0-1) in an all debutant affair. Tokyo, Japan A second show in Japan featured two former world title challengers in action and despite being a "lesser" show on paper was just as interesting as the double world title show. The show began with a number of 4 rounders including yet another draw as Satoru Todaka (2-1-1, 1) failed to over-come Rei Ochiai (2-3-4). Another of the 4 rounders saw Tasuku Nakagawa (1-0, 1) claim his first victory as he over-came Sho Nagata (1-1, 1) in a 4 round decision. Another man who took a 4 round decision was Kazuma Ishiura (3-3, 1) who defeated Kenta Taguchi (2-6-1). Only one of the 4 rounders failed to reach the final bell and that due to Takahiko Suzuki (4-1, 3) stopping Bejita Ishikawa (2-7-2, 1) with 81 seconds of the bout left to go. In the only 6 rounder on the card we saw a blow out as the hotly tipped Koki Koshikawa (2-0, 1) blasted out Yujiro Nakamura (4-8-1, 2) in just 122 seconds. Koshikawa appears to be very talented and if he continues to notch up solid victories it's only a matter of time before he will find himself in the title mix at 140lbs. The sole 8 rounder on the show also featured an early conclusion as Yota Hori (12-2-2, 7) saw off Musashi Suzuki (10-3, 4) late in the final round. On paper the best bout on the show was the co-feature which saw former OPBF Super Flyweight champion Ryo Akaho (24-1-2, 16) out point former Japanese Super Bantamweight champion Masaaki Serie (25-7, 10). The bout had a lot of promise though sadly it never really came alive as one would have hoped with Serie being able to keep the bout at a frustratingly slow pace whilst Akaho managed to land the more telling blows. The main event was saw former WBA Super Featherweight world title challenger Daiki Kaneko (21-3-3, 14) stop the out matched Cirilo Espino (19-14-3, 12) in 4 rounds due to a cut. Prior to the stoppage Espino had been dropped and looked out classed. Kaneko may well be the best fighter at 130lbs without a title though we're hoping to see him in a title bout by the end of the year. Cebu, Philippines As well as the two shows in Japan there were also two shows in the Philippines. At the moment we only have the results from one of these shows, the one Cebu. The undercard on this show saw Prex Cabilla (1-2) score his first victory as he defeated the still win-less Honorato Boc (0-2) with a 4 round decision. In another 4 rounder Elias Joaquino (1-0-1, 1) got off the mark with a 3rd round KO over Garry Rojo (1-8). Another of the undercard bouts, a 6 rounder, saw Carlo Demecillo (3-2, 1) out point journeyman Marlou Talili (5-10, 2). The car also featured a pair of 8 rounders. These saw Kenny Demecillo (7-2-1, 4) stopping the limited Rogen Flores (13-24-5, 6) in the 6th round and the unbeaten Joey Canoy (6-0-1, 3) over-coming the tough Junior Salvador (5-19-3) in a clear 8 round decision, a decision made wider by the fact Salvador has a point deducted in round 4 for low blows. Canoy wasn't the only unbeaten fighter to extend his winning run as Neil John Tabanao (8-0, 6) over-came Jhon Gemino (10-3-1, 4) in a 10 round decision victory. This was the best win so far for Tabanao and it's clear that he can step up following this win. Tabanao's win was followed by a victory for a very impressive stoppage victory for Ardie Boyose (11-0-1, 8) who stopped Richard Betos (20-9-1, 7) in just 2 rounds. What made this win all the more impressive was the fact that it was just the second time Betos had been stopped in 30 fights! Quintana Roo, Mexico Staying on the theme of Filipino's there was also one in action in Mexico and one who gave a surprisingly stirring effort. That was Adones Aguelo (21-10-2, 13) who came up short against Mexico's Sergio Thompson (30-3, 26) but gave a very solid effort and one that proved he belonged in there with world class Super Featherweights, despite the loss. California, USA Again staying with Filipino there was also one in action in the US. This time it was the hard hitting Drian Francisco (25-2-1, 20) who took home a stoppage victory over Colombian journeyman Manuel de los Reyes Herrera (21-14-1, 15). (Image courtesy of Sumio Yamada) There wasn't a lot of action for us to cover this past Friday though was still something for us to maintain our interest courtesy of fights on international soil.
Western Australia, Australia In Western Australia we had a couple of bouts involving Asia fighters. The first of those bouts saw Indonesia's Hero Tito (8-4, 3) claiming a rare win on foreign soil as he over-came the previously unbeaten Shane Carroll (1-1, 1) with a 4 round decision. The second bout on the card wasn't so successful as Japanese based Filipino Jerope Mercado (26-7-3, 9) was stopped in 3 rounds by Brandon Ogilive (8-2, 3). This bout, for the West Australia State Lightweight title, saw Mercado fighting well above his natural fighting weight and it showed. Mercado, who made his name at Bantamweight, should never have been as high as 135lbs, though then again he shouldn't have been fighting for an Australian state title. Florida, USA In the USA we saw Russia's Andrey Klimov (18-1, 9) over-come Guillermo Avila (12-3, 9) to record the first defence of his WBO Inter-Continental Super Featherweight title. Klimov, best known for his loss to Terence Crawford, looks a much better fight at 130lbs than he does at 135lbs and he really needs to settle here unless a big payday is offered to him. |
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