Hat Yai, Thailand
The big upset of the day came in Thailand where unheralded Filipino Jestoni Autida (9-3, 4) scored his defining victory, stopping Ratchasak KKP (20-4-1, 14) in the 8th round of their bout. The two men were fighting for the WBA Asia Bantamweight title and, on paper, it was a straight forward win for Ratchasak. What nobody had expected was for Autida to come to the ring with belief and the attitude of a winner. That attitude helped the gangly 24 year old box his way into the bout before a straight right hand dropped Ratchasak early in round 8, that began the undoing of Ratchasak who was dropped again moments later forcing the referee to wave the bout off.

This win for Autida is particularly notable considering Ratchasak had twice dropped the world ranked Rex Tso, though never looked capable of doing anything to Autida, who appears to genuinely be one to keep an eye on as a potential diamond in the rough.

Victoria, Australia
We were really unfortunate not to have another notable upset from a Filipino in Australia. That bout saw the always testing Adones Aguelo (24-12-2, 16) clearly out fight, out box and out power the touted Will Tomlinson (24-2-1, 13). Sadly though the judges were against the very talented Filipino who shockingly gave the bout to Tomlinson with a majority decision. Aguelo seemed in charge from the second round, and although he lost the final two rounds he had seemingly done more than enough to deserve the win. Sadly this is another loss for the Filipino though he certainly made fans with numerous Australian fans praising him and discrediting the result, many now want to see more of the Pinoy who has every right to feel aggrieved by the result.

Davao Del Sur, Philippines
As well as Filipino's performing on the road, they also did so at home with a card in Davao City. At the time of writing the full results aren't yet available however we do have results for the 3 most significant bouts on the card.

One of those bouts saw the unbeaten Jay-Ar Inson (9-0, 6) claim a 2nd round stoppage win over Indonesian visitor Victor Mausul (9-4-2, 5). This win netted the heavy handed Pinoy the WBO interim Oriental title and a possible WBO world ranking. On paper it did seem a relatively one sided bout but few would have expected Inson to look as impressive as he did here.

Another of the major bouts on this card saw the monstrously hard hitting Aston Palicte (19-1, 17) extend his impressive record as he broke down Fernando Ocon (13-10-1, 5) in 4 rounds. On paper this looks like a nothing win, but it was only the second time Ocon had been stopped, with the other coming to Suriyan Sor Rungvisai last year.

One one result we have from this card saw Adones Cabalquinto (21-0, 14) score a 3rd round KO against RJ Ano-os (8-7-1, 2). We're unsure on what the point of this match up was though hopefully we'll see Cabalquinto, who does have a world ranking, finally take a step forward. The 27 year old Southpaw really should have been moved up in class a year or two ago but instead has continued to pad his record with bouts like this.

This past Saturday was a busy day though out that really didn't scream about it's self like some other days may have done in recent times.

Pattaya, Thailand
It was in Thailand that we got the highest profile Asian show of the day and it was a strangely interesting showing with the return to the ring of a former champion and the continued development of a very promising prospect.

The prospect in question was the unbeaten Petchmanee Kokietgym (6-0, 1) who managed to take a 6 round decision over busy Filipino fighter Richie Behec (2-2-1, 1). Behec, fighting just weeks after his loss to Samartlek Kokietgym, really is being ultra-active at the moment and has already squished 4 fights in to the year, essentially fighting every 11 days!

Whilst Behec has been ultra-busy the same cannot be said of former WBA Super Flyweight world champion Tepparith Kokietgym (27-3, 16) who over-came Frenchman Joaquim Mahe (8-2, 4) to end a 51 week break from the ring. Tepparith, who was last seen in action back in February 2014, looked over weight and as if he was out of shape though still had the skills needed to over-come his French opponent. Amazingly this was just Tepparith's 6th bout since he lost his world title in December 2012 to Kohei Kono.

A third bout on this show saw Angelito Merin (8-5-3, 2) take an opening round KO over the debuting Yongyut Suttason (0-1).

Sanaa, Yemen
Although the country of Yemen appears to be at war with it's self that hasn't put a freeze on the in ring action and local fans managed to get some action on Friday.

In the main event fans saw the unbeaten Hani Ansi (18-0-1, 16) continue his sensational run of results as he scored an opening round blow out of the over-matched Omar Awdan (11-3, 5). The peculiar Ansi took control from the opening bell and just thoroughly dominated Awdan who was down 3 times in less than 80 seconds. We now expect Ansi to fight against Ali Raymi in March.

Ansi wasn't the only fighter to score an early victory and the unbeaten Omar Moxamad (4-0, 3) needed just 34 seconds to beat the debuting Ali Saif (0-1). It also took less than a round for Asam Dolbhante (6-1, 3) to take care of his debuting foe, Rashed Haymi (0-1).

The remaining bouts on this card both went the distance. One of those saw Redman Ibsi (2-1) take a shut out over the more experienced Yasin Abdulkhalik (7-8, 3) whilst the other saw Taha Kawkabani (4-3, 1) score a minor upset with a win over Ali Salem (12-6, 3)

Sinaloa, Mexico
In Mexico we saw the tough Adones Aguelo (23-11-2, 15) suffer just the second stoppage loss of his career as the brilliant Adrian Estrella (21-0, 19) took him out in the 10th round of their bout. It now seems likely that Estrella will be moved towards a bout with WBC Super Featherweight champion Takashi Miura in what would be a genuinely mouth watering encounter between heavy handed and exciting fighters.

New York, USA
In New York we saw some controversy as Derric Rossey (30-9, 14) took a close decision over previously unbeaten Heavyweight hopeful Akhror Muralimov (16-1, 13). The bout was close but the rotund Muralimov only has himself to blame for the loss as he came in at a disgustingly out of shape at a ridiculous 256½lbs.

Southern Leyte, Philippines
The only show in Asia this past Wednesday was in the Philippines where we had a small but notable show headlined by a regional IBF title bout.

The headline bout saw the tough and under-rated Adones Aguelo (23-10-2, 15) claim his third win of the year as he over-came Indonesian visitor Elly Ray (17-12-1, 7) in a bout for the IBF Asia Lightweight title. Aguelo, who really is much better than his record indicates was fighting for the second time since his loss to Sergio Thompson in Mexico and looked the much better and stronger fighter taking out Ray early in the second round to prove the gulf in class between the two fighters.

Whilst the main event was one sided the two main support bouts were more competitive. In one of those fans saw the unbeaten Joey Canoy (8-0-1, 3) take a decision over Lester John Pronco (9-8-1, 6) in what turned out to be a better bout than the records would indicate whilst the experienced Marvin Tampus (27-19-3, 18) fought to a 10 round split draw with Jo-As Apericio (11-13-1, 8).


Int he sole 8 rounder on the card the once beaten Ranoel Pael (15-1-1, 6) made light work of journeyman Arnel Tadena (11-19-4, 4), stopping him in the 4th round. The only 6 rounder was over even quicker with Michael Kaibigan (3-1-2, 2) stopping Marlou Talili (5-11, 2) in the second. The shortest bout of the day however came in the only 4 rounder on the card as Elias Joaquino (2-0-1, 2) quickly did away with Melchor Abcede (3-9-3) who was stopped inside a round.

This past Saturday was a ridiculously busy day with numerous great fights. With so much action it has taken us a while to get our results up, and even now we awaiting results from 2 other cards. Hopefully we'll be able to add those soon.

Osaka, Japan
The first Asian show of the day was in Osaka where we had a female world title double header. 

The most notable of those world title bouts saw WBO Atomweight champion Nao Ikeyama (15-3-1, 4) score the first defence of her title. The 45 year old defending champion managed to out work and out point the younger Masae Akitaya (9-5-2, 3) in what was a stirring effort from the champion and the sort of bout that shows that age isn't a defining factor in how good a fighter is. Ikeyama may have the face of a 45 year old battler but she has the energy reserves of someone half her age and she showed it in scintillating fashion here.

The other world title fight on this same show saw Japan's Kumiko Seeser Ikehara (6-1-1, 3) claim the WBO female Minimumweight title with a split decision win over Filipino foe Gretchen Abaniel (15-6, 6). Although the scorecards were all over Ikehara was the deserving winner and she seemed the stronger fighter through out. Sadly this title was vacant following Mako Yamada's retirement and in fairness to Yamada she would likely have beaten both Ikehara and Abaniel with out any issues, it's just a shame she retired following her excellent victory over Su Yun Hong.

A third notable female bout on this show ended with a little surprise as Tamao Ozawa (7-2, 2) claimed a split decision over Kai Johnson (5-6-3, 2). The records may not suggest this was a surprise but Johnson had come into this bout following stoppage wins over Tomomi Takano, in June, and Ozawa in March. For Ozawa this was revenge for one of her losses and by far her biggest win to date.

Down the card there was another female bout as Aiko Yamagishi (4-0-1, 2) stopped Chie Higano (3-1) in 2 rounds.

The other bout on the bottom of the card saw debutants taking wins as Yusuke Hiranuma (1-0) out pointed Hiroshi Takagi (2-4) over the 4 round distance Shoshi Nakamura (1-0, 1) stopped Terumi Aoi (0-2) part way through round 4.

Jakarta, Indonesia
In Indonesia there was 2 televised bouts, sadly both of them slipped under our radar. The under-card bout saw Marten Kisamlu (3-2, 1) score a 4th round TKO over the frankly hopeless Safwan Lombok (1-26-1). For Lombok this was his 24th successive bout with out a win and you need to go all the way back to 2008 to find his sole win, a split decision over Ichal Tobida.

The main event on this card saw Erick Deztroyer (5-2) claim the interim Indonesian Boxing Association Super Bantamweight title after he won a very close 12 round split decision win against Gusti Elnino (1-5). From the score-cards it appears to have been one of those that could have gone either way though the only thing for sure is that neither of these guys is going to go far, at best they will be used as journeymen in Thailand, the Philippines and Japan.

Arizona, USA
In the US fans were treat to a fantastic performance of counter-puncher from talented Russian prospect Konstantin Ponomarev (25-0, 12) who looked very promising as he out pointed Mexican veteran Cosme Rivera (37-19-3-1, 25). At just 21 years old it does look like Ponomarev may not have natural power needed to progress to the top, though he is still not a fully matured fighter and hopefully that power will come as he becomes a man. With speed, an exciting style and a clear ability there is a lot of hope that Ponomarev will go all the way and we have our fingers tightly crossed that he will manage to become the star that his team expect him to be.

Baja California, Mexico
Last, but not least, was a thriller in Mexico as Terdsak Kokietgym (53-5-1, 33) went toe-to-toe and exchanged multiple knock downs with Mexico's very own Orlando Salido (42-12-2-1, 29). Unfortunately for Terdsak he was on the end of the biggest knockdown that came in round 11 and forced the referee to immediately stop the bout, it was the 7th knockdown of the bout and ended a see-saw battle in style. If you enjoy violence and thrilling action this one is for you, despite a very poor performance from referee Eddie Claudio who was easily the worst thing about the bout.

Cebu, Philippines
In the Philippines there were a number of bouts in Cebu. 

The highest profile fighter in action here was fringe Super Featherweight contender Adones Aguelo (22-10-2, 14) who made light work of the over-matched Bonnie Makiling (5-7, 4). Whilst we wouldn't describe Aguelo as a future world champion he has shown himself as a very competitive fighter with solid performances against some of the best in Mexico such as Sergio Thompson.

In one of the chief support bouts fans saw the unbeaten Ardie Boyose (12-0-1, 8) continue his winning ways with a decision over the incredibly tough Jaime Barcelona (38-56-1, 10). Although Boyose is a big puncher credit needs to go to Barcelona who has managed to go 95 bouts over 17 years with only 5 stoppage losses. Another 8 round decision saw the much touted Neil John Tabanao (9-0, 6) being taken the distance by Jo-as Apericio (11-13,8). For the 20 year old Tabanao this was his second successive decision win and will have helped him develop more than blow away victories.

One stoppage that came in the bouts scheduled for 8 rounds saw the criminally under-rated Gerpaul Valero (18-15-3, 12) stopping the so-so Arlon Batingal (7-9, 4) in 3 rounds. The 23 year old Valero has one of the ultimate "misleading records" and has turned his career around remarkably in the last 4 years, a real battler and credit to hard work, hopefully that hard work will, one day, pay off in a big pay day.

The only other result from this show that we know the result for saw Joey Canoy (7-0-1, 3) retaining his unbeaten record in a battle of unbeaten men as he over-came Ryan Bajala (3-1, 1) with a 6 round decision,.

Castilla-La Mancha, Spain
In Spain there was another Thai in action as the experienced Kiatchai Singwancha (35-12, 24) scored a 4th round KO against the fragile Ivan Martinez (29-5, 23).

(Image courtesy of Thairec.com)

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)