Metro Manila, Philippines
The first major action of the day came in the Philippines where promotional giant ALA Promotions put on Pinoy Pride 30. The show was the first blockbuster event from the Philippines this year and featured 4 major title bouts, including a world title contest.

The card began with the unbeaten Ralph Jhon Lulu (11-0-2, 5) struggling past the limited Gerry Patieno (4-8-2, 2) in an unconvincing performance from the unbeaten man. The bout saw Lulu take a 4 round majority decision but not really impressing anyone. The other 4 rounder on the show was much more impressive as the exciting Joepher Montano (3-0, 2) stopped Australian visitor Tyson Maher (0-2) in a really enjoyable contest. Montano may only be at the start of his career but it's clear he's going to be a lot of fun to follow, win or lose.

In an 8 rounder fans saw the heavy handed Jeson Umbal (8-3, 6) drop Eric Panza (7-4-1, 1) twice en route to a close decision win. The knockdowns were the difference between a unanimous decision win for Umbal and a majority decision draw between the two men where well matched to say the least. The other 8 rounder was less well matched as AJ Banal (33-2-1, 22) clearly and easily over-came Indonesian visitor Junior Bajawa (14-6, 7). Banal was bothered in later rounds following a headclash but dominated the fight and took home a very wide decision win.

The first of the show's title bouts saw ALA's newest international signing, Ryo Akaho (26-1-2, 18), in action. Akaho claimed the WBO International Bantamweight title with relative ease as he destroyed the under-sized and under-skilled Prosper Ankrah (24-5-0-1, 15) in the 4th round of their bout. Ankrah had some success but never enough to make Akaho respect him and it always seemed like Ankrah was fighting to survive than to win. This victory for Akaho was his 7th since he was beaten by Yota Sato in a WBC Super Flyweight title bout back in 2012 and it looks like Akaho is now ready for another shot at world honours.

Arguably the stand out performance came from promising youngster Albert Pagara (23-0, 16), who looked sensational as he defended his IBF Inter-Continental Super Bantamweight title against the heavy handed but limited Rodolfo Hernandez (26-6-1, 24). Pagara dropped Hernandez in the opening round then dominated him until the end of round 4. Hernandez then remained in his corner citing an injury with his hand, though it looked more like a case of “get me out of here” from the Mexican.

In the co-feature of the show fans saw the return to the Philippines of the popular Nonito Donaire (34-3, 22) who had a showcase win against the hapless William Prado (22-5-1, 15). Prado had only been stopped by WBA Super Bantamweight champion Scott Quigg, in 3 rounds, prior to this but Donaire dismantled him in just a couple of rounds. Prado landed little through out the bout and looked distraught every time Donaire caught him. With this win Donaire claimed the NABF Super Bantamweight title and is now expected to move towards a world title bout at Super Bantamweight.

In the main event fans saw long term world champion Donnie Nietes (35-1-4, 21) successfully retain his WBO Light Flyweight title with an impressive victory over the dangerous Gilberto Parra (19-3, 17). Nietes started fast and looked to be trying to make a statement early on. Parra saw out the early storm and fought gallantly in the middle rounds, particularly round 6. Sadly however for the challenger a knockdown in round 8 was the start of the end and he retired after the 9th round after suffering a nasty cut around the left eye. Prior to the retirement he was always looking second best and appeared to know it spending several rounds trying to avoid a fight with excellent champion.

Yucatán, Mexico
We had another world title bout in Mexico where the diminutive Rommel Asenjo (26-4, 20) took on the sensational Juan Francisco Estrada (32-2, 23). Sadly for Asenjo this never looked like it was going to go his way and although he was competitive in a very quiet opening round that was about the only positive he could take from the bout. In round 2 Estrada moved into third gear and appeared capable of battering Asenjo at will. The challenger came out for round 3 though less than a minute into the round his corner threw in the towel in a disappointing ending to the bout. The conclusion was less than great though Asenjo's face was already beginning to look a swollen mess courtesy of Estrada's power which was having an effect every time he landed.

Thailand
In a low profile show in Thailand fans got the chance to see two former world title challengers both pick up decision wins.

One of those men was Samartlek Kokietgym (20-5, 5) who over-came the experienced but limited Jack Amisa (20-35-2, 14). For Samartlek this was a third straight win since he came up short in a WBC Light Flyweight title fight against Naoya Inoue, though it seems clear that he's much more comfortable at this level

The other winner was the highly experienced Pigmy Kokietgym (56-7-2, 22) who over-came Heri Amol (35-23-4, 14). This was Pigmy's 4th bout since he came up short last year against Hekkie Budler in a WBA title fight in Monaco.

Queensland, Australia
In Australia there was a trio of Thai's in action.

The highest profile of those Thail's was Chaiyong Sithsaithong (36-13-4, 26) who came up short against Paul Fleming (20-0, 13) in a bout for the WBO Oriental Super Featherweight title. Sithsaithong managed to see out the 10 round schedule here against the talented but did see a 4-fight winning run come to an end.

In one of the main support bouts Wisanlek Sithsaithong (11-7, 7) was stopped, in 4 rounds, by Australian Jason Cooper (13-2-1, 7). For Cooper this was a 5th successive win following his 2014 loss to Qiu Xiao Jun whilst the Thai was stopped for the 5th time in his career.

Also on this card fans had the chance to see professional loser Pramool Boonpok (1-13-1) pick up another defeat as Australian fighter Reuben Aiono (2-0-1, 1) took a 5 round decision win.


(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

This Saturday was certainly a busy day in Asian boxing with several notable cards taking place. For now we know we're missing some results though hope to have them added short. For now however we've got all the results we've managed to collect.

Cebu City, Philippines
The biggest card of the day, by some margin in regards to the Asian fight scene, was in the Philippines where ALA Promotions put on the 28th “Pinoy Pride” show. The show was full of names really was a great card for those lucky enough to catch it with an unexpected FOTY contender, the continued development of one of the best prospects in world boxing and a world title fight being 3 of the many notable stories on the card.

The first of the notable fights featured one of the more under-rated prospects in Asian boxing, Mark Magsayo (9-0, 7). Magsayo caught our attention last year on a “Pinoy Pride” card and impressed again today as he easily beat Korean youngster Moon-Sun Jung (2-4-3) in the second round of their clash. On paper, and in the ring, this was a mismatch however Jung had gone 10 rounds in a Korean national title fight just 2 months ago so the fact Magsayo stopped him so quickly was very impressive. We'll not pretend Magsayo is going to be fast tracked to a world title but we'd advise fans to keep an eye out for this talented youngster dubbed “Magnifico”.

Magsayo was far from the only Filipino to impress on this card and another man who impressed was the unknown Jomar Fajardo (14-5-2, 7) who really caught the attention of the fans and media in attendance as he put on a stirring performance to hold Francisco Rodriguez Jr (16-2-1, 11) to a split decision draw. Fajardo entered the bout as a massive under-dog whilst Rodriguez Jr was a unified world champion at Minimumweight and a man with an eye on fighting Donnie Nietes. Fajardo left the bout as man many now want to see against whilst Rodriguez Jr is man who has lost some lustre despite unifying the WBO and IBF Minimuweight titles this year.

Another fighter who thoroughly impressed was the unbeaten "Prince" Albert Pagara (22-0, 15) who defended his IBF Inter-Continental Super Bantamweight title with a punch perfect performance against the teak tough Mexican Raul Hirales (22-4-1, 11). Hirales's only contribution to this fight was his heart and toughness and for 12 rounds he was the recipient of head and clean shots by Pagara who seemed to be ready for much, much tougher assignments, in fact a world title bout in 2015 isn't out of the question for this wonderfully gifted young fighter who has superstar written all over him.

In the show's main event we again saw an impressive performance by the home fighter as WBO Light Flyweight world champion Donnie Nietes (34-1-4, 20) recorded the 5th defence of the title as he defeated Carlos Velarde (26-4-1, 14). Nietes started slowly and worked our what Velarde had to offer before moving through the gears in round 4 and 5 to eventually break down the Mexican challenger who retired on his stool at the end of round 7. We'll be honest the bout was disappointing given our expectations but there was no doubt about the better man despite the rather anti-climatic ending to the bout. Nietes now appears to have 2 clears options, he can either begin his pursuit of a title at Flyweight, as we suspect the original plan was, or he could fight Rodriguez Jr in 2015 to add another defence to his record. Either option would be interesting and we're looking forward to seeing what he does next.

Of course not all the Filipino fighters on the show were impressive and it's fair to say that the least impressive, at least in terms of result, was former WBO Minimumweight champion Merlito Sabillo (23-2-1, 12) who suffered his second stoppage defeat of the year. Sabillo was making his return to the ring following his first loss, a stoppage loss to the previously mentioned Rodriguez jr, and fought as if he had the need to make an impression on the fans. Sadly for Sabillo he was a bit too wild and was caught by a nasty counter by Indonesian visitor Faris Nenggo (8-7-3, 3) which left Sabillo with an ugly cut that eventually forced the end of the bout in round 4. It was a disappointing fight for the exciting Sabillo though it was a freak result in many ways and it's unlikely he'll ever suffer such a bad cut again.

Former world title contender AJ Banal (32-2-1, 22) recorded his 4th straight win as he over-came Thai visitor Maxsaisai Sithsaithong (15-6, 4) though left many wondering what was left for Banal. The talented and heavy handed fighter did what he needed to here to take a clear win but it's fair to say that many were hoping he's close the show against his Thai foe who came up short in an OPBF title fight earlier this year.

It's also fair to say that Milan Melindo (32-1, 12) failed to leave a great impression despite a clear win over Saul Juarez (22-4, 11) in an IBF Light Flyweight title eliminator. Melindo was the better fighter through out but failed to show the power he will need to win a world title at 108lbs. His skills are great, as shown again, but his lack of power really is going to be an issue every time he fights a top tier fighter.

Deagu, South Korea
As well as the action in the Philippines we also had titles on offer in South Korea where there were 2 national title fights on a small but yet interesting card as the Korean boxing scene continues to grow, despite what appears to be two clearly different factions action as a commission.

In a somewhat farcical Super Middleweight title bout fans saw Eun Chang Lee (8-4, 4) successfully defend his title with a 6th round TKO against the woefully undeserving Young Kyoon Lee (1-14-1). We're unsure how Lee qualified for a title fight given that he's not recorded a win in almost 6 years though thankfully his win-less streak continued here or it really would have been an embarrassment for the title to have been held by such an unqualified champion.

Thankfully the other title fight on this show was much more entertaining in the ring and interesting on paper as Ik Soo Han (7-3, 2) took on Jon Won Won (7-14-1, 3). The bout saw Han winning the previously vacant Korean Super Featherweight title with a 4th round knockout of Won though had to pull himself off the canvas earlier in the round in what made for an entertaining contest. Sadly for Won this was his 8th loss in a Korean title fight and comes some 30 months after being stopped in a Korean Lightweight title bout by IK Yang.

As well as the two title bouts we also had two female bouts. One of those was an 8 rounder that saw Hye Soo Park (4-7-1, 1) take a dominant decision over Thai visitor Dorkmaipah Kiatpompetch (0-4) in a contest that saw the Korean winning every round of the bout. The other female bout saw Hyun Sook Jun (3-1, 2) scoring a 4th round TKO over Pantip Sor Suwannaresort (0-3).

The rest of the undercard featured a featured a pair of 4 rounders. These saw Sung Hwan Kim (2-0-3) take a decision over the win-less Jin Soo Jung (0-5) in a bout scored 39-37 by all 3 judges whilst the debuting Jung Ho Jang (1-0, 1) took out Eun Jin Kim (0-1) in the 4th round of their bout.

Nakhon Nayok, Thailand
There were two shows in Thailand with one of them coming from Nakhon Nayok. This show was headlined by a WBC regional title fight that saw a controversial ending following a clear low blow by Petchchorhae Kokietgym (9-0, 6) in round 3 that sent Indonesia's Rizky Pratama (2-1) down in agony. The Indon fighter got to his feet but the bout was waved off to give the bout a genuine bizarre finish.

On the undercard we saw recent world title contender Terdsak Kokietgym (54-5-1, 34) score an easy win over the over-matched Hengka (0-1) who was taken out with a nasty body shot from the Thai veteran. Although the bout was a mismatch in favour of the talented Thai it did come just weeks after his hard, but very exciting, loss to Orlando Salido in Mexico.

A third bout on this card saw Petchnamchai KKP (2-0, 2) defeat the limited but brave Ricardo Sithsaithong (0-1) in 2 rounds. Sithsaithong tried to give it a go but was hurt and looked lost trying to defend himself until the referee mercifully stepped in.

Chonburi, Thailand
In Chonburi we had the other Thai show that was headlined by South Korean fighter Myung-goo Yuh (22-4-1, 17) who stopped Thailand's very own Mongkol Charoen (25-4, 8) in the 6th round of their scheduled 10 rounder. On the undercard Gurlal Redbluegym 1-0, 1) scored a 4th round win over Watchasin Mukarsa (0-1) whilst Kuldeep Redbluegym (1-0) stopped Rachatapon Tongplia (0-1), sadly we've not come across any footage of these bouts.

Gauteng, South Africa
In South Africa we sadly saw two Russian fighters suffer defeat, albeit in very different fashion.

In a very disappointing performance Denis Grachev (13-5-1, 8) suffered his 4th straight loss, and his 5th in 6 bouts, as he retired on his stool against the unbeaten Thomas Oosthuizen (23-0-2, 14). The bout, for the WBC International Light Heavyweight title, was poor from the beginning though Grachev never once found his form in the bout before running out of steam and being given a bit of a hiding. The retirement in his stool wasn't what was Grachev would have wanted but it does effectively end his hopes of ever landing a world title fight.

In a more controversial contest the previously unbeaten Roman Belaev (14-1, 10) suffered an 11th round technical decision loss to Ali Funeka (36-4-3, 29) in a bout for the IBO Welterweight title. The information on this one is scarce though two cards read 105-104 in favour of the home fighter whilst a third card read 109-100 and we suspect the bout was much closer than that final card.

Tokyo, Japan
Unfortunately we were very slow to get the Japanese results from the day however here they are, a couple of days late.

In the main event Keita Nakano (12-9-3, 3) managed to force a 6th round stoppage against the chinny Takaaki Ishikawa (10-6, 5) in what was scheduled to go 8. This was Ishikawa's 6th stoppage defeat and some need to wonder if he would be better off retiring now, especially given that he has been stopped in 3 of his last 4.

The chief support bout was a 6 rounder that saw Ryuto Araya (7-2-1, 1) scoring his first stoppage victory as he took out Tsubasa Mochizuki (6-5, 2) with less than 30 seconds remaining.

From the 7 bouts scheduled to go 4 rounds we saw another trio of stoppages. The fastest of those came in 98 seconds as debutant Jinya Miyagi (1-0, 1) blew away fellow novice Sho Sekine (0-1). It took Takahiko Suzuki (5-2, 4) most of round 3 to see off Yuji Awata (3-3, 2) whilst Shota Irie (1-1, 1) needed 30 seconds of the final round to defeat Shuhei Hamano (0-2).

In bouts that went the distance we saw 3 very competitive matches. The closest of those saw Toshizane Kinoda (4-1, 1) take a majority decision over Wataru Yokoyama (1-3, 1) in a very close bout. The action was similarly close in Huzuki Saso's (3-1) win over Yuki Uchida (2-2) and in Tasuku Nakagawa's (2-1) win over Yuta Onishi (2-3, 2). The only clear decision winner was Rei Ochiai (3-3-4) who clearly beat Mio Mizokami (4-8-2, 2)