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)
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Osaka, Japan In Japan we had a female world title double. The first of those world title bouts saw Japanese veteran Nao Ikeyama (14-3-1, 4) upset the previously unbeaten Filipino Jesseblle Pagaduan (6-1, 4) to claim the WBO Atomweight title and become the first ever holder of the newly established title. Aged 44 Ikeyama also becomes the oldest world champion from Japan and one of the oldest champions in history. The second title fight saw Yuko Kuroki (11-4-1, 6) claim her first title, the WBC female Minimumweight title, as she defeated the defending champion Mari Ando (11-6, 5). Ando, defending her belt for the first time was game though unfortunately for her Kuroki was too clever with her footwork and too accurate with her straight left hand counters. Sadly for Ando this brought her second world title reign to a surprisingly quick end, whilst for Kuroki this was really a career defining victory for he youngster at this stage of her career. Taraz, Kazakhstan In Kazakhstan fans got a domestic double header, albeit it a very low profile one. The more significant of those bouts saw the very highly regarded Roman Zhailauov (12-0, 8) taking a decision over compatriot Omar Marabayev (1-3). On paper this looked like a total mismatch but Marabayev has is a recent PABA Welterweight title challenger and has faced good competition so far with his previous losses coming to Teerachai Kratingdaenggym and Gennady Martirosyan. In reality this was a much more impressive victory than it looks on paper. The other bout saw Faruh Iriskulov (2-1, 1) taking a second 2nd round TKO over the win-less Samat Ordabayev (0-5-1). Ordabayev is as bad as his record looks and this was Iriskulov's second victory over him. Queensland, Australia On a card in Australia we unfortunately saw win-less Thailand's Pramool Boonpok (0-5) lose a 4 round decision to the unbeaten Australian based Hungarian Tommy Szeremi (3-0-2, 1). California, USA World ranked Russian Anton Novikov (29-0-0-1, 10) showed off his skills as he scored a notable decision over the hard hitting but limited Javier Castro (27-7, 22). Novikov's relative lack of power will be a problem but his skills were impressive as he put on a 10 round shut out. This was the 3rd successive defeat for Castro and his 5th loss in 8 though it's still a credible victory for Novikov for the moment. California, USA On a separate US card things were disappointing for the debuting Yuri Trogiyanov (0-1) who was unfortunately stopped by the criminally under-rated Edwin Solis (6-2-3, 4). Solis was simply too much of a test for a debutant Trogiyanov who showed a lot of heart but lacked the experience needed to cope with such a tough and rugged Mexican. We'll admit we want to see Trogiyanov again though hopefully he'll not be put in such a ridiculously difficult bout. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp) |
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