There was a lot of Asian action this past Sunday, though unfortunately not all the results have been made available as of yet. 

Texas, USA
In the US we had two notable Japanese fighters in action, though disappointingly they were both clearly beaten.

The most notable of those was Tomoki Kameda (31-2, 19) who failed to avenge his first defeat and instead suffered a clear defeat at the hands of Englishman Jamie McDonnell (27-2-1, 12). Kameda did start well but was essentially bullied for most of the fight losing a clear decision and leaving his career in a really worrying position. Sadly many fans appear to have been mislead on this fight based on some terrible commentary in the US who had seemingly made this out to be a robbery but even we saw it as a clear win for McDonnell, who retained the WBA Bantamweight title with this victory.

Later on the same show Tomoki's brother Daiki Kameda (29-5, 18) suffered a huge upset loss to Victor Ruiz (20-5, 14). Kameda, who was a clear favourite, started well and dropped Ruiz early on but Ruiz refused to fold and claimed an 8 round split decision over the former world champion, who was fighting for the first time in 21 months.

Toyama, Japan
There was only a single show in Japan though it did feature some genuinely notable fighters.

In the main event former WBA interim Minimumweight champion Juan Jose Landaeta (27-8-1, 21 scored a 9th round TKO win against the world ranked Walter Tello (21-9, 8). Landaeta, who is best known for losing twice to Koki Kameda, was just far too good Tello, who looked like one of the poorest “contenders” going. It now seems that Landaeta will be targeting a world title though we're unsure which division he'll be competing in going forward.

In the co-feature former female world title challenger Saemi Hanagata (10-6-2, 4) claimed a clear 6 round decision win over Aiko Yamagishi (4-2-1, 2). Hanagata, who came close to winning the IBF Light Flyweight title earlier this year, was a clear winner here and will likely be looking to get another world title fight in 2015.

Another 6 rounder on this card saw Naoki Wada (10-8-2, 2) claim a decision victory over the more experienced Hidenori Tajima (14-11-1, 8). This Middleweight bout was an interesting one on paper but it's unlikely either man will really go far given their ability and age.

In an all debutant bout Naoko Tanaka (1-0) claimed a majority decision over Hideaki Momonoi (0-1) whilst another all debutant bout saw Hiroto Yamabe (1-0) beat Riku Mizue (0-1). One other 4 round bout on this card saw Hikaru Yoshimura (3-1-1, 3) beat Ryo Shirakawa (5-8-2, 2).

(Image courtesy of Sumio Yamada)

Tokyo, Japan
Japanese fans get to see hundreds of fights every year at the Korakuen Hall, the venue which is believed to host more fights every year than any other. This past Friday the venue hosted possibly the best fight this year as Masao Nakamura (20-3, 19) and Daiki Kaneko (24-5-3, 14) went toe-to-toe in a breath taking fight that combined everything a fight fan could wish to see. The action was intense from the off, both men were rocked, both men landed heavy leather and the fans were joining in on the action chanting through out. In the end it was Nakamura who just did enough to claim a split decision though neither man had anything to be ashamed by here in a bout that needs to be watched by every self respecting fight fan. Following the bout Nakamura signalled his intention to fight for the Japanese title, eyeing up a fight with Rikki Naito, and we'd not be shocked to see that made, possibly for December! For Kaneko, who has now lost back-to-back bouts, it would make sense to take an easy one though we'd not be shocked to see him in another exciting bout with talented opponent.

In the chief support bout fans saw Ryohei Takahashi (7-1-1) score his 7th straight win as he out pointed Kenji Kubo (5-4-1, 2) over 8 rounds. Prior to this bout Kubo had stated that he would take a break from boxing if he lost and now it appears likely that he's likely to make good on his would. Sadly, given the expectation on Kubo when he turned professional, this is a very disappointing result. For Takahashi however it seems the future really is rather bright.

A very close 8 rounder saw Kinshiro Usui (24-4, 10) claim a majority decision win over Yuta Horiike (9-5-3, 2). Horrike, on paper, was given no chance but he really performed well here against Usui, who is a former Japanese Bantamweight title challenger.

In a 6 round bout fans saw the unbeaten Shogo Yamaguchi (8-0-1, 4) extend his perfect record with a unanimous decision win over Keisuke Arima (8-11-1, 1). Yamaguchi, a 21 year old Lightweight prospect, does appear to be worth keeping an eye on in a division that is relatively weak domestically.

Another 6 rounder saw Hyuma Fujioka (6-3-1) over-come the limited Hokuto Sakata (5-6-1, 3) with a unanimous decision. Fujioka doesn't appear likely to make his mark as any sort of a contender but the 23 year old could well be in some interesting fights down the line.

The card also featured a pair of 4 rounders. One of those saw 19 year old Seiryu Toshikawa (3-2, 2) take a unanimous decision over Atsushi Kudo (3-5-2, 3) whilst the other resulted in a draw between the win-less Jun Fudo (0-1-1) and the debuting Junpei Sato (0-0-1).

Suwannakhet, Laos
Thai fans who tuned in to channel 3SD also got action, including an all out war and a chance to see to promising fighters.

The war that was aired on Thai TV saw Thai veteran Kompayak Porpramook (53-5, 37) claim a decision win against Filipino foe Jopher Marayan (7-7-2, 3), in a bout for the WBA Asia title at Light Flyweight. The bout saw Kompayak, a former WBC world champion, add to his long line of highlights which have also included bouts with the likes of Adrian Hernandez, Koki Eto and Oleydong Sithsamerchai. Although he picked up the win here the 33 year old Kompayak doesn't look like a fighter who is going to return to world level any time soon.

One of the rising fighters on this card was Kongthara KKP (8-0, 6) who scored a 2nd round KO against the debuting Mathias Bernua (0-1) whilst the other was teenager Nampetch Kwanjaisrikod (6-1, 2), who scored a 5th round KO against Looksorn Sithsophon (0-1).

Nonthanburi, Thailand
Another televised on Thai TV came on channel 7 where fans had the chance to see one of the emerging stars of the Thai scene.

The rising star is the unbeaten Teerachai Kratingdaenggym (31-0, 24) who made another defense of his PABA Welterweight title as he stopped Boitshepo Mandawe (14-7, 10) in the 6th round. The 23 yea old Thai will now be hoping to get some kind of WBA title fight though will likely plug away with his PABA until a bigger opportunity arises.

Another promising fighter on this card was Ronnakit PKT College (4-0, 3) made very light work of Supertop Chalermprakiat Sport (0-1). Ronnakit appears to have fought under the “Technopoly Bangkok” name on this show.

Former OPBF title challenger Kajornsak Sithsaithong (8-6, 8) came back from his recent trio of losses as he stopped the heavy handed but poor Khundon Chaiyonggym (7-2, 7) in the 2nd of their scheduled 6 rounds.

We also believe that there were several other bouts on here featuring prospects, with Denappa Kiatniwat and Montree PKT College in action.

(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

This past Saturday was the first major day for Asian fight fans as we got a major bout in Asia, some notable debuts and action involving a number of unbeaten prospects. It may not have been a day of world title fights but it's certainly been the highlight of the year so far.

Tokyo, Japan
The biggest of two Asian cards came from the Korakuen Hall and was televised NTV G+, a subscription based channel in Japan. The show was the first Japanese show of the year and featured the first OPBF title fight of 2014 as well as several other notable bouts.

We'll begin with the main event which featured Thailand's very highly regarded Jomthong Chuwatana (9-0, 4) successfully retain the OPBF Super Featherweight title and record his best win to date. Jomthong, defending the belt for the 4th time, looked awful on the scales on Friday but looked brilliant in the ring as he out boxed, out landed and generally out fought the teak tough and Hercules-like Daiki Kaneko (21-4-3, 14). Coming in to the bout it seemed like a 50-50 contest though through the middle rounds it seemed like Jomthong was in a league of his own as he bloodied the face of the Japanese fighter, who had previously given Takashi Uchiyama a tough bout in a world title contest.

Although it's not been stated we now suspect that Jomthong will be hunting a world title bout and on this performance you'd have to give him a chance against any of the current world champions at 130lbs.

In the key support bouts we had Middleweight action with two separate Middleweight bouts.

The more competitive of those Middleweight bouts saw the heavy handed Shoma Fukumoto (6-1, 5) take his first distance win as he took a majority decision over the tough Kazuyuki Fukuyama (9-6, 2). The 8 round win will serve Fukumoto well going forward though we do wonder just how promising he really is.

The other Middleweight bout saw former Japanese Middleweight champion Tomohiro Ebisu (13-4, 13) score an opening round victory over the poor Tatsuro Kawabata (6-6, 2) who really lacked the toughness to hand with Ebisu.

Lower down the card we had a pair of 6 rounders. One of those saw Hideki Suzuki (6-4-1, 1) score his first stoppage win as he stopped the chinny Hikaru Takaki (6-6, 5) with just seconds left in round 5. The other 6 rounder lasted little more than a minute as the heavy handed Naoki Mochizuki (6-1, 5) quickly dispatched Takuma Okara (5-10, 2).

The card began with 4 rounders. One of those was an all debutant contest that saw Masato Niijima (1-0, 1) kick off his career with an opening round win over Kenji Haruta (0-1). Another stoppage on this portion of the card saw Ryosuke Yokota (4-1, 3) stop the previously unbeaten Eisuke Hara (3-1, 2). One unbeaten man who maintained his unbeaten record was Teppei Kayanuma (3-0, 2) who had his stoppage run ended by Seiryu Toshikawa (1-2, 1) in a genuinely competitive contest.

Cotabato del Sur, Philippines
As well as the action in Japan there was also some in the Philippines. This was at a lower level to the Japanese card but still an important one.

In the main event fans saw former Filipino amateur stand out Adam Diu Abdulhamid (4-2, 1) avenge his loss to JR Mendoza (10-18, 4) with a 10 round decision. Abdulhamid lost his first bout with Mendoza in November though will take great solace from this win. Incidentally this is Abdulhamid second rematch with an opponent in just 6 pro bouts and some would have suspect that he's not going tio live up to the expectation many had of him.

In the chief support bout fans saw Ronie Tanallon (5-1-1, 1) take an 8 round decision over journeyman Jonathan Ricablanca (7-46-2, 1) in what was the sole 8 rounder.

Much of this show consisted of 6 round bouts, with two of those going the distance. One of those saw Markquil Salvana (6-0, 1) take a decision win over Dave Ogbamin (2-3-2, 1) whilst the other saw Raymart Gaballo (7-0, 5) take a decision over the debuting Paolo Romero (0-1).

The other 6 rounders were both over quickly with Michael Angelo Plania (4-0, 2) taking out Marwin Cristota (2-12-1, 1) in the 3rd round and Romero Duno (4-0, 3) blowing out Rey Liparanon (4-11-1, 1) inside a round.

In the sole 4 rounder of the card fan saw the debuting Benny Jade Slight (1-0, 1) blast out the win-less Michael Manambay (0-10).

Connecticut, USA
In the US we had a trio of Chinese fighters in action, including 2 debutants and a touted Heavyweight hopeful.

The Heavyweight was Zhang Zhilei (2-0, 2) who scored his second early victory as he took out the much smaller Perry Filkins (0-1) inside a round. To our knowledge Filkins is an MMA fighter and and he may well stay away from boxing after this 70 second defeat. Incidentally Filkin's did last almost a minute longer than Curtis Lee Tate who faced Zhilei in Zhilei's farcical debut.

One of the debutant was Wang Zhimin (1-0), a much touted Chinese fighter than some feel could go a very, very long way. Zhimin took a clear decision over fellow debutant Kin Moy (0-1) and it's hard to see anything but a fantastic future in the sport for Zhimin. The other debutant was Olympian Meng Fanlong (1-0) who over-came Marcellus Yates (0-2) via a majority decision. Strangely Fanlong won a shut out on 2 cards whilst the 3rd judge had it a draw.

(Image courtesy of boxmob.jp)

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 aren't many days where action is non-stop but this Saturday was one of those days with more notable fights than we see in most weeks.

Macau
The highlight of the boxing weekend for us was in Macau with an excellent Top Rank card dubbed "Featherweight Fury". The card, which featured 3 world title fights, began with a serious of low level bouts which included the second successive stoppage victory for Macau's very own Kuok Kun Ng (4-0, 2) who stopped Muhammad Imam (9-5, 3) inside a round.

Ng's victory was in one of two 6 round bouts with the other one seeing a victory for Olympic silver medal winner Esquiva Falcao (3-0, 1). Falcao, who lost in the Olympic final to Ryota Murata, defeated Korean Super Middleweight champion Eun-Chang Lee (7-4, 3) via a 6 round decision. Falcao at times looked very good though we can't see him ever developing into a super prospect like Murata, which is actually unfortunate considering that's a bout we'd love to see in the professional ranks.

The first major bout on the Macau card saw Yasutaka Ishimoto (24-7, 7) suffering the first stoppage defeat of his career as he was stopped by the hard hitting Chris Avalos (24-2, 18). This bout, an IBF Super Bantamweight eliminator saw Ishimoto give his all but unfortunately not have the toughness to stand up against the heavy hands of Avalos who appears to have set up an excellent bout with Kiko Martinez.

Ng wasn't the only Chinese fighter on the card as Ik Yang (15-0-0-1, 10) quickly wiped out Indonesian Geisler AP (5-2, 3), needing less than a round to claim the victory. Although Ng and Yang both took easy and quick victories things were much harder for Hong Kong's "Wonder Boy" Rex Tso (13-0, 8) who was twice dropped by Ratchasak Kokietgym (22-3-1, 10). Although he was dropped twice Tso fought back excellently and took a clear decision in a bout that really tested Tso's character. Sadly the scare for Tso here likely stops him from getting his mooted bout with Kohei Kono, after all Tso is not ready for a guy like Kono.

Following the undercard contests we then moved into the world title bouts, the first of which saw Evgeny Gradovich (19-0, 9) defend his IBF Featherweight title against the game but out matched Alexander Miskirtchian (24-3-1, 9). Gradovich was dropped once in the middle of the fight but dominated much of the contest and was the clear winner as he retained his title.

The second Featherweight title fight saw Nicholas "The Axeman" Walters (24-0, 20) retain his WBA Featherweight title in eye catching fashion against the shop worn Vic "The Raging Bull" Darchinyan (39-7-1, 28). The bout was quiet though always looked like it wasn't gong the distance and in round 5 it ended suddenly when Darchinyan was knocked out by the powerful Jamaican.

The great finish in the Walters/Darchinyan fight was a stark contract to the anti-climatic ending of the shows final world title bout which saw Nonito Donaire (33-2, 21) take a technical decision over Simpiwe Vetyeka (26-3, 16). Donaire, who was cut in the opening round, was in charge of the bout but the ending left a nasty taste in everyone's mouth, including Donaire's. The Filipino showed his classy side by offering a rematch though we doubt we'll see it with Donaire certainly having bigger fish to fry at 126lbs.

London, UK
As well as the trio of world title fights in Macau we also saw a title bout in London as Thailand's Tabtimdaeng Na Rachawat (52-3, 34) put up a great effort against England's very only Jamie McDonnell (24-2-1, 11) in a WBA Bantamweight title fight. Unfortunately for Tabtimdaeng his great effort was for naught as he was knocked out with a single shot in round 10. Although he lost Tabtimdaeng did impress and helped show that Thai boxers can be very exciting fighters with their pressure heavy styles.

Distrito Federal, Mexico
It was a bad day for Thai boxers in all honesty and in Mexico we sadly saw Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (27-4-1, 25) lose his WBC Super Flyweight title as he dropped a technical decision to Carlos Cuadras (30-0, 24). Srisaket's slow feet saw him chasing shadows against the fast moving Cuadras who, sadly, refused to stand and trade with the Thai as we had been hoping. It was a good win, on reflection, for Cuadras but the bout did feel like a let down in all honesty.

On the same show in Mexico we also saw Japanese based Filipino Honey Mae Bermoy (6-4, 6) suffer a defeat as she was stopped by the world class Irma Garcia (10-1-1, 2) in just 4 rounds. This was the second successive stoppage loss for Bermoy who was stopped earlier this year by Tenkai Tsunami in an OPBF title fight.

Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
Whilst things weren't good for Thai's on the world scene they were no better for Korean's and fans in Germany saw Susi Kentikian (33-2-0-1, 17) dominate South Korea's tough but limited Dan-Bi Kim (9-3-1, 2). Kim took a real beating and was saved by her corner sadly learning the hard way what it's like to compete with real world class opponents.

Aichi, Japan
Whilst much of the action was fought at a high level on the international stage there was also a card in Japan which saw several notable fighters in action.

The main event on the Japanese card featured recent world title challenger Daiki Kaneko (20-3-3, 13) who returned to the ring with a bit of a gimme against Shogo Ishikawa (10-7, 3). Kaneko, who was last seen in the ring on New Year's Eve losing to Takashi Uchiyama, was too good, too big and too strong with Ishikawa. 

Kaneko's victory followed another by a former world title challenger as Ryo Akaho (23-1-2, 16) defeated Thailand's Songseanglek Phosuwangym (1-11) in just 82 seconds. This was Akaho's 4th straight stoppage since his sole loss to Yota Sato in a WBC Super Flyweight title fight back in 2012.

It wasn't all good news for "name" fighters on this show as former Japanese Middleweight champion Tomohiro Ebisu (12-4, 12) was stopped by French man Kevin Thomas Cojean (14-5-1, 5). Ebisu was dropped in roudn 2 and failed to beat the 10 count in another fight that sadly showed that he can't take a shot.

Earlier on the same card there was a good win for Hayato Yamaguchi (12-4-1, 2) who surprisingly stopped Tatsuya Kaneko (7-10-1, 1) in 5 rounds. 

On the under-card fans also got to see two rookie bouts as the unbeaten Takashi Igarashi (3-0, 1) defeated Tameji Ito (1-1, 1) in a 4 round majority decision and Yu Kinjo (4-3, 3) took a unanimous decision over Naoya Nishimura (3-6-1, 2).

Guangzhou, China
One, overly-late result, that we now have was that the unbeaten Chinese Heavyweight Zhang Junlong (7-0, 7) continued his winning run with a 5th round stoppage over Indonesia's Nico Toriri (27-17-3, 12). This result saw Junlong claiming the International Boxing Organization Asia Pacific Heavyweight title. Going into the weekend we had expected Junlong to be fighting Japan's Kotatsu Takehara though we're unsure why Junlong ended up fighting the much worse Indonesian fighter.

(Image, courtesy of Pepe Rodriguez, is from the Srisaket/Cuadras result)

Ota-City General Gymnasium, Tokyo
Although the final boxing upset of the year occurred in Osaka that doesn't mean fans in Tokyo had any less reason to enjoy their new year's eve with a world title double header taking place at the Ota-City General Gymnasium on a show plastered with notable names.

The notable names on the show included female star Tomomi Takano (4-0, 3) who stole the headlines at the weigh-in with her wedding outfit. The former model-turned boxer showed once again that she has talent to add to her looks as she made light work of Kumi Oishi (1-3, 1) with a second round TKO. Takano, who many view as a potential starlet, may not have the talent of Naoko Fujioka but she certainly draws a lot of attention to female boxing like very few others.

Another big name on the card was former WBA Super Flyweight champion Kohei Kono (29-8, 11) who made light work of tune up opponent Daut Manopkanchang (0-1). Kono, fighting for the first time since his loss to Liborio Solis back in May, shook off his rust and kept his attention on the job here ahead of his scheduled world title bout with Denkaosan Kaovichit in March. Kono, looking to recapture his old title in that bout will be hoping for a similarly easy time with Kaovichit, though it would be unlikely.

Also on the under-card was WBC #1 ranked Super Flyweight Carlos Cuadras (29-0, 24). Cuadras, of Mexico, made very light work of Songseanglek Phosuwangym (1-10) and we now assume he's angling towards a fight with either WBC champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai or even the winner of Kono's bout with Kaovichit.

Remaining with the "names" on the under-card the most well matched contest saw former Japanese Light Flyweight champion Ryoichi Taguchi (19-2-1, 8) takes a hard fought decision over Ryan Bito (22-13-3, 8). This was Taguchi's comeback fight after losing his title to Naoya Inoue in August and surprisingly he struggled here with Bito who has only won 1 of his last 6 and that came against a debutant. Taguchi needs to get back on top of things and show off the talent that saw him being world ranked earlier this year though unfortunately it could be a tough rebuilding process.

On the bottom of the under-card we had 3 much lower level bouts. These saw Noriyoshi Taki (3-4, 1) taking a 3 round technical decision victory over Yusuke Matsuda (1-2); the debuting Hikaru Komori (1-0, 1) stopping fellow debutant Mamoru Suzuki (0-1) in 2 rounds and Hideki Suzuki (4-3-1) taking a 4 round decision over Yuki Arai (3-3, 1).

Of course fans weren't really there for the undercard, even if it did have big names on it. Instead they were there for the 2 world title fights that the show had, both in the Super Featherweight division.

The first of the world title fights saw WBC champion Takashi Miura (27-2-2, 20) dominate Mexican challenger Dante Jardon (24-4, 20). This was, on paper, the fight of the day though from the first round it seemed the men were in completely different leagues and Miura just beat up and broke down Jardon who was tough but thoroughly out-classed before being stopped in round 9. The Mexican challenger, a much vaunted puncher himself, was down in rounds 5 and 8 before being stopped after a third knockdown early in the ninth.

Miura's victory was his second title defense and his third victory over a Mexican this year. With that in mind it may be fair to call him the new Mexecutioner and with that in mind he may well be thinking about bouts in 2014 with either Daniel Ponce De Leon or Miguel Berchelt, 2 of the top Mexicans in the Super Featherweight division.

The other world title fight, and for us the fight that was the best of the day, saw Takashi Uchiyama (21-0-1, 17) successfully retain his WBA title with a very hard fought decision over former Japanese national champion Daiki Kaneko (19-3-3, 12). Although the scores, which all read 117-110, made the fight look easy it was anything but as the strong and powerful Kaneko gave Uchiyama all he could handle and actually dropped the champion in round 10. The difference between the two men was the experience that Uchiyama has at the world level though with out a doubt Kaneko put himself on the map with a very strong performance that saw him really impressing in a thoroughly competitive contest. Having seen how impressive Kaneko was here we've no doubt that he has the potential to become a world champion at some point, though it may be at Lightweight and not Super Featherweight.

With Uchiyama and Miura both retaining the likeliness is that the two will fight in a unification contest in 2014. Whether that is the first thing on the agenda for them is up for debate but it's a bout both seem intent to have. This would be a rematch, with Uchiyama having beaten Miura back in January 2011, though it's one everyone seems to be calling for, including ourselves.