This past Saturday was a busy day in the world of boxing with fights all over the place involving some wonderfully talented fighters.

Nevada, USA
On a Golden Boy Promotions show in Nevada we had two Asian fighters in action and both had lost there most recent bout.

The first in action was OPBF Welterweight champion Yoshihiro Kamegai (25-2-1, 22). Kamegai was fighting for the first time since his all action loss to Robert Guerrero in June and managed to make very light work of the over matched Oscar Godoy (13-4, 6). Godoy was down several times before eventually being stopped by Kamegai who is now 2-2-1 (2) in the US. Kamegai was watched by fellow Teiken fighters Takashi Miura and Shinsuke Yamanaka who were in attendance for the contest.

The other Asian fighter was former WBA Light Heavyweight champion Beibut Shumenov (15-2, 10) who stopped Bobby Thomas Jr (14-3-1, 9). Shumenov was fighting as a fully blown Cruiserweight for the first time and although he is ranked #2 by the WBA it's hard to see him winning a world title at his new weight.

Nevada, USA
On a Top Rank promoted show, also in the US, we had two Russian's in action.

The first of those was Denis Shaifkov (35-1-1, 19) who over-came the heavy handed Miguel Angel Mendoza (21-5-2, 21) in an entertaining contest. The fight was shown on Toprank.tv and seemed to be about keeping Shafikov busy ahead of a possible world title fight in early 2015.

The other Russian was former amateur standout Matt Korobov (24-1, 14) who was stopped in 6 rounds by Irishman Andy Lee (34-2, 24). The bout, for the WBO Middleweight title, was one of the worst of the weekend with a very slow start, consisting of 4 rounds of the two men failing to engage. When the two did start to come to blows at the start of round 6 they hurt each other with Korobov failing to recover before Lee wailed away and forced referee Kenny Bayless to step in and stop the previously unbeaten Korobov.

Nuevo León, Mexico
In Mexico fans had the opportunity to see former IBF Light Flyweight champion John Riel Casimero (21-2, 13) in action, albeit not for long. Casimero, fighting in an IBF Flyweight eliminator, destroyed Armando Santos (14-4-1, 8) in just 2 rounds. Santos was dropped in the opening round by a huge left hand before being dismantled at the start of round 2 by the Filipino road warrior who will now be looking for an opportunity to become a 2-weight world champion.

Osaka, Japan
In Osaka fans got the chance to see a small card which was headlined by Satoru Sugita (9-2-1, 6) who scored a 5th round TKO against Akira Shono (7-7-2, 4) with a devastating flurry of shots.

In the chief support bout fans saw a decision win for the light hitting Il Che (7-8-4, 1) who easily over-came Tomonori Ota (6-5, 4). Che used excellent movement and was a run away winner in a bout that was surprisingly 1-sided given the records of the two men involved.

The other notable supporting bout saw the light hitting Tatsunori Fukunaga (5-5, 2) score just his 2nd stoppage win in 10 bouts as he over-came the debuting Anucha Sor Soda (0-1) from Thailand.

The 6 under-card bouts here were all 4 rounders and many were close, in fact only 1 of the under-card bouts failed to go the distance as Maya Uegaki (1-0, 1) began her career with a 2nd round KO of fellow debutant Shizuka Nakamura (0-1).

The closest of the under-card contests saw Masaru Hasegawa (0-2-1) fighting to a draw with Kewpie Tsubawa (0-1-1) though there nearly a second draw as Takashi Okura (3-3, 1) take a majority decision over the win-less Daiki Haraguchi (0-8). Ryo Ishida (2-1, 1) narrowly escaped with a win as he over-came Shota Oka (1-1) with a razor thin decision and Koji Nakamura (4-6) took a close one over Ryuto Araya (2-7-1, 2). The only clear cut decision here saw the unbeaten Takuya Uehara (3-0, 1) clearly beat Thai visitor San Saknarong (0-1).

Metro Manila, Philipines
Filipino fans got a rather interesting domestic card from Metro Manila which featured several interesting contests.

The most interesting of those was one of two GAB title fights on the card. This one in particular saw Benezer Alolod (16-5-5, 5) narrowly over-come Renren Tesorio (13-6-3, 4) to retain the GAB Light Flyweight title. Alolod scored the win with a split decision but it could easily have gone the other way.

The other title fight on this show left nothing to chance as Dan Nazareno Jr (21-12, 17) showed off his power and retained his GAB Welterweight title with an opening round blow out against Dennis Padua (9-10-2, 4) in what always looked like a mismatch.

Both of the chief support contests ended in the 9th round. The most entertaining of those was a knock-down filled Super Bantamweight bout that saw Danilo Gabisay (6-3, 4) stopping the Angelito Merin (7-5-3, 1). Merin was down 4 times as Gabisay battered his light hitting foe. In the other support bout Ernesto Saulong (16-1-1, 6) stopped Jimmy Aducal (8-4-2, 6) dropping Aducal prior to the stoppage.

Lower down the card Toto Landero (4-0-1, 1) narrowly kept his unbeaten record intact with a narrow majority decision win over Jeven Villavite (3-3-3, 1). We had a minor upset as Julius Bala (4-2, 1) dominated Arnil Caoctoy (5-3, 2) en route to scoring a 2nd round TKO. We also saw a female contest as former world title challenger Jessebelle Pagaduan (7-1, 4) took a clear decision over the debuting Florivic Montero (0-1)

Eastern Cape, South Africa
Staying with Filipino's it's fair to say one of them won't be happy in the run up to Christmas. That will be Michael Dasmarinas (18-2, 11) who will have felt the judges gave a gift to South African Lwandile Sityatha (18-3-1, 7). The Filipino went to Sityatha's homeland in an attempt to claim the IBO Super Flyweight title but was “beat” by split decision with score cards that were all over the place.

On the same card Marbon Bodiongan (11-2-2, 9) came up short against Xolani Mcotheli (11-1, 8) in a bout scored a clear win for the South African fighter, who won the IBO Inter-Continental Super Featherweight title. From what we're been told this was a near shut out by the South African fighter.

Kiev, Ukraine
In Ukraine fans saw unbeaten Kazakh Roman Zhailauov (13-0, 8) continue on his winning ways with a stay busy bout against the win-less Artem Komar (0-3). We like Zhailauov but cannot understand why 2014 has been such a write off for such a young and talented boxer who could have achieved so much more this year.

Victoria, Australia
In Australia fans saw Thailand's Terdkiat Siththeppitak (1-9) suffer his 9th straight loss as he was out pointed by the debuting Kayne Pettifer (1-0) in a 4 round contest.

(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp and Sumio Yamada)

This past Friday may not have had much action in Asia but it still managed to have some very interesting action.

Pathum Thani, Thailand
In a televised card from Thailand Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo (52-1, 33) took a less than impressive decision over Wang Yi Ming (2-3, 2). The bout, a 6 rounder, went the way it was expected to though Chonlatarn did little to really impress and if anything he showed that he's not ready for a world title fight. It however did seem like he was going through the motions and ticking over.

Whilst Chonlatarn did as expected we did see a shock on the show as Xian Wei Qian (5-3-1) managed to take a very well earned decision over the previously unbeaten Thewa Onesongchaigym (5-1, 1). This bout, for the WBC Asian Boxing Council Featherweight title, was expected to see Thewa take his first regional title but the Thai did nothing to earn the decision which rightfully went to the deserving Chinese boxer. Credit, for once, to the Thai judges which have got an awful reputation.

As well as the two results that are from boxrec.com we have been informed of 3 other results. According to our Thai source these aren't ever expected to be listed on boxrec.com though they apparently took place off TV.

These included Saichon or Ounsuwan (0-19) suffering his 3rd straight stoppage loss as he was taken out, in 3 rounds, by Kwanpichit OnesongchaiGym (28-0-2, 13), another bout also ended in 3rd round KO for Saentanong Onesongchaigym (4-0, 2) who stopped Pompetch sor Kanitsorn (unknown, suspected 0-1). From what we've been told Saentanong is viewed as a very promising prospect.

We were also informed that former female title holder Teeraporn Pannimit (18-8, 5) was upset, in a massive shock, by Petchlookso Manoprungroj (unknown, suspected 1-0). We'll admit we are shocked, massively, by this result given that Teeraporn was a former world champion though presumably Petchlookso will be managed aggressively, especially after this win. In another female bout Ploynapa Sakrugrueng (suspected 1-0) defeated Minibus Mor Ratanabandit (suspected 0-1),though neither woman is on boxrec at the time of writing.

Victoria, Australia
There were no real surprises in Australia where a pair of Thai's suffered losses. The most disappointing of those losses saw Ngaotawan Sithsaithong (10-15-1, 5) being stopped inside a round to Aussie debutant Jason Moloney (1-0, 1). The stoppage came after the Thai had been dropped 3 times in just 170 seconds.

The other bout saw Patomsith Pathompothong (9-2, 4) coming up short against the unbeaten and promising Ibrahim Balla (6-0, 4) who took a decision. The loss for Patomsith is far from a bad one with many in Australia tipping Balla to be a star of the future.

California, USA
The most notable bout of the day was in the US and televised by ESPN. The fight was an all Russian IBF Lightweight title eliminator as Denis Shafikov (34-1-1, 19) battled with Rustam Nugaev (27-7-1, 17). The bout was one of the most entertaining 1-sided contests we've seen in a while though at the end of the bout Nugaev was a mess with what appeared to be a broken cheek bone, a possible broken nose and various other facial injuries. Although it started moderately competitively Shafikov ended just battering the tough Nugaev who was mercifully saved by referee Jack Reiss in the 9th round. By the though the bout was a lost cause from Nugaev's point of view as he was eating powerful and sharp combinations from a man a clear level above himself.

The win for Shafikov earns him a rematch with Miguel Vazquez though in fairness it's unlikely the Russian will manage to avenge his sole loss, especially considering the styles of the two men.

(Image courtesy of boxrec.com)

The biggest boxing news on Saturday was all about "Ring of Gold", the latest in Bob Arum's Macau shows. The shows, which may split opinion between fans have been fantastic for exposing some Asian talent to a new audience and we've got to admit that we're huge fans of them, obviously. Though we under-stand that many fans may not like the idea of headlining shows with certain fighters or having shows on at unusual times of the day for the typical US audience.

Thankfully as fans of the shows we'll say that the latest was one of the most interesting and one of the shows that has really revealed just what you can do when you combine good amateurs with elite training.

Macau, China
The card kicked off with Filipino Jerwin Ancajas (19-1-1, 11) looking very impressive. Ancajas looked sharp, fast and skilled as he took apart the over-matched Inthanon Sithchamuang (20-7, 11). On this performance we're looking forward to seeing more of Ancajas and hopefully he will be on another of the Macau cards later this year. Although "pretty boy" Ancajas isn't ready for a world title fight, and won't be for quite some time, he does have all the traits of a man who could well move in to the mix at world level in a year or two. Saying that however the Filipino is the WBA #14 at Bantamweight.

Following Ancajas's win we saw another clear mismatch as Ancajas's countryman Harmonito Dela Torre (12-0, 7) easily stopped Indonesia's Yakobus Heluka (7-6). Heluka came out swinging though was left out lying flat on the canvas before the first round was over and it seems likely that Heluka was still feeling the ill effects of being stopped just a few weeks back.

The show's third contest saw Macau's own boxing prospect Kuok Kun Ng (3-0, 1) score his first stoppage as he defeated Indonesian Rocky Alap Alap (5-11) in 3 rounds. Kuok, known as "The Macau Kid" appears to be a very interesting prospect and although he's short for a Light Middleweight he does seem to be skilled and improving quickly making him a fighter that we have to keep an eye on, especially if he continues to improve. 

In the show's fourth contest, the first to feature an Olympic gold medal winner, fans got to see an improved Ryota Murata (3-0, 3) in action. Murata, a Japanese boxing icon, stepped up a level to fight Brazilian Carlos Nascimento (29-4, 23) though appeared to be well in his comfort zone as he let Nascimento hit him on the arms before firing back with heavier shots of his own. Those heavy shots broke down the Brazilian who was stopped on the ropes whilst taking an unanswered series of punches.

Murata's contest was followed by the first title fight which saw Hong Kong's Rex Tso (12-0, 8) battling Japan's Mako Matsuyama (7-8-1, 3) in the stand out fight of the show. The two men willingly traded through out the contest though Matsuyama was eventually broken down, as much from exhaustion as Tso's shots. The fight, the highlight fight on the card, proved to be a much better match up than the records of the fighters indicated though perhaps suggests that Tso isn't as good as hyped. He is however very fun to watch and the type of fighter who we can't help but want to see in action again.

The best fight on the card was followed by a KO of the year contender courtesy of a thunderbolt landed by former WBO Super Flyweight champion Marvin Sonsona (18-1-1, 15). Sonsona, a slight betting under-dog, left former WBA Super Bantamweight champion Akifumi Shimoda (28-4-2, 12) lying unconscious following one of the best uppercuts we're likely to see this year. This victory will likely see Sonsona given world rankings at Featherweight, where he is now the WBO International champion, and if given time there is no doubt that Sonsona can become a world champion for the second time.

The second Olympic champion to fight on the show was Russian Egor Mekhontsev (2-0, 2) who stopped the previously unbeaten Thai Atthaporn Jaritram (4-1, 1) in a very 1 sided contest. Atthaporn was too small and slow for the very gifted Mekhontsev who clearly has the talent to be moved quickly in a relative weak division. Although Light Heavyweight does have some great champions it is weak below those champions and there is no reason Mekhontsev can't be threatening the top 10 by the end of the year.

Unfortunately after an excellent card the life was sucked out of the venue in the only world title fight on the show. The bout in question was an IBF Lightweight title fight between the talented, yet thoroughly frustrating, Miguel Vazquez (34-3, 13) and Denis Shafikov (33-1-1, 18). Vazquez started well though as soon as he realised Shafikov could get close to him the fight became less about boxing and more about holding, clinching, hugging, spoiling and generally preventing the bout from having any semblance of a boxing contest. Vazquez, who retained his title, certainly won't be welcome to Macau again and Ernie Sharif, the referee of the bout, may well come in for a lot of questioning over the next few days.

Thankfully the crowd came back alive for the show's main event which saw China's very own Zou Shiming (4-0, 1) put in a very impressive performance. Shiming, the reason for these Macau shows, may get a lot of hate internationally though appears to be a fighter making huge improvements between fights. That improvement was fully on show as he scored his first stoppage by wearing down and beating up Yokthong Kokietgym (15-4, 11). Yokthong, who had been stopped quickly by Ryuji Hara a few years ago, came to fight but was unable to cope with the ability of Shiming who appears to have really grasped the core concepts of professional boxing after looking very poor in some of his earlier bouts.

With both Shiming and Murata showing real signs of improvement it's not a wonder both are having their names linked to world title fights already. The rumour seems to be that Shiming could be fighting Amnat Ruenroeng later this year whilst Murata will be hoping to claim a world title next year.

Cotabato del Sur, Philippines
Outside of Ring of Gold there were other contests involving Asian's. These included several bouts in the Philippines.

One of the Filipino bouts saw former world title challenger Richie Mepranum (27-3-1, 6) putting in a very dominant display over Thailand's limited Phupha Por Nobnom (10-9-1, 9) who was dropped a staggering 6 times before retiring between rounds 4 and 5. Phupha was dropped in every round of the bout and showed that he really didn't belong in the ring with Mepranum.

The only other bout we have the result for from this card saw Jetly Purisima (18-13-4, 5) out pointing Jerson Luzarito (8-4-3, 3) over the 10 round distance.

Pennsylvania, USA
In the US things were disappointing for Azerbaijan's Farid Aghayev (1-0-1, 1) who was held to a majority draw by Lanny Dardar (1-0-1, 1) over 4 rounds.

(Picture courtesy of Toprank)