Saturday was a major day for Asian boxing fans and it turned out to be a memorable one, with one Japanese youngster continuing his development towards being a star, a major surprise in the Philippines and a show in India.

Aichi, Japan
The action kicked off incredibly early with a major show from Japan that was headlined by a young fighter looking to make history.

That young fighter was fast rising star Kosei Tanaka (5-0, 2) who claimed the WBO Minimumweight title with a clear decision victory over Mexican Julian Yedras (24-2, 13). Tanaka, who beat Naoya Inoue's Japanese record for the fewest fights to win a world title, looked sensational at times, despite showing some defensive flaws. Interestingly it seems like we're now heading towards a unification bout between Tanaka and compatriot Katsunari Takayama.

In an unexpectedly competitive bout Yushi Tanaka (14-0-3, 9) was pushed all the way by the gutsy but limited Mako Matsuyama (7-9-2, 3). Tanaka claimed the majority decision but didn't look as good as he'd have hoped and it seems clear that he has a lot of developing to do before he thinks about fighting for domestic title, especially at Bantamweight.

Another unexpectedly competitive bout contest saw Shota Hayashi (25-5-1, 15) take a majority win over Yasuyuki Otagaki (5-4-3, 1). This was Otagaki's third straight loss but he's much better than his record illustrates and we'd not be shocked to see him continue to test good fighters. For Hayashi this performance was disappointing though it did extend his current unbeaten run to 11 fights.

The undercard of this show featured 4 other bouts, all of which went the distance.

One of the most competitive saw Yuta Ando (2-0) take a very slim decision over decision over Yoshiaki Inoue (2-5-1, 1) whilst another close bout saw Retsu Kosaka (2-0) over-come the debuting Ryosuke Matsutani (0-1). A clearer decision saw Jinya Ito (2-0) take a slight shock win over Tamaki Miwa (2-1, 1) whilst the debuting Kentaro Yoshida (1-0) took a very clear win over Takumi Koroki (0-3)

Baja California, Mexico
In Mexico we had another title fight as Milan Melindo (32-2, 12) took on IBF Light Flyweight champion Javier Mendoza (24-2-1, 19). Sadly for Melindo he was unable to over-come the hard hitting Mexican who took charge of the bout early on before headclashes forced the bout to the scorecards at the end of round 6. Melindo had been deducted points for low blows and certainly didn't make any friends with his performance, though he did show guts to fight back against a very aggressive Mendoza.

Sadly for Melindo this was his second loss in a world title bout and it may be a while before he gets another. As for Mendoza there is some very interesting match ups that he could be involved in, such as fights with Ryo Miyazaki or Rey Loreto.

Cotabato del Sur, Philippines
Filipino fans had an interesting show more local to home, but unfortunately results from the show haven't yet become fully available.

One result we do have was a real shock as Jason Canoy (24-5-2, 18) scored an exceptional opening round TKO against former WBA “interim” Super Flyweight champion Drian Francisco (27-3-1, 21). Francisco was dropped 3 times inside the first round.

Another result we have from this card was a 5th round TKO win for the unbeaten Romero Duno (6-0, 5) who saw off Arnel Acebuque (4-4, 4).

Dongducheon, South Korea
On a KBC sanctioned card in Korea fans got the chance to see a number of novices in action as part of the KBC's attempts to “Create a Champion”.

In the sole 6-rounder on the card Tae Kyung Um (2-5-2, 2) scored a 6th round TKO against Min Wook Lee (2-2), who suffered his second stoppage defeat. Interestingly this bout was Lee's second in the space of 2-weeks.

Another stoppage on this card saw Sung Il Lim (1-0, 1) begin his career with a 4th round TKO against Jin Suk Lee (0-1). A third bout that failed to go the distance saw Se Yul Yang (0-0-1) fighting to a technical draw with Gun Woo Gang (0-0-1).

One of the few bouts that went the distance saw Min Young Kim (1-0-1) extend his unbeaten run with a decision over I Hoon Jung (0-1). Another bout that went the distance saw Won Suk Lee (1-0-1) take a majority decision over Woo Min Kim (1-1).

???, South Korea
In a second South Korean show fans saw Ji Hyun Park (21-2, 6) take a 6th round TKO victory over Thailand's limited Yokfah Mor Krungthepthonburi (9-9). With this win Park claimed the WIBA title at 102lbs. From what we understand this show was held under the auspices of the the KBA.

New Dehli, India
Whilst there was a card in India we sadly don't have the results as of yet.

Texas, USA
In Texas we saw two Asian fighters suffering stoppage losses.

The first of those was Middleweight journeyman Rahman Mustafa Yusubov (11-21, 9) who suffered his 6th straight loss courtesy of a 5th round TKO defeat to Milorad Zizic (12-1, 6). Yusubov has now suffered a trio of successive stoppage losses and we do wonder how much longer he'll continue to fight.

The other man to come up short was Filipino veteran Juanito Rubillar (49-23-7, 24) who suffered a 4th round TKO to former world champion Joseph Agbeko (30-5, 23). Rubillar was fighting for the first time since August 2013, when he was stopped by Rey Vargas, and at 38 years old we hope this is the last time he'll be in the ring.

Connecticut, USA
Staying in the US there was also a loss for Timur Shailezov (17-10-1, 4) who was widely out-pointed by the unbeaten Nate Green (8-0, 2). Shailezov has now lost 8 of his last 9 bouts and it seems clear that he's becoming little more than a journeyman, however he did manage to take a few rounds from Green here.

Queensland, Australia
Another Asian losing on the road was Fernando Ocon (13-9-1, 5) who suffered a unanimous decision loss to Jason Cooper (14-2-1, 7) in a bout for the WBA Oceania Super Bantamweight title. Ocon has now gone 1-4-1 in his last 6 bouts.


(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

This past Saturday was an insanely busy day for Asian boxing fans with more fights than you can shake a stick at....

Pattaya, Thailand
Fans in Thailand had televised action featuring a pair of former world title challengers and a very interesting all debutant bout.

One of those former title challengers was 3-time title contender Sod Kokietgym (64-3-1, 28) who was fighting for the first time since his opening round defeat to Guillermo Rigondeaux in Macau. Sod may have been blown away by the Cuban Jackal but he was successful today as he over-came the previously unbeaten Jaoquim Mahe (8-1, 4) of France. Mahe, also known as Joaquim Redbluegym, saw a run of 2 wins in Thailand come to an end with this loss.

The other former world title challenger was Samartlek Kokietgym (18-5, 5) who fought for the first time since he was stopped by Naoya Inoue in a WBC Light Flyweight title fight. Samartlek, like Sod, was facing an unbeaten visitor though managed to inflict his opponents first defeat as he out pointed Filipino Richie Behec (2-1-1, 1).

In an excellent all debutant bout Mai Lookboonmee (1-0) took a decision over Sorn Sakwaroon (0-1). Sadly for Sorn he was one of 3 debutants to suffer a defeat on this show. Another debutant who came up short was Lekkla Sor Petchwandee (0-1) who was beaten by Sayu Sor Kulawong (2-0) over 6 rounds.

The only stoppage on the card was scored by Filipino visitor Joan Imperial (11-5-6, 6) who recorded his second win in Thailand this year as he took an opening round TKO against Chaiyaphon Nupphon (0-1).

Davao del Sur, Philippines
Although there was action in Thailand much of the day's Asian action was in the Philippines as the country hosted two separate shows. On paper the best of those was n Davao del Sur on a card featuring a number of notable names.

One of those notable names was the unbeaten Adones Cabalquinto (19-0, 12) who made very light work of the horribly over-matched Denkamon Pakdee Gym (12-4, 5). Cabalquinto claimed the IBF Australasian title at 140lbs as he stopped Denkamon early in round 3.

Another of the notable fighters in action was the exciting Aston Palicte (16-1, 14) who needed just 131 seconds to dispose of Jomyuthlek Sor Narongchai (12-3, 5) and claim the IBF Youth Super Flyweight title. This was the 5th successive opening round blow out by “Mighty”, who had previously blown away the tough Gerpaul Valero, and we suspect he'll continue to impress with wins like this.

Marlon Tapales (27-2, 10) was another notable name on this show and he too scored an early win as he stopped Jecker Buhawe (16-11-1, 10) in the 2nd round. This was Tapales's 6th straight win since he was narrowly beaten in Mexico by David Sanchez and we'd not be shocked to see Tapales eyeing up a big fight at some point this year.

Yet another notable fighter on this card to score an early win was Drian Francisco (27-2-1, 21) who stopped compatriot Jason Egara (21-12, 10) in the 8th round to record his third successive win since he was beaten by American Chris Avalos last July.

It wasn't all notable names on the card, nor was it all expected results and in a notable upset fans saw Ronerex Dalut (9-15-2, 2) shock the previously unbeaten Marvilou Aballe (5-1, 2) by split decision over 8 rounds. Sadly this was the only real shock result.

A fighter who managed to keep his unbeaten record by decision on this card was Jay-ar Inson (7-0, 4) who out pointed Gabby Siempo (5-6-1, 1) over 8 rounds. Another unbeaten fighter to pick up a win in a scheduled 8 rounder was Rimar Metuda (5-0, 1) who stopped veteran Philip Parcon (26-20-3, 8) in the 2nd round of their bout. The only other 8 round bout saw the once beaten Orlie Silvestre (4-1-1, 3) force a retirement of Ryan Ralozo (8-14-2, 2) after 4 rounds.

In the sole 6 rounder Gerald Paclar (2-1, 1) out pointed the previously unbeaten Rene Mark Cuarto (3-1, 1) in what was a minor upset. The card began with a trio of 4 rounders. These included an all debutant affair that saw Ronnie Badonado (1-0, 1) stop Baltazar Susas (0-1) in the second round of their contest, in what was the only early conclusion on this part of the card. In a contest between win-less fighters we saw Jose Aballe (1-1) take a decision against the still win-less Sammy Caballero (0-2) and in a very competitive bout Aries Buenavidez (2-0) took a majority decision over Jayson Sanchez (0-3).

Metro Manila, Philippines
The other Filipino show took places in Metro Manila and, like the other card featured a few interesting names.

The most well known of the fighters on this show was former world title challenger Ardin Diale (27-9-3, 14) who made very light work of Rommy Wassar (11-18-7, 5). Wassar, who missed weight by 6lbs, lasted just 30 seconds with Diale who made a genuine statement with the speed of this win.

Diale wasn't the only fighter to blow away an opponent in less a minute as the monstrously hard hitting Richard Claveras (12-0-2, 12) blasted away Demsi Manufoe (9-4, 6) in 37 seconds to retain the WBC Asian Boxing Coubncil Light Flyweight title. Hopefully we'll see Claveras step up again next time out.

Another excellent fighter to blow an over-matched foe on this show was the excellent Michael Dasmarinas (19-2, 12) who took care of Aroel Romasasa (11-8, 5) inside a minute courtesy of a body shot. Another man to score a win with a body show was Rene Dacquel (13-4-1, 5) who took 7 rounds to see off the light punching Menard Abila (5-3-4, 1).

One of the most competitive contests saw Eric Panza (7-3-1, 1) climb up from an opening round knockdown to take a split decision over Jeson Berwela (4-19, 2) in an 8 round bout. Another close 8 rounder saw Warren Mambuanag (7-5-2, 3) upset Aljhon Osabel (9-3, 5), also with an 8 round split decision.

The sole 6 rounder on this card saw the unbeaten Fighting Heno (3-0-3) level off his peculiar record as he over-came Rommel Berwela (2-3-2) with a clear decision.

In a bizzare debut, scheduled for 4 rounds, Jestoni Caballes (1-0, 1) was decked twice in the opening round before stopping Roberto Mendano (0-3) due to a cut in the second round. . In the other 4 rounder Brando Bokingkito (1-2, 1) claimed his first win with a 3rd round TKO against the win-less Kenneth Lacdang (0-3).

Chiapas, Mexico
In Mexico we saw a rematch between unheralded Filipino Jomar Farjardo (14-6-2, 7) and former unified Minimumweight champion Francisco Rodriguez Jr (17-2-1, 11). The two men, who fought to a draw last year, began as they finished their first fight, with a very competitive opening round. Sadly for Fajardo that was his only real success as Rodriguez finally figured him out and dominated the proceeding 9 rounds to take a very wide decision

New South Wales, Australia
In Australia fans saw a pair of Asian fighters though unfortunately both came up short.

The most disappointing of those was Erick Diaz Siregar (16-21-4, 4) of Indonesian. Siregar was brought in to be blown away and that's exactly what happened with Billel Dib (16-1, 7) stopping him inside a round. This was Siregar's third success blow out defeat and he is now without a win since September 2012 and has only one win since November 2010.

The other man who came up show was Filipino Rodynie Rafol (12-6-2, 5) who gave a good effort but was clearly second best to the unbeaten George Kamboso Jr (7-0, 3). Sadly for Rafol this loss ended a 2 fight winning run and he is now 0-3 in fights outside of his native Philippines.

This past Saturday was a hectic day to say the least with bouts spread across the world with many of them being major bouts.

New Jersey, USA
The biggest bout of the night saw unbeaten Russian puncher Sergey Kovalev (26-0-1, 23) unifying 3 Light Heavyweight world titles as he dominated American legend Bernard Hopkins (55-7-2-2, 32) in a very impressive and controlled performance. The Russian dropped Hopkins in the opening round and had all over the place in the final round as he came close to stopping Hopkins. Although the clock ran out before Kovalev could score the stoppage he still managed to unify the WBO, WBA and IBF titles at 175lbs and put real pressure on Adonis Stevenson to fight in a total unification bout later this year.

Pennsylvania, USA
In an unexpectedly tough bout we saw another promising Russian Light Heavyweight, Vasily Lepikhin (16-0, 9), claim a hard fought decision over Jackson Junior (15-2, 13). We had expected Lepikhin to impress, as he did against Robert Berridge, but he seemed to struggle over the line a little bit here and it shows he's a few fights away from being stepped towards a world title fight. It's a shame but he's not ready to be stepped up, at least not yet, despite being very talented.

Texas, USA
Staying in the US a little bit longer, fans in Texas had the chance to see the very promising Egor Mekhontsev (6-0, 6) made light work of the heavy handed Jinner Guerrero (7-3, 6) who lasted just 2 rounds. Guerrero had entered the bout as a genuinely dangerous fighter but was never in the bout against the former amateur standout who some are tipping as yet as another Light Heavyweight to keep a close eye on.

Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Our first world title fight came in Germany where the previously unbeaten Naoko Fujioka (12-1, 6) lost a very close fight to German local hero Susi Kentikian (34-2-0-1, 17). The fight, for the WBA female Flyweight title, was a great female fight ruined only by some frustrating officiating with a referee that seemed unable to really keep the action flowing as the two fighters fell into each other. Although the contest was competitive and full of action we do feel that Fujioka was hard done by, though we need to admit we saw the bout on a broken stream that frustrated us almost as much as the referee for the contest.

Queretaro, Mexico
A second female world title bout came in Mexico and again saw a Japanese fighter losing a questionable decision as Etsuko Tada (13-2-2, 3) came up short against Anabel Ortiz (16-3, 3) for a second time. Tada had traveled to Mexico in an attempt to reclaim the WBA female Minimumweight title though lost a close decision to Ortiz for the second time following a loss last year in Japan to the Mexican fighter. Sadly for Tada it appeared one judge didn't even bother watching the fight was competitive through out despite a laughable 99-90 card for Ortiz.

Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand
One of the days first shows came from Thailand where we had a trio of notable bouts.

The main event saw the world ranked Petchbarngborn Kokietgym (29-7-1, 12) score a 9th round KO against Filipino foe Macrea Gandionco (10-2-1, 6) to record his first defense of the interim WBO Asia Pacific Super Flyweight title. The Filipino took a hard counter and whilst it looked like he could continue he instead chose to take the 10 count before getting to his feet. It was as if he was happy enough with his effort up to that point to call it a day.

On the under-card fans saw Fonluang KKP (22-1-1, 10) take a 4th round TKO against Indonesian visitor Falazona Fidal (25-42-1, 8) who was stopped for the 14th time in his 68 fight career. The other contest on the card was a female bout that saw Kanda Por Muangpetch (3-1) score a 6 round decisions win over the debuting Namnung Kwanjaisrikot (0-1).

Queensland, Australia
On a show down under Australian fans saw several Asian fighters in action.

One of those was the very notable, and extremely dangerous, Bantamweight contender Zhanat Zhakiyanov (24-1, 17) who made very light work of Australian based Filipino Roberto Lerio (16-21-1, 6). Lerio was stopped in the second round of the bout as Zhakiyanov continued to march toward a world title fight and the heavy handed Kazak has now stopped his last 11 dating back more than 3 years!

Sadly it wasn't a good show for Filipino's and not only was Lerio stopped but so too was Romeo Jakosalem (15-9-1, 8) who was stopped in the 9th round of his bout with the highly touted Cameron Hammond (11-0, 5). Jakosalem has now lost 5 of his last 6 including an early blow out to Min-Wook Kim in an OPBF title fight and it appears that his career is really becoming that of a journeyman, a sham considering that he was an OPBF champion less than 3 years ago.

Davao City, Philippines
Sadly we've not yet received all the results from the Philippines.

In an interesting clash of fringe world class fighters fans saw Drian Francisco (26-2-1, 20) take a clear win over former Bantamweight world title challenger John Mark Apolinario (17-5-3, 4). Apolinario was down in round 5 and hurt again in round 7 as Francisco proved his dominance over a much lesser foe than himself. Sadly for the heavy handed Francisco he did show signs of ring rust and it's fair to say had he not been rusty he may well have finished off Apolinario in round 7 when he was rocked hard.

On the undercard the debuting Aries Buenavidez (1-0) defeated fellow debutant Sammy Caballeres (0-1)

Metro Manila, Philippines
A second Filipino show saw the extremely heavy handed Richard Claveras (10-0-2, 10) successfully defending the WBC Asian Boxing Council Light Flyweight title with an 8th round TKO over JC Francisco (6-9-3, 2), who had never previously been stopped. A second champion who managed to defend his title on this card was Ardin Diale (25-9-3, 12) who retained the GAB Flyweight title with a stoppage of the heavy handed Jenny Boy Buca (9-2, 9) who suffered a broken nose before being retired at the end of round 10. This was Buca's first stoppage losses and allows Diale to end the year on a high after suffering an 8th round loss to Koki Eto in a thrilling OPBF title fight back in June.

In another title fight fans saw Jhon Gemino (11-3-1, 5) take the PBF Super Bantamweight title as he stopped the more experienced Rey Juntilla (19-6-3, 12) in the 7th round of their scheduled 10 rounder. Gemino was one of two new champions crowned on this show alongside Al Rivera (11-2, 9) who claimed the PBF Lightweigth title with a 2nd round KO against Junard Postrano (7-7, 2).

In another stoppage we saw Renz Rosia (10-2, 5) take our Jay-ar Estremos (10-9, 4) in the 6th round.

The undercard bouts all went the distance. These saw Rommel Berwela (2-2-2) even off his record with a majority draw against JR Florendo (3-2-1) in what was one of two draws on the card, the other saw Ariel Arevalo (2-1-2, 1) fight to a 4 round draw with Juanito Paredes (0-1-1). In another close bout Jason Dogelio (1-2) out pointed Manuel Mamacquiao (0-4). The only other bout on the card saw Lorence Rosas (2-0-1) out point the win-less Brando Bokingkito (0-2)

Klimovsk, Russia
In Russia we saw a small but interesting card that featured 2 more Filipino fighters in relatively interesting bouts, sadly however they lost both of those contests.

The most interesting of the two was a PABA Lightweight title bout that saw Roman Andreev (16-0, 12) take a clear decision over the tough Rey Labao (26-6, 17). Labao was never really in the bout though that was due to Andreev who appears to be very promising and could well go all the way, one day. The other Filipino was Jason Canoy (21-5-2, 15) who was clearly beaten by the promising but previously untested Nikolay Potapov (13-0, 6).

In a female bout novice professional Yulia Berezikova (2-0, 2) scored a very impressive victory by stopping the experienced Dalia Vasarhelyi (9-7, 1) in the 4th round of their scheduled 8 rounder. This was one of 3 bouts scheduled for 8 rounds with another failing to go the distance as Konstantin Piternov (17-6, 8) scored a 3rd round TKO against the previously unbeaten David Nagy (3-1, 2). The other 8 rounder saw Maxim Maslov (15-1-1, 8) struggle past Yuri Bihoutsea (8-6-2, 5) in a surprisingly competitive contest.

In a 4 rounder on the under-card Alexander Podolsky (2-0) took a 4 round decision over Dmytro Aushev (1-5, 1)

(Image courtesy of boxingnews.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)