Osaka, Japan The biggest show of the day came form the newly re-named “EDION Arena Osaka”, aka the “Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium” and the “Bodymaker Colosseum”. The show featured a couple of world title fights, a Japanese title fight and a female world title fight, whilst the under-card featured a former world title challenger and several notable under-card fighters. The main event of the card saw Osakan super-star Kazuto Ioka (18-1, 10) successfully retain his WBA Flyweight title with a near shut out win against Argentina's Roberto Domingo Sosa (26-3-1, 14). Sosa, although tough, never looked like he was in he fight as Ioka out boxed him, out skilled him, out sped him and out punched him. Ioka's title fight was one of 4 champions retaining their title. Another saw IBF Minimumweight champion Katsunari Takayama (30-7-0-1, 12) retain his title with an 8th round TKO win against Ryuji Hara (19-2, 11). For Takayama this was his second defense and seems to lead him towards a unification bout with WBO champion Kosei Tanaka, with that bout potentially taking place on New Years Eve, when Tanaka is set to return. Another champion to retain their title was Sho Ishida (20-0, 10) who comfortably over-came Hayato Kimura (23-8, 15) and retained the Japanese Super Flyweight title, with a wide decision. Kimura seemed unable to ever establish himself against the talented Ishida however we're beginning to doubt Ishida's “world class” potential, given his second less than perfect performance. Another successful defense saw OPBF female Light Flyweight champion Kei Takenaka (10-0, 3) claim an 8 round shut out win over Krikanok Islandmuaythai (4-5-1, 2) to retain her title. Another 8 round bout saw former world title challenger Atsushi Kakutani (17-4-1, 10) take a 2nd round KO against Thoedkiad Singhamanasak (0-4), whilst the much touted Masayoshi Hashizume (9-0, 6) continued his perfect started to professional life with a 64 second win against Petchnamnung Sor Thiebkhun (0-11). The card also featured a par of 6 rounders. One of those saw the much touted Riku Kano (7-1-1, 4) claim a comfortable decision victory over Kenta Matsui (6-5, 1) whilst the other was a competitive split decision win for Juan Castillo Inami (9-3, 4), who beat Tesu Kanayama (4-3, 1). In the only 4 rounder Hayate Ikuta (4-0, 1) blitzed Kota Hama (2-2, 1) in just 51 seconds. Osaka, Japan Staying at the EDION Arena Osaka, there was also a West of Japan Rookie of the Year show, in fact it was the final of the section of the Rookie of the year competition. In the Minimumweight division the winner was 20 year old Ryusei Kitamura (5-1, 1) who took a narrow decision win over Ryoki Hirai (5-4-1, 2). The Light Flyweight champion was Seigo Yuri Akui (4-0-1, 2) who blew away Kaminoko Okamura Kentokid (5-1-3, 2) inside a round. At Flyweight it was the unbeaten Masahiro Sakamoto (4-0, 3) who came out on top with a 2nd round KO win against Hirohide Murakami (4-3). In the Super Flyweight division Kensei Hirano (5-0, 3) took less than a round to blow away Shion Tamada (2-1) with an opening round win. At Bantamweight we had a really competitive bout that saw Tenta Kiyose (6-1-1, 1) take a split decision win over Tetsu Araki (4-1-1). At Super Bantamweight we had a bout that looked really close on paper though in the ring it was a near shut out as Kohei Iwai (6-3-1, 5) clearly beat Takaaki Kanai (5-4, 3). The Featherweight action was competitive with Yuto Nagano (5-0, 2) taking a majority decision over Ryuya Yanagida (2-1, 2). In the Super Featherweight division things were one sided as Naotoshi Nakatani (6-0, 5) blew away Ryo Sumiya (2-2-1) in the 2nd round. Lightweight saw Tomoaki Mastumura (5-0, 3) destroy Yu Sumiya (1-1, 1) in just 42 seconds. The Light Welterweight division saw an upset as Kazuma Fukuyama (5-4-3) took a decision win over Yuki Takahashi (5-1, 1). At Welterweight Giraffe Kirin Kanda (5-1, 3) took a 96 second win over Yuya Shimakawa (2-1). In the Middleweight division Brandon Lockhart Shane (5-3, 4) beat Yuki Nakanishi (1-3, 1). Bangkok, Thailand In Thailand Kiatkreerin put on a 3 fight card. The main event here saw Mike Tawatchai (36-8-1, 21) claim the vacant IBF Pan Pacific Super Bantamweight title with a decision win over Junny Salogaol (9-8-4, 9). This was Tawatchai's first bout since being beaten in a world title eliminator against Shingo Wake. Another notable name on this card was former world title challenger Fahlan Sakkreerin Jr (28-4-1, 15) who over-came Oscar Raknafa (12-11, 5) with an 8 round decision win. A third notable fighter was former Olympic star Manus Boonjumnong (2-0) who beat Marco Tuhumury (10-12-2, 3) with a 4 round decision (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)
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This past Wednesday was a brilliant day for boxing fans in Japan with notable shows in both Osaka and Tokyo. The fights ranged from world level to prospect level, on both shows, yet they both featured some genuinely exciting fights that delivered what was promised. Osaka, Japan Of the two shows it was the one in Osaka that was the more high profile and interesting. The card featured everything from a debutant to world title bouts, and went through everything in between in what was a spectacular day of action in the Osaka Prefectural gymnasium. We'll start with the main event which looked like a mouth watering bout when it was first rumoured and proved to be every big as good in the ring. That bout saw Japanese star Kazuto Ioka (17-1, 10) become a 3rd weight world champion at the third time of asking as he narrowly over-came Argentinian warrior Juan Carlos Reveco (35-2, 19) in a really close and competitive bout for the WBA Flyweight title. Reveco entered the bout seeking his 9th defense of the crown and at times looked like he was getting the better of things until Ioka made changes late to pull out a very close majority decision in a bout that was everything boxing fans should enjoy. The one, unfortunate, thing about the bout was the Argentinian TV channel screening the fight. They sadly appeared to be a bit “too” pro-Reveco leading many fans to the idea that the close bout was a robbery, when it really was too close to call. The other world title bout was also marred in controversy as Katsunari Takayama (29-7-0-1, 11) retained his IBF Minimumweight title with a 9th round technical decision win over gutsy Thai Fahlan Sakkreerin Jr (27-4-1, 15). Sakkreerin had been less than impressive in his previous visit to Japan, losing a wide decision to the sensationally talented Takuma Inoue, and we expected a 1-sided bout here though in the end the bout ended up being compelling with Takayama being his usual all-action aggressive fighter. The aggression of Takayama regularly forced Sakkreerin against the ropes where he fought as a counter puncher in a fight that was brilliant to watch. Sadly the bout was marred by an ending that left everyone confused. Originally it looked like the title was going to change hands with Takayama being stopped due to facial damage only for the cards to be read with Takayama retaining the title with a close decision. The odd ending has lead to calls for a rematch and we'd certainly be in favour of seeing these two go at again. As well as the pair of world title contests there was also a Japanese title fight as the unbeaten Sho Ishida (19-0, 10) was given his stiffest test so far. Ishida, defending the Japanese Super Flyweight title for the second time, only just kept a hold of his belt with a split decision win over Taiki Eto (14-4, 10). Ishida started well and appeared in control for the most part but stamina issues in the later rounds allowed Eto to come on strong in a bout that left us with questions about Ishida. We suspect it was a “bad night” for the unbeaten champion but he clearly has work to do before getting a world title fight. One man who looked like he was ready for a title fight was former WBA Minimumweight champion Ryo Miyazaki (23-1-3, 14) who made light work of the over-matched Namphol Sithsaithong (7-10, 5) in what was a very clear tune up bout for the popular Japanese fighter. It now seems likely that Miyazaki will be looking for a fight with countryman Ryoichi Taguchi in the summer, if Taguchi is successful in his upcoming WBA Light Flyweight world title defense. On the under-card there were several notable fighters. One of those was 2014 Super Flyweight Rookie of the Year Masayoshi Hashizume (8-0, 5) who made light work of Saenrachan Sor Theptanee (0-2) with a 3rd round KO. Hashizume has an exciting style and we're hoping to see him step up to facing Japanese ranked foes by the end of this year, though it's unlikely he'll be getting a title fight any time soon. Another Rookie of the Year winner on the under-card was Reiya Konishi (8-0, 4) who scored a very notable 8 round decision win over Kenta Shimizu (8-5-1, 4). This was by far the best win so far for the talented Konishi who looks like a title contender in the making. A third unbeaten prospect on the under-card was female hopeful Kei Takenaka (9-0, 3) who took a clear 6 round decision win over Thai visitor Kanittha Saknarong (0-3). We're now expecting to see Takenaka move towards a more notable fight though the former OPBF female Light Flyweight title holder really does need a better test before she steps up to world level. In the 4 rounders on the card fans saw two clear decisions. One of those saw Hayate Ikuta (1-0) make a successful debut as he took a clear win over Seita Shimamiya (1-4) whilst the other saw Noriyuki Imamura (3-3) level off his record with a win over Genki Inoue (1-5-1, 1). Tokyo, Japan In Tokyo fans had a show at the popular Korakuen Hall and although this was massively over-shadowed by the Osaka show it was incredibly entertaining and significant in it's own right. The main event here was an exciting split decision win for Ricky Sismundo (28-8-1, 12) who over-came former Japanese Lightweight champion Akihiro Kondo (21-6-1, 10). Although Kondo often brought the action he was regularly countered by his foe, a Japanese based Filipino, who was a very worthy winner. Amazingly this was Kondo's 5th bout in 9 months, sadly however it was his 3rd loss in that period whilst Sismundo has now won back-to-back fights follow a loss to Masayoshi Nakatani in an OPBF title bout last year. Sismundo's win wasn't the only success for Filipino fighters on this card as Giovanni Escaner (13-3, 9) scored a slight upset win over touted Japanese prospect Naoto Uebayashi (7-1-1, 4). Uebayashi was stopped in the 8th round of the bout by the talented Escaner who has now scored back-to-back wins in Japan and appeared to be quickly developing into an exciting and strong fighter who will be a handful for a lot of fighters. Things weren't so bad for Uebyashi's stablemate Hikaru Marugame (4-0, 2) who took a career best victory over Wataru Miyasaka (9-3-1, 2). Marugame was the clear winner but was pushed for the first time in his career and this 8 rounder will certainly have served his development well. Miyasaka may have come up short but certainly did his standing no harm and will likely be put in other good bouts in the near future. On the undercard we ended up with some very competitive bouts. One of those saw Ken Otogawa (7-5, 5) score an upset against Yasuki Katagiri (4-2, 1) in a bout that was scored 58-56 to Otoggawa by all 3 judges. Another bout saw Tomoyuki Yokota (5-3, 2) upset the more experienced Akihiro Furukawa (12-6-1, 9) with a razor thin decision, scored 56-55 twice and 57-55. A third 6 rounder saw Hisasi Owada (6-9-1, 1) score a relatively unexpected stoppage win as he finished off Hikaru Takaki (6-7, 5) at the end of round 4. We saw another stoppage in the sole 4 rounder on this show as Shintaro Hirohama (2-3-1, 2) stopped Takahiro Yamanishi (1-4) in the 3rd round. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp) This past Friday had a couple of Thai cards, both of which were televised.
Surat Thani, Thailand The most notable name of the day was in action on Thai channel 7 who aired a show from Surat Thani and despite the show not being a key one the main event was a notable bout, whilst the undercard featured a local novice against highly experienced opposition. The main event on this show saw Fahlan Sakkreerin Jr (27-3-1, 16) successfully retain his IBF Asia Light Flyweight as he out pointed Japanese challenger Shunji Nagata (10-13-2, 3) in what was Fahlan's first defence of the title he won last December, when he over-came Armando dela Cruz. Incidentally this was Fahlan's 3rd fight against a Japanese foe since he announced himself to fans world wide with his huge career defining upset win over Ryo Miyazaki, it's also his first win over a Japanese foe since that shock win. One of the novices on this undercard was Atchariya Virotesunobon (2-0) who marked the beginning of his career with a decision win over the rather durable Heri Andriyanto (20-18-2, 10). Although we won't try and tell you that Andriyanto is a great fighter the Indonesian is a very tough opponent for a novice and Atchariya deserves real credit for such a notable win. Not only was this a notable win but the performance was also credible from a very strong and patient looking Thai prospect The other bout featured Patomsith Pathompothong (11-3, 4) who over-came experienced Indonesian journeyman Arief Blader (20-16-1, 7). Khon Kaen, Thailand The other Thai show of the day was televised on Channel 11 and featured a former female world champion and several promising fighters who currently fighter under the Tor Buamas banner. The main event on this card was a horrible mismatch as the very talented Pharanpetch Tor Buamas (14-0, 10) successfully defended his WBC Asian Boxing Council Super Featherweight title with a 3rd round stoppage against the over-matched Ramli Pasaribu (3-6, 1). The mismatch is made worse by the fact that Pharanpetch is now 27 and cannot keep wasting time with mismatches like this, especially given that this was his first bout since last March! Sadly Pharanpetch wasn't the only fighter in a mismatch on this card as former WBC female Light Flyweight champion Samson Tor Buamas (35-6, 17) took on the debuting Meree Sor Rapeewan (0-1), who was stopped in the 2nd round. This was Samson's 9th forgettable bout since she lost to Nadia Raoui in Germany way back in September 2012. Samson wasn't the only female fighter picking up a win as Hongfah Tor Buamas (18-5, 2) picked up her 3rd straight win following a loss to the exceptional Ava Knight back in 2012. Hongfah's opponent, Petchborthong Sor Rapeewan (0-1), sadly wasn't up to much here though did see out the 6 round distance. One other bout on this card saw Sangthong Sor Buamas (5-0, 5) quickly get rid of Somchai Korpol (0-1) inside a round There wasn't much action this past Friday but there was still a number of fights with titles on the line.
Bangkok, Thailand Much of the days most notable Asian action came from Bangkok where we had several notable fights, though unfortunately we have incomplete records for the show. The most notable result saw former Japanese Light Middleweight champion Takayuki Hosokawa (26-10-3, 9) take an incredibly quick victory over the genuinely poor Moses Seran (24-19, 11) on Indonesia. This win for Hosokawa saw him claiming the IBF Asia Light Middleweight title and we now expect that he'll climb up the IBF rankings when they are next updated. Another title that found it's way around the waist of a new champion was the IBF Asia Light Flyweight title which was won by Thai youngster Fahlan Sakkreerin Jr (26-3-1, 15). Fahlan was forced to go the distance but was successful as he over-came Filipino foe Armando dela Cruz (24-14-3, 10) with a decision. East London, South Africa We saw another Filipino in action over in South Africa and unlike dela Cruz the one wasn't to be denied. This time it was the turn of Raymond Tabugon (15-3-1, 6) who out pointed South Africa's very own Luzuko Siyo (13-3, 10) to claim the IBO Inter Continental Light Flyweight crown. This past Friday saw 2 separate Thai cards in what was a great day for Thai fans who were given some very competitive and tough bouts
Thon Buri, Thailand The more significant of the two Thai cards came form Thon Buri province and featured two world ranked fighters as well as a previously world ranked fighter. The main event of this show was the IBF world ranked Super Flyweight Rusalee Samor (25-5-2, 11) who successfully defended his IBF Asia Super Flyweight title with a well fought decision against Filipino visitor Fernando Ocon (13-8, 5). Samor, who is best known for his narrow loss to Rex Tso, has now won 5 straight and defended his belt twice as he's moved slowly towards a world title fight. As for Ocon we suspect he'll be able to get regular work in Thailand for his effort today which was good enough to push Samor at times. Another world ranked fighter on this show was IBF Light Welterweight ranked Patomsuk Pathompothong (30-2-1, 18) who was forced to work very, very hard to take an incredibly narrow decision over Filipino Rodel Wenceslao (8-9-1, 2). The bout, a 10 round, was scored 96-94 by all 3 judges who were almost certainly expecting to turn in wider scorecards. Whilst the effort from Wenceslao probably saw him deserving a draw, at worst, we'd not be shocked to see him back in Thailand, or even Japan, where efforts like this are perfect to help improve local prospects. Whilst Samor and Patomsuk are both currently world ranked the show also featured a former world ranked fighter, Fahlan Sakkreerin Jr (25-3-1, 15). Fahlan hasn't had a great year and since stopping Ryo Miyazaki last year his career really has faltered. Despite that Fahlan did get back to winning ways earlier today as he over-came South Korean visitor Da-Won Suh (3-4-1, 1) with a 6 round decision in what was a very entertaining scrap. A fourth bout on this show saw yet another bout go the distance as Patomsith Pathompothong (10-2, 4) narrowly defeated South Korea's Ji-Hwan Lee (5-4-1, 2) in a 6 round decision bout. As with Patomsuk's bout this one was very competitive despite the records of the two fighters suggesting it was a mismatch. Chonburi, Thailand The other Thai card came from Chonburi where fans had 4 bouts that all ended early. The main event here saw Korean Myung-goo Yuh (21-4-1, 16), a regular visitor to Thailand in recent years, score a 3rd round KO against Filipino veteran Rick Paciones (6-19-2, 3). For Paciones this was a 17th stoppage defeat and you now need to go back almost 17 years for his second most recent win. Sorry Rick but it's time to give up! Another bout on here was a female bout that saw South Korean based Canadian Amy Berezowski (2-6-1, 1) take a 5th round knock-out win against Thailand's Nongploy Sithjemayurin (0-2) who was apparently fighting for the first time since 2011. Another Korean fighter on this card saw Joon-Ho Moon (4-0-1, 2) scoring a 2nd round stoppage against the frankly hapless Stamp Sor Saknarin (0-6) who has now been stopped in all 6 of his bouts. Another visitor to have picked up a win here was Russian southpaw Alexey Kulikov (2-3-1, 2) who stopped the debuting Wajana Kiewon (0-1) in 3 rounds. Today was a busy day in Asian boxing with several shows and some very notable bouts in what has been a long day. Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand Action kicked off with a bout between former foes of Takuma Inoue as Thailand's Fahlan Sakkreerin Jr (24-3-1, 15) battled against Japan's Tatsuya Fukuhara (13-4-5, 4). The men fought to a draw, very fun fight but neither of the men had the power to hurt the other so it was action packed bu lacked real drama. We wouldn't mind seeing a rematch of this one as bother were pretty much at the same level and botu fought to win, though neither should be considering a fight for a world title, at best they regional title level. Following the under-card bout we then moved on to the day's big bout as IBF Flyweight champion Amnat Ruenroeng (14-0, 5) retained his title with a very narrow split decision win over Puerto Rican puncher McWilliams Arroyo (15-2, 13). The bout was a frustrating one to watch, especially considering how how fun the under-card bout was, though was highly competitive with several momentum shifts in the action. Amnat got off to a solid start before Arroyo came back into the fight and scored a knockdown in round 6, Amnat then bounced back brilliantly to win round 7 before both men struggled through the championship rounds. Ruenroeng was probably lucky to be at home and had he been away from Thailand there is every chance he'd have lost his title, especially considering that the split decision win only saw him winning courtesy of cards that read 115-114 and 114-113 whilst the third judge had the bout 114-113 to Arroyo. It's fair to say that on the back of Amnat's win he has painted a bulls eye on his back and fighters like Naoya Inoue, Zou Shiming, John Casimero, Takuya Kogawa and Suguru Muranaka will all be eyeing him up as a clear target for a Flyweight world title. A third bout on this card saw Mike Tawatchai (34-7-1, 21) take an 8 round decision victory over popular Indonesian fighter Rasmanudin (18-6-3, 9). Sadly we've not managed to see this one. Tokyo, Japan Soon after the action in Thailand we then got action in Japan at the Korakuen Hall. The Japanese show kicked off with a 4 rounder that resulted in a draw between Souther Sawada (1-0-1, 1) and Toshiro Tarumi (1-0-1, 1). The draw saw both men retaining their unbeaten records though neither will have been too happy about the result of the bout. The bulk of the card was bouts scheduled for 8 rounds. These were mostly KO challenge bouts where fighters were to be rewarded for knockout wins by the promoter. Amazingly however the promoter didn't have to pay a single bonus as not one of the 8 round bouts was ended in a conclusive stoppage fashion. Although none of the 8 rounders saw stoppages 2 of them did fail to go the scheduled distance. One of these saw Daisuke Sakamoto (8-8-2, 4) fight to a 3rd round technical draw with Shiro Saito (7-4-2, 2) whilst the other bout that failed to reach the final bell saw Yuki Nasu (24-8, 16) take a 7th round technical decision win against Jonathan Ligas (8-6-1, 1). The other 8 rounders were both competitive. The most competitive of those saw recent Japanese Featherweight title challenger Yuki Ogata (20-1-1, 3) take a split decision over the unheralded Kentaro Yamada (8-5-1, 6). The other bout saw much touted Kenji Kubo (5-2-1, 2) take a narrow decision over Kota Sato (9-6-2, 4), this was the second meeting between these two after fighting to a draw earlier this year. The Kubo/Sato bout wasn't the only rematch on this show and the main event was also a rematch. This saw Japanese Heavyweight champion Kyotaro Fujimoto (10-1, 6) forcing a stoppage of #1 challenger Kotatsu Takehara (10-10-3, 4). Fujimoto had struggled in his first defence against Takehara late last year though looked like a completely different fighter here as he landed heavy and sharp shots from the off. Takehara was cut over both eyes and eventually saved from further punishment as Fujimoto really showed off his ability in a dominant performance. From what we under-stand this win will likely lead to Fujimoto rematching Nobuhiro Ishida in another defence of his Japanese Heavyweight title. Minsk, Belarus In Belarus fans saw the heavy handed Kazakh Bantamweight Zhanat Zhakiyanov (23-1, 16) make very light work of the previously unbeaten Gagi Edisherashvili (7-1, 6). Edisherashvili came into the bout unbeaten but lasted less than a round with Zhakiyanov who claimed the WBC Eurasia Pacific Boxing Council Bantamweight title with this win. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp) Although there wasn't many major fights this past Friday there was still plenty of action with shows in Thailand, Japan and Australia Phattalung province, Thailand The main event of the Thai show saw the exciting and always fun to watch Rusalee Samor (24-5-2, 11) successfully defending his IBF Asia Super Flyweight title with a 4th round TKO over Indonesian veteran Ricky Manufoe (23-21-2, 10). For Samor this was the first defence of the belt and his 4th straight win since suffering a highly debatable loss to Rex Tso in Macau last July as for Manufoe this was his 15th loss in Thailand. The show featured two other bouts alongside the main event. One of those bouts saw the world ranked, IBF #10 Light Welterweight, Patomsuk Pathompothong (28-2-1, 18) over come the very over-matched Geisler AP (5-3, 3). Geisler has now lost, by stoppage, every time he has fought outside of his native Indonesia and it's fair to say his rumoured 20-0 amateur record was against incredibly poor domestic opponents. In the only other bout on the show we saw yet another Indonesian lose as Domi Nenokeba (11-18-1, 7) was beaten on points by Thailand's very own Fahlan Sakkreerin Jr (24-3, 15). For Fahlan this was his first bout since he was clearly out pointed by Takuma Inoue earlier this year and whilst the win here won't have undone the damage of that loss it will still have helped the Thai youngster rebuild his confidence. Western Australia, Australia Whilst Thai's were successful at home they didn't fare very well away from home and in fact two Thai's were beaten, in quick fashion, in Australia. One of those was Baikon Lokromklao (1-3), who was stopped in a round by the debuting Shane Carroll (1-0, 1). The other was female debutant Wiilaiwan Namuanghchan (0-1) who lasted just 109 seconds before being stopped on the 3 knockdown rule by Louisa Hawton (2-0, 1) Tokyo, Japan One of the two Japanese shows was at the Korakuen Hall as the Rookie of the Year East continued. This show featured 11 bouts in total with numerous novices in action, the most notable of whom was Andy Hiraoka (4-0, 2) who managed to take a 4 round decision over Yoshihito Takahashi (2-2, 2) in a Lightweight bout. We've been told to keep close eyes on Hiraoka and hopefully we'll not feel let down later this year. Hiraoka was one of 6 unbeaten men in action on the show. One of the others was Yasuki Katagiri (3-0, 2) who defeated Katsuya Abe (2-4), also by a 4 round decision. Another man to win a decision to retain his unbeaten record was Ken Kodama (3-0-1, 1) who defeated Yuya Kinjo (3-5). Another of the unbeaten men was Yugo Ueda (3-0, 2) who defeated Kazuto Nakane (2-2, 2) inside a round. Like Ueda fans also saw Shinjiro Kawada (2-0, 2) scoring an opening round KO as he swiftly despatched Takahiro Onjuku (2-3, 1). The only man who lost his unbeaten record on this show was Masaharu Hanaka (3-1-1, 2) who was stopped in the 4th round by Shunsuke Fukushima (2-3-2, 2). A number of the other bouts also went the distance. These included a 4 round unanimous decision victory for Asahi Hatsumi (3-1, 1) who defeated Keisuke Kanazawa (2-3, 1), another unanimous decision saw Hokuto Sakata (4-3-1, 2) over-come the hard hitting Tatsuo Sakamoto (3-2-1, 3). In a split decision Daiki Yoshimatsu (5-2, 1) over came the amazingly named Wildboar Ueda (3-4, 2) whilst another split decision saw Kenji Ono (4-1, 2) defeat Naoyuki Tsukada (3-2-1, 2). The only other result from the same show saw Hisao Narita (6-1, 4) stopping Akira Naganuma (2-3, 1) in the second round. Osaka, Japan The other Japanese show was in Osaka with the main event being a bout between former world title challenger Masae Akitaya (9-4-2, 2) and win-less Thai Yokfah Krungthepthonburi (0-6). Akitaya used her experience to out point her win-less foe though didn't look nearly ready for another world title bout, then again she was of course returning to the ring for the first time in well over a year and no one would have expected her to be fighting at her sharpest. Akitaya wasn't the only female on the card as Shione Ogata (2-5) managed to claim a rare win over-coming the debuting Ayako Inamori (0-1) in what was 1 of 7 bouts scheduled for 4 rounds. Only 2 of the shows 8 total bouts failed to go the distance. These included an opening round blast out for Kento Osumi (1-0, 1) who over-came Masaru Hasegawa (0-2) and a second round victory for Daijiro Yuki (2-0, 1) who managed to beat Kengo Kamaya (2-2, 2). The most competitive of the contests saw Tenta Kiyose (1-1-1) battle to a draw with Noboru Osato (2-2-3, 1) in a majority decision draw, it was the only genuinely competitive bout on the show which saw 3 other Unanimous decisions. These included a victory for Takashi Abe (2-1-1) who over came Takashi Okura (2-3, 1), a victory for the unbeaten Takeru Kamikubo (3-0, 1) who beat Yuki Sueyoshi (1-2) and a debut win for Naoki Okamura (1-0) who was victorious over Masanari Iwane (1-5). (Image, or Samor, courtesy of boxrec.com) Again we've got to apologise for being extremely late to update results with it now being Thursday and we're only just putting up Sunday's results. This has been down to several small reasons that have all, unfortunately, occurred at once delaying a lot of things. Part of the problem was that there was simply so much action in Asia, 6 separate cards too place across Japan and South Korea meaning that it took a long time to get all the results. But, belatedly, here we go. Tokyo, Japan The biggest show of the weekend, not just in Asia but world wide was in Tokyo as the boxing world turned it's attention to a world title double head and a card dubbed "Ring of Diamonds" a show that was created to celebrated Ohashi Gym's 20th anniversary and show off some of their genuinely top tied fighters. It was a show that a super show and one that deserved to mass attention it got. The main attraction was of course young superstar Naoya Inoue (6-0, 5) who continued his climb to the top of the boxing world with a breath taking performance against the defending WBC Light Flyweight champion Adrian Hernandez (29-3-1, 18). Although he was the betting favourite few would have expected Inoue to do what he did. Firstly he out boxed Hernandez for 4 rounds, then he outfought Hernandez for 2 rounds scoring a 6th round stoppage despite suffering from some issues with his leg. The stoppage was brutal and the result was sensational. Inoue wasn't the only man in a world title fight and in the shows other world title bout saw Akira Yaegashi (20-3, 10) successfully defend his WBC Flyweight title fight with a nasty stoppage of game challenger Odilon Zaleta (15-4, 8). The performance from Yaegashi was less than stellar though tactically Zaleta had the style to give the Japanese fighter some real issues at times. In the end though Yaegashi had enough in his locked to over-come a poor start and stop the challenger in 9 rounds. Yaegashi's victory helped set up a fight with Nicaraguan sensation Roman Gonzalez (39-0, 33) who himself scored a victory on the card beating the over-matched Juan Purisima (11-5-1, 4) in the shows only out-and-out mismatch. It wasn't a fair fight but it was a bout that was there to show case Gonzalez and have him in the venue to "publicly" challenger Yaegashi something he did after Yaegashi's title defense. One of the most competitive bouts on the show saw Satoshi Hosono (25-2-1, 19) defend on his "bazooka" like power to over-come the previously unbeaten Yuki Ogata (19-1-1, 3) to claim the Japanese Featherweight title. Ogata had gotten much the better of the fight before Hosono managed to land a bomb in round 10 to keep his world title dreams alive. Despite the loss we genuinely believe that Ogata will "come again" an is likely a future Japanese champion in the making, though from the skills he showed he does have the potential to win an OPBF title, he just needs more experience over 10 rounds. Further down the card their was chances to shine for two talented young, unbeaten Japanese prospects. These saw Ryo Matsumoto (10-0, 8) over-come tough former world title challenger Hiroyuki Hisataka (22-12-1, 10) in a valuable 8 round contest. It was, easily, the hardest bout of Matsumoto's career though it certainly helped his development and showed that he has the talent and ability to become a world champion even if he's not yet ready. Strangely we can't say that Takuma Inoue (2-0) despite his lack of experience, isn't ready. He was also on the show and completely dominated the top 5 ranked Fahlan Sakkreerin Jr (23-3, 15) in one of the most out standing performances by such a novice. Prior to the 6 fights above there was 2 Rookie if the year Qualifying bouts. These saw Shingo Iijima (4-1-1, 1) take a decision over the previously unbeaten Masahito Oki (2-1, 2) and the debuting Shin Tomitaka (1-0) over-came Takahiro Yamanishi (1-2). Fukuoka, Japan Another Japanese show as held in Fukuoka at the Kokura Kita Gym. This show was one of the smallest shows of the day and featured a highly competitive headline bout between Yoshihiko Matsuo (17-5-5, 3) and Yudai Matsumoto (8-9-3, 1). On paper it looked one sided, in reality however there was next to nothing to split the two men and Matsumoto, once again, proved his record is misleading and although he is 1-5-1 in his last 7 he is a brilliant opponent who will never let anyone have an easy time with him. The co-feature on this show wasn't as competitive as the main event and instead it saw Yamato Uchinono (5-2-5, 3) stopping Takuro Habu (11-9-2, 3) in 5 rounds. The rest of the card was unfortunately one sided with a trio of stoppages. These saw the promising Yuki Beppu (4-0, 4) score a 96 second stoppage over Shota Aikawa (4-4-1, 1), Keisuke Nakayama (6-1, 3) stopped the debuting Dawubon Sakhonwon (0-1) in 3 rounds whilst Masanori Maeda (1-1-1, 1) scored a 4th round stoppage over the win-less Yoshiaki Kishioka (0-2). Okayama, Japan One of the most more obscure cards of the day was in Okayama at the Mimasaka Bunka Center and promoted by Shinsei Gym who were, of course, a little down hearted with Kohei Oba having lost the biggest fight of his career just a few days earlier. This show was headlined by a fight between Filipino Adones Aguelo (21-9-2, 13) and Hirohito Fukuhara (16-9-9, 8) with the visiting fighter scoring a late KO with just 94 seconds of the bout remaining. This was one of only 2 stoppages on the card with the other coming way down the card as the previously win-less Atsuhiro Mach Yamamoto (1-7, 1) defeated Katsuyoshi Yamada (0-1) inside a round. The other 5 bouts on this show all went to a decision. The highest profile of those saw Kazuhiro Nishitani (13-2, 6) take a wide decision over the hard hitting but technically poor Gabriel Royo (9-9-2, 8). This was a near shut out over 8 rounds and was one of two bouts that went the completed 8 with the other being a decision victory for Ryuya Yamanaka (7-1, 2) who over-came Hiroki Yamamoto (6-10-1, 1). In the only 6 rounder we had the most competitive bout of the day as Yasuyuki Otagaki (4-1-3) drew with Yushi Fujita (5-6-2). The 4 rounders saw Tetsuya Kawabata (3-7, 1) taking a rare decision as he over came the debuting Manabu Kashine (0-1) and Takuya Fujioka (3-3-1, 1) levelled his record off as he over-came the previously unbeaten Hideya Takayama (2-1-1, 1). Aichi, Japan The rest of the Japanese action was at the Aioi Hall in Aichi where 2 separate shows were held on the same day. The first of these shows that we'll look at is the Midori promotions show which was a 6 bout card which was nothing but competitive from top to bottom. The show opened with a trio of 4 round contests, only one actually got a winner. The one bout with a winner saw the unbeaten Masaru Urata (3-0-1, 1) over-come Ryunosuke Yamashita (1-3) via a narrow decision that saw one judge giving the bout to Urata by just a point. The other two 4 rounders both resulted in draws with Kazunori Takai (0-0-1) fighting to a majority draw with Tomoya Yamaguchi (4-2-1, 4) whilst Tetsuya Kanao (0-0-1) fought to a split decision draw with Kiyoshi Tanaka (0-3-2). Following the back-to-back draws we then had back-to-back split decision bouts as recent Japanese Heavyweight title challenger Kotatsu Takehara (10-9-3, 4) narrowly over-came Frenchman Cyril Leonet (6-8-2, 1) in a very competitive bout and Filipino journeyman Jaypee Ignacio (11-17-2, 2) scored a shock upset victory over Ryosuke Maruki (7-2-1, 5). Of those 2 bouts the talking point is clearly Ignacio's win over Maruki which ended Ignacio's 0-2 run in Japan. Outstanding performance by the tough Filipino. The main event here saw Kazuya Maruki (16-2, 10) taking a close and controversial victory over RJ Ano-os (8-6-1, 2) in a bout that should probably been scored a draw with all 3 cards giving Maruki the nod 96-95. The other show at the Aioi Hall we again got some very competitive match ups. These included a 4 round majority decision to Takashi Igarashi (2-0, 1) who out pointed Ryuya Kusakabe (0-1), a split decision draw between Naoki Yoshimura (0-0-1) and fellow debutant Shin Tomita (0-0-1) and a very close unanimous decision victory for Masatsugu Ito (1-1-1) who over-came Hideya Koyama (0-1). The other 4 rounders on this show were less competitive as Hayato Takeshima (3-2, 3) took just 38 seconds to see off the win-less Shohei Iwamoto (0-2-1), Shinpei Tominaga (1-1, 1) took less than 2 rounds to stop Yuta Takimoto (3-4-1, 2), Jun Takigawa (3-0, 2) needed 3 rounds to see off Tatsuya Sakamoto (3-5, 1) and Tetsuya Yamaguchi (2-1-1, 1) also needed just 3 rounds as he defeated the previously unbeaten Masanori Kawai (1-1, 1). The co-feature bout was also over early as Kazuki Fukakura (7-6-2, 3) saw off Nao Iwata (3-11-3) in the 3rd of a scheduled 6 rounds. Thankfully after all the stoppages we get a really hard fought main event which surprisingly saw Daiki Koide (21-6-2, 9) given an amazingly tough bout by Jose Maxian (9-4, 7). Although Maxian was stopped inside 2 rounds almost 2 years ago by Rikki Naito he does seem to be growing into a very capable fighter. We'd keep an eye on Maxian one day winning an OPBF or Filipino title as he is much better than his record indicates. Gimpo, South Korea In South Korea a card genuinely slipped under our radar despite their being a Korean title as the main event. The show, in total, had 10 bouts with the main attraction being the the bout for the Korean Lightweight title which is now around the waist of Sa-Ya Lee (5-2, 3) after he stopped Sang-Joon Park (5-4-2) with just 75 seconds of their bout remaining. Prior to the main event we got a series of 4 rounders and a small handful of 6 rounders. The 4 rounders, the 6 of them, featured just a pair of stoppages. These early endings saw Suk Yoon (1-0, 1) stopping Min-Wook Lee (0-1) in 2 rounds and Ki-Chul Lee (2-0, 2) stopping Kwon Kim (0-2) in round 4. Interestingly Kim was just seconds from the final bell. In the bouts not to see stoppages we did have one technical decision as Dong-Young Gang (2-0) took a 3 round technical victory over Kyung-Am Kim (0-3), incidentally they scored the 76 second third round, with at least 2 of the judges awarding that particular round to Gang. As well as the technical victory for Gang we also had 2 draws as debuting pair Seung-Yoon Shin (0-0-1) and Joseph Lee (0-0-1) were seen as difficult to split by the judges and Sung-Dong Kim (2-1-1, 1) marked up the previously perfect record of Joon-Ho Moon (2-0-1, 1), also with split decision draw. The one 4 rounder that reached a natural decision conclusion and had a winner was a bout that saw the unbeaten Byung-Ha Kim (3-0) clearly defeat Seung-Bong Moon (1-1-1, 1) . In the 6 round bouts things were equally as competitive with Moon-Sun Jung (2-2-3) taking a majority decision over In-Kyoo Lee (2-2, 1) and Da-Won Suh (3-3-1, 1) fighting to a draw with Hyo-Suk Kim (2-0-4, 1). Whilst the only clear victor was Joon-Young Lee (4-1-3, 2) who clearly beat Hyo-Hyun Nam (2-4). (Image thansk to Ohashi Gym) Bodymaker Colosseum, Osaka
The Japanese know how to end a year and yesterday saw them drawing a close to 2013 with 2 fantastic cards of action that involved big names, title fights and a number of world ranked fighters. Of the 2 shows it was the one at the Bodymaker Colosseum that left us with the shock of the day with former WBA Minimumweight champion Ryo Miyazaki (20-1-3, 11) suffering the first defeat of his career. Miyazaki, who had vacated his Minimumweight title to campaign at Light Flyweight, looked out of sorts from the weigh-in, in which he collapsed, and there was real concern about him going into his bout with Fahlan Sakkreerin Jr (23-2, 15). That concern was well placed with Miyazaki being stung late in the opening round and never recovering. Although he survived into round 3 there was nothing good to take from the bout for Miyazaki. Having just moved to Light Flyweight it's probably fair to suggest that Miyazaki will be making an immediate leap to Flyweight if not Super Flyweight in 2014. How he ever made 105lbs is a mystery and this kid, for his own health, needs to stop trying to boil down so much. He's an entertaining fighter but this was a stupid fight to take part in if he couldn't comfortably make weight. Of course for Fahlan this is a career best result but unfortunately it's one that could feel tainted due to Miyazaki's ill health. Of course Miyazaki/Sakkreerin Jr wasn't the main event in Osaka, that was the honour for Kazuto Ioka (14-0, 9) who successfully defended his WBA Light Flyweight title with an exciting, though comprehensive, decision over Nicaraguan challenger Felix Alvarado (18-1, 15). The bout, a phone booth war from the off, was fought in a style that on paper should have favoured the challenger though Ioka's class saw him winning it relatively comfortably by picking his spots and avoiding much of the Alvarado onslaught. Although we had anticipated this being Ioka's last fight at Light Flyweight it would seem likely the 24 year old will remain at 108lbs, at least for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately the division is somewhat weak and perhaps the most logical match up for Ioka right now is a contest with Fahlan Sakkreerin Jr, especially after the Miyazaki fight. The undercard was a splattering KO's and TKO's, some of which were surprising others of which weren't. The least surprising stoppage of the day came in a flat out mismatch as KO machine Masao Nakamura (18-1, 18) defeated the fragile Fasanghan Or Benjamad (0-6). Nakamura, a huge puncher, should never have been matched with Fasanghan who had already been stopped 5 times and it was no shock he was stopped in just 2 rounds. In an equally expected result Sho Ishida (15-0, 8) made light work of the wonderfully named Comeback Wor Por Srisaket (0-1) who lasted just 75 seconds with the gifted Ishida. Although not a huge puncher in regards to his record this was Ishida's 6th stoppage in 8 bouts and all 6 of those have come in the first 2 rounds. It's now time that Ishida was put in a big bout and it'd be no surprise if he took on title holder of some variety in 2014. Amazingly Ishida's 75 second victory wasn't the quickest on the show, that honour was instead achieved by Daiya Shimazu (5-0, 4) who took just 63 seconds to defeat the debuting Songpol Sithsaithong (0-1). This quick blast out was the second successive opening round blow out by Shimazu though unfortunately we don't know much about his potential as he's now fought 4 of debutants. Ishida and Shimazu were joined in taking opening round KO's by 20 year old south-paw Masayoshi Hashizume (2-0, 2) who defeated Rotthang Wor Por Srisaket (0-2) in just 73 seconds. As with Shimazu we don't know a great deal about Hashizume though we'd like to see him progress from fighting Thai novices sooner rather than later. As well as the opening round KO's there were several second round KO's, not just that of Nakamura. One these second round KO's belonged to former world title challenger Atsushi Kakutani (14-4-1, 7) who defeated the limited Thaminkhao Sor Tharnthip (3-7-1, 2), who suffered his 6th stoppage defeat in 10 bouts. Tharnthip, who did defeat Yuki Sano in Japan back in 2008 is now 1-3 in Japan having been stopped in round 2 in all 3 of the losses. Another man who scored a second round victory was Takahiro Yamamoto (12-3, 9) who scored his 6th straight win by taking out Nongdear Sor Bangkhru (0-3). Although this was an expected victory for Yamamoto the stoppage is impressive considering that Nongdear had gone 6 rounds with the higjly regarded Kwanpichit OnesongchaiGym just 2 months ago. The least expected second round KO came in the only female bout of the show as the light hitting Kei Takenaka (6-0, 2) took out Thailand's Yinglek Sithsaithong (6-3, 4). This result says more about Yinglek, who has been stopped in all 3 of her losses which have all come in Japan. In the only bout that went the distance the light hitting Hikaru Matsuoka (5-1-3, 1) defeated the hard hitting but limited Toshiya Yokogawa (5-5-1, 5) over the scheduled 6 rounds. This was the second meeting between the 2 men who fought to a draw back in September, and although Matsuoka won this bout the two men are actually quite even, despite their vastly different records. |
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