This past Sunday was an incredibly busy day in Asia with a trio of Japanese cards as well as a show in the Philippines, which combined to give a very long list of bouts

Hyogo, Japan
For many fans there was one key show in Japan this Sunday, and that was the emotionally charged Taisei promoted card from Hyogo. The show, a memorial show dedicated to the tragic Kaito Hattori, had everything from celebration to tears and will live long in the memory for the fighters and fans.

The headline bout saw 17 year old Riku Kano (6-1-1, 4) make his Japanese debut and force a 3rd round KO against Indonesian visitor Marihot Hutajulu (1-3). Kano, who has admitted he has eyes on becoming Japan's youngest ever world champion, was impressive but will need to step up significantly in his coming bouts.

Kano was Kaito Hattori's best friend and although it was an emotional day for Kano it was even more emotional for Rikito Hattori (3-0, 1), Kaito's older brother, who broke down in tears following his decision victory over Yolen Arema (0-1-1). Hattori claimed a clear 4 round decision win but the emotions were too much for the 20 year old to get through.

In an 8 rounder on this card Seizo Kono (15-7-1, 10) scored a surprisingly quick win over the once touted Hikaru Matsuoka (8-3-3, 1). Kono won't have expected to take out Matsuoka in just 144 seconds but that's exactly what he did in one of two scheduled 8 round bouts. The other 8 rounder saw Hiroshi Konoura (7-4, 1) take a split decision win over Hiroki Taniguchi (6-7-1, 2) in the most holy contested bout of the show.

Whilst Kono will have been pleased at the speed of his win over Matsuoka he was actually only the second quickest winner of the day as Tesu Kanayama (4-2, 1) blew away Yuji Itani (4-2, 4) in just 1 minute of a scheduled 6 rounder. This was Kanayama's first stoppage win and will go down as a surprise. Another stoppage in a scheduled 6 rounder saw Juan Castillo Inami (8-3, 4) force a 4th round retirement of Kenji Ogiso (11-11-2, 8).

The only other 6 rounder saw Mark John Yap (21-12, 10) over-come former world challenger Juan Jose Landaeta (26-8-1, 20). Landaeta, best known in Japan for his bouts with Koki Kameda, was dropped and clearly beaten by Yap who scored on of the most notable wins of his career.

In 4 round action fans saw Kento Haraguchi (1-0) out pointed Kazuhiro Hirahara (1-7, 1) whilst Shosui Kitajima (2-3, 2) scored a 3rd round TKO against Tetsuya Kawabata (3-8-1, 1).

Kanagawa, Japan
In Kanagawa fans had a lower profile, yet still notable, show courtesy of Piston Horiguchi Promotions.

The card was headlines by a pair of 8 round bouts. One of those was incredibly competitive with Yuto Saito (8-6-2, 6) taking a razor thin win over Keita Nakano (13-10-3, 4). There really wasn't much at all between these two come the final bell and neither should feel disappointed in their performance, though a rematch would be very interesting.

The other 8 rounder saw the promising Shoma Fukumoto (7-1, 6) score a 4th round TKO against Kazuaki Irisawa (8-7, 5). Prior to the stoppage Irisawa was left a bloodied mess, a result of Fukumoto's heavy and accurate shots which really did take their toll.

A competitive female bout saw Emika Himuro (5-1-1, 1) take a split decision win over the under-rated Kai Johnson (5-8-3, 2).

The rest of this card was 4-rounders. The most of those saw Shota Irie (2-2, 1) take a majority decision against Mineharu Sakaguchi (1-5-3) in a very well matched contest.

Amazingly the other 4 rounders all finished earlier. The quickest of those saw Yoshikazu Furukawa (2-1, 2) take an opening round KO against Takahiro Yoneshige (2-3, 1), in a bout that lasted just 72 seconds. It didn't take Seiryu Toshikawa (2-2, 2) too long to record his second win as he stopped Yutaka Horikoshi (4-4-2, 1) at the end of the 2nd round.

The remaining stoppages both came in the final round. The quickest of those saw Takuya Muto (2-2, 2) stop Hiroyuki Yago (2-2) after 40 seconds of round 4 though it didn't take debutant Kazuki Sugano (1-0, 1) too much longer for him to defeat Akira Onishi (1-3).

Yamaguchi, Japan
Another low profile Japanese card was in Yamaguchi where Kanmon Japan put on a very low level card.

The main event here saw Accel Sumiyoshi (5-4-1, 1) take a clear win over Filipino 
 (14-10-3, 9). This as a rematch of a bout the two men had last year, which resulted in an 8 round split decision draw. Sumiyoshi, who was last seen losing in an OPBF title fight to Masayoshi Nakatani, showed improvements from the first bout between between himself and Doronio but it's clear that his potential is relatively capped.

In the chief support bout Jump Ikeo (4-1-2, 3) stopped Takuya Taniguchi (4-6-2, 1) in the 2nd of a scheduled 6 rounds.

The rest of this card, 5 bouts in total, was all scheduled for 4 rounds a piece. Amazingly only one of those 5 bouts failed to go the distance, and that was due to Shuma Nakazato (2-0, 2) who stopped Fever Maki (4-3-1, 2) in the third round.

The 4 rounders here were typically well matched. This resulted in a couple of draws. One of those saw Fine Arai (3-1-1, 1) fighting to a majority draw with Hikaru Kawae (1-0-1, 1) whilst another saw Change Hamashima (3-0-1) fighting to a split draw with fellow unbeaten Kotaro Ishibashi (3-0-2, 3). We almost got another draw as Hironori Mitake (5-3, 1) only just squeezed a win against Yuya Kondo (2-2, 1). Even the “clear” win on this under-card was close with Chance Mochizuki (1-0) claiming a razor thin decision against Ryoyo Ikema (4-2, 4).

Cotabato del Sur, Philippines
As well as all the Japanese action there was also an interesting looking Filipino show with a mouth watering main event and an undercard of very promising young prospects.

The main event saw a genuine upset as Kenny Demecillo (9-3-1, 6) stopped Daryl Basadre (14-2-1, 10) in the 2nd round of their scheduled 10 round bout. Basadre, who had only been beaten by Suriyan Sor Rungvisai prior to this bout, did claim the stoppage was unfair with the referee stopping the bout when he shouldn't have. From what we've been told about the bout it would apparently make a lot of sense for an immediate rematch.

In the chief supporting bout the talented Harmonito Dela Torre (16-0, 11) continued his great run of form as he stopped Eusebio Baluarte (19-12, 12) in the 4th round. We're hoping to see Dela Torre move beyond this type of fight soon as he has the talent to go a very long way.

In 8 round action fans saw Michael Angelo Plania (6-0, 3) score his best win to date, as he defeated Philip Parcon (26-21-3, 8) via decision and, in arguably the best matched bout of the card, Rimar Metuda (7-0, 3) also out pointed Jerry Castroverde (5-1, 3). The most one sided of the 8 round bouts saw yet another unbeaten man continue on the winning road, as Markquil Salvana (7-0, 2) stopped Roger Echavez (7-15-1, 4) in the 4th round.

Another unbeaten fighter to remain unbeaten was Raymart Gaballo (9-0, 7), who stopped Rocky Alvarez (2-5, 1) in the 2nd round of their bout.

On the lower part of the card fans saw Jonathan Francisco (7-4, 2) take a 6 round decision win over Raymond Dayham (6-4, 5), the wonderfully named Joy Joy Formentera (6-1, 4) took a 2nd round KO against the experienced Allan Doronilla (9-14-1, 3), the previously win-less Joey Antonio (1-1) managed to upset Gerald Barcenas (1-1) and the “win some lose some” Junny Salogaol (8-7-4, 8) recorded a 3rd round KO over the very poor Armando Yee (2-8-3, 1)


(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

This past Sunday was an incredibly busy day in Asia with 3 notable Japanese cards and another show in the Philippines. Not only was there a lot of action but there wa s alot of notable action with OPBF title fights, former title holders and prospects all on show.

Osaka, Japan
The most notable of two separate cards held at the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium was promoted by Shinsei promotions and featured 7 bouts in total. Among those bouts was an OPBF title contest and a couple of former world champions, alongside with 4 low level undercard bouts.

The main event here saw the talented Masayoshi Nakatani (10-0, 5) successfully defend his OPBF Lightweight title for the 3rd time as he easily out pointed the over-matched Accel Sumiyoshi (4-4-1, 1). The bout was one-sided but Nakatani did admit he was disappointed with his performance and he seems to have felt as if he should have gotten Sumiyoshi out of there.

One of the former world champions was former WBC female Flyweight champion Shindo Go (15-3, 10) who made light work of the over-matched Tantip Sithsaithong (0-2). Tantip was stopped in the 3rd round of their scheduled 8 rounder and never looked like she was going to be competitive with the power former champion. Go has now said that she wants a fight with either Susi Kentikian or a rematch with Arely Mucino, both of which would be fantastic match ups.

The other former world champion was former WBA female Minimumweight champion Etsuko Tada (14-2-2, 4) who finished off Chamagorn Sithsaithong (0-2) in the 6th round. Chamagorn had been dropped numerous times before finally being stopped by Tada who has said she's wanting a big fight with anyone from 102lbs to 108lbs.

The under-card here featured a couple more female bouts. One of those saw the debuting Eiko Shirouchi (1-0) claim a shut out against the over-matched Sae Ichimura (0-1) whilst the other saw Wakako Fujiwara (1-1-1, 1) claim her first win with a 4th round TKO against the debuting Tomoko Okuda (0-1). The other under-card bouts saw the debuting Ryuya Yanagida (1-0, 1) scoring a quick blow out win against Kiyonori Matsumoto (2-5) whilst the unbeaten Tetsu Araki (2-0-1) took a competitive decision over Tatsuki Yamamoto (1-1)

Osaka, Japan
The other show at the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium saw another OPBF title fight along with the second match up in the career of a very exciting prospect.

The OPBF title bout here saw Yu Kawaguchi (23-6, 10) claiming the previously vacant OPBF Bantamweight title as he scored a thin split decision over the heavy handed Takahiro Yamamoto (15-4, 12) in what was a very competitive match up that saw both men landing their share of leather. At the end of the bout however it seems that Kawaguchi's higher quality of experience, including a Japanese title fight with Kentaro Masuda, was the difference. Kawaguchi had said the he was going to retire if he lost but it's fair to say this win will keep his career alive whilst Yamamoto will certainly come again.

In the chief support bout fans saw the much touted Kazuki Tanaka (2-0, 2), a former amateur stand out, score a highly notable victory over Kaname Tabei (10-9-2, 7). Tabei, who had only been stopped once, was taken out in 4 rounds by Tanaka who has now stated that he would like to get a fight with a Japanese ranked for by the end of the year and appears to be set on being fast tracked.

Another of the supporting bouts here saw Ryo Kosaka (9-3-1, 4) take a slightly surprising victory over former Japanese title challenger Satoshi Niwa (16-19-3, 2). The loss for Niwa was his 4th in 5 bouts and seems to spell the end to his title dreams whilst the win for Kosaka was, by far, the best of his career thus far.

A supporting bout that went the way we expected saw Takayuki Okumoto (14-6-2, 6) claim a 7th round technical decision win over Yuta Saito (7-6-2, 6). The bout was more competitive than the records of the two men may suggest but neither of these two will be going far. A remaining 8 rounder saw Takahiro Murai (10-6-2, 4) take a 5th round retirement victory over Tomonori Ota (6-6, 4).

In the show's sole 6 rounder fans saw Kenta Matsui (6-3, 1) take a decision over Michitaka Muto (4-2-1).

The undercard here feature a trio of low level bouts. The shortest of these saw Naotoshi Nakatani (5-0, 4) score an opening round victory over Thailand's Noppakao Sankarong (0-2). Another Japan Vs Thailand bout saw Genki Maeda (1-0, 1) take a 2nd round TKO against Paengchai Soonkilabangmod (0-1). The other under-card bout he also failed to go the distance as Tomoaki Matsumura (3-0, 2) claimed a technical decision win over Tesu Kanayama (2-2).

Osaka, Japan
A third show in Osaka came from the Sumiyoshi Ward Center where there were several notable fighters in action, ranging from a very exciting Middleweight prospect to a former OPBF title holder.

In the main event fans saw Middleweight hopeful Koki Tyson Maebara (8-1-1, 8) score his best win to date as he stopped former Japanese Middleweight champion Sanosuke Sasaki (11-4, 5) in the 7th round. This was a big step up in class for Maebara though it does seem like there is still a long way to go before he'll be ready for a shot at OPBF/Japanese champion Akio Shibata.

Another interesting prospect on this card was Cyborg Nawatedani (9-2-2, 4) who recorded his 6th straight win with a 6th round TKO against Hiroki Taniguchi (6-6-1, 2). After starting his career 1-2-1 Nawatedani has improved markedly and the 26 year old is showing signs of becoming a domesic contender in the coming years.

Another domestic hopeful in action was Yuki Strong Kobayashi (9-4, 5) who took a 5th round TKO win against Hikaru Matsuoka (8-2-3, 1). This was a much needed win for Kobayashi following a loss in December to Satoshi Niwa. As for Matsuoka this was a surprising defeat that brought an end to a 7 fight undefeated run.

Another really notable bout on this card saw former OPBF Super Featherweight champion Masao Nakamura (19-3, 19) end a 2-fight losing streak as he blew away Patomsak Sithsaithong (2-1). Nakamura, also known as the “KO King”, really needed a win here to and although it was a mismatch it was the sort of confidence building victory that will do him the world of good.

In a 6 rounder fans saw Masashi Wakita (5-3-1, 2) take a very narrow decision over Shachihoko Dragons Keita (4-4-1, 1).

On the under-card fans saw the unbeaten Kaminoko Okamura Kentokid (4-0-3, 2) take a 4 round decision over Shoji Nakamura (1-1-1, 1) and Ryusei Kitamura (3-1, 1) take a shut out decision win over Naoya Hamaguchi (4-3-1, 1).

Fukuoka, Japan
A final Japanese show took place at the Kokura Kita Gym and featured 7 bouts, most of which were low level contests.

The main event saw Yoshihiko Matsuo (18-5-6, 3) claim a narrow decision win over Tatsuya Miyamoto (11-13-1, 7) in what was a very competitive match up between two men with huge different records. Although the records of these two are different the two men are well matched and actually fought to a draw last year. In the chief support bout, a 6 rounder, fans saw Sho Yamamoto (5-5-1, 2) narrowly over-come Yuta Nakashima (7-8, 2) with a majority decision. Although neither of these bouts were “big” the fact they were both competitive suggests that the match maker deserves a real pat on the back.

On the under-card we had 5 bouts all scheduled for 4 rounds. From those 5 bouts we again had a very close one as Yoshiki Tatsukami (1-1) claimed his first win with a very thin decision win over Sho Sakota (0-1). Tatsukami's win was one of two decision on the under-card with the other being a shut out win for Kaito Akiyoshi (1-0) who over-came fellow debutant Ryuji Takada (0-1).

In another all debutant contest Kenta Komatsu (1-0, 1) scored a 4th round stoppage against Yu Shoko (0-1). The other bouts both ended in the opening round. One of those saw female fighter Sana Hazuki (2-0, 1) blow away Arisa Iwanaga (0-1) in 100 seconds whilst the other saw the debuting Shuma Nakazato (1-0, 1) take out Takanari Hamamura (2-5, 2).

Davao Del Norte, Philippines
As well as the 4 shows in Japan there was also action in the Philippines with an MP promoted card.

In the main event here fans saw the unbeaten Jayar Inson (8-0, 5) continue his winning run as he scored a 4th round KO of the limited Elmer Legaria (13-9, 4). Although this looked like a mismatch on paper it was a significant step up for the 24 year old Inson who now seems ready to be matched with progressively more testing foes. As for Legaria, this was his 7th stoppage loss in 9 defeats.

In one of the chief support bouts fans saw Ryan Lumacad (8-0-1, 4) over-come Dondon Navarez (12-20-6, 3) with a 10 round decision. This was Lumacad's first 10 round bout and although he was up against a limited foe the experience will do him the world of good. Unfortunately however it's hard to know how good Lumacad is given his competition so far.

Another of the support bouts saw the highly touted Harmonito Dela Torre (15-0, 10) demolish the horribly over-matched William George (10-22, 3) in just 138 seconds. This was a stay busy fight for Dela Torre, who hadn't fought since last September, but the bout was a meaningless one for the exciting youngster who has now stopped his last 5 foes.

The sole 6 rounder on this card saw Rene Mark Cuarto (4-1, 2) score a 2nd round win over Brobro Languido (5-17-2, 1).

On the under-card there was 4 bouts with 3 of those going the distance. One of those saw the debuting Daniel Lim (1-0) over-come fellow debutant Eljun Salva (0-1), another debutant picking up a win here was Jhon Rex Ginang (1-0) who defeated the win-less Jayson Sanchez (0-4). It wasn't all good for debutants however as Ronnie Baldonado (2-0, 1) defeated Rolly Bersabal (0-1) with a decision and Guida Vera (0-1) was blasted out in a round by Jose Aballe (2-1, 1).

(Image courtesy of www.boxingnews.jp)

This past Saturday saw two low level shows in Asia.

Cotabato del Sur, Philippines
The most notable of the two shows was in the Philippines as we had 7 bouts, two of which involved very interesting prospects that some are tipping as future world champions.

The most notable of those two prospects that were in action was the unbeaten Harmonito Dela Torre (14-0, 9) who made relatively light work of Indonesian visitor Isack Junior (22-6-2, 8) as he defended the interim World Boxing Federation Super Featherweight title. This was Junior's 5th loss in 7 bouts and he is now 0-5 when fighting outside of his homeland. As for Dela Torre it's time he stepped up and perhaps began to focus on the OPBF title scene. He's not ready for the likes of Daiki Kaneko or Jomthong Chuwatana but he is clearly more than capable of stepping up from this level.

The other prospect of note here was John Vincent Moralde (11-0, 6) who easily out-pointed Jason Butar Butar (16-14-1, 12) to claim the World Boxing Federation International Super Bantamweight title. Moralde dominated much of the bout to take a near shut out over Butar Butar and although it was 1-sided it was at leasta  bout between similarly sized men and Moralde will have learned more here than Dela Torre did in his bout.

Another title bout on this show saw Danny McDermott (11-5-2, 5) stop Filipino fighter Ronnel Esparas (10-15-1, 2) in 6 rounds to claim the WBC Asian Boxing Council Silver Light Welterweight title. Although this was a nightmare result for Esparas things weren't good before the bout with the Filipino fighter weighing a full 5lb over the Light Welterweight limit.

The undercard here kicked off with a four-some of 4 rounders, each of which included an unbeaten fighter.

One of those unbeaten men was Raymart Gaballo (5-0, 5) who continued his stoppage run by taking out the limited Zaldy Jordan Jr. (1-5, 1) in the second round. It took just 2 rounds for Rod Michael Sarguilla (2-1, 1) to lose his unbeaten record as Junel Lacar (5-1-1, 3) was too good for him. Romeo Duno (2-0, 1) maintained his 100% win record with a 4 round decision over fellow novice Frejun Dela Cruz (2-3-1) whilst Romeo Duno (2-0, 1) maintained his 100% win record with a 4 round decision over fellow novice Frejun Dela Cruz (2-3-1) whilst Markquil Salvana (4-0, 1) continued his winning run by over-coming the still win-less Rodel Garde (0-10-1).

Sanaa, Yemen
In Yemen the fans had a 3-fight show in the 22 May Sports Stadium.

The most notable of the bouts here saw former Ali Raymi victim Yaser Dalbant (1-2) suffer his second stoppage loss as the interesting Hani Ansi (3-0-1, 2) scored an opening round TKO. We like Ansi despite the fact he's a clear boxing clown and as long as he entertains us we have no problem with his bizarre theatrics.

One of the other bouts on this card saw Muhammad Harazi (2-0) take a surprise decision over the more experienced experienced Omar Awdan (9-2, 5) whilst the legendary name of Muhammad Ali (1-0) lives on following a debut win over Abdu Sameer (5-5, 1).

This past Saturday may have been all about "The Moment" in terms of boxing but there was other, lower profile action in Asia.

Cebu, Philippines
The card we were looking forward to the most was in the Philippines. The show had promised a world title fight, a handful of top Filipino prospects and was expected to be a show to look forward to. Instead what we got was a disappointment. We still got the prospects but the world title fight was effectively taken from us after the the champion was stripped of their title.

The man who was stripped was the now former IBF Light Flyweight champion John Riel Casimero (20-2, 12), who was stripped of his title for weighing more than 5lbs over the Light Flyweight limit. That weight advantage wasn't needed by Casimero and the class difference was quickly shown as he swiftly dispatched the hapless Mauricio Fuentes (16-3, 10) who was dropped 3 times inside a round. Although Fuentes was "able" to win the title in theory he really shouldn't have been given this opportunity and the fight really was a farce from the second it was announced to the second it was stopped.

Whilst the "world title fight" was a farce we did get some interesting prospect action. Amongst the prospects in action was the very highly touted Harmonito Dela Torre (13-0, 8) who managed to score a 3rd round stoppage over the limited Gadwin Tubigon (10-9-2, 5). Dela Torre's win saw him claim the lightly regarded vacant World Boxing Federation International Super Featherweight title. 

Another of the prospects in action was former amateur stand out Jack Tepora (10-0, 6) who scored a 10th round stoppage over Jo-as Apericio (11-12, 8) to claim the World Boxing Federation International Super Bantamweight title.  Tepora, dubbed "The Golden Boy", claimed his first title with this victory and seems set to move up a level or two in the next year.

The same Filipino show had yet more title action as Rey Labao (26-5, 17) defended his Lightweight title with a 5th round TKO over Rodel Wenceslao (7-8-1, 2) in what was a mismatch, whilst Jessie Cris Rosales (14-0-1, 5) claimed the WBO Asia Pacific Youth Featherweight title with a hard fought 10 round victory over Anthony Sabalde (8-4, 4).

Lower down the card, in 8 round bouts, Jessie Espina (7-1, 3) out pointed the debuting Philip Jun Pronco (0-1) whilst Joey Canoy (5-0-1, 3) out pointed Mark Anthony Florida (8-5, 7).

In the only 6 rounder Jaybie Haya (3-1-1, 2) out pointed the previously unbeaten Carlo Demecillo (2-1, 1). Whilst over the 4 round distance Junuel Lacar (4-1-1, 2) wiped out Honorato Boc (0-1) inside a minute and the previously win-less Eduardo Joaquino (1-1) upset the previously unbeaten Ronnie Tanallon (3-1, 1).

Davao Del Sur, Philippines
On a second Filipino show we saw the return to the ring of the very talented highly promising Jerwin Ancajas (20-1-1, 12) who made very light work of Thai opponent Petchwanchai Sor Visetkit (14-7, 6), scoring an opening round stoppage. This was Ancajas's second stoppage this year over Thai opponents and it seems time that he was stepped up a level. There is little point in such a talented fighter running up a series of these type of wins when he could well be fighting his way to a world title fight.

Tokyo, Japan
Whilst the action in the Philippines stole the day in regards to the Asian fight scene there was two shows in Japan. One of those was in Tokyo as we got "Dangan 100".

This show began with a female bout that saw Chie Higano (2-0) over-come the debuting Sayaka Aoki (0-1) in a clear decision over 4 rounds. The female bout was one of three 4 rounders with the others both seeing swift stoppages. The swiftest of those stoppages came inside a round as the debuting Ryu Ueda (1-0, 1) scored an 83 second victory over Taisho Sugano (0-2), the other stoppage came part way through the second round as Hisao Narita (5-1, 3) stopped Naoya Kaneko (3-2, 3).

The only 6 rounder on "Dangan 100" saw the debut of the very highly touted former amateur stand out Kenya Noguchi (1-0) who out pointed Hideharu Takahashi (6-10, 2), Noguchi is a teenager we've been told is "an outstanding talent" and we'd advise fight fans to follow him intently.

Following the under-card we than had a foursome of feature bouts. None of them featured world class fighters but all 4 were interesting contests on paper.

The first of those bouts saw Johnreil Maligro (11-0, 8) out point the unbeaten Tatsuya Yanagi (10-1, 4) in a genuinely excellent match up. Maligro, known as Jun Sakura, got easily the most impressive victory of his career and the 19 year old really does have the potential to go on and win titles if he continues to develop like he seems to be.

Following Maligro's fantastic victory we then saw former Japanese title challenger Ryuta Otsuka (14-6-2, 4) score a stoppage over Yosuke Fujihara (14-3, 4). For Otsuka this was his first stoppage in well over 2 years whilst it was Fujihara's second successive stoppage loss.

In the chief support bout fans got to see former Japanese Super Bantamweight champion Masaaki Serie (25-6, 10) out point Filipino visitor Michael Escobia (10-7-1, 2) in what turned out to be an very hard fought and competitive match up. Although not an old fighter in terms of years, the 31 year old does look like an older fighter and perhaps needs a break from the ring.

A former opponent of Serie was also in action on the card, that was Rikiya Fukuhara (29-7-1, 21). Fukuhara, a hard hitter, made light work of Filipino fighter Jaderes Padua (9-4-1, 6) scoring an opening round KO. After the fight Fukuhara called out Japanese Featherweight champion Satoshi Hosono. We can't help but think that Hosono would stop Fukuhara, as he did in a previous meeting between the two men, but it'll certainly be fun.

Osaka, Japan
A second show in Japan was headlined by Hiroshige Osawa (25-3-4, 14) stopping the game Kosuke Saka (8-3, 5). Saka fought well but was stopped due to a nasty injury. Osawa, a former OPBF champion, is really rebuilding his career after a year long suspension by the JBC for taking part in an unsanctioned contest in South Korea.

(Picture, courtesy of Celes Boxing Gym, is of Noguchi)

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)