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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May 2nd 2015 was a date we all had marked in our calendars for several months. Sadly however it came and went with out leaving a lasting memory. Las Vegas, USA We had the biggest bout of the day, in fact the biggest bout of all time, in the US as the era's two biggest fighters met in the supposed “Fight of the Century”. Sadly however it turned out to be more of a damp squib than a great and memorable fight. The bout in question saw Floyd Mayweather Jr (48-0, 26) unify the WBC, WBA and WBO Welterweight titles as he out pointed Filipino legend Manny Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38) in a bout that had it's moments but over-all lacked drama. Mayweather was his usual self showing great technical ability and movement but unfortunately Pacquiao failed to show his usual aggression and only really fought in spurts winning only a handful of rounds. The bout, on the whole, felt like we were watching two men coming to the end of their HOF careers and sadly it left us wondering what would have happened a few years. For Mayweather however it was a career defining win and proof that technically he is the best boxer of his era. Tokyo, Japan Prior to the big show in Las Vegas there had been action in Tokyo with Dangan 127. The show wasn't anywhere near the profile of the Las Vegas card however there was still a number of interesting bouts on it. One of those interesting bouts was the main event, a Light Welterweight bout between former Japanese champion Shinya Iwabuchi (25-5, 21) and the under-sized Ryusei Yoshida (26-7, 13). Coming in both men were ranked by the JBC however Iwabuchi was too strong from the off and stopped Yoshida in eye catching fashion with a vicious salvo in round 6. Another of the main bouts saw Hayato Kimura (23-7, 15) take a 6th round technical decision win over Filipino brawler Jomar Fajardo (14-7-2, 7). The bout was unfortunately curtailed due to a cut on Fajarado that had been caused in round 4. Notably the the Filipino had taken this bout on short notice after Takuya Kogawa pulled out due to an upcoming Japanese Flyweight title fight, and unfortunately he appeared to be under-sized from the off. The third of the main bouts saw Ribo Takahata (11-5-1, 3) score a shock stoppage win over the previously unbeaten Japanese-based-Filipino Johnriel Maligro (12-1, 9). Maligro had looked really promising in his previous two bouts but trouble with the weight saw him looking flat before being stopped in the 5th round. The sole 6 rounder on this card saw Takahiro Araki (6-4, 3) take a clear decision win over Koki Yoshida (4-5, 2). Prior to this bout Araki had lost back-to-back bouts though his win sees Yoshida suffering his third successive loss. Prior to the notable bouts this card had had 6 under-card bouts, each scheduled for 4 rounds. One of those bouts was a female contest that saw the debuting Emi Iwashita (1-0) take a clear but competitive decision over the win-less Natsuki Tarui (0-3). Another clear but competitive bout saw Koji Ida (4-0) extend his winning record with a decision win over Shogo Dairakuin (2-3, 1). A much closer bout saw Naoki Morooka (3-2, 2) take a majority decision over Yuki Uchida (2-3). In less competitive bout Masaya Sakamoto (2-0, 1) dominated Takuya Tamaguchi (1-3-2, 1) to a very wide decision, another wide decision saw Ryota Ishida (3-0, 2) dominate Akira Watanabe (1-4-1, 1). The only under-card bout to end inside the distance was a win for Masaya Kohama (4-2-1, 2) who stopped Masafumi Suzuki (3-4-1) in the opening seconds of round 3. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp) |
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