This past Friday was a hectic day of sorts with action across Asia. 

Beijing, China
Some of the days most interesting action took place in China where a Heavyweight continued his perfect whilst novices were also in action.

The aforementioned Heavyweight was Chinese power-puncher Zhang Junlong (11-0, 11 or 19-0, 19 depending on source) who scored his second notable victory. The heavy handed Chinese fighter, described as being the “Chinese George Foreman”, easily saw off heavy handed visitor Shawn Cox (18-6, 17) who was stopped in the 2nd round. Interestingly Cox had come into this bout following the second best win of his career, a 3rd round TKO win against Santander Silgado. We're not going to saw Junlong is a world beater but he is certainly the most proven of the Chinese Heavyweights currently making their name in the sport.

In an 8 rounder fans saw Wang Kun (3-1, 1) score the biggest win of his career as he out-pointed experienced Filipino Romeo Jakosalem (16-10-1, 8). The 21 year old Kun may well be one to make a note of and this was an excellent win, though we'll have to wait and see.

Sadly things didn't go as well for Lin Chunlei (2-1, 1) who lost his unbeaten record with a decision loss to Jason Redondo (11-3-1, 7). Redondo, another Filipino visitor, had been stopped less than 3 months ago by Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo though always looked like a big ask for Chunlei.

In an all debutant bout Wen Jia Bao (1-0, 1) took a 3rd round TKO win over Hu Zhi Qiang (0-1) whilst another all debutant match up saw Zou Xin Li (1-0) take a decision over Wang Xi Long (0-1).

Ayutthaya, Thailand
For us the most interesting of two Thai cards came on Channel 7.

In the main even of this show Ratchasak KKP (28-3-1, 13) scored his 5th straight win, following a loss in Macao to Rex Tso, and over-came Ronerex Dalut (9-16-2, 2) with a clear 12 round decision.

For us a more interesting fighter on this card was the unbeaten Kongfah CP Freshmart (14-0, 8) who maintained his unbeaten record. Although we do find Kongfah very interesting as a prospect we didn't really learn much new about him here as he predictably defeated debutant Roden Tolulog (0-1) who was stopped in the 3rd round.

It wasn't all bad for debutants however as Petchtae Petchyindee (1-0) score a debut win over the win-less Petchmai Sor Praithong (0-3).

Nakhon Pathom, Thailand
In another Thai card fans got the chance to see a couple of bouts, courtesy of Channel 11.

The main event here saw ABF (Asian Boxing Federation) Welterweight champion Chalermpol Singwancha (13-0, 11) successfully defend his belt, and unbeaten record, as he saw off debuting Italian Simon Cicine (0-1) in the 9th round. Questions have to be asked of the ABF for sanctioning this bout on so many levels, however it is another win for the Thai who really needs to step up in class rather than take on visiting debutants.

The other bout on this card saw Mohamadreza Hamze (6-5-2, 2) score a 6 round decision win over Robert Chor Chaiwai (0-1-1). Hamze, an Iranian fighter who is based in Thailand, has now strung together 3 wins after a going 3-5-1 in his first 9 bouts.

Tokyo, Japan
In Japan fans had a Kaneko promoted show at the Korakuen Hall available to see. Sadly the card didn't look like the best on paper..

The main event was the worst matched bout on the card as former world title challenger Hidenori Otake (23-2-3, 10) easily saw off Thai visitor Phissanuthep Chaiyonggym (4-13-1, 3) in 3 rounds. Otake, who was last seen in the ring in November losing a wide decision to Scott Quigg, had a little bit of ring rust that needed shaking but he was never forced out of first gear here. Interestingly after the fight Otake spoke about wanting to claim the OPBF title.

The chief support bout was arguably the most competitive bout on the card as Ryuto Oho (7-2-1, 2) claimed a very close unanimous decision win over Takahiro Fujii (7-4-1, 2). Oho, the 2013 All Japan Rookie of the Year at Flyweight, had come in to this bout on a run of 0-2-1 though had just enough to score the win whilst Fuji suffered his second loss in his last 3 bouts.

An exciting but short lived bout saw Yutaka Kamioka (9-3-2, 5) claim a 91 second win over Naoya Okamoto (8-5, 1) in a bout that looked well matched on paper. Both guys came out swinging early on with no feeling out to be spoken of, and whilst it was intense action it was rather fleeting.

The sole 6 rounder on the card was also over early as Yamato Fuinaka (6-3, 2) took out Prakampetch Por Palapol (0-3) at the end of the opening round. Whilst on paper the bout wasn't too notable it was a Heavyweight clash, something that is still very rare in Japan.

At Middleweight Shinobu Charlie Hosokawa (2-1, 1) claimed his first decision victory as he over-came Yuichi Sakuta (3-3, 2) in a competitive decision over 4 rounds. Another competitive 4 rounder saw Makoto Iitsuka (2-1-1, 1) defeat Daigo Miyagawa (1-4-2). The closest of the 4 rounders was an all debutant affair which saw Shu Hayashi (1-0) take a majority win over Kenta Kikuchi (0-1).

One other 4 rounder saw Shin Tomitaka (2-1-1, 1) claim his first stoppage win as he saw off Takayuki Nakaebisu (2-7-1, 1) in the 3rd round.


(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

This weekend is genuinely massive with so many big fights that it's been hard to stay focused on any single fight for long. Thankfully a lot of action is great though this may have actually been overkill!

Kanagawa, Japan
A huge weekend of fights kicked off in Japan as Teiken promotions put on a solid card of fights in Kanagawa.

The show opened with the under-card which featured 5 bouts that all went to the score-cards. In the sole 6 rounder fans saw Shunsuke Fukushima (4-3-2, 2) fight to a majority decision win over Yu Kinjo (4-4, 3).

In the 4 rounders fans saw 4 very close bouts, one of which saw Rei Ichiyama (4-5, 1) claim a very close majority technical decision over Naoya Nishimura (3-7-1, 2) a second technical decision saw Yuichi Kitayama (1-1-1, 1) fight to a technical draw with the unbeaten Ryotaro Tokusa (1-0-1, 1). A second draw occurred in the bout between the debuting Ryota Toyoshima (0-0-1) and the still unbeaten Toshiro Tarumi (1-0-2, 1) where the bout ended in a split decision draw. The remaining under-card bout saw Hideaki Onuki (1-0) begin his career with a unanimous decision win over Hiroki Imamura (0-3).

The first of 3 notable bouts on this card saw the heavy handed Ryo Akaho (25-1-2, 17) score a 4th round KO over former world title challenger Antonio Tostado Garcia (14-4, 6). Garcia, who has now lost 4 of his last 7, was too small for Akaho who called out Tomoki Kameda after the fight and it now seems clear that Akaho will be hunting a world title fight in 2015. For the Japanese slugger this was his 6th win, 5th by stoppage, since losing to Yota Sato in a WBC Super Flyweight title fight back in December 2012 and it appears the heavy handed Japanese fighter has rebuilt his confidence enough to eye up the likes of Kameda who appears to be a man in demand right now.

The first of two title fights saw WBC Flyweight champion Roman Gonzalez (41-0, 35) make the first defense of his title as he dominated Filipino road warrior Rocky Fuentes (35-8-2, 20) prior to stopping the Filipino hard man in the 6th round. Gonzalez, quite possibly the best fighter on the planet, was fighting just weeks after he stopped Akira Yaegashi to win the title and it now seems clear that there are very, very few who can with stand the Gonzalez offense. After the fight Gonzalez seemed to hint that he would like another fight in Japan next year against wunderkind Naoya Inoue or a second bout with Juan Francisco Estrada, both of those bouts would be great to watch though may it may be a little too early for Inoue.

Following Gonzalez's win we then saw Takashi Miura (28-2-2, 21) make the third defense of his WBC Super Featherweight as he stopped Mexican fighter Edgar Puerta (23-5-1, 19). The bout, a mandatory defense for Miura, never looked difficult for the “Bomber” who dropped Puerta in the opening round before forcing the referee to save the Mexican who was beginning to take some monster shots from the Japanese fighter. Following this fight Miura hinted that he wanted a rematch with Takashi Uchiyama and if he gets that bout he will be attempting to avenge a 2011 loss to “KO Dynamite” and be hoping to unify the WBC and WBA world titles.

Liverpool, England
In the UK we had another world title fight as former Japanese national champion Hidenori Otake (22-2-3, 9) took on WBA Bantamweight champion Scott Quigg (30-0-2, 22). Sadly for Otake he came up very short against Quigg scarcely winning a round in what was a very one sided yet entertaining fight. Otake, who entered the bout as an unknown outside of the Japanese fans left the British fans know that he was a tough guy with an incredible engine, sadly however he lacked the skills, power and accuracy to really threaten Quigg. Saying that however the British fighter was forced to work very hard, something he's not had to do in a long time.

We also suspect we'll be getting results from Thailand in the coming days, sadly however these will have to be added when we get them, which we suspect will be Monday.

(Image, of Miura landing a hard jab on Puerta, courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

Tokyo, Japan
The first set of titles for the new week took place in Japan on Monday with with a brilliant card from the legendary Kyoei Promotions. On paper the card was one of the highlight shows of a very busy week in Asian boxing, though it did prove to be a little bit more one sided than expected with only 1 of the 5 bouts really ended up being competitive.

The card began by showcasing young prospects. The first of these was teenager Ryuto Maekawa (8-0, 5) who recorded his first stoppage on Japanese soil as he swiftly defeated Thai debutant Namchai Sor Tanachor (0-1) in 2 rounds. 

Maekawa, who actually started his career in Thailand, began his career with 4 stoppages in his first 4 bouts though has been taken the distance since setting up camp in Japan. This bout was a step backwards for him though proved that he has still got a finishers instinct.

The second promising youngster on the show was All Japanese Rookie of the year Kazuma Sanpei (10-0, 4) who stopped the usually durable Thai Anuntachai Sor Por Lor Krungthep (6-7, 4) in the third round of a scheduled 8. Prior to this fight the Thai had only been stopped once in 12 fights, by the very very experienced Yuta Nagai in 6 rounds, suggesting that Sanpei hits harder than his record indicates.

Although few came to see the two young prospects on the show the first major attraction was model boxer Tomomi Takano (5-0, 4) who, like the other unbeaten fighters on the card, made light work of her over-matched Thai foe. Fighting against Kulabkhao Por Preecha (0-2) we saw an improved Tomomi who finished the fight with a beautiful body shot that crippled the Thai for the full 10 count. Whilst Tomomi isn't nearly world class yet she is developing excellently and is showing vast improvement after every fight. With that in mind we'd not be shocked to see her competing for an OPBF title by the end of the year.

Follow the unbeaten fighters the show then turned to the title action which kicked off with a Japanese Super Bantamweight title fight between the world ranked, and current Japanese champion, Hidenori Otake (22-1-3, 9) and determined challenger Takafumi Nakajima (22-7-1, 9). Nakajima, who had previously lost a split decision to Otake, brought the fight to the champion early on and really forced Otake to answer back in an excellent encounter. Unfortunately for the challenger is was the champions stamina late on that helped him retain his title via a very narrow decision.

Otake had been forced to defend his title against a man almost his equal, the second title fight however saw the significantly taller and rangier Hisashi Amagasa (26-4-2, 16) easily defending his OPBF Featherweight belt against Filipino challenger Vinvin Rufino (34-16-3, 16). Rufino came to fight though all too often he was eating hard counters from the champion who managed to score an early knock down before gradually forcing a stoppage in round 8. This loss for Rufino, his second in an OPBF title fight, likely ends his dream of being an Asian champion. For Amagasa, who was making the first defense of his belt, this was impressive and his thoughts surely have to turn to world title fights sooner rather than later.

(Photo, of Amagasa standing over a knocked down Rufino, courtesy of boxingnews.jp)