Tokyo, Japan There was more action in Japan this past Thursday as fans at the brilliant Korakuen Hall had the chance to see yet another great show. Fans in Hyogo have certainly had a week to remember. On Wednesday they saw two of their local stars, Kota Tokunaga and Shohei Omori, retain their Japanese national titles, with both men stopping local foes. That success seems to have bred more success and just a day later we saw another Kyoto fighter became a Japanese champion. Here it was the turn of the highly experienced Kenichi Horikawa (30-13-1, 7) who claimed a Japanese title in his 4th attempt and scored a career defining victory over former world title challenger Shin Ono (18-7-2, 2). Horikawa set off trying to force the pace and tempo and in round 6 had Ono ready to go before the bell saved the Watanabe man. Ono however couldn't survive the 7th round as Horikawa completed what a fairytale rise to climb to the top of Japanese scene after several razor thin losses. Sadly for the new Japanese Light Flyweight champion it does seem likely that he will have Ken Shiro sniffing around his new title in early 2016. Whilst the main event saw a new champion being crowned the chief support bout saw a former begin his climb back up the mountain. Here it was the turn of Kentaro Masuda (22-7, 11), who was fighting for the first time since losing the Japanese Bantamweight title to the aforementioned Omori. Masuda, who had been in damaging back-to-back fights managed to be given a good 8 round work out here by the under-rated Wataru Miyasaka (9-4-1, 2), who's record really doesn't show what a good test he is. For Masuda this win will have shook off some rust, before a November showdown with Hideo Sakamoto whilst Miyasaka should have kept himself in the proverbial “shop window” to have another notable fight next time out. Another supporting bout saw the once touted Kazuma Sanpei (12-2, 4) take a razor thin win over Ribo Takahata (11-5-1, 3). Sanpei, who had won his first 11 bouts, came into this one following back-to-back stoppages and the 20 year old may well have waved good bye to the sport with a third successive loss, and he was lucky to avoid that fate. Takahata, a 36 year old veteran, will likely feel aggrieved by the judging but the competitiveness may lead to a rematch in 2016. It's a shame to Sanpei looking a shadow of the fighter that some thought he'd have become by now. Yet another intriguing support bout saw the talented, but light hitting, Jo Tanoka (12-2-3) take a clear win over the limited but gutsy Mako Matsuyama (7-10-2, 3). Tanoka, a genuinely promising young talent, ran a clear winner on the cards but it's likely he'll fall short when he steps up given his lack of power. As for Matsuyama he'll be involved in some exciting fights down the line but is unlikely to be more than a fun-to-watch loser. In another 8 round Sho Kimura (8-1-2, 2) took a 6th round TKO win over Ryo Narizuka (7-6), with Narizuka retiring at the end of the 6th round. On the under-card there were two more bouts. In a 6 rounder Masaya Kohama (6-2-1, 3) took a razor thin decision win against Shogo Yonenaga (6-3, 3) whilst in a 4 rounder Kazunori Yorimasa (2-1, 2) scored a 2nd round win over the debuting Kosuke Hasegawa (0-1). (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)
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Tokyo, Japan On Thursday Japanese fans had a small but notable card at the Korakuen Hall. In the main even fans saw former Japanese Middleweight champion Tomohiro Ebisu (14-4, 14) continue his run of “stop or be stopped” as he took out Kazuyuki Fukuyama (9-7, 2) in the 7th round. This was Ebisu's 18 bout and he is yet to see the final bell of a contest with all of his wins and losses coming by stoppage. The antithesis of Ebisu's record is that of Jo Tanooka (11-2-3) who claimed his 11th decision win as he defeated Junnosuke Nagayasu (13-11-2, 3) with a clear 8 round decision. Tanooka's been the distance in all 16 of his bouts and whilst he's not unbeaten he is a young fighter worth keeping an eye on and does have some real potential. In the middle of the card we had a pair of 6 rounders. One of those saw Takahiko Suzuki (6-1, 4) take a very narrow victory over Soichiro Murata (4-4-3, 2) in a bout that was much more competitive than anyone would have expected. The other bout saw Hironobu Matsunaga (7-1, 3) take a clear win over Hisao Narita (9-2, 4) in what ended up being much more 1-sided than the records would have indicated. On the under-card there were 4 bouts each scheduled for 4 rounds, yet not one of them went the distance. The closest to reach the final bell was a bout between Tasuku Nakagawa (4-1, 1) and Junpei Hakoda (1-3, 1), which saw Nakagawa claim a 4th round KO win. All 3 of the other bouts over the shorter distances lasted less than a round with Tadashi Nunoya (2-2, 2) taking a 72 second blow out against Yuki Miyoshi (2-4), it didn't take much longer for Daichi Yamamoto (3-2-1, 2) to see off Satoshi Hongo (2-4, 1) the other bout saw Ryoji Fukunaga (3-1, 3) stop Yamato Kikuchi (2-7-2) in 139 seconds. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp) Tokyo, Japan It was in Japan that we had the most significant show of the day. The main event featured a potential world title challenger whilst other bouts on the show featured a number of interesting Japanese contenders and prospects. We'll start with the main event which saw the highly ranked Shingo Wake (18-6-2, 11) score the 5th defence of his OPBF Super Bantamweight title courtesy of an opening round knockout-out against Filipino Challenger Jimmy Paypa (16-3-1, 6). Paypa, who had never been stopped, had managed to land some of his own right hands but they had little effect on Wake who landed a perfect counter uppercut very late in the round that sent Paypa down. The Filipino managed to make it to his feet but wasn't able to continue. Following the win Wake said he wanted a world title fight and was happy to travel. Recent hints however suggest that he may be able to get a world title fight at home with Cuban Guillermo Rigondeaux likely to travel to Japan again, following his successful world title defence against Hisashi Amagasa at the end of last year. In the chief support bout fans saw former OPBF, Japanese and NABF title challenger Toyoto Shiraishi (25-8-2, 12) score a 2nd round KO over the over-matched Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi (8-8-1, 4). This win keeps alive Shiraishi's hopes of one day becoming a title holder, though Yamaguchi really was a limited opponent. In another support bout Kota Sato (10-6-2, 5) managed to score a late stoppage of Toshikuni Wake (8-15-3, 2), with just 96 seconds of the bout left. Sato's record is under-whelming though he is much better than the numbers suggest and the fact he had gone 3 fights without a win prior to this bout really is misleading. For Wake this was a second successive stoppage loss, following a 4th round defeat to Ryichi Funai last October. A really interesting support bout, in fact one of two outstanding bouts on the under-card, saw Jo Tanooka (9-2-3) score a clear decision over the previously unbeaten Kenya Yamashita (7-1, 4). Tanooka was the East Japan Rookie of the Year in 2013 and although he has lost 2 of his last 5 he is a genuinely promising fighter. As for the 18 year old Yamashita, himself the 2014 All Japan Rookie of the Year, this was a case of stepping up a little too much too soon. Despite the loss we wouldn't rule out Yamashita from being a champion somewhere down the line. The other really interesting bout saw the really exciting Masaru Sueyoshi (9-1, 6) score a 7th round TKO over 2013 Rookie of the Year winner Kazuma Sanpei (11-2, 4). Sanpei started his career 11-0 though has now suffered back to back stoppage losses and the 20 year old has been “exposed” as lacking a chin to match his talent. As for Sueyoshi this was his 6th straight win following a razor thin loss to Masayuki Ito back in July 2012. Don't sleep on Sueyoshi. The least notable bout on the card saw unbeaten female fighter Jun Yabuki (2-0, 1) score a clear decision win over Chie Higano (3-2). Sadly for Higano this was a second successive loss. California, USA Whilst the significant action came form Japan there was another bout of note which took place in the USA as Chinese Heavyweight giant Taishan Dong (3-0, 2) was surprisingly given his first test. Dong, a 7” giant who seems to get a lot of attention merely due to his size, was expected to blow away 42 year old Roy McCrary (3-3, 3) but was instead taken the 4 round distance en route to taking his first decision victory. The win was a clear one for Dong but it will almost certainly have provided him with a bigger learning experience than either of his previous bouts, both of which were relatively farcical. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp) |
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