Tokyo, Japan
This past Monday only saw a single Asian show that took place at the Korakuen Hall.

In the main event Japanese fans saw history being created as they saw the first 3-weight female Japanese world champion being crowned as the brilliant Naoko Fujioka (14-1, 6) claimed the WBO female Bantamweight title. The former Minimumweight and Super Flyweight champion easily over-came tough but limited Korean fighter Hee Jung Yuh (15-3, 6) in what was a near shut out by the fabulous Fujioka. Aged 40 it seems likely that Fujioka is in the twilight of her career but given her ability there is certainly plenty left for her to achieve before her career.

In the co-feature fans saw a thriller as the much touted Hikaru Marugame (5-0-1, 3) fought to a split decision draw with the highly experienced Jonathan Baat (30-6-4, 14), who was celebrating his 40th professional bout. Baat, who entered this bout on a 3 fight winning streak, was seen as being a calculated risk for Marugame though it's one that almost came back to bite the 25 year old who was really tested here.

Another of the feature bouts saw former amateur star Naoto Uebayashi (8-1-1, 4) claim an 8 round decision win over Atsushi Hosogai (7-10). This was Uebayashi's first bout since he was stopped by Giovanni Escaner in April. Although back to winning ways we do suspect that Uebayashi's career is going to fail to reach the heights expected of him.

In another 8 rounder Yuki Nakai (7-4-2, 2) defeated Hisashi Owada (6-10-1, 1). The only 6 rounder saw a shock as Wataru Seino (5-3, 5) blasted away Akihiro Furukawa (12-7-1, 9) inside a round whilst the only 4 rounder saw Wataru Ikegami (1-0, 1) stopped Natsuki Matsumoto (0-1) in 2 rounds.

(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

This past Sunday was an incredibly busy day for Asian fight fans who had a bit of everything.

Osaka, Japan
In the most significant bout of the day, at least the most significant in Asia, fans got a treat as a determined Takahiro Yamamoto (16-4, 13) stopped Yu Kawaguchi (23-7, 10) to claim the OPBF Bantamweight title. The two men, traded shots earlier this year in a 12 round split decision, engaged in one of the most entertaining bouts of the year here with Yamamoto scoring a knockdown in round 2 before being dropped in round 3. Despite trading knockdowns it was cuts to Kawaguchi that forced the bout to end, with the defending champion looking a bloody pulp by round 7 when the referee eventually called a halt to proceedings.

Although Kawaguchi was easily stopped it wasn't a bad day for his fast rising gym mate Kazuki Tanaka (3-0, 3) who made very light work of Thai visitor Kamraiyok Orwandavee (0-3) who was blitzed inside a round. Interestingly Kamraiyok had taken Yamamoto 3 rounds at the end of last year and whilst it may be too early to talk about Tanaka Vs Yamamoto it does seem to be a possibility for the future.

Another stablemate of Kawaguchi's to taste victory was was Takayuki Okumoto (15-6-2. 6), who took an 8 round decision win over Yasuhiro Sakurai (7-20). Sadly though another fighter at the Greentsuda gym, Shohei Kanemoto (9-10-1, 3) was on the losing end of a decision as he was out pointed by Kazuyasu Okamoto (10-4, 3).

In a Light Middleweight bout Ryota Yada (8-3, 6) scored a 4th round TKO against the limited Marcos Sogabe (6-11-1, 5) as he recorded his 5th straight victory.

Lower down on this card fans saw Genki Maeda (2-0, 1) takes a 6 round decision win against San Saknarong (2-4) whilst a 4 round decision saw Ryosuke Nasu (2-1-1) defeat Seita Mochizuki (3-8).

Also on this show was the retirement ceremony of Nobuhiro Ishida who waved good bye to professional boxing life.

Osaka, Japan
Another Osakan show was just as interesting, even though it lacked a title bout, though it did feature a title prelude.

That title prelude was at Middleweight where Koki Tyson Maebara (9-1-1, 9) blew away Thailand's Kungsuk Sor Sompong (0-2) in just 2 rounds. Following this win Maebara announced that he was going to be challenging for an OPBF title in December, in what will be his first title bout, and a major step up in class.

Another notable name in action here was former Japanese Light Middleweight champion Takayuki Hosokawa (27-10-4, 9) who took an unexpectedly close decision win over Jung Hoon Yang (9-7, 2), himself a former OPBF Welterweight title challenger. Hosokawa had been told to retire if he lost this bout though the uninspiring win may well send him into retirement anyway.

Another bout that went the distance saw Ryuya Yamanaka (10-2, 2) take a wide 10 round decision win over Yoshinori Wakahara (7-6, 4) in what is a solid win for the 20 year old Yamanaka. Although not the most talented youngster in Japan we do expect to see Yamanaka compete at title level in the near future.

An all Japanese based Filipino bout saw veteran Jonathan Baat (30-6-3, 14) take a wide decision win over Dado Cabintoy (15-5-2, 8), sadly for Cabintoy this loss sees a 5 fight winning streak, dating back more than 2 years, come to an end. For Baat this win secures him an October 19th bout with the much touted Hikaru Marugame (5-0, 3) in what looks like a really good looking match up.

Another Japanese based Filipino picking up a win here was Mark John Yap (22-12, 10), who out pointed Shun Ishibashi (10-17-1, 4). One judge had this one far too close, scoring it 77-76, but Yap did get a well deserved unanimous decision win.

In a bout scheduled for 6 rounds fans saw a blow out as Yuki Nagashima (6-2, 33) swiftly dispatched of Jaroenlek Chaiyonggym (0-2). The only other under-card bout saw the debuting Akio Furuya (1-0) take a split decision over the win-less Sumeeman Shoki (0-6).

Aichi, Japan
The least significant of 3 Japanese shows came from Aichi where much of the action was based around Middle Japan Rookie of the Year finals.

The main event of the show was one bout which part of the Rookie tournament. This bout saw Kazuya Maruki (19-3, 12) take a dominant decision win over Indonesian visitor Heri Andriyanto (21-19-2, 10). This was a very one sided bout, though Andriyanto did make things interesting at times.

The lowest weight of the Rookie of the Year bouts was at Light Flyweight where Hiroki Yajima (5-5, 3) scored a 2nd round KO against Tomohiro Shimokata (1-2-1, 1). Another stoppage occurred in the Flyweight final as Katsuteru Yoshifusa (4-0, 1) blew away Hiroshi Tanase (2-6) inside a round. At Super Flyweight we saw another unbeaten man pick up a win as Takuma Matsushita (3-0, 1) claimed a split decision win over Ryo Shibata (3-2, 2).

Another unbeaten man who picked up a win here was Takuya Mizuno (6-0-1, 6) who took a 3rd round KO win over Yusuke Kubota (3-3, 1). It wasn't all great for unbeaten fighters however as Michitaka Umemoto (1-1, 1) suffered a split decision loss to Masatsugu Ito (3-2-1, 1) in a very competitive match up.

At Featherweight Japanese based Peruvian Kevin Mendoza (2-0, 1) scored a blow out victory over Naoki Masukawa (3-3). Another stoppage occurred in the Super Featherweight bout as Yuya Shimakura (5-0-1, 2) stopped Kazuaki Okada (3-5, 2) in the 4th round of their bout.

At Lightweight the promising 19 year old Daiki Ichikawa (5-0, 3) took out Kohei Furusawa (4-6) in the 2nd round. At Light Welterweight Tetsuya Yamaguchi (3-2-2, 2) took a 4th round TKO against Eisuke Hara (4-2, 3). The remaining bout was at Welterweight where Shingo Saiki (2-0, 2) stopped Masanori Kawai (1-3-1, 1) inside a round.

Florida, USA
Sadly in the US we saw Filipino veteran Dennis Laurente (49-6-5, 30) lose a wide decision to the faster, younger and more skilled John Jackson (20-2, 15). Laurente did his best to force the action but was also two steps behind Jackson who looked bigger and faster throughout. Despite the loss Laurente managed to maintain of never being stopped, an impressive feat given the power of Jackson who did drop in round 3 but never came close to stopping him.

Lanao del Norte, Philippines
As for actual action in the Philippines there was two bouts in Lanao del Norte. One of those saw Joel Dela Cruz (19-23-3, 7) take a decision victory against journeyman Dondon Lapuz (19-48-7, 7).

The other bout on this card saw former OPBF title challenger Jovylito Aligarbes (12-3, 6) score a 6th round TKO against Edil Bastian (4-4-1, 1). This was Aligarbes's second stoppage win since he was stopped, 18 months ago, by Shingo Wake and it seems like the youngster is slowly rebuilding his career.

(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

This past Saturday was one of the busiest and most interesting days of the year with numerous notable bouts taking place across the planet.

Texas, USA
Things have been really disappointing for the Kameda brother's recently and it's fair to say that the most recent hit to their once impressive empire came late on Saturday when the previously unbeaten Tomoki Kameda (31-1, 19) came undone in a thrilling encounter with WBA Bantamweight champion Jamie McDonnell (26-2-1, 12). Tomoki had vacated his WBO title ahead of this bout and stupidly threw away round 12 which cost him the bout and the WBA title. Were it not for the non-effort in the final round Tomoki, who dropped McDonnell in round 3, would still be unbeaten. For fans who missed this one we suggest you give it a watch as it was an incredibly close and well fought bout. One of the best of the year so far.

Hyogo, Japan
In regards to action in Asia one show certainly got more attention than any other. That was the Shinsei promoted card from Kobe with featured a world ranked prospect and a former 2-weight world champion, as well as several other notable contests.

The main event here saw former Bantamweight and Featherweight world champion Hozumi Hasegawa (34-5, 15) roll back the clock and put on a stirring performance as he dominated the previously unbeaten and world ranked Horacio Garcia (29-1, 21) of Mexico. Hasegawa took a few rounds to feel his way into the bout but dominated it soon afterwards with Garcia coming off second best time and time again. We're unsure if Hasegawa will get another world title fight but he looked great here.

World ranked prospect Shun Kubo (7-0, 5) moved towards a title fight, likely to be a Japanese title fight or an OPBF title fight, as he made light work of domestic foe Masajiro Honda (6-6, 4) with a 7th round TKO. The talented Kubo is very promising and needs a more challenging bout than this one.

A very interesting looking 8 rounder bout saw Filipino veteran Jonathan Baat (29-6-3, 14) out point the once promising Takahiro Shigee (12-2-1, 10) over 8 rounds. The bout was moderately competitive but Baat was the well deserving winner. This was great second win in the space of a few weeks for Baat who has got to be approaching a more notable bout in the near future.

Another bout that went the distance saw Shota Yamaguchi (13-2, 8) take a wide decision win over Filipino visitor Roman Canto (10-6-2, 5). For Canto this loss ends a 2-fight winning streak, however he's better than his record suggests and he could test decent fighters in the future.

Another 8 rounder on this show saw Tetsuya Hisada (22-9-2, 12) score an 8th round KO against the light hitting Shun Kosaka (9-2), who suffered his first stoppage loss with this defeat. Interestingly the win for Hisada was his first in around 18 months.

Osaka, Japan
In a separate Japanese show fans got the chance to see a female world title fight as well as some low level support bouts.

The main event saw southpaw fighter Yuko Kuroki (13-4-1, 6) retain her WBC female Minimumweight title as she easily out pointed close veteran Masae Akitaya (9-6-2, 3) in a very 1-sided contest. Kuroki found a home for her straight left hand early on and dominated with it, but couldn't finish off Akitaya, who has now lost in 4 world title challenges.

On the under-card we did see stoppages with Ryota Yada (7-3, 5) making very light work of Thai visitor Teerapong Sithsaithong (0-1), who lasted just 165 seconds. Another quick blow out saw the limited Hisashi Kawanishi (5-7, 2) over-come Prabpram Sithsaithong (0-4) in just 2 rounds.

Seoul, South Korea
Korean fans got a title double header in Seoul with a weak under-card but a pair of notable feature bouts.

The main event saw Eun Chang Lee (9-4, 5) claim the WBA Asia Middleweight title with a 4th round KO against Australian based Thai John Ford (6-7-1, 5), real name Nawakon Kitee. Ford was stopped just 2 months ago in a bout at 140lbs and we really do wonder what made anyone think he was going to be competitive at Middleweight.

The other title bout saw Nam Joon Lee (8-4-3, 4) claim a variant of the PABA Featherweight title with a 2nd round TKO win against Thailand's Rachamongkol Sor Pleonchit (14-10, 6). From what we understand this was a bout for the PABA junior title, similar to the “youth” titles that we see.

On the under-card their was 3 bouts involving novices. The most notable of those bouts came in a scheduled 6 rounder as Kyoo Hwan Hwang (1-0, 1) began his career with a 4th round TKO against Jung Ho Jang (1-1-1, 1). A more competitive bout saw Jong Hyuk Yoon (2-1) take a clear decision victory over Chang Kyoo Lee (0-1-1) whilst a very close bout saw Jae Hyung Ahn (1-0) take a split decision over Myung Soo Kim (0-1).

Texas, USA
Back in the US fans saw Chinese Heavyweight giant Taishan Dong (4-0, 2) struggle to a win over over the limited Jamal Woods (6-19-3, 6). Dong looked exhausted in the final round and it's clear his stamina, power and speed are going to be an issue when he steps up. He is however a big of a circus figure and one that Golden Boy seem happy to wheel out on a regular basis as he continues his development.

Vratsa, Bulgaria
In Bulgaria, and shown on our live stream, fans saw the heavy handed Kazakh Zhanat Zhakiyanov (15-1, 18) score a 6th round KO of the previously unbeaten Hector Rolando Guzman (14-1, 9) of Argentina. On paper the bout was interesting with Guzman down twice in the early rounds and Zhakiyanov himself down in round 2, however the bout felt like a really low quality contest until Zhakiyanov finally showed some world class ability and knocked out Guzman in eye catching fashion in round 6. The win for Zhakiyanov netted him the WBA International Bantamweight title though seemed to show that he wasn't ready for a world title fight and although he has a very potent right hand he is very predictable.

Wellington, New Zealand
In New Zealand fans saw Thai visitor Anrey Onesongchaigym (7-2-1, 3) suffer her first stoppage loss as she was beaten in the 6th round by Gentiane Lupi (4-1-1, 2). As a result of this win Lupi claimed the WIBA interim Super Bantamweight title.

(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

Tokyo, Japan
This past Monday saw Japanese fans enjoying a really good looking card at the Korakuen Hall. The card, on paper, had 2 really good looking match ups, a return to action for a female fighter that we are big fans off, and a couple of interesting under-card bouts. It wasn't a mega show but it was a very solid looking international card.

In the main event fans saw former Japanese Lightweight champion Akihiro Kondo (21-5-1, 10) get his career back on track after a surprise loss last December to Tomoya Yamada. Kondo was facing former “world” title challenger Jimrex Jaca (39-8-4, 22), a popular Filipino puncher. On paper it was a brilliant match up and we expected it to be a test between Kondo's chin and Jaca's vicious power. Instead it turned out that Kondo was the man with the danger fists and forced a 4th round stoppage a very exciting and enthralling contest.

Surprisingly after the bout Kondo announced that he would be back in the ring on April 22nd to fight another Filipino visitor, Ricky Sismundo, in what looks like another excellent match up.

The other notable match up didn't go as well for Japan with the much touted Kenta Onjo (4-1, 3) being surprisingly stopped by the shop worn and smaller Filipino Jonathan Baat (28-6-3, 14) in the 5th round of their bout. Onjo had been touted as a future title holder but was taking a big step up in class, it was however seen as smart step up with Baat having fought much of his career at Super Bantamweight before moving up to Super Featherweight for this bout. It appears with the shackles of weight off his shoulders Baat was more a more durable fighter and found a home for his right hands which took their toll on the Japanese youngster.

In a horrible mismatch fans saw former female world champion Tenkai Tsunami (21-10, 10) score a 2nd round victory over Thai visitor Rathsada Sor Worasin (0-5). We are Tsunami fans and understand she has been in very over the last few years so don't begrudge her too much for an easy bout like this, but it was a predictable outcome.

Another good looking bout, at least on paper, saw Yukiya Hanabusa (8-2-2, 2) score a surprisingly early stoppage against Yudai Arai (6-2-3, 3). On paper this was a well matched bout but Hanabusa managed to see off Arai in just the second round.

We saw more stoppages in the couple of scheduled 6 rounders. The quickest of these saw Minoru Iizuka (5-2, 5) score a 111 second victory over Masaharu Hanaka (4-2-1, 2). The other 6 rounder went in to the 2nd round as Naoaki Kumagai (5-2, 3) over-came Hitoshi Ando (4-9-1, 3).

The only 4 rounder on this card saw Fumiya Naoi (2-0) defeat the struggling Seiji Honma (1-5) with a 4 round decision.


(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

This past Sunday wasn't one of the busiest days in Asian boxing but it was an interesting one.

Yeoju, South Korea
The standing of professional boxing in South Korea appears to be more confusing than ever right now. It wasn't long ago that the KBC announced they were rebranding their organisation as the KBF with the intention of reinvigorating boxing in Korea. On paper it sounded like a dream come true and a chance to have new investment and new eyes looking over the sport in a country that has given us the likes of Jung-Koo Chang and Myung-Woo Yuh. Sadly it appears that the situation has just become more confusing than ever.

That's because the boxing record website Boxrec.com appear to be recognising fights that the KBF (formerly KBC) don't make any mention of on their site whilst boxrec seem to be indicating they were fought under the sanction of the KBC, an organisation that no longer exists. We're sure there is a simple explanation but for now we are confused.

As for the bouts there was a number of title bouts in a show that actually would have worked as a great beginning to the KBF. 

One of those title bouts saw a new Light Middleweight champion crowned as Ki-Joon Gang (6-3, 3) clearly over-came Joon-Yong Lee (4-2-3, 2) in a clear decision. The bout, again according to boxrec, was Ganag's first bout in 2 years following a loss in a Korean Middleweight title fight whilst for Lee this was his second bout of the year.

In a Lightweight title fight In-Kyoo Lee (3-2, 1) out pointed Moon-Sun Jung (2-3-3) to become a newly crowned champion. If boxrec are right this title has been stripped from, or vacated by, Boon-Joon Suk who last defended the title last November. Interestingly this was the second meeting between Lee and Jung this year and with the win Lee managed to avenge a majority decision loss from April.

The most intriguing of the title bouts however was at Light Welterweight where debutant Myung-Soo Sun (1-0) took a very, very narrow win over the previously unbeaten Jae-Ho Kim (4-1). Whilst we'll admit we aren't too sure what titles these are that were being fought for we will feel very disappointed that the really exciting Ja Ik Goo wasn't able to defend his title, Goo was one of, if not the, most exciting man in Korean boxing at the start of the year and if he's given up his title and retired, as some have suggested, then Korean boxing has lost a future star.

On the undercard there 8 non-title bouts. These included 2 bouts scheduled for 6 rounds. The first saw Do-Yum Kim (2-3-1) narrowly out point Young-Jin Kim (2-2, 1) with a split decision whilst the other ended in a 2nd round technical decision as Ma-Roo Jun (2-2-1) and Je-Ni Ma (4-1-3, 3) has their bout curtailed early.

In 4 rounders Fans saw Joo-Young Kwon (1-0) take a victory over Joon-young Yoon (0-1) in one of 3 all debutant affairs. In a Heavyweight bout Hyun-Soo Kim (1-0) over-came a 40lb weight disadvantage to defeat Jung-Yil Lee (0-1), a third all debutant bout was won by Jae-Man Kim (1-0) who defeat Yoo-Jin Jung (0-1). other 4 rounders Sung-Min Jo (0-0-1) held Sung-Hwan Kim (1-0-3) to a split draw, Joo-Pyung Kim (1-0) scored a debut win with a majority decision over Hyun-Ho Nam (0-0-2) and Dong-Woo Jang (1-0) defeated the previously perfect Jong-Hyuk Yoon (1-1).

Toyama, Japan
We also had action in Japan where two Filipino born fighters each had success with relatively straight forward wins over limited Thai foes. 

One of those Filipino based Japanese fighters was Jonathan Baat (27-5-3, 13) who scored a 5th round TKO over Artid Sor Worapin (0-1). The win was an expected one from the experienced Filipino who will now be off to Mexico to fight against the talented Rodrigo Guerrero in a battle for a WBC international Silver title with that bout arranged for October 25th.

The other Filipino in action was Mark Gil Melligen (20-4-1, 11) who made extremely light work of Kan Wor Surapin (0-1) who lasted just just 176 seconds. This major mismatch doesn't appear to have served much of a purpose though it is nice to see fighters staying active and this was Melligen's third bout in just over 5 months.

In the only 6 rounder on the show fans saw Yukiya Hanabusa (6-2-2, 1) score his first stoppage as he took out Thammarat Ratsam (0-2) in the second round. 

The under-card consisted of 4 bouts scheduled for 4 rounds, all of which went the distance. They saw two males bouts as Katsuteru Yoshifusa (2-0) defeated debutant Tatsuhiro Toguchi (0-1) via a clear decision and Yohei Fukui (1-0) take a hard fought unanimous decision over Keigo Serizawa (0-1) as well as two female bouts which saw Miki Matsumoto (2-0) over come the win-less Ozora Hikaru (0-3) and Asami Jinnari (1-0) score a debut win over Wachiraya Chammankit (0-1), both of these ending in unanimous decisions.