Tokyo, Japan
In recent years we've seen a tradition of big boxing shows on New Years Eve with TBS and TV Tokyo both putting on cards, which they are doing again this year. Thankfully however this year we got a bonus with Fui TV airing a special showcase of talent in an Ohashi promoted card on December 30th and the card really was something special. In fact it may well have decided the Fighter of the Year, the Performance of the Year, the Trainer of the Year, the Breakout fighter of the Year, and turned a Japanese 21 year old into the most spoken about man in boxing, at least for a day or two. It was a day where Mayweather, Pacquiao, Khan, Cotto and Canelo were forgotten names. Ducking was put on the back burner, and instead we got something that we all love, some special action in the ring.

We'll start with main event from the show which saw Japanese superstar Naoya Inoue (8-0, 7) become an even bigger sensation than he already was. Earlier this year Inoue set a Japanese record for fewest fights to a world title, winning the WBC Light Flyweight world title in just his 6th professional bout. Today he set a world record for winning his second divisional world title in just his 8th professional bout, breaking the previous record of Paul Weir by a single fight. Not only did he claim a second divisional world title but he did it in amazing fashion brutalising Argentinian veteran Omar Andres Narvaez (43-2-2, 23) in just 2 rounds to claim the WBO Super Flyweight title. Narvaez had been a long standing champion, he had looked sensational in stopping the teak tough Hiroyuki Hisataka 16 months ago and looked great in clearly beating Felipe Orucuta, despite one ludicrous card, last time out. Inoue however man handled him dropping him twice in the opening round and twice again the in second with Narvaez staying down after the 4th knock down of the fight. 

With his win Inoue has effectively ripped up any "Fighter of the Year" awards and stamped himself as the most impressive fighter this year.

Naoya Inoue wasn't the only Inoue to win on the show and his younger brother, Takuma Inoue (4-0, 1), did the same as he schooled Omar's younger brother Nestor Daniel Narvaes (20-3-2-1, 9). Narvaes had previously pushed Toshiyuki Igarashi close in a WBC Flyweight bout but was made to look slow, clumsy and off balance a lot here was Inoue used sensational speed to make him look very poor. Although we know Naoya is already a star it's fair to say that Takuma may well be one himself in a year's time.

Another Ohashi Gym youngster who picked up a win was Ryo Matsumoto (13-0, 11) who claimed the OPBF Super Flyweight title with a dominant win over Rusalee Samor (25-6-2, 11). For much of the fight Matsumoto was happy to go through the motions and just pick off Samor with accurate rangy shots though when he choose to pick up the pace later on he really started to put a beating on the tough Samor who was eventually stopped in the 12th round.

Unfortunately it wasn't a clean sweep for Ohashi as the amazingly popular Akira Yaegashi (20-5, 10) was unable to claim the WBC Light Flyweight title. Yaegashi put up a brave effort but was unable to over-come the very talented Pedro Guevara (24-1-1, 16) who finished the bout with a body shot that left Yaegashi in agony and his career on the rocks. We suspect this could be the end for the popular Japanese warrior, who also lost last time out to Roman Gonzalez. We love Yaegashi here and it's not fun to watch him taking any more damage and we hope that, at the very least, he takes some time to rest his body considering the hard and damaging fights he has had in his great career which has seen him winning world titles at both Minimumweight and Flyweight.

As well as the 4 Ohashi Gym fighters in action there was also two Teiken fighters, further solidifying the working relationship between the two promoters. The first of these was Jorge Linares (38-3, 25) who scored a 4th round KO of Mexico's Javier Prieto (24-8-2, 18) to claim the WBC Lightweight title and become a 3-weight world champion. The performance was solid without being spectacular and it seemed clear that Linares was worried about Prieto's power and wild swings though managed to take advantage of Prieto's flaws, as he did when he landed the KO blow, a hard right hand around the ear.

The other Teiken fighter was Ryota Murata (6-0, 4) who put on a dominant performance but a frustrating and odd one as he clearly beat American fighter Jessie Nicklow (24-5-3, 8). For much of the bout Murata looked stronger, more powerful and more skilled, but he also looked disjointed and as if he was trying to get used to a new style. Gone was the intense pressure and inside fighting that had been a trademark of his amateur days and in it's place was boxing and movement, though it was never smooth boxing and instead it looked like Murata wasn't quite sure if he was doing what he was supposed to. Sadly for the Japanese Olympic champion his win was also marred by cuts suffered from headclashes.

On the whole this may not have been the promotion of the year, but it wasn't far off and it was one of the best this year, one of the most exciting and one of the few Japanese cards that seemed to have a lot of interest from the west. Maybe, just maybe this and the shows tomorrow will help the wider boxing media take note of what is going on in Asia. If not it's the biggest over-sight in sport.

(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

California, USA
There was little action of Asian interest this past Saturday though we did see Teiken promoted, and Japanese ranked, fighter Jorge Linares (37-3, 24) in a stay busy fight as he took on the incredibly limited Ira Terry (26-12, 16). Linares, who really was just ticking over before a potential WBC Lightweight world title fight later this year or early next year, did what he was supposed to by winning in style and scoring a KO of the year contender in the second round of the bout. The way he put Terry away was frightening though it did show the gulf in class between the two men with Terry being little more than a journeyman whilst Linares is a genuine world class talent.

Saturday seemed to feature no action in Asia though it did feature numerous fights involving Asian fighters in various parts of the world. Unfortunately however they didn't tend to fair very well in what probably should go down as a bad day for Asian boxing.

Nevada, USA
The highest profile bout was in the USA where Teiken promoted Venezuelan Jorge Linares (36-3, 23) managed to take a clear but hard fought decision over Japan's very own Nihito Arakawa (24-4-1, 16). The bout, which had great promise from the off, proved to be one sided though was never dull. Linares, by far the more complete boxer, showed off all the traits that make him so great to watch and unloaded some wonderful combinations on to Arakawa who showed his toughness by walking through the shots in an attempt to grind down the more talented fighters.

Though the bout was a title eliminator it was oddly scheduled for just 10 rounds and this certainly seemed to help Linares who still, unbelievably, hasn't completed the 12 round distance.

The victory for Linares is likely to put him into a WBC Lightweight title fight with the big punching Omar Figueroa whilst the loss for Arakawa leaves him in a bit of a no-mans land. 

American fans would likely be happy to welcome Arakawa back again, he has made fans and impressed with his toughness, though who he would fight could be a question. Oddly though we don't think fans would care too much on who he fights as long as he's matched with someone who likes a fight for example Takashi Miura's old opponent Sergio Thompson, who also fought on the same card.

Queensland, Australia
Whilst Arakawa's loss in the US was by far the biggest bout featuring an Asian the majority of them actually took place in Australia with 6 different fighters from Asian being featured. Unfortunately they faired just as badly as Arakawa.

The first to lose what Thai debutant Artit Jumpatong (0-1) who was stopped in 2 rounds by fellow debutant James Katz (1-0, 1) at the very end, 2:59, of round 2. 

Although Artit was taken out quicker than any of the other Asian's on the card he did technically only survive 21 seconds less fighting time than compatriot Ngaotawan Sithsaithong (10-13-1, 5) who was stopped after 20 seconds of round 3 by Jason Cooper (9-2-1, 4). Cooper, by no means a great fighter, bounced back well following a decision loss in China to Qiu Xiao Jun back in February.

A third Thai, Non Sithsaithong (11-6, 7), suffered a similar fate. Non was also stopped in round 3, although he did last over 2 minutes longer than Ngaotawan, as he fell in his battle with Brett William Smith (18-2-1, 9) in the show's main event.

Things weren't much better for Filipino's with Michael Correa (3-9-3, 1) being forced to retire after 4 rounds against the wonderfully talented and very promising Cameron Hammond (8-0, 4) and the tough Roberto Oyan (20-42-5, 7) being out pointed over 6 rounds by Waylon Law (8-5, 2).


Oddly the one Asian who did put up a great fight was a Korean. That was Hwi Jong Kim (5-11, 1) who was unfortunate to drop a split decision to Brent Elliot (11-4-3, 3). Kim came in to this fight in no form at all with 5 straight losses and just 1 win in his last 10 though gave Elliot a very good run for his money in a tough scrap for both. 


(Photo courtesy of http://boxingnews.jp)