Tokyo, Japan
On Monday Japanese fans had a real treat at the Korakuen Hall as they had the chance to see a pair of OPBF title fights as well as a fast rising prospect and a current OPBF champion fighting in a non-title fight.

We'll start with the under which kicked off with a 4 round decision win for the unbeaten Naoto Mizutani (2-0), who shut out the win-less Akihiro Suzuki (0-3) with a 40-35 decision.

The first, of three, scheduled 8 rounders saw the Japanese ranked Yuta Matsuo (8-2-1, 5) score a 5th round TKO win against Yudai Arai (6-3-3, 3). The referee was forced to save Arai as Matsuo unleashed a barrage of punches.

The first of the really notable bouts was another 8 rounder and the bout featuring the fast rising Ken Shiro (4-0, 3) who scored an excellent victory against Takashi Omae (13-5-5, 1). Coming in Omae had never been stopped however he couldn't service with the razor sharp Omae, who stopped him in the 4th round. From the off Ken Shiro was too good for Omae who looked like a novice against the speed, counters and movement of the youngster who now appears to be set for a title fight before the year is out.

In the second notable bout of the show fans saw the heavy handed Keita Obara (15-1, 14) score his 13th successive stoppage victory as he dominated Thai visitor Khompetch Sithsaithong (5-6, 5). Khompetch looked outclassed from very early in the opening though some how survived until round 3 until he was eventually stopped. Prior to being stopped he had been bounced off the canvas by Obara who will hopefully be in the ring again before the year is out.

The first of the two title fights came at Featherweight and saw two former Hisashi Amagasa victims battling for Amagasa's former title. Entering the bout Vinvin Rufino (37-17-3, 16) was defending his OPBF title for the first time since claiming the belt, earlier this year. Sadly for Rufino his first defense as an unsuccessful one as Ryo Takenaka (13-3-1, 7) stopped him in 5 rounds. Rufino was down in round 2 and well behind on the card before being taken out with a solid right hand in opening minute of the 5th round.

The second title fight also proved to be relatively one sided as Masayuki Ito (17-1-1, 8) stopped Dai Iwai (17-4-1, 6) in the 10th round. Prior to the stoppage Iwai was made to look second best round after round. The speedy Ito was simply too busy, too fast and too accurate for Iwai who suffered his first stoppage defeat. For Ito this was the perfect return to the ring following his first defeat, a close one at the hands of the talented Rikki Naito. In a perfect world Ito's first defense would come against the winner of the upcoming bout between Daiki Kaneko and Masao Nakamura, though Ito has already over-come Nakamura and may see that as going over old ground it he defeats Kaneko on August 21st.

(Image courtesy of www.boxingnews.jp)

Tokyo, Japan
The “Dangan” series of shows really does provide Japanese boxing fans with a bit of everything. They do everything from shows packed with 4 rounders between novices to acting as launch pad for really sensational prospects. The best Dangan shows are well remembered for showcasing some of the best fighters on the Japanese domestic scene on that was the case this past Monday.

Like many shows the card began in relatively uninspiring fashion but ended with two real high high points in a co-main event.

The first of those main events saw the sensational Shohei Omori (14-0, 9) announce himself on the Bantamweight scene as he decimated defending Japanese Bantamweight champion Kentaro Masuda (21-7, 11) in just 3 rounds. Omori, challenging for his first title, started fast and dropped Masuda twice inside the opening round with the champion very lucky to see out the round. Masuda did a bit a bit better in the second round though in round 3 Omori managed to finish the show landing several solid looking left hands that forced the referee to save Masuda. This was the type of performance that captures the attention of fans and the fighters in the division and it now seems very clear that Omori is heading towards much bigger and better things than just a Japanese title.

The other main event saw the heavy handed Keita Obara (14-1, 13) defend his OPBF Light Welterweight title with a 6th round TKO victory over the brace but out gunned Yuya Okazaki (11-8-1, 4). We had this one pegged as a total mismatch though Okazaki did his best to prove us wrong and seemed to hurt Obara at one point. Despite the good effort from the challenger he was eventually stopped by the talented and heavy handed champion who made it clear that he had an extra gear when it was needed. It's now obvious that Obara is taking a lot out of himself by making Light Welterweight and a permanent move to 147lbs is certainly on the books.

Prior to the main event the fans had 4 under-card bouts, all scheduled for 8 rounds. The first of those saw Kyosuke Sawada (3-2, 2) score an opening round TKO against Thai visitor Kamraiyok Orwandavee (9-4, 3)*.

The second of the under-card bouts saw Yosuke Kawano (9-4-1, 4) force a 4th round TKO against Hiroyuki Sagehashi (7-8-2, 1). On paper this was a mismatch however Sagehashi had only been stopped once in his 16 previous bouts, this was however his third straight loss.

The third of the under-card bouts saw former OPBF Featherweight title challenger Ryo Takenaka (12-3-1, 6) over-come Junki Sasaki (13-3, 5) in an excellent and very competitive match up. Takenaka, who was stopped by Hisashi Amagasa last time out, did just enough to take the decision with cards of 77-76, twice, and 77-75 though we know that some of those in the venue felt Sasaki had done enough. A rematch between these two would certainly not be a bad idea though we suspect Takenaka has hopes of moving back into title fights instead.

The final of the under-card contests saw Japanese and OPBF ranked fighter Dai Iwai (17-3-1, 6) score a 5th round TKO, due to cuts, over the tough and experienced Noriyuki Ueno (17-13-5, 5). The promising Iwai is now coming into his own and has scored 8 straight wins though sadly this looks like the end for Ueno, who came up short in 4 title bouts earlier in his career.

For fans wanting to watch the main events on tape delay they will be aired this coming weekend on Fuji TV at 2:40AM Tokyo time.

Gauteng, South Africa
In South Africa fans saw Kazakhstan youngster Roman Zhailauov (14-0, 8) begin his allegiance with Golden Gloves. The 20 year old from Astana was scheduled to fight Luyanda Jako though Jako was pulled out at late notice and in the end Zhailauov ended up fighting Willis Baloyi (3-4-2, 1). Despite the change in opponent the youngster still picked up the win with a 6 round decision victory. From what we under-stand Rodney Berman, the man in charge of Golden Gloves, sees the Kazakh making his name at 140lbs in the near future.

(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)


*Boxrec list the Thai as making his debut, the Danganboxing website list his record as 9-3 (3) entering the bout. Due to how incomplete the records of Thai's are on boxrec we tend to feel that Dangan's record is more accurate.

Tokyo, Japan
On Monday Japanese fans got a real treat as they had an unexpected war and the chance to see one of the heaviest handed fighters in the country as well as 4 interesting under-card bouts.

The star bout was, with out a doubt, the main event which saw Japanese Bantamweight champion Kentaro Masuda (21-6, 11) enjoy a real fight with tough challenger Tatsuya Takahashi (18-6-3, 13). Takashi showed his technical limitations repeatedly though seems to possess one of the best chins in the sport as he repeatedly took huge shots from Masuda without blinking. Masuda ran out to a clear lead on the cards but in the later rounds Takahashi began to get the better of things with the champion looking ragged and tired in the final rounds and the challenger really came on strong. For Masuda, who won a clear but very hard fought decision, this was the second defense of his title, for Takahashi however he certainly made a lot of fans with his guts, courage and never say die attitude.

The chief support bout also saw a champion in action as OPBF Light Welterweight champion Keita Obara (13-1, 12) tested the waters at Welterweight and over-came Filipino Rodel Wenceslao (8-10-1, 2) in what was little more than a stay busy fight. Obara, pictured opposite, did as he pleased with the Filipino who was game but out muscled. The power of Obara took it's toll on the Filipino who was stopped due to cuts which appeared to be getting worse every time Obara landed on him.

As well as the top bouts there was also some genuine talent on the under-card. One of those bouts saw Dai Iwai (16-3-1, 5) fighting to a technical decision win over the heavy handed Takumi Koyama (9-3-1, 7). Another of the 8 rounds saw Yosuke Kawano (8-4-1, 3) taking a very narrow win over Minoru Matsuo (6-4, 3) in a split decision that could easily have gone the other way. The remaining 8 round bout saw the once beaten Hiroaki Teshigawara (9-1-1, 4) score a clear win over the light punching Gaku Aikawa (6-3-1, 1).

The only 6 round bout on the card saw Naoya Okamoto (8-4, 4) take a 5th round technical decision over Naoto Fujimoto (7-4-1, 4).

(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

Tokyo, Japan
For a third successive day we got titles action involving Japanese fighters, this time we got a double however as fans at the Korakuen Hall got a show to remember.

The card, like a good concert, began relatively softly with a couple of low profile 4 rounders but grew into a crescendo with a memorable ending.

The 4 rounders saw the debuting Kohei Isozaki (1-0) take a 4 round majority decision over the win-less Tomohiro Tsunoda (0-3) and a 2nd round KO win for Toshiya Tanaka (1-1, 1) who got off the mark by stopping Kimihiro Suda (0-2). Interestingly both of these bouts were at Super Featherweight.

As well as the 4 rounders on the undercard we also had a couple of 8 rounders. These included a Featherweight bout that saw the Japanese ranked Ryo Takenaka (11-2-1, 6) secure a 6th round stoppage over Yuki Ozawa (10-4, 2). For Takenaka this was a 4th successive victory since suffering back-to-back losses in 2012 whilst this was a 4th straight loss for Ozawa who began his career 10-0. The other 8 rounder was highly competitive as former Japanese title challenger Yukinori Hisanaga (16-5-2, 9) narrowly over-came the heavy handed Taiki Minamoto (9-4, 8). The contest was the sort of domestic under-card contest that warms up fans really well for the main bouts and was thoroughly engaging from early on. Hisanaga did deserve the victory, just, but a rematch certainly wouldn't go a miss.

After the under-card we moved on to the first of two title bouts. A clash for the Japanese Super Flyweight title with Yohei Tobe (8-2-1, 5) attempting to make the first defence of his title. Unfortunately for Tobe he came up against the very talented and still unbeaten Sho Ishida (17-0, 9) who secured the title with a hard fought and close decision in what was great display, by both, of boxing. The jabs, counters and straights were on show and although it wasn't a war it was still a very solid bout as Ishida moved a step closer to a world title fight. Although the loss for Tobe will hurt we wouldn't be shocked to see him bouncing back with out too many issues. For Ishida the focus has to be on bigger and better things and we'd not be shocked to see him in with a world champion in the next 12 months.

In the main event we had a bout that looked great on paper and proved to be great in the ring, despite a nervous start. This bout saw monster puncher Keita Obara (12-1, 11) successfully retaining his OPBF Light Welterweight title with a 12th round stoppage against fellow hard hitter Shinya Iwabuchi (23-5, 19). Obara was in the lead on the scorecards going into the final few rounds and looked likely to be taking a decision before stylishly closing the show within 20 seconds of the final round. Whilst this was Obara's first fight to go beyond 8 rounds it was also Iwabuchi's 1st stoppage loss, an impressive feat for Obara considering that Min Wook Kim couldn't finish off Iwabuchi when the two fought in a highly entertaining contest last year. With Iwabuchi taking a WBO world ranking in to this fight we're now expecting to see Obara, a stable mate of Ryota Murata, moving into at least one of the world rankings.

We're hoping to bring you videos of the main fights from this card over the next day or two.

(Image, of Obara and Iwabuchi, courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

Tokyo, Japan
This past Monday didn't see an awful lot of Asian fights, in fact we had just 6 bouts, but the show it's self was one of major significance to both Japanese boxing and the Asian boxing scene in general. With two title bouts and a world ranked fighter this was one of those very strong but yet easily over-looked shows that the hardcore fans take note of whilst the less tuned fans over-look it as "another domestic show".

The show began with a C Class tournament bout that saw the 17 year old Satohiko Haga (1-0) claim a split decision victory over Takuya Muto (0-1). This bout, a lowly 4 rounder, of course had significance due to the C Class tournament.

The least significant bout on the show was one of a trio of 8 round bouts. The least important saw Takumi Koyama (8-2-1, 6) take a 5th round TKO over Yasuyuki Masuda (8-6, 1) who had never previously been stopped. We're not going to say Masuda was anything special but he did come into this bout on the back of a victory over Yuta Nagai.

One of the other 8 rounders saw the very promising Masayuki Ito (14-0-1, 6) score a 7th round KO over the big punching Kazuya Nakano (7-3, 6). For Nakano this was the end of a 3 fight winning streak which had seen him beat Ribo Takahata and Takaomi Abe for Ito however it was a 10th successive victory and we'd not be shocked by seeing him head towards a world ranking by the end of this year.

The remaining 8 rounder saw Shingo Eto (13-2-1, 8) take the most notable victory of his career so far as he defeated the world ranked Filipino Ryan Sermona (16-5, 9) via 6th round technical decision. Eto may not be rewarded with Sermona's world ranking but he'll be on the verges of getting a ranking with this victory.

Following the 8 rounders we then get the first title bout as Shingo Eto's older brother Taiki Eto (12-3, 9) fought for the Japanese Super Flyweight title against Yohei Tobe (8-1-1, 5). The bout turned out to be great though was relatively one sided with Tobe just have a bit too much of everything for Eto who was eventually stopped in round 9 by Tobe who claims the title recently vacated by Teiru Kinoshita who will be fighting for a world title later this year.

The second title fight, and the shows main event, saw former Japanese Light Welterweight champion Keita Obara (11-1, 10) claim the OPBF title at 140lbs as he stopped Filipino Jay Solmiano (17-3-1, 13) in 4 rounds. Solmiano gave it a good go though was simply unable to hurt Obara whilst Obara, who lowly opened up, had the power to hurt and drop Solmiano. Although not widely recognised by many outside of Asia Obara may well be one of the solid punching fighters at 140lbs and fight with him and Min Wook Kim would be great. It seems likely though that Obara will be moving up to 147lbs to fight Yoshihiro Kamegai later this year.

(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp and shows Obara and Solmiano in action)