This past Saturday was a notable day in Asian boxing with several interesting fighters in action.

Tokyo, Japan
At the Korakuen Hall fans has an intriguing show that featured fighters across various levels of the sport.

The most notable man in action was former Japanese Light Flyweight champion Yu Kimura (17-3-1, 3) who really shined as he comfortably out pointed Mexican visitor Jesus Faro (14-10 9). Kimura controlled the bout through out and looked at his best as he came out the clear winner in a bout that seemingly acted as a “world title prelude” and it now seems that he's angling for a fight with WBC champion Pedro Guevara.

Another man looking for a title fight is Yuto Shimizu (10-2-2, 3) who recorded his 7th successive win as he over-came veteran foe Yosuke Kirima (21-5-2, 14). On paper this looked like a bout where Kirima was the favourite but Shimizu proved his quality once again and he really deserves a title fight after recent wins over Hikaru Nishida, Toru Chiba, Taakehiro Shimokawara and now Kirima. Sadly for Kirima, himself a former title domestic title challenger, this loss ends a 4 fight winning streak.

A minor upset saw the light hitting Hirotsugu Yamamoto (17-11-2 2) take a very wide decision win against Koichi Ito (10-4-3, 9), with Ito struggling to win a round. Coming in to this bout Yamamoto was 1-5 in his last 6 but really turned in a performance to be proud of here. Sadly for Ito, who really was second best in every which way, this was his his 3rd loss in 5 bouts and his future really doesn't look too good right now.

Whilst Ito looks done it's fair to say things are only getting started for Light Flyweight hopeful Kenji Ono (9-1, 4) who took a solid win over Kenta Motoki (6-8-1, 1). Ono, won won a hard fought 8 round decision, has now won 7 in a row and he'll be hoping to move towards a Japanese ranking in the next 12 months ago.

Talking about fighters looking forward to the future it's fair to say the future is very bright for Lightweight prospect Shuya Masaki (2-0, 1) who scored a solid 6 round decision win over Shintaro Nakamura (5-5-1, 2). Masaki might be slightly disappointed that he didn't get a stoppage but he really was a run away winner.

At Welterweight fans saw Masaya Tamayama (5-1, 3) bounce back from his sole loss as he out pointed the more experienced Shingo Yabu (4-6). On paper this was a solid win for the young prospect however it does need saying that Yabu has been stopped 4 times, suggesting that Tamayama doesn't his as hard as his record indicates.

The only 4 rounder on this card saw Ryo Matsubara (3-1, 3) score a 2nd round stoppage of the previously unbeaten Seiyu Gunji (1-1-1, 1). This was Matsubara's second stoppage since being narrowly out-pointed by Takunari Yokoyama in June 2014, and despite that loss it does seem that he has serious power.

Bucheon, South Korea
In theory “world” title bouts are the highest level of fights. Yesterday however we had a world title bout that really wasn't at the top level, but yet was still a very intriguing contest as “WIBA” Minimumweight champion Ji Hyun Park (22-2, 6) took a clear, but hard fought, decision over Filipino foe Gretchen Abaniel (15-8, 6). Abaniel came to rip the title from the champion and, during the early rounds, had real success but eventually Park found her range and took the later rounds to retain her title

Also on this card was a bout featuring Thai based Iranian Mohamadreza Hamze (6-6-1, 2), who lost a decision to a local fighter, though sadly we've been unable to put a name to the Korean who beat him.

Michoacán de Ocampo, Mexico
In Mexico things didn't end well for the over-matched Kazuki Hashimoto (11-5, 7) was saw a 4 fight winning streak come to a quick end at the hands of former world champion Jhonny Gonzalez (58-9, 49). Gonzalez, who was making his Super Featherweight debut, stopped Hashimoto in the 2nd round and it now seems likely that he begin targeting a bout with Takashi Miura.

Tasmania, Australia
In Australia there were a couple of Asian fighters in action.

One of those bouts ended in a genuine upset as Australian based Thai Paitoon Jaikom (4-15, 2) scored a very rare win as he over-came the debuting Jakob Daureen (0-1) with a 4 round decision. Paitoon started well, scoring a knock-down in the opening round, and never really let the lead slip out of his hands.

In the main event of the card fans saw former Bantamweight world title challenger Nouldy Manakane (29-18-2, 18) suffer a 3rd round loss to unbeaten Super Featherweight hopeful Luke Jackson (9-0, 4). It's been a while since Manakane lost to Koki Kameda, in a WBA Bantamweight title fight, but it's now clear that he is fight well above his natural weight and that he's becoming little more than a journeyman.

(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

This past Saturday was a hectic day for Asian boxing fans who saw action begin in Japan, with a trio of shows, and end in Mexico with a Filipino slugger getting his chance to make a statement.

Tokyo, Japan
The biggest show in Tokyo came from the Korakuen Hall where Teiken hosted a notable card featuring several notable names.

In the main event we saw the world ranked Yu Kimura (16-2-1, 3) put on a show-case performance as he defended his Japanese Light Flyweight title and stopped Hayato Yamaguchi (12-6-1, 2). Yamaguchi only got the bout a couple of weeks ago, following an injury to Shin Ono, but looked more out of his depth than ill-prepared. From the opening round Kimura looked too good, too fresh and too sharp before finally forcing the referee to save a bloodied Yamaguchi.

In the chief support bout we saw former world-ranked fighter Yasutaka Ishimoto (25-8, 7) take a 7th round technical decision over Yoshihiuro Utsumi (12-6-3, 7). The bout, scored 68-65 by all 3 judges in favour of Ishimoto, saw Ishimoto ending a 2 fight losing streak which had included a razor thin loss last December to Yukinori Oguni in a Japanese title fight. It's fair to say that Ishimoto will be hoping to get another title fight later this year. Interestingly this is the 3rd time Utsumi has last by technical decision.

Another support bout saw Masanobu Nakazawa (17-1-1, 7) score a late stoppage against Kazuya Soma (7-7-2, 6). Soma, who had only been stopped once previously, was taken out in the first minute of round 8 as Naklazawa claimed his second successive stoppage win and recorded his 14th straight win.

Another supporting bout saw 2014 Light Flyweight Rookie of the Year Kenji Ono (8-1, 4) score a 2nd round TKO against Taichi Yokote (6-3, 3). This was one of two scheduled 6 rounders with the other being a highly impressive debut by Tomoki Narumi (1-0, 1) who kicked of his career with a 2nd round TKO against Makoto Hiroki (4-9, 3) in a Light Middleweight bout. Narumi was a good amateur and it seems likely that he will be fast tracked as a professional.

On the under-card there were 4 bouts scheduled for 4 rounds. The most competitive of those saw Toshiki Nishihara (4-3-2, 1) fight to a majority draw with Kenta Yamada (3-1-1, 3) in a really nip-and-tuck affair. The only other 4 rounder to go the distance saw Akira Onishi (1-2) claim his first win as he over-came the still win-less Kimiaki Suzuki (0-1-1) with a close decision.

One bout that almost went the distance ended with with Masato Niijima (2-0, 2) taking a late stoppage over the previously unbeaten Junki Kobayashi (1-1, 1) whilst the remaining bout was over in just 72 seconds as Hayate Kaji (2-0, 2) blew away the debuting Musashi Yoshino (0-1).

Osaka, Japan
The “L-Osaka” played host to two shows, of those the most notable was the Osaka Teiken promoted card.

In the most interesting bout on that show fans saw Kosuke Saka (10-3, 7) lift himself off the canvas to stop the previously unbeaten Ryuto Kyoguchi (13-1-1, 9) in the 3rd round of a really short but fun fight.

Another stoppage on this card saw Myung He Lee (18-4-1, 6) make light work of Thailand's Dawut Manopkanchang (0-3). This was Dawut's 3rd stoppage loss in Japan following previous defeat to Kohei Kono and Atsushi Kakutani. From what we understand Lee is now hunting a Japanese title fight.

A third fight of note here ended in disappointing fashion as Bunta Mitaka (6-2-3) and Shingo Kawamura (9-2-1, 4) saw their bout end in a 3rd round technical draw.

On the under-card of this show fans saw a trio of low level bouts. The most competitive of those saw Go Mitaka (3-5-2) record a narrow win over Naoki Okumura (1-3) whilst another decision bout saw Hirohide Murakami (3-2) defeat the previously unbeaten Kenta Sakata (2-1-1). The only under-card not to go the distance saw Kyosuke Tsutsuminoto (3-0, 3) continue his perfect start with a 3rd round retirement victory over Shota Taguchi (2-2)

Osaka, Japan
The other “L-Osaka” show was promoted by Taiho.

The most notable of the fights saw Ryota Kajiki (25-9, 16) score a 2nd round TKO against the over-matched Tokiya Nishioka (9-5-2, 5). On paper Nishioka never stood a chance and that proved to be the case in the ring.

A more competitive contest saw Ippo Nishiwaki (8-3-1, 4) narrowly over-come Hirokazu Okajima (8-5-2, 4) in a really well matched contest. We don't imagine either of these two will become fixtures at the top of the domestic scene but they did make for an excellent matched up contest against each other.

A third bout from this show saw Akiyoshi Kanazawa (12-3-4, 5) score a 5th round TKO again Junya Nishikawa (7-6-2, 2). This loss was the first time Nishikawa had suffered back-to-back defeats whilst Kanazawa scored his first win in 3 bouts.

On this under-card there were 4 bouts with only a single one going the distance. That was the narrow 4 round decision win for Takuya Fujioka (4-4-1, 1) who narrowly over-came Noboru Osato (4-3-3, 1). As for the stoppages the quickest of those saw the unbeaten Daijiro Yuki (5-0, 2) score a 2nd round TKO against the debuting Kenji Okawa (0-1). It didn't take much longer for Ruka Shobu (1-0-1, 1) to force a retirement of Akihiko Hayashi (0-2). The other of the undercard bouts went into the 4th round as Kensei Hirano (4-0, 2) defeated Kazumi Hara (1-1)

México, Mexico
In the final bout of the day to involve an Asian we saw the brilliant Jonathan Taconing (21-2-1, 18) impress as he stopped former WBO Minimumweight champion Ramon Garcia Hirales (20-6-1, 12). The powerful Filipino seemed to be the boss from the first round and eventually forced the referee to save his Mexican foe who looked completely out powered and out fought. This was the win that proved Taconing's ability and it now seems likely that the aggressive Light Flyweight is going to be getting a world title eliminator in the coming months.

(Image courtesy of www.boxingnews.jp) 

This past Sunday was a very busy one with fights across Asia. 

Tokyo, Japan
In Tokyo we had the 2014 All Japan Rookie of the Year finals which featured 10 bouts in total, following bouts at 135lbs and 140lbs both being cancelled due to fighters pulling out.

In the Minimumweight division fans saw the unbeaten Reiya Konishi (7-0, 4) continue his winning streak as he over-came Yuki Kubo (6-2, 2) with a clear decision. The talented 21 year old from Kobe just seemed to have too much of everything and we're really looking forward to seeing him in the mix with the ranked domestic contenders.

At Light Flyweight things were highly competitive as Kenji Ono (7-1, 3) took a razor thin decision over Seita Ogido (6-2-1, 1). The cards, which ended in a split decision, all read 48-47 showing just how competitive it was round after round.

The Flyweight division saw a battle between unbeaten men though saw the Koguchi promoted Kenya Yamashita (7-0, 4) defeat Shun Kosaka (9-1) with a clear decision. The talented Yamashita, an 18 year old with real promise, has now beaten 3 successive unbeaten men and we suspect his recent sparring with the likes of Suguru Muranaka has helped him develop into yet another promising Flyweight prospect. Don't be shocked if we see both of these guys fighting in the domestic title mix in the coming years.

Masayoshi Hashizume (7-0, 4) continued his success as he won in the Super Flyweight tournament with a 3rd round technical decision against Shogo Yonenaga (6-2, 3). Sadly a clash of heads forced the bout to an early conclusion though it did seem like the exciting Hashizume was in charge prior to the conclusion. Sadly it seems likely that both men will be inactive for the next few months as the cuts they each suffered looked very nasty at the end of the bout.

In the Bantamweight division we saw Ryohei Takahashi (5-1-1) continue his winning run as he over-came the heavy handed Keisuke Tabuchi (8-2-2, 6) with a very clear decision victory. Takahashi's lack of power will likely limit him when he steps up a level. Although Tabbuchi came up short there is a chance he'll go further in the sport given his heftier blows which will likely help him as he steps up in class.

At Super Bantamweight we saw a slight surprise as the light hitting Shohei Kawashima (9-0-2, 2) scored just his second stoppage in 11 fights. The light hitter managed to stop Yuki Matsudo (8-2, 4) in the early stages of round 4 with a huge right hand that sunk Matsudo who was unable to beat the count. This win for Kawashima saw him winning the Skills Award for the tournament.

In the Featherweight division Reiya Abe (8-1, 4) took home the crown as he out pointed Kyohei Tonomoto (5-2, 2) in a clear decision.

Another clear decision saw Yuichiro Kasuya (6-0, 1) out point Masashi Wakita (4-3-1, 2) in a bout that won Kasuya the “Fighting Spirit” award. Aged 18 Kasuya looks likely to be involved in a lot of exciting bouts in the future, hopefully he can develop some power to go with his exciting style.

The winner of the MVP award was the heavy handed Yuki Beppu (8-0, 8) who stopped Hironobu Matsunaga (6-1, 3) in the 2nd round in the Welterweight bout. Beppu, an exciting and heavy handed fighter had to take some hard shots himself in this thrilling contest though his belief in his own power was well founded. Matsunaga was down late in the opening round and never seemed to really recover before being stopped very early in round 2.

At Middleweight Hisao Narita (8-1, 4) won a very tight one with Toshihiro Kai (4-7-2, 1). We had expected Narita to win this one easily but Kai really gave a great effort and made things very competitive.

Metro Manila, Philippines
In the Philippines fans saw one of their most exciting local fighters in action. That was OPBF Light Flyweight champion Jonathan Taconing (20-2-1, 17) who made light work of Oscar Raknafa (12-8, 5). Raknafa retired in the 4th round after having taken a bit of a beating.

On the undercard here results have been scarce, though we do know that Abraham Bullagay (1-0-1, 1) fought to a draw with the win-less Manny Mamacquiao (0-4-1).

Batangas, Philippines
A second show in the Philippines had equally as interesting action.

In the main event here fans saw Jhon Gemino (12-3-1, 5) take a very narrow split decision win over the previously unbeaten JR Magboo (16-1-2, 7) to claim the GAB Super Bantamweight title and record his most significant win to date. For Magboo this will a bad loss concede, even if it was close.

In the co-feature fans saw Roberto Gonzalez (25-2, 16) score an 8th round TKO over Jose Ocampo (17-9-1, 12) in a bit of a blood bath. Gonzalez was cut early from a headclash before he battled back and cut Ocampo on the right eyelid with a punch in round 8. The cut on Ocampo's caused an early conclusion to the bout with the doctor ruling him unfit to continue. 

Another of the support bouts that ended early saw Bonjun Loperez (9-2-1, 5) score a victory over Oliver Gregorio (9-4-2, 5) after Gregorio retired with a damaged shoulder. A third support bout saw Renz Rosia (11-2, 5) take a majority decision over Jayson Rotoni (13-15-1, 7), though the cards were a bit all over the place here.

In the sole 8-rounder Reneria Arizala (12-1-1, 5) made very light work Lowell Saguisa (7-18, 3) with Saguisa being stopped after just 83 seconds.

A bulk of the undercard was made up of 6 rounder,of which we had 3. One of those saw Michael Rosal (5-3, 3) take a very close win over Jesson Inso (9-5-1, 3) in a bout that was essentially decided by a knockdown scored by Rosal in round 3. Another of the 6 rounders saw Balweg Bangoyan (19-9, 8) score a 5th round KO against Rey Ramos (6-7-2, 3) whilst Philip Luis Cuerdo (6-1, 3) made very light work of Juanito Hondante (2-5, 1).

The show also featured a pair of 4 rounders. One of these saw the debuting Edlin Sese (1-0) score a decision win over Jerwin Mejes (1-1, 1) whilst the other saw Ariel Arevalo (3-1-2, 1) score a very clear win over Jeffrey Garcia (0-3).

Seoul, South Korea
The lowest profile show was in South Korea as fans had 9 bouts, including several international bouts that saw Koreans battling against Japanese fighters. Interestingly from the 6 bouts between fighters from the two countries Korea won 3 bouts, whilst Japan won 2 and 1 resulted in a draw.

Of the 9 bouts on the show 4 of them were 4 rounds. These saw Chae Yong Lee (1-0, 1) score an opening round stoppage against Sung Il Jo (0-1). Another of the 4 rounders saw the previously win-less Do Hyung Kim (1-2) take a clear win over Jung Yul Lee (0-2). The other 4 rounders both ended in draws with Kyung Hee Han (0-0-1) drawing in an all debutant bout against Min Young Kim (0-1) and Gang Hoon Lee (1-1-2, 1) being held by Ryo Nakano (1-2-1) in the first of the 7 South Korea Vs Japan bouts.

The most impressive win for Japanese fighters saw Akira Ono (6-3, 5) quickly see off Jae Man Kim (2-1, 1) who was dropped 3 times in the opening round. The only other Japan win saw Ryosuke Hayase (5-1, 1) take a split decision over Hyun Woo Lee (5-2, 1).

For Korean fighters there 2 stoppage wins with the most impressive of those being a 75 second blow out by Jae Ho Kim (5-1, 1) who swiftly saw off Kenji Fujiyama (5-5, 3). The other stoppage win for Koreans saw Woo Min Won (6-1, 3) score a 3rd round win over Shingo Yabu (4-4-2). The only decision win for a Korean fighters over a Japanese visitor saw Jong Hwa Lee (9-2-2, 1) easily defeat Katsunori Imai (5-6-1).

(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

Today has been a very busy day in Japanese boxing with 2 notable domestic cards.

Hyogo, Japan
The less significant Japanese show of the day came from Hyogo where we still had several interesting contests.

The main event of the card saw OPBF female Light Flyweight champion Kei Takenaka (8-0, 3) dominate a Thai opponent to record her first defense of the title. The fight was a real mismatch with Takenaka dominating from the opening round and never looking like she was in any trouble at all against the Thai who looked completely out of her depth. Sadly for Takenaka her lack of power saw her fail to put away the Thai who we believe was 10-5 (1) coming into this bout.

The co-feature saw another dominant display from a Japanese fighter who clearly beat an over-matched Thai foe. This one saw Shinichiro Morikawa (17-4-1, 12) score a 3rd round victory over Kaenpetch Manoprungroj (4-2, 2) after a devastating left hook to the body left the Thai in too much agony to continue.

For us the most interesting contest on this card was actually a 6 rounder that featured the debut of former amateur stand out Kazuma Yokoya (1-0, 1) who dispatched Thailand's Fahpetch Sor Praithong (8-7, 1) at the end of the opening round. The bout was a mismatch with Yokoya, a very touted prospect, dominating his Thai opponent from the opening bell and dropping him early in the round. The Thai showed bravery to continue but was dropped again at the end of the round from a body shot and failed to beat the count, officially counted at at 3:07 of the opening round.

Tokyo, Japan
Whilst there was a title fight and a huge debut in Hyogo the biggest show of the day was at the Korakuen Hall where we had the East Japan Rookie of the Year finals. This show, which consisted of 12 bouts, decides the Eastern Japan representative at the upcoming All Japan Rookie of the Year in December.

The opening bout of the show saw Yuki Kubo (6-1, 2) claim a narrow decision over the previously undefeated Masayuki Ichikawa (5-1, 2) to become the East Japan Minimumweight Rookie of the Year. Ichikawa dropped Kubo early in the bout but couldn't finish him off and instead the knockdown seemed to inspire Kubo who went on to out-box Ichikawa for much of the contest to claim a decision with scores of 47-46 and 48-45, twice.

At Light Flyweight Kenji Ono (6-1, 3) narrowly over-come the bull like Akira Kokubo (1-4-3) who again showed that records were for DJ's. Kokubo brought the pressure and work rate and really put Ono under-pressure, though Ono did just enough to take a narrow win over Kokubo with a split decision. The cards, which read 39-38, twice to Ono, and 37-39 to Kokubo show just how close this one was.

On paper the stand out bout came at Flyweight where the heavy handed Kenya Yamashita (6-0, 4) battled against Sonin Nihei (5-1-1, 1) in what was, going in, a battle of unbeaten men both looking to score the biggest win of their career. The bout, like many on the show, was very hard fought with Yamashita narrowly taking a split decision that really could have gone either way. Despite the loss for Nihei we suspect both men have very bright futures ahead of them and a rematch at title level is certainly not out of the question considering what they showed here.

In the Super Flyweight division we saw the show's first stoppage as Shogo Yonenaga (6-1, 3) took a 4th round stoppage victory over Hokuto Sakata (5-4-1, 3). The bout was fought at a wonderfully high tempo from both men, unfortunately for Sakata he was dropped late and ruled unfit to continue as he was unsteady on his feet. On this performance we're very excited to see Yonenaga in action again though we do wonder how far he can really go despite this excellent victory.

In an impressive Bantamweight performance we saw Ryohei Takahashi (4-1-1, 1) score a clear and decisive decision victory over the previously unbeaten Ken Kodama (4-1-1, 1).  From the opening bell Takahashi seiezed the iniative and boxed at a fierce tempo behind his jab in an outstanding performance that really did catch the eye. We were genuinely impressed by the work rate but do need to wonder about how his lack of power may hold him back in the future.

The Super Bantamweight division saw a genuine one-sided bout as Yuki Matsudo (8-1, 4) thoroughly dominated Yoshifumi Tamaki (5-2-1, 2) over the course of 5 rounds. The all Southpaw bout started even but Matsudo really upped the pace as the bout went on there was no doubt about the winner, despite one or two momentary scares fo the slightly more experienced man.

On paper one of the shows more interesting bouts on paper was the Featherweight contest, sadly however it turned out to be the shortest as Reiya Abe (7-1, 4) took just 113 seconds to see off Naoto Moriya (6-2-1, 3). Abe dropped Moriya early in the opening round and a follow up barrage finished the bout with Moriya looking unable to come with Abe who looked sensation.

Although numerous fights on the show were exciting nothing compared with the all action Super Featherweight clash between the very fun to watch 17 year old Yuichiro Kasuya (5-0, 1) and the tough Yutaka Ekawa (5-3-1, 2). The bout was an insanely hard fought war between two fighters who knew what a win here meant and really let their hands go in a fight that excited the fans. It was thrilling with neither fighter ever looking safe from hard for long. At the end Kasuya won a unanimous decision with all 3 cards reading 47-45 though the only thing that was clear about the fight was that this was a special one. We hope to have the video of this shortly as it really was something special.

We had another thriller in the Lightweight division as the much touted Andy Hiraoka (6-0, 3) was forced to work incredibly hard to over-come the determined Shintaro Nakamura (5-3-1, 2). The bout saw Hiraoka need to pick himself up from a knockdown and battle incredibly hard to over-come his shorter but older opponent in what was clearly the toughest contest of his career saw far. The teenage prospect, who won 48-47 on all 3 cards, will know that this was a serious learning experience and he should feel that it he's proven a lot more in this one fight than he had in his previous 5.

We had another very exciting battle at Light welterweight as Naoharu Kida (6-0, 3) won an all action phone-booth war against Yasuki Katagiri (4-1, 1). The two men refused to budge and just let their hands do it all in a bout that was amazingly difficult to score either way and almost impossible to look away from as the both just unloaded in a back and forth war. The thrilling action saw Kida just nick the bout with a split decision though with scores of 48-47 from all 3 judges it's clear just how close this one was. Rematch in 2015 please!

In an undefeated showdown at Welterweight fans saw Hironobu Matsunaga (6-0, 3) retain his unbeaten record with a clear win over Masaya Tamayama (4-1, 3). The bout was a high paced boxing contest between two well school fighters, unfortunately for Masaya it just always seemed like the southpaw stance of Matsunaga was too much for him and allowed the Yokohama based man to control swathes of the bout behind his razor like southpaw jab.

The Middleweight division saw the aggressive Hisao Narita (7-1, 4) over-come Asahi Hatsumi (4-2, 2) in what turned out to be another exciting bout. Narita struggled early on but really put his foot on the gas as the bout went on before eventually doing enough to impress the judges into giving him the bout with a close decision. Narita appears to be a fun guy to watch but we're unsure about how he will fare in the long run, especially with his aggressive style.

For those wondering about the MVP it was awarded to Yuichiro Kasuya for his excellent victory in his war with Yutaka Ekawa.

(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp and is from Yokoya's debut)