This past Friday so plenty of fights taking place involving Asian fighters tough few bouts from Asian's really stood out as being competitive or great fights. Nevada, USA In the US fans got to see the biggest Asian of the night, China's huge Heavyweight hopeful Zhang Zhilei (1-0, 1). It took just 17 seconds for Zhilei to see off rotund American Curtis Lee Tate (7-5, 6) in what was a bit of a waste of time, though for a debut it was the impression Zhilei's team have been wanting to leave. The footage of this bout is available here. Tokyo, Japan The biggest show, in terms of fights, in Asia took place at the Korakuen Hall an was headlined by a contest between one-time Japanese title challenger Tetsuma Hayashi (24-2-2, 8) and Hideyuki Watanabe (7-6-3, 5). We had expected Hayashi to be far too good for Watanabe but a very good performance form the under-dog reduslted in a well earned split draw. We also saw a shock in the co-feature as Toshio Arikawa (9-4, 7) upset former 2-time title challenger Yoshihisa Tonimura (17-10-4, 5) with a 6th round technical decision. This was Arikawa's first win in well over a year and seems to have given his career some life having looked all but over prior to the contest. One bout that did go the way we expected saw former Japanese Featherweight champion Koji Umetsu (22-14-3, 10) stop Thai novice Chamuakpetch Por Panya (0-3) in 3 rounds. Aged 37 we're unsure how long Umetsu has left in the sport but this is his second win of the year. In the mid part of the card we had a trio of 6 rounds. One of those saw Jo Tanooka (9-1-3) continue his winning run as he over-came Jun Koseki (7-4, 3) in a very hard fought 6 round majority decision. Another of the 6 rounders saw Yoshinori Wakahara (7-4, 4) score a 5th round TKO over Dragon Jun (6-12, 3). The win for Wakahara was his first bout since he lost to Takumi Sakae last December whilst for Jun this was his second stoppage loss this year. The other 6 rounder, arguably the most important, saw the hotly tipped Kenya Noguchi (2-0, 1) make very light work of Thai visitor Yodarewut Torpran (0-2). Noguchi showed a great body attack en route to stopping the Thai. Aged just 18 we would advise keeping a very close eye the progress of this fantastic young fighter. The card began with a trio of 4 rounders. These saw Daisuke Uchikawa (2-1-1, 1) out point Jun Ogawa (1-2-1) in a clear cut decision, Hidetoshi Ueki (4-9-1) take a hard fought decision over Yamato Kikuchi (2-6-2) and Takahiro Yoneshige (1-1, 1) score a 98 second blow out victory over Adisorn Kesornsombat (0-1). Bangkok, Thailand In Thailand we saw youngster Stamp Kiatniwat (9-0, 4) announce himself as a real prospect as he out pointed former WBA Minimumweight world champion Kwanthai Sithmorseng (46-3-1, 24). The bout was a huge step up for Stamp though will have done him the world of good showing that he can compete with experienced top tier fighters. We have to say, once again, that this kid is possible the brightest shining light in Thai boxing. For those who want to know just how good Stamp is, we would advise watching the footage of this bout. Suwannakhet, Laos In Laos we had a number of Thai's in action on a 4 bout show in Suwannakhet. The main event of this show saw the world ranked Norasing Kokietgym (11-0-1, 8) making very light work of Filipino journeyman Geboi Mansalayao (9-17-4, 3). The victory for Norasing saw him claiming the WBC Asian Boxing Council Silver Super Flyweight title and moving a step further towards a world title fight. We've managed to get footage of this bout for those interested in seeing how good Norasing looked. On the same show in Laos there was also a female contest that saw Nampetch Kwanjaisrikod (2-1, 1) take a 10 round decision over Kanda Por Muangpetch (1-1). This victory saw Nampetch claiming the WBC Asian Boxing Council Continental female Light Flyweight title though we're unaware how exactly this bout went. What we do know is that Nampetch became the first ever fighter from Laos to win a professional boxing title. Another bout that went the distance saw the unbeaten Saenganan KKP (7-0, 5) take a 6 round decision victory over Indonesian journeyman Domi Nenokeba (11-20-1, 7). This was Nenokeba's 20th straight loss and it seems likely he will just be matched up time and time again with Thai's that are meant to beat him. It's hard to say how good Saenganan is despite his 7-0 record because of the fact he has faced awful opposition so far, though we are expecting to see him step up next time out. A fourth bout on this show saw former female world title holder Kanittha Kokietgym (21-6, 8) score a 4th round KO against the debuting Sroipetch Sithphosai (0-1). Kanittha's win saw her bouncing back from a loss, last November, to Kledpetch KKP. Queensland, Australia In a low level bout in Australia Thailand's Pramool Boonpok (1-7) finally secured his first win as he took a 4 round unanimous decision over the the debuting Brent Dames (0-1). New South Wales, Australia It wasn't all good news "down under" as Stevi Ongen Ferdinandus (15-7-1, 8) was stopped, in 5 rounds, by Chad Bennett (34-4-3, 25). Bennett, with this victory, picked up the WBC Eurasia Pacific Boxing Council Light Welterweight title. (Image, of Hayashi and Watanabe, courtesy of boxingnews.jp)
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This past Saturday may have been all about "The Moment" in terms of boxing but there was other, lower profile action in Asia. Cebu, Philippines The card we were looking forward to the most was in the Philippines. The show had promised a world title fight, a handful of top Filipino prospects and was expected to be a show to look forward to. Instead what we got was a disappointment. We still got the prospects but the world title fight was effectively taken from us after the the champion was stripped of their title. The man who was stripped was the now former IBF Light Flyweight champion John Riel Casimero (20-2, 12), who was stripped of his title for weighing more than 5lbs over the Light Flyweight limit. That weight advantage wasn't needed by Casimero and the class difference was quickly shown as he swiftly dispatched the hapless Mauricio Fuentes (16-3, 10) who was dropped 3 times inside a round. Although Fuentes was "able" to win the title in theory he really shouldn't have been given this opportunity and the fight really was a farce from the second it was announced to the second it was stopped. Whilst the "world title fight" was a farce we did get some interesting prospect action. Amongst the prospects in action was the very highly touted Harmonito Dela Torre (13-0, 8) who managed to score a 3rd round stoppage over the limited Gadwin Tubigon (10-9-2, 5). Dela Torre's win saw him claim the lightly regarded vacant World Boxing Federation International Super Featherweight title. Another of the prospects in action was former amateur stand out Jack Tepora (10-0, 6) who scored a 10th round stoppage over Jo-as Apericio (11-12, 8) to claim the World Boxing Federation International Super Bantamweight title. Tepora, dubbed "The Golden Boy", claimed his first title with this victory and seems set to move up a level or two in the next year. The same Filipino show had yet more title action as Rey Labao (26-5, 17) defended his Lightweight title with a 5th round TKO over Rodel Wenceslao (7-8-1, 2) in what was a mismatch, whilst Jessie Cris Rosales (14-0-1, 5) claimed the WBO Asia Pacific Youth Featherweight title with a hard fought 10 round victory over Anthony Sabalde (8-4, 4). Lower down the card, in 8 round bouts, Jessie Espina (7-1, 3) out pointed the debuting Philip Jun Pronco (0-1) whilst Joey Canoy (5-0-1, 3) out pointed Mark Anthony Florida (8-5, 7). In the only 6 rounder Jaybie Haya (3-1-1, 2) out pointed the previously unbeaten Carlo Demecillo (2-1, 1). Whilst over the 4 round distance Junuel Lacar (4-1-1, 2) wiped out Honorato Boc (0-1) inside a minute and the previously win-less Eduardo Joaquino (1-1) upset the previously unbeaten Ronnie Tanallon (3-1, 1). Davao Del Sur, Philippines On a second Filipino show we saw the return to the ring of the very talented highly promising Jerwin Ancajas (20-1-1, 12) who made very light work of Thai opponent Petchwanchai Sor Visetkit (14-7, 6), scoring an opening round stoppage. This was Ancajas's second stoppage this year over Thai opponents and it seems time that he was stepped up a level. There is little point in such a talented fighter running up a series of these type of wins when he could well be fighting his way to a world title fight. Tokyo, Japan Whilst the action in the Philippines stole the day in regards to the Asian fight scene there was two shows in Japan. One of those was in Tokyo as we got "Dangan 100". This show began with a female bout that saw Chie Higano (2-0) over-come the debuting Sayaka Aoki (0-1) in a clear decision over 4 rounds. The female bout was one of three 4 rounders with the others both seeing swift stoppages. The swiftest of those stoppages came inside a round as the debuting Ryu Ueda (1-0, 1) scored an 83 second victory over Taisho Sugano (0-2), the other stoppage came part way through the second round as Hisao Narita (5-1, 3) stopped Naoya Kaneko (3-2, 3). The only 6 rounder on "Dangan 100" saw the debut of the very highly touted former amateur stand out Kenya Noguchi (1-0) who out pointed Hideharu Takahashi (6-10, 2), Noguchi is a teenager we've been told is "an outstanding talent" and we'd advise fight fans to follow him intently. Following the under-card we than had a foursome of feature bouts. None of them featured world class fighters but all 4 were interesting contests on paper. The first of those bouts saw Johnreil Maligro (11-0, 8) out point the unbeaten Tatsuya Yanagi (10-1, 4) in a genuinely excellent match up. Maligro, known as Jun Sakura, got easily the most impressive victory of his career and the 19 year old really does have the potential to go on and win titles if he continues to develop like he seems to be. Following Maligro's fantastic victory we then saw former Japanese title challenger Ryuta Otsuka (14-6-2, 4) score a stoppage over Yosuke Fujihara (14-3, 4). For Otsuka this was his first stoppage in well over 2 years whilst it was Fujihara's second successive stoppage loss. In the chief support bout fans got to see former Japanese Super Bantamweight champion Masaaki Serie (25-6, 10) out point Filipino visitor Michael Escobia (10-7-1, 2) in what turned out to be an very hard fought and competitive match up. Although not an old fighter in terms of years, the 31 year old does look like an older fighter and perhaps needs a break from the ring. A former opponent of Serie was also in action on the card, that was Rikiya Fukuhara (29-7-1, 21). Fukuhara, a hard hitter, made light work of Filipino fighter Jaderes Padua (9-4-1, 6) scoring an opening round KO. After the fight Fukuhara called out Japanese Featherweight champion Satoshi Hosono. We can't help but think that Hosono would stop Fukuhara, as he did in a previous meeting between the two men, but it'll certainly be fun. Osaka, Japan A second show in Japan was headlined by Hiroshige Osawa (25-3-4, 14) stopping the game Kosuke Saka (8-3, 5). Saka fought well but was stopped due to a nasty injury. Osawa, a former OPBF champion, is really rebuilding his career after a year long suspension by the JBC for taking part in an unsanctioned contest in South Korea. (Picture, courtesy of Celes Boxing Gym, is of Noguchi) |
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