Tokyo, Japan The only Asian show this past Monday came from the Korakuen Hall where reason put on the latest in the “Dangan” series of shows. On paper the card was one of the most mouth watering so far and it had everything, prospects, veterans and fighters tipped to go a long way. It also had action and shocks. The show opened with a 4 round bout that saw Masaharu Kaito (2-0) take a narrow decision against the previously unbeaten Ryota Toyoshima (2-1-1, 2). The bout was a close and very competitive bout which acted as the perfect opening for the fans who got to the venue early. Those same fans also got a treat in the second bout as the much touted Daigo Higa (6-0, 6) continued his perfect run. Higa took on his stiffest test to date in the form of Filipino Cris Alfante (11-5, 4), who was stopped in the 4th round of the scheduled 6 rounder. For Higa this was his longest bout to date and it seems very clear that he has the power, style and ability to go to title level in the coming years. Another man who will be looking to compete in title bouts in the coming years is Yusaku Kuga (11-1-1, 6) who recorded a 2nd round TKO against Kojiro Takada (13-9-3, 9). For Kuga this bout may serve as his final bout before a potential fight for the Japanese Super Bantamweight title and although it was a mismatch on paper it was good to see Kuga getting back in the ring after having been out of action since November. The big shock on the card was a wide loss for the touted Koki Koshikawa (4-1, 2) who was effectively shut out by veteran Koshinmaru Saito (21-7-1, 11). This was supposed to be Koshikawa's coming out party and a bout that saw im claiming a Japanese ranking but instead the previously unbeaten man struggled to ever get in to the bout. For Saito his movement was key but Koshikawa was very disappointing. At the top of the show was a co-main event. The first of those main bouts saw OPBF Flyweight champion Koki Eto (17-3-1, 13) record the second defense of his title as he took an 8th round TKO against Yuki Fukumoto (17-10, 5). Eto did struggle early in the bout, losing 2 of the first 4 rounds, but found his rhythm in the middle portion of the fight before stopping Fukumoto. After the bout the champion hinted strongly at dropping the title to fight for a world title, and from what we understand his likely route is going t be the IBF title. The other main event saw Japanese Super Featherweight champion Rikki Naito (13-0, 5) take a hard fought win over former world ranked fighter Nihito Arakawa (25-6-1, 16). The bout saw Naito need to battle hard after a poor start though ended up becoming a really excellent bout between two very good fighters. For Naito this win will likely help move him towards a world title fight, though we're now unsure if his future lies at Super Featherweight or at Lightweight. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)
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Tokyo, Japan Celes boxing gym might not be one of the “big names” of Japanese boxing but their stable is an interesting one with the potential to really become something notable in the next few years. Today we got the chance to see two of their standout fighters in action on a show that promised a lot when it was announced though fell below the expectations we once had of it. When the show was first announced it was supposed to have an excellent looking IBF Bantamweight world title eliminator on it featuring American fighter Sergio Perales. Unfortunately Perales was forced to pull out after suffering an injury and that left the world class Ryosuke Iwasa (19-1, 12) facing the much weaker Ricardo Roa (12-10-2, 4). Sadly for Roa it seemed like Iwasa was happy to take his frustration out on the over-matched Filipino who was cut in the opening round and stopped in the second. Now for Iwasa the target isn't on a rescheduled bout with Perales but instead he seems focussed on getting a fight with IBF world champion Randy Caballero. Whilst the main event failed to live up to expectation there was little complaint about the co-feature which saw Taiki Minamoto (10-4, 9) force an 8th round stoppage of Yuta Horiike (9-4-3, 2) in what was a good all round fight and certainly the most competitive of the 3 bouts that topped the show. The other of the 3 main bouts was nothing short of impressive as the touted Koki Koshikawa (4-0, 2) blew away Indonesian visitor Sandy Korga (4-7, 1) in just 77 seconds. Koshikawa had too much of everything and a body shot left Korga in agony. Although we know Japanese fighters have limited success internationally at Welterweight we really, really looking forward to see Koshikawa facing some Western opponents. He has a lot of potential and should be looking at title bouts sometime next year. Although Koshikawa and Iwasa made their bouts look easy there was some competitive action on the card, especially early on the show. This included a 6 round draw between Isao Aoyama (5-3-1, 1) and Sho Kimura (5-1-2) which really was a very hard one to split. This was as even a match up as fans could have hoped for, even if the bout wasn't of the highest quality. Another competitive bout saw Yui Oikawa (1-0) take a majority decision over Koji Fujimoto (0-1) in an all debutant contest at Super Featherweight. There was again little to split the men and a draw here wouldn't have been the worst decision we'd have seen this year. The remaining under-card bouts both failed to go the distance. One of them saw Jinya Miyagi (2-0, 2) forced a 2nd round stoppage of Nobuo Sawadaishi (1-2) whilst the other saw Yuta Onishi (3-3, 3) stop Hikaru Nagai (3-3, 2) in the 4th round. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp) Wow, wasn't Friday a busy day with shows in Thailand, Japan and Russia...and here we go with all the results! Nonthaburi, Thailand Today there was two Thai cards, one on channel 7 and one on channel 3. Of those cards it was the Channel 3 one that caught the attention with former world champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (30-4-1, 27) in action as he was defending his WBC Asia Boxing Council Super Flyweight title. Srisaket, who was listed on some sources as fighting Mateo Handig, scored his 27th stoppage as he over-came Filipino Bobby Concepcion (11-6-1, 5). The bout was straight forward enough for Srisaket who is now hoping to secure a rematch with WBC Super Flyweight champion Carlos Cuadras. On the same card in Thailand we saw the exciting but limited Kongfah Nakornluang (17-0, 10) score a second round stoppage over Indonesian visitor, and professional loser, Safwan Lombok (1-27-1). Kongfah started the bout by boxing but in the second round went into fight mode and swiftly saw off the Indonesian fighter. Although Kongfah against us wondering just how far he will go we've got to admit we're going to love following his career and for the second time this year we were really entertaining by this young and exciting Thai warrior. Ayutthaya, Thailand On the channel 7 show fans saw Palangpol CP Freshmart (6-1, 4) in the main event as he defended his WBA Asia title against former foe Heri Amol (34-20-4, 14). Palangpol took a decision over the Indonesian veteran though still didn't look ready to take the next step up, we suspect that Palangpol will take a big fight next year and if he wins that he'll be moved towards a world title contest though it's hard to see him beating any of the top Light Flyweights at the moment. Thai veteran Noknoi Sitthiprasert (51-4, 30) scored his 30th stoppage victory, as he over-came Dechai PetchasemfourGym (0-1) in just 2 rounds. Other bouts on this card saw Petch Sor Chitpattana (28-0, 18) extend his winning run with a decision over Petchchumpol Sor Visetkit (4-3, 2) whilst Ratchasak KKP (25-3-1, 11) over-came the tough Joel Kwong (1-7, 1) in what was a second meeting between the two men. Tokyo, Japan At the Korakuen Hall, the holy land of Japanese boxing, there was 8 domestic bouts with several of them being of genuine interest. The main event saw Japanese based Filipino Ricky Sismundo (27-8-1, 12) narrowly over-come heavy handed Japanese fighter Shuhei Tsuchiya (16-4, 14) with an 8 round split decision. Although the bout went the distance it certainly wasn't a dull one with Tsuchiya down twice and Susmundo down once in a great contest between two men who knew just how much this bout meant to their careers. For Tsuchiya this is his second loss of the year, following a stoppage loss to Leonardo Zappavigna, and seems to hint that he's never going to be a domestic champion however he will always be a lot of fun to watch. For Sismundo this win should move him towards a Japanese title fight. In an 8 support bout Yuya Sugizaki (20-9-1, 6) managed to take a fifth round technical decision over Filipino Gabriel Royo (9-11-2, 8), who has now lost 4 in a row. Royo is a heavy handed fighter but is clumsy and it showed against the more skilled Sugizaki. Another 8 rounder saw Yuta Nakagawa (14-4-1, 8) take a clear 8 round win over Yuta Saito (7-5-2, 6) in a Bantamweight contest. The first of the 4 bouts scheduled for 8 rounds was the only one that saw a knockout as Kazuya Nakano (8-3, 7) lived up to his reputation as a heavy handed fighter and stopped Takahisa Nayuki (11-12, 2) in the 5th round of their bout with an eye catching shot that immediately caused the referee to wave off the bout. On the under-card there was one man we were particularly interested in, Koki Koshikawa (3-0, 1). Koshikawa is tipped as a prospect with real potential having been a stand out amateur and he showed that class as he dominated Ryoji Miyagi (7-5-1, 4) to take a 1-sided decision win. Another unbeaten fighter in action was Hiroyasu Shiga (4-0, 3) scored a 4th round TKO victory over Takuo Watanabe (2-8-3), an impressive victory considering that Watanbe has got a reputation as being somewhat durable. Another unbeaten man extending his run was Daisuke Yamada (2-0, 1) who scored a second round KO against Kosuke Tsunoda (1-3). In the opening bout Takuya Kurata (1-2, 1) defeated Yuta Ouchi (0-1), also by second round TKO. Moscow, Russia We had another show in Russia as the capital city, Moscow, played host to a show that got more interest than many Russian shows have in recent years. The card began simple enough with two debutants scoring low profile wins. One of those was Dmitry Bivol (1-0, 1) who scored a 6th round TKO against the limited but experienced Jorge Rodriguez Olivera (25-11, 12) the other debutant was Heavyweight hopeful Sergey Kuzmin (1-0, 1) who blasted out Nicholas Buule (3-1, 3). Another of the undercard bouts saw the very promising Sergey Lipinets (5-0, 4) score and 8th round knockout against Filipino visitor Ernie Sanchez (14-6-1, 5) in a bout that saw the unbeaten Russian claim the WBC International silver Light Welterweight title, Lipinets's first title as a professional boxer. Another man in title action was Andrey Klimov (19-1, 9) who took a very wide decision over Gabino Cota (16-3-1, 14) to defend his WBO Inter-Continental Super Featherweight title. One of the more interesting under-card bouts saw Olympic champion, and former amateur stand out, Egor Mekhontsev (7-0, 6) take hid first decision win as he completely shut out Joey Vegas (17-10-1, 10) in an 8 round bout. Mekhontsev will likely feel disappointed that he didn't score the stoppage here but will certainly feel happy to get some professional rounds under his belt given that his first 6 opponents lasted a combined 16 rounds. One man who didn't need to go any rounds was the heavy handed Eduard Troyanovsky (20-0, 17) who scored a beautiful knockout out as he took out Jose Agustin Feria (16-2-1, 10) inside a round. Another man who scored an opening round KO was Cruiserweight crusher Dmitry Kudryashov (16-0, 16) who took just 22 seconds, yes you read that correctly, to wipe out former world champion Juan Carlos Gomez (55-4-0-1, 40). Gomez might be well beyond his prime but no one would have expected this from Kudryashov who is now ready for a top contender. Another Cruiserweight contest saw Rakhim Chakhkiev (21-1, 16) make relatively light work of Brazilian Light Heavyweight Jackson Junior (15-2, 13) with a fourth round TKO. Although the bout was relatively straight forward for the big punching Russian he did seem to have problems the few times Junior did catch him. Towards the top of the card, in fact in the chief support slow, we ended up with a contest that many dubbed a freakshow. The bout, supposedly an exhibition, saw Mickey Rourke (6-0-2-1, 4), yes the Hollywood actor, score a knockout against the frankly hapless Elliot Seymour (1-9-0-1, 1). Seymour may well have put in the worst performance of a professional fighter this year and fought such an incredibly tame effort that it appears he was the actor pretending to be a boxer. For what it's worth we're unsure if this bout will feature on either man's record though we've noted it as a “no contest” on both records. In the main event of the card we saw former world champions colliding as Russian slugger Ruslan Provodnikov (24-3, 17) took on Mexican veteran Jose Luis Castillo (66-13-1, 57). The two men, from completely different eras, were never on an even keel as Provodnikov took control of the bout in the opening round and was never really under any sort of pressure before Castillo was eventually stopped in round 5. Barnaul, Russia A second Russian card came from Barnual and attracted much less attention from the boxing world. Theunder-card hear features 3 bouts with one of those being an all debutant 4 rounder that saw Mahir Pashayev (1-0) out point Abbas Turgunbaev (0-1). The show's sole upset came in an 8 rounder as Vladyslav Yeromenko (2-1) out pointed Artem Merzlikin (5-1-1, 3). The show's sole 10 round bout saw the unbeaten Yury Kashinsky (5-0, 5) continue his stoppage streak as he stopped Yuriy Barashian (27-8, 18) in the 7th round The main event here saw PABA Light Middleweight champion Pavel Mamontov (10-1-2, 1) retain his title with a 12 round decision win over Oscar Roberto Medina (24-7-2, 9). (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp) Shibata and Koseki stop challengers, Kovalev Krushes Caparello, Novikov thwarted by judges and more!8/3/2014 It's fair to say this past Friday lacked activity in a big way. There was very little to comment about or be excited about. Saturday however was the complete opposite with more notable bouts than some weeks have had so far this year. In fact we had 4 world title fights, 2 former world title challengers and numerous contenders, pretenders and prospects. New Jersey, USA The most notable bout of the weekend for us was in New Jersey as WBO Light Heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (24-0-1, 23) successfully retained his world title with a 2nd round TKO over the previously unbeaten Blake Caparello (19-1-1, 6). Kovalev was officially knocked down in the opening round, after having hsi foot stopped on by southpaw Caparello, though managed to get up with no issues to then beat up the Australian challenger. Poor Caparello was almost snapped in half by a body shot early in round 2 and was dropped twice more in the round forcing the referee to wave the bout off. Following the bout Kovalev was interviewed ringside along with Bernard Hopkins and now the two are set to fight in November in a huge unification bout at 175lbs. On the same card in New Jersey another Russian was victorious as Dmitry Mikhaylenko (17-0, 6) dominated Sechew Powell (26-6, 15) in a 1-sided Light Middleweight bout. The only issue with this contest was the lack of power that Mikhaylenko had which allowed the bout to go the 8 round distance. Nevada, USA Staying in the US, and staying on the theme of Russian's, it wasn't a good night for the previously unbeaten Anton Novikov (29-1-0-1, 10) who was widely out pointed by Jessie Vargas (25-0, 9) in a WBA Light Welterweight title fight. For all intents and purposes this was a thoroughly competitive bout which neither guy dominated and neither guy was really ever hurt though some how the "3 wise men at ringside" managed to see the bout a clear win for Vargas. The result in favour of Vargas was no surprise but the cards, which made the bout seem thoroughly one-sided, were revolting and really need to see the judges looked at. Sadly on the same card referee Vic Drakulich made headlines by disqualifying Argentinian Diego Chaves in an act that is likely to help disguise just how disgustingly bad the judging was here. We're not sure why but it does seem like this was a bad night for official, in fact actually it was a bad weekend for officials when we look at some of the scorecards from the UK from Friday night. Tokyo, Japan It wasn't just Russian men in world title fights this past Saturday and in Japan we had a pair of female world title fights. The first of those saw the long standing WBC Atomweight champion Momo Koseki (19-2-1, 6) secure her national record setting 14th title defence as she stopped British title challenger Denise Castle (2-1, 2) in 8 rounds. We had expected this bout to be competitive, given that Castle was a former Muay Thai champion, but it ended up being thoroughly 1-sided with Koseki winning the first 7 rounds before forcing a referee's stoppage in round 8. This defence sees Koseki over-taking Yoko Gushiken for the most successive title defences by a Japanese fighter. On the same card IBF female Light Flyweight champion Naoko Shibata (13-3, 4) proved she was still improving as a fighter as she stopped Mexican veteran Ana Arrazola (20-10-2, 13) in 9 rounds. As with Koseki's bout this one was completely 1-sided before the stoppage though surprisingly this was the first stoppage loss suffered by Arrazola in 32 fights suggesting that Shibata isn't as feather fisted as we had all imagine. As well as the world title bouts this show also featured 5 other bouts on the under-card. The most important of which was an 8 round majority draw between Ryuji Yokoyama (11-1-1, 3) and Ken Achiwa (9-11-3, 3). Interestingly one judge had Achiwa as a relatively clear winner, 77-74, whilst the others both had the bout 76-76. The Yokoyama/Achiwa draw was one of 3 draws on this card with Daishi Nagata (0-0-1) fighting to a 6 round draw with Takeshi Inoue (0-0-1) and Ryusuke Arai (0-2-1) fighting to a 4 round draw with Shunya Saito (0-0-1). Thankfully the other two under-card bouts did see winners crowned. In a 6 rounder we saw Takashi Sakamoto (5-3, 1) out point Kyohei Tsunashima (4-4, 3) whilst in a 4 round the debuting Shunsuke Nakamura (1-0) took a very narrow decision over Handsome Mizukami (0-1) in an all debutant affair. Tokyo, Japan A second show in Japan featured two former world title challengers in action and despite being a "lesser" show on paper was just as interesting as the double world title show. The show began with a number of 4 rounders including yet another draw as Satoru Todaka (2-1-1, 1) failed to over-come Rei Ochiai (2-3-4). Another of the 4 rounders saw Tasuku Nakagawa (1-0, 1) claim his first victory as he over-came Sho Nagata (1-1, 1) in a 4 round decision. Another man who took a 4 round decision was Kazuma Ishiura (3-3, 1) who defeated Kenta Taguchi (2-6-1). Only one of the 4 rounders failed to reach the final bell and that due to Takahiko Suzuki (4-1, 3) stopping Bejita Ishikawa (2-7-2, 1) with 81 seconds of the bout left to go. In the only 6 rounder on the card we saw a blow out as the hotly tipped Koki Koshikawa (2-0, 1) blasted out Yujiro Nakamura (4-8-1, 2) in just 122 seconds. Koshikawa appears to be very talented and if he continues to notch up solid victories it's only a matter of time before he will find himself in the title mix at 140lbs. The sole 8 rounder on the show also featured an early conclusion as Yota Hori (12-2-2, 7) saw off Musashi Suzuki (10-3, 4) late in the final round. On paper the best bout on the show was the co-feature which saw former OPBF Super Flyweight champion Ryo Akaho (24-1-2, 16) out point former Japanese Super Bantamweight champion Masaaki Serie (25-7, 10). The bout had a lot of promise though sadly it never really came alive as one would have hoped with Serie being able to keep the bout at a frustratingly slow pace whilst Akaho managed to land the more telling blows. The main event was saw former WBA Super Featherweight world title challenger Daiki Kaneko (21-3-3, 14) stop the out matched Cirilo Espino (19-14-3, 12) in 4 rounds due to a cut. Prior to the stoppage Espino had been dropped and looked out classed. Kaneko may well be the best fighter at 130lbs without a title though we're hoping to see him in a title bout by the end of the year. Cebu, Philippines As well as the two shows in Japan there were also two shows in the Philippines. At the moment we only have the results from one of these shows, the one Cebu. The undercard on this show saw Prex Cabilla (1-2) score his first victory as he defeated the still win-less Honorato Boc (0-2) with a 4 round decision. In another 4 rounder Elias Joaquino (1-0-1, 1) got off the mark with a 3rd round KO over Garry Rojo (1-8). Another of the undercard bouts, a 6 rounder, saw Carlo Demecillo (3-2, 1) out point journeyman Marlou Talili (5-10, 2). The car also featured a pair of 8 rounders. These saw Kenny Demecillo (7-2-1, 4) stopping the limited Rogen Flores (13-24-5, 6) in the 6th round and the unbeaten Joey Canoy (6-0-1, 3) over-coming the tough Junior Salvador (5-19-3) in a clear 8 round decision, a decision made wider by the fact Salvador has a point deducted in round 4 for low blows. Canoy wasn't the only unbeaten fighter to extend his winning run as Neil John Tabanao (8-0, 6) over-came Jhon Gemino (10-3-1, 4) in a 10 round decision victory. This was the best win so far for Tabanao and it's clear that he can step up following this win. Tabanao's win was followed by a victory for a very impressive stoppage victory for Ardie Boyose (11-0-1, 8) who stopped Richard Betos (20-9-1, 7) in just 2 rounds. What made this win all the more impressive was the fact that it was just the second time Betos had been stopped in 30 fights! Quintana Roo, Mexico Staying on the theme of Filipino's there was also one in action in Mexico and one who gave a surprisingly stirring effort. That was Adones Aguelo (21-10-2, 13) who came up short against Mexico's Sergio Thompson (30-3, 26) but gave a very solid effort and one that proved he belonged in there with world class Super Featherweights, despite the loss. California, USA Again staying with Filipino there was also one in action in the US. This time it was the hard hitting Drian Francisco (25-2-1, 20) who took home a stoppage victory over Colombian journeyman Manuel de los Reyes Herrera (21-14-1, 15). (Image courtesy of Sumio Yamada) This past Tuesday may not have been a major day in world boxing but it was still an important one with a trio of title fights that took place over Asia. Tokyo, Japan The most notable of those title bouts was in Tokyo as OPBF Bantamweight champion Ryosuke Iwasa (17-1, 10) was given one of the toughest bouts of his career. Iwasa, who is unbeaten since being stopped by current WBC Bantamweight champion Shinsuke Yamanaka, was given hell by the over-looked Filipino Richard Pumicpic (14-6-2, 4) who came to get the title from Iwasa though just fell short in a majority decision loss. Whilst some will view that as a wake up call for Iwasa, the WBC #1 ranked challenger, it was more a testament of just how good Pumicpic is and we'd be shocked by Pumicpic not winning an OPBF title one day. For Iwasa this was a perfect test before getting a world title fight hopefully later this year. Although the main event was the most attractive bout on the show, by a long way, it wasn't the only fight of note. Another bout of note saw former world title challenger Ryo Akaho (22-1-2, 15) stopping Richard Garcia (25-18-1, 7) in 2 rounds. From what we've read we do believe that Akaho was down prior to the stoppage though more angered by himself than actually hurt from the knock down and he swiftly punished Garcia afterwards. Whilst the Iwasa bout was very close there were two other bouts which were closer. One of those was an 8 rounder that saw Daisuke Yokoyama (15-5-1, 6) fighting to an unexpected majority draw with Kenta Takahashi (10-7-3 3) whilst Fumiya Akao (1-0-1) had a disappointing split decision draw with Shogo Yanagisawa (1-4-1, 1). One of the most notable bouts on the card saw the debuting Koki Koshikawa (1-0) out pointing Quaye Peter (5-4-1, 3) over 6 rounds. Koshikawa was a stand out amateur and like many former standouts he is tipped to rise fast through ranks. What makes him particularly interesting however is that he's campaigning at Light Welterweight or Welterweight suggesting that he will need to fight international opponents at an earlier stage than perhaps some of the smaller Japanese fighter who are equally as highly viewed due to their amateur experience. The remaining bouts on this card saw Manato Honma (6-3, 3) stopping Koki Yoshida (4-4, 2) in 2 rounds, after Yoshida retired, whilst Shinya Nemoto (4-3-1, 1) took a 4 round decision Yudai Hata (2-2, 1). Metro Manila, Philippines Although Pumicpic fell short in his OPBF title fight we did see a Filipino fighter crowned as a new OPBF champion. That man is the hard hitting Jonathan Taconing (18-2-1, 15) who managed to stop compatriot Vergilio Silvano (18-4-1, 10) in an absolutely brilliant fight. Both landed their share of bombs in a contest that eventually saw Silvano being saved in round 11. The victory for Taconing saw him claim the OPBF Light Flyweight title that had previously been vacated by Naoya Inoue and we're now hoping to see Taconing challenge for a world title. He's fun to watch, power, aggressive and although most fans won't recognise him he is a genuine top 10 fighter at 108lbs. Iwasa wasn't the only man to successfully defend a title as Filipino Monico Laurente (24-10, 5) successfully defended his Filipino (GAB) Bantamweight title with a defence over Jetro Pabustan (22-2-5, 6) by 5th round technical decision. Incidentally this was Pabustan's second technical decision loss following a 7th round technical loss to Lowie Bantigue back in 2010. The chief support bout to the two title contests saw Juan Miguel Elorde (15-1, 7), the grandson of the great Flash Elorde, scoring an opening round KO over Indonesian visitor Budi Risky (8-4, 5). The rest of this card saw Jeffrey Francisco (9-0-1) taking a very narrow decision over the limited Fidel Cuyno (1-3-2), Raymond Yanong (1-1, 1) scored his first victory with a stoppage over the debuting Christian Rayta (0-1) whilst Wilbert Berondo (2-0, 1) stopped Raul Luba (0-2). Both of those stoppages came in the third round. (Photo courtesy of boxingnews.jp) |
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