This past Sunday was an incredibly busy day for Asian fight fans who had a bit of everything. Osaka, Japan In the most significant bout of the day, at least the most significant in Asia, fans got a treat as a determined Takahiro Yamamoto (16-4, 13) stopped Yu Kawaguchi (23-7, 10) to claim the OPBF Bantamweight title. The two men, traded shots earlier this year in a 12 round split decision, engaged in one of the most entertaining bouts of the year here with Yamamoto scoring a knockdown in round 2 before being dropped in round 3. Despite trading knockdowns it was cuts to Kawaguchi that forced the bout to end, with the defending champion looking a bloody pulp by round 7 when the referee eventually called a halt to proceedings. Although Kawaguchi was easily stopped it wasn't a bad day for his fast rising gym mate Kazuki Tanaka (3-0, 3) who made very light work of Thai visitor Kamraiyok Orwandavee (0-3) who was blitzed inside a round. Interestingly Kamraiyok had taken Yamamoto 3 rounds at the end of last year and whilst it may be too early to talk about Tanaka Vs Yamamoto it does seem to be a possibility for the future. Another stablemate of Kawaguchi's to taste victory was was Takayuki Okumoto (15-6-2. 6), who took an 8 round decision win over Yasuhiro Sakurai (7-20). Sadly though another fighter at the Greentsuda gym, Shohei Kanemoto (9-10-1, 3) was on the losing end of a decision as he was out pointed by Kazuyasu Okamoto (10-4, 3). In a Light Middleweight bout Ryota Yada (8-3, 6) scored a 4th round TKO against the limited Marcos Sogabe (6-11-1, 5) as he recorded his 5th straight victory. Lower down on this card fans saw Genki Maeda (2-0, 1) takes a 6 round decision win against San Saknarong (2-4) whilst a 4 round decision saw Ryosuke Nasu (2-1-1) defeat Seita Mochizuki (3-8). Also on this show was the retirement ceremony of Nobuhiro Ishida who waved good bye to professional boxing life. Osaka, Japan Another Osakan show was just as interesting, even though it lacked a title bout, though it did feature a title prelude. That title prelude was at Middleweight where Koki Tyson Maebara (9-1-1, 9) blew away Thailand's Kungsuk Sor Sompong (0-2) in just 2 rounds. Following this win Maebara announced that he was going to be challenging for an OPBF title in December, in what will be his first title bout, and a major step up in class. Another notable name in action here was former Japanese Light Middleweight champion Takayuki Hosokawa (27-10-4, 9) who took an unexpectedly close decision win over Jung Hoon Yang (9-7, 2), himself a former OPBF Welterweight title challenger. Hosokawa had been told to retire if he lost this bout though the uninspiring win may well send him into retirement anyway. Another bout that went the distance saw Ryuya Yamanaka (10-2, 2) take a wide 10 round decision win over Yoshinori Wakahara (7-6, 4) in what is a solid win for the 20 year old Yamanaka. Although not the most talented youngster in Japan we do expect to see Yamanaka compete at title level in the near future. An all Japanese based Filipino bout saw veteran Jonathan Baat (30-6-3, 14) take a wide decision win over Dado Cabintoy (15-5-2, 8), sadly for Cabintoy this loss sees a 5 fight winning streak, dating back more than 2 years, come to an end. For Baat this win secures him an October 19th bout with the much touted Hikaru Marugame (5-0, 3) in what looks like a really good looking match up. Another Japanese based Filipino picking up a win here was Mark John Yap (22-12, 10), who out pointed Shun Ishibashi (10-17-1, 4). One judge had this one far too close, scoring it 77-76, but Yap did get a well deserved unanimous decision win. In a bout scheduled for 6 rounds fans saw a blow out as Yuki Nagashima (6-2, 33) swiftly dispatched of Jaroenlek Chaiyonggym (0-2). The only other under-card bout saw the debuting Akio Furuya (1-0) take a split decision over the win-less Sumeeman Shoki (0-6). Aichi, Japan The least significant of 3 Japanese shows came from Aichi where much of the action was based around Middle Japan Rookie of the Year finals. The main event of the show was one bout which part of the Rookie tournament. This bout saw Kazuya Maruki (19-3, 12) take a dominant decision win over Indonesian visitor Heri Andriyanto (21-19-2, 10). This was a very one sided bout, though Andriyanto did make things interesting at times. The lowest weight of the Rookie of the Year bouts was at Light Flyweight where Hiroki Yajima (5-5, 3) scored a 2nd round KO against Tomohiro Shimokata (1-2-1, 1). Another stoppage occurred in the Flyweight final as Katsuteru Yoshifusa (4-0, 1) blew away Hiroshi Tanase (2-6) inside a round. At Super Flyweight we saw another unbeaten man pick up a win as Takuma Matsushita (3-0, 1) claimed a split decision win over Ryo Shibata (3-2, 2). Another unbeaten man who picked up a win here was Takuya Mizuno (6-0-1, 6) who took a 3rd round KO win over Yusuke Kubota (3-3, 1). It wasn't all great for unbeaten fighters however as Michitaka Umemoto (1-1, 1) suffered a split decision loss to Masatsugu Ito (3-2-1, 1) in a very competitive match up. At Featherweight Japanese based Peruvian Kevin Mendoza (2-0, 1) scored a blow out victory over Naoki Masukawa (3-3). Another stoppage occurred in the Super Featherweight bout as Yuya Shimakura (5-0-1, 2) stopped Kazuaki Okada (3-5, 2) in the 4th round of their bout. At Lightweight the promising 19 year old Daiki Ichikawa (5-0, 3) took out Kohei Furusawa (4-6) in the 2nd round. At Light Welterweight Tetsuya Yamaguchi (3-2-2, 2) took a 4th round TKO against Eisuke Hara (4-2, 3). The remaining bout was at Welterweight where Shingo Saiki (2-0, 2) stopped Masanori Kawai (1-3-1, 1) inside a round. Florida, USA Sadly in the US we saw Filipino veteran Dennis Laurente (49-6-5, 30) lose a wide decision to the faster, younger and more skilled John Jackson (20-2, 15). Laurente did his best to force the action but was also two steps behind Jackson who looked bigger and faster throughout. Despite the loss Laurente managed to maintain of never being stopped, an impressive feat given the power of Jackson who did drop in round 3 but never came close to stopping him. Lanao del Norte, Philippines As for actual action in the Philippines there was two bouts in Lanao del Norte. One of those saw Joel Dela Cruz (19-23-3, 7) take a decision victory against journeyman Dondon Lapuz (19-48-7, 7). The other bout on this card saw former OPBF title challenger Jovylito Aligarbes (12-3, 6) score a 6th round TKO against Edil Bastian (4-4-1, 1). This was Aligarbes's second stoppage win since he was stopped, 18 months ago, by Shingo Wake and it seems like the youngster is slowly rebuilding his career. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)
0 Comments
This past Sunday was an incredibly busy day in Asia with 3 notable Japanese cards and another show in the Philippines. Not only was there a lot of action but there wa s alot of notable action with OPBF title fights, former title holders and prospects all on show. Osaka, Japan The most notable of two separate cards held at the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium was promoted by Shinsei promotions and featured 7 bouts in total. Among those bouts was an OPBF title contest and a couple of former world champions, alongside with 4 low level undercard bouts. The main event here saw the talented Masayoshi Nakatani (10-0, 5) successfully defend his OPBF Lightweight title for the 3rd time as he easily out pointed the over-matched Accel Sumiyoshi (4-4-1, 1). The bout was one-sided but Nakatani did admit he was disappointed with his performance and he seems to have felt as if he should have gotten Sumiyoshi out of there. One of the former world champions was former WBC female Flyweight champion Shindo Go (15-3, 10) who made light work of the over-matched Tantip Sithsaithong (0-2). Tantip was stopped in the 3rd round of their scheduled 8 rounder and never looked like she was going to be competitive with the power former champion. Go has now said that she wants a fight with either Susi Kentikian or a rematch with Arely Mucino, both of which would be fantastic match ups. The other former world champion was former WBA female Minimumweight champion Etsuko Tada (14-2-2, 4) who finished off Chamagorn Sithsaithong (0-2) in the 6th round. Chamagorn had been dropped numerous times before finally being stopped by Tada who has said she's wanting a big fight with anyone from 102lbs to 108lbs. The under-card here featured a couple more female bouts. One of those saw the debuting Eiko Shirouchi (1-0) claim a shut out against the over-matched Sae Ichimura (0-1) whilst the other saw Wakako Fujiwara (1-1-1, 1) claim her first win with a 4th round TKO against the debuting Tomoko Okuda (0-1). The other under-card bouts saw the debuting Ryuya Yanagida (1-0, 1) scoring a quick blow out win against Kiyonori Matsumoto (2-5) whilst the unbeaten Tetsu Araki (2-0-1) took a competitive decision over Tatsuki Yamamoto (1-1) Osaka, Japan The other show at the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium saw another OPBF title fight along with the second match up in the career of a very exciting prospect. The OPBF title bout here saw Yu Kawaguchi (23-6, 10) claiming the previously vacant OPBF Bantamweight title as he scored a thin split decision over the heavy handed Takahiro Yamamoto (15-4, 12) in what was a very competitive match up that saw both men landing their share of leather. At the end of the bout however it seems that Kawaguchi's higher quality of experience, including a Japanese title fight with Kentaro Masuda, was the difference. Kawaguchi had said the he was going to retire if he lost but it's fair to say this win will keep his career alive whilst Yamamoto will certainly come again. In the chief support bout fans saw the much touted Kazuki Tanaka (2-0, 2), a former amateur stand out, score a highly notable victory over Kaname Tabei (10-9-2, 7). Tabei, who had only been stopped once, was taken out in 4 rounds by Tanaka who has now stated that he would like to get a fight with a Japanese ranked for by the end of the year and appears to be set on being fast tracked. Another of the supporting bouts here saw Ryo Kosaka (9-3-1, 4) take a slightly surprising victory over former Japanese title challenger Satoshi Niwa (16-19-3, 2). The loss for Niwa was his 4th in 5 bouts and seems to spell the end to his title dreams whilst the win for Kosaka was, by far, the best of his career thus far. A supporting bout that went the way we expected saw Takayuki Okumoto (14-6-2, 6) claim a 7th round technical decision win over Yuta Saito (7-6-2, 6). The bout was more competitive than the records of the two men may suggest but neither of these two will be going far. A remaining 8 rounder saw Takahiro Murai (10-6-2, 4) take a 5th round retirement victory over Tomonori Ota (6-6, 4). In the show's sole 6 rounder fans saw Kenta Matsui (6-3, 1) take a decision over Michitaka Muto (4-2-1). The undercard here feature a trio of low level bouts. The shortest of these saw Naotoshi Nakatani (5-0, 4) score an opening round victory over Thailand's Noppakao Sankarong (0-2). Another Japan Vs Thailand bout saw Genki Maeda (1-0, 1) take a 2nd round TKO against Paengchai Soonkilabangmod (0-1). The other under-card bout he also failed to go the distance as Tomoaki Matsumura (3-0, 2) claimed a technical decision win over Tesu Kanayama (2-2). Osaka, Japan A third show in Osaka came from the Sumiyoshi Ward Center where there were several notable fighters in action, ranging from a very exciting Middleweight prospect to a former OPBF title holder. In the main event fans saw Middleweight hopeful Koki Tyson Maebara (8-1-1, 8) score his best win to date as he stopped former Japanese Middleweight champion Sanosuke Sasaki (11-4, 5) in the 7th round. This was a big step up in class for Maebara though it does seem like there is still a long way to go before he'll be ready for a shot at OPBF/Japanese champion Akio Shibata. Another interesting prospect on this card was Cyborg Nawatedani (9-2-2, 4) who recorded his 6th straight win with a 6th round TKO against Hiroki Taniguchi (6-6-1, 2). After starting his career 1-2-1 Nawatedani has improved markedly and the 26 year old is showing signs of becoming a domesic contender in the coming years. Another domestic hopeful in action was Yuki Strong Kobayashi (9-4, 5) who took a 5th round TKO win against Hikaru Matsuoka (8-2-3, 1). This was a much needed win for Kobayashi following a loss in December to Satoshi Niwa. As for Matsuoka this was a surprising defeat that brought an end to a 7 fight undefeated run. Another really notable bout on this card saw former OPBF Super Featherweight champion Masao Nakamura (19-3, 19) end a 2-fight losing streak as he blew away Patomsak Sithsaithong (2-1). Nakamura, also known as the “KO King”, really needed a win here to and although it was a mismatch it was the sort of confidence building victory that will do him the world of good. In a 6 rounder fans saw Masashi Wakita (5-3-1, 2) take a very narrow decision over Shachihoko Dragons Keita (4-4-1, 1). On the under-card fans saw the unbeaten Kaminoko Okamura Kentokid (4-0-3, 2) take a 4 round decision over Shoji Nakamura (1-1-1, 1) and Ryusei Kitamura (3-1, 1) take a shut out decision win over Naoya Hamaguchi (4-3-1, 1). Fukuoka, Japan A final Japanese show took place at the Kokura Kita Gym and featured 7 bouts, most of which were low level contests. The main event saw Yoshihiko Matsuo (18-5-6, 3) claim a narrow decision win over Tatsuya Miyamoto (11-13-1, 7) in what was a very competitive match up between two men with huge different records. Although the records of these two are different the two men are well matched and actually fought to a draw last year. In the chief support bout, a 6 rounder, fans saw Sho Yamamoto (5-5-1, 2) narrowly over-come Yuta Nakashima (7-8, 2) with a majority decision. Although neither of these bouts were “big” the fact they were both competitive suggests that the match maker deserves a real pat on the back. On the under-card we had 5 bouts all scheduled for 4 rounds. From those 5 bouts we again had a very close one as Yoshiki Tatsukami (1-1) claimed his first win with a very thin decision win over Sho Sakota (0-1). Tatsukami's win was one of two decision on the under-card with the other being a shut out win for Kaito Akiyoshi (1-0) who over-came fellow debutant Ryuji Takada (0-1). In another all debutant contest Kenta Komatsu (1-0, 1) scored a 4th round stoppage against Yu Shoko (0-1). The other bouts both ended in the opening round. One of those saw female fighter Sana Hazuki (2-0, 1) blow away Arisa Iwanaga (0-1) in 100 seconds whilst the other saw the debuting Shuma Nakazato (1-0, 1) take out Takanari Hamamura (2-5, 2). Davao Del Norte, Philippines As well as the 4 shows in Japan there was also action in the Philippines with an MP promoted card. In the main event here fans saw the unbeaten Jayar Inson (8-0, 5) continue his winning run as he scored a 4th round KO of the limited Elmer Legaria (13-9, 4). Although this looked like a mismatch on paper it was a significant step up for the 24 year old Inson who now seems ready to be matched with progressively more testing foes. As for Legaria, this was his 7th stoppage loss in 9 defeats. In one of the chief support bouts fans saw Ryan Lumacad (8-0-1, 4) over-come Dondon Navarez (12-20-6, 3) with a 10 round decision. This was Lumacad's first 10 round bout and although he was up against a limited foe the experience will do him the world of good. Unfortunately however it's hard to know how good Lumacad is given his competition so far. Another of the support bouts saw the highly touted Harmonito Dela Torre (15-0, 10) demolish the horribly over-matched William George (10-22, 3) in just 138 seconds. This was a stay busy fight for Dela Torre, who hadn't fought since last September, but the bout was a meaningless one for the exciting youngster who has now stopped his last 5 foes. The sole 6 rounder on this card saw Rene Mark Cuarto (4-1, 2) score a 2nd round win over Brobro Languido (5-17-2, 1). On the under-card there was 4 bouts with 3 of those going the distance. One of those saw the debuting Daniel Lim (1-0) over-come fellow debutant Eljun Salva (0-1), another debutant picking up a win here was Jhon Rex Ginang (1-0) who defeated the win-less Jayson Sanchez (0-4). It wasn't all good for debutants however as Ronnie Baldonado (2-0, 1) defeated Rolly Bersabal (0-1) with a decision and Guida Vera (0-1) was blasted out in a round by Jose Aballe (2-1, 1). (Image courtesy of www.boxingnews.jp) This past Monday was an incredibly busy day though unfortunately we were very slow to receive the results for the day, hence why we're only able to put them up now, almost 48 hours after the bouts. Thankfully in the interim we have managed to get together some video's from some of the bouts, so we guess it wasn't all bad. IMP Hall, Osaka, Japan One of two Osaka shows came from the IMP Hall and was probably the most notable of the 4 Asian cards. The show wasn't big by any means but did feature but some interesting bouts and a very notable pro-test bout. The first of the pro-tests saw Juiki Tatsuyoshi, the second son of the legendary Joichiuro Tatsuyoshi, qualify for the C license with the intention for him to make his debut next year in a rookie style match up. Unlike his father he's not got a deep amateur pedigree but is said to possess genuine power, something his father also had. The main event on this card saw saw former OPBF Flyweight title challenger Myung Ho Lee (17-4-1, 5) struggle past Takashi Omae (12-4-5, 1) with a very competitive unanimous decision. Omae put up a great fight but was narrowly beaten by the more experienced Lee. One of the chief support bouts saw the heavy handed and unbeaten Ryuto Kyoguchi (13-0-1, 9) take a 7th round technical decision against Shohei Fujimoto (9-4-3, 8). Prior to the finish Kyoguchi was comfortably in the lead on two cards whilst the third had the bout close, he had however scored a knockdown early in the bout and seemed to be able to cope with Fujimoto's determined effort to upset the unbeaten man. For us the most interesting bout on this card was the contest involving the much touted Sho Nakazawa (5-0, 4) who stepped up brilliantly to over-come former OPBF Super Bantamweight challenger Jhunriel Ramonal (14-8-4, 7). Ramonal lasted the 8 round distance with Nakazawa though failed to win a round in what was a genuinely impressive performance by the Japanese youngster who we suspect will move into the title mix in 2015. Prior to this bout Nakazawa looked like he was very flawed though this performance was a much more mature and complete one that we had expected and we now suspect that he is as talented as the hype suggests. This card consisted of 3 undercard as well as the main trio of bouts. The first of those saw the unbeaten Kyosuke Tsutsumimoto (2-0, 2) stopping Tetsuya Kudo (3-4, 2) in the third round. Another of the under-card contests saw Kei Fujita (3-2, 1) take a very close decision over Kenji Khisa (2-2, 1) in a bout that was really close on all 3 cards which read 39-38, all in favour of Fujita. The third under-card bout was an all debutant clash that saw Ryo Inagaki (1-0, 1) stopping Yoshihisa Tanabe (0-1) at the very end of the first round, despite both of these guys being debutants were impressed by both. Sumiyoshi Ward Center, Osaka, Japan The other show in Osaka came from the Sumiyoshi Ward Center and also featured a notable pro-test bout as well as 4 interesting main bouts. The pro-test fighter here was 17 year old Hinata Maruta, a man who some in Japan are tipping as a future world champion despite his age and his pre-debut status. Maruta was very impressive in his test bout and has received a B class license and it seems that his intention is to have a US based training camp next year before debuting in the fall against a world ranked foe. Yes Maruta want's to debut against an opponent with a world ranking, it's fair to say he's ambitious, young, talented and going to be very fun to follow. As for the actual bouts on this show the most notable was a Middleweight bout between #6 ranked Japanese Middleweight Koki Tyson Maebara (7-1-1, 7) and WBC Youth Light Middleweight champion Petchsuriya Singwancha (12-9, 6). Petchsuriya, a talented Thai who has been in great form recently, was no match for Maebara who was far too big and too strong for the Thai who was dwarfed in comparison to the Japanese fighter who announced that he will be targeting a Japanese title fight in 2015. As well as the Maebara bout there were 3 other notable contests. The most interesting of those saw the heavy handed Jumbo Oda Nobunaga Shoten Petagine (9-2, 7) avenge his most recent loss as he out pointed Shohei Kanemoto (9-9-1, 3) and even the score for a loss in April to Kanemoto. A second bout that went the distance saw Cyborg Nawatedani (8-2-2, 3) take a hard fought and well earned decision over Shunji Nagata (10-12-2, 3). The most exciting of the main bouts to watch saw Yuta Uetani (16-5-1, 7) pull himself off the canvas to stop the usually tough Marjohn Yap (19-12, 10) in the 5th round of a back and forth bout. Uetani was down earlier though recovered well to drop Yap who looked unsteady when he recovered his feet and it forced the referee to stop the bout. On the lower part of the card fans saw two draws from the 5 undercard bouts. One of those draws saw the unbeaten Kaminoko Okamura Kentokid (3-0-3, 2) fight to a split draw with Takuya Sugiyama (3-3-1) whilst the other saw Hiroaki Iwakura (2-1-1, 2) fight to a draw with Ryota Shimizu (3-6-1, 1), both the draw were split decision draws. As well as the draws there 3 other undercard results. One of those went the distance and saw Tadao Iwaya (1-2) record his first win as he out-pointed the still win-less Shinchi Yokozato (0-4). The other two both ended in stoppages with Daiki Miyayama (3-2-1, 2) scoring an opening round victory over Yosuke Taniguchi (2-3) whilst it took 3 rounds for Takuya Olivia Hase (2-0-1, 1) to defeat the debuting Shigi Hosokawa (0-1). Industrial Hall, Gifu, Japan A third show in Japan was held in Gifu where the promising Genki Hanai (3-0, 2) battled against Filipino foe Crison Omayao (16-9-2, 4). Omayao, a man familiar to Japanese following losses to super prospects Naoya Inoue and Kosei Tanaka, surprisingly managed to see out the 8 rounds with Hanai and actually took a few points from Hanai who in some ways showed he was a full level behind his much touted compatriots. The main event here was the only standout bout on the show and was supported by 7 relatively uninspiring undercard bouts including a trio of 6 rounders. One of those saw Yujiro Nakamura (5-8-1, 2) taking a fifth round technical decision over Takayuki Morimoto (5-10, 3). The other 6 rounders both went the distance as Reiko Sugiyama (4-4-3, 2) out pointed Masami Moriizumi (5-5-1, 4) and Shota Okuda (5-2, 2) over-came Hajima Ikeda (4-5). In the 4 rounders on this card Kazuyoshi Toguri (4-6) out pointed Keita Sakai (1-1, 1) in a competitive contest, Yoshiaki Inoue (1-4-1) claimed his first win with a very close decision over Kenta Yokoe (3-9-1, 1), the previously win-less Kazunori Takai (1-0-1, 1) claimed a second round stoppage against Genki Inoue (1-4-1, 1) and the previously win-less Yusuke Kubota (1-2, 1) took a second round KO win over the debuting Takumi Koroki (0-1). Bukidnon, Philippines In the Philippines we got the results for one bout as Anthony Sabalde (9-4, 4) defeated Bonnie Makiling (5-8, 4) with a 10 round decision victory. (Image, of Maebara looking over a fallen Petchsuriya, courtesy of boxingnews.jp) |
Archives
October 2015
Categories
All
|