Colorado, USA
There was no action in Asia this past Saturday however we did have a trio of Russian fighters fighting in the US.

Sadly from the trio only one managed to record a win, the unbeaten "Talant" Konstantin Ponomarev (27-0, 13). Ponomarev was battling against the tough and hungry Canadian fighter Steve Claggett (20-3-1, 14) in a very good looking bout that was competitive overall. The busier Ponomarev showed some lovely skills, movement and work rate though at times was so defensively porous that he seemed to get himself into a lot of trouble. It's clear that is the Russian is to become a star, as some suspect he could, then he'll need to tight up defensively, and quick.

Things weren't so good for another man who entered the weekend unbeaten, Aik Shakhnazaryan (15-1, 6). Shakhnazaryan entered the weekend looking like a very promising prospect but was dropped twice by the unheralded Abner Lopez (22-4, 19) who recorded the biggest win of his career with a very good decision win. We hope this loss won't be the last time we see Shakhnazaryan as he does look fun to watch though Lopez deserves all the plaudits he gets and he won us over with his victory.

Another Russian to come up short was Maxim Vlasov (30-2, 15) who was out pointed by the much touted Gilberto Ramirez Sanchez (31-0, 24). Vlasov had limited success early on as "Zurdo" Sanchez battered his ribs though later in the bout Vlasov managed to come on strong and found a home for his right hand. By then however it was too little too later for the Russian.

This past Thursday was a quiet day in Asian boxing though there was still some action of note.

Cotabato del Sur, Philippines
In the Philippines fans had a small show courtesy of SANMAN promotions.

The main event here saw a minor upset as JR Mendoza (10-17, 4) took a decision over the once promising Adam Diu Abdulhamid (3-2, 1). This was Abdullhamid's second loss in 3 bouts and it seems his career us now on the rocks with the hope of him becoming a star now effectively over. Despite that loss it wasn't all bad for prospects on this card with all 3-unbeaten fighters on the card winning their bouts.

One of those unbeaten fighters was Romeo Duno (3-0, 2) who scored a second round KO against the much more experienced Rowel Garcia (6-15-3, 1). Another unbeaten fighter who scored a win inside the distance was Michael Angelo Plania (3-0, 1) who defeated Frejun Dela Cruz (2-4-1) with a 6th round KO.

The one unbeaten prospect that didn't score a stoppage was the heavy handed Raymart Gaballo (6-0, 5) who was taken the distance by the unbeaten but tough Rodel Garde (0-11-1).

Chelyabinsk, Russia
In Russia the unbeaten and highly touted Konstantin Ponomarev (26-0, 13) continued his winning run as he defeated Behzod Nabiev (22-9-1, 16) who was forced to retire due to injury. This was Nabiev's 4th straight loss and 7th loss in his last 8 and it's fair to say that he's no longer the test that he once was.

This past Saturday was a ridiculously busy day with numerous great fights. With so much action it has taken us a while to get our results up, and even now we awaiting results from 2 other cards. Hopefully we'll be able to add those soon.

Osaka, Japan
The first Asian show of the day was in Osaka where we had a female world title double header. 

The most notable of those world title bouts saw WBO Atomweight champion Nao Ikeyama (15-3-1, 4) score the first defence of her title. The 45 year old defending champion managed to out work and out point the younger Masae Akitaya (9-5-2, 3) in what was a stirring effort from the champion and the sort of bout that shows that age isn't a defining factor in how good a fighter is. Ikeyama may have the face of a 45 year old battler but she has the energy reserves of someone half her age and she showed it in scintillating fashion here.

The other world title fight on this same show saw Japan's Kumiko Seeser Ikehara (6-1-1, 3) claim the WBO female Minimumweight title with a split decision win over Filipino foe Gretchen Abaniel (15-6, 6). Although the scorecards were all over Ikehara was the deserving winner and she seemed the stronger fighter through out. Sadly this title was vacant following Mako Yamada's retirement and in fairness to Yamada she would likely have beaten both Ikehara and Abaniel with out any issues, it's just a shame she retired following her excellent victory over Su Yun Hong.

A third notable female bout on this show ended with a little surprise as Tamao Ozawa (7-2, 2) claimed a split decision over Kai Johnson (5-6-3, 2). The records may not suggest this was a surprise but Johnson had come into this bout following stoppage wins over Tomomi Takano, in June, and Ozawa in March. For Ozawa this was revenge for one of her losses and by far her biggest win to date.

Down the card there was another female bout as Aiko Yamagishi (4-0-1, 2) stopped Chie Higano (3-1) in 2 rounds.

The other bout on the bottom of the card saw debutants taking wins as Yusuke Hiranuma (1-0) out pointed Hiroshi Takagi (2-4) over the 4 round distance Shoshi Nakamura (1-0, 1) stopped Terumi Aoi (0-2) part way through round 4.

Jakarta, Indonesia
In Indonesia there was 2 televised bouts, sadly both of them slipped under our radar. The under-card bout saw Marten Kisamlu (3-2, 1) score a 4th round TKO over the frankly hopeless Safwan Lombok (1-26-1). For Lombok this was his 24th successive bout with out a win and you need to go all the way back to 2008 to find his sole win, a split decision over Ichal Tobida.

The main event on this card saw Erick Deztroyer (5-2) claim the interim Indonesian Boxing Association Super Bantamweight title after he won a very close 12 round split decision win against Gusti Elnino (1-5). From the score-cards it appears to have been one of those that could have gone either way though the only thing for sure is that neither of these guys is going to go far, at best they will be used as journeymen in Thailand, the Philippines and Japan.

Arizona, USA
In the US fans were treat to a fantastic performance of counter-puncher from talented Russian prospect Konstantin Ponomarev (25-0, 12) who looked very promising as he out pointed Mexican veteran Cosme Rivera (37-19-3-1, 25). At just 21 years old it does look like Ponomarev may not have natural power needed to progress to the top, though he is still not a fully matured fighter and hopefully that power will come as he becomes a man. With speed, an exciting style and a clear ability there is a lot of hope that Ponomarev will go all the way and we have our fingers tightly crossed that he will manage to become the star that his team expect him to be.

Baja California, Mexico
Last, but not least, was a thriller in Mexico as Terdsak Kokietgym (53-5-1, 33) went toe-to-toe and exchanged multiple knock downs with Mexico's very own Orlando Salido (42-12-2-1, 29). Unfortunately for Terdsak he was on the end of the biggest knockdown that came in round 11 and forced the referee to immediately stop the bout, it was the 7th knockdown of the bout and ended a see-saw battle in style. If you enjoy violence and thrilling action this one is for you, despite a very poor performance from referee Eddie Claudio who was easily the worst thing about the bout.

Cebu, Philippines
In the Philippines there were a number of bouts in Cebu. 

The highest profile fighter in action here was fringe Super Featherweight contender Adones Aguelo (22-10-2, 14) who made light work of the over-matched Bonnie Makiling (5-7, 4). Whilst we wouldn't describe Aguelo as a future world champion he has shown himself as a very competitive fighter with solid performances against some of the best in Mexico such as Sergio Thompson.

In one of the chief support bouts fans saw the unbeaten Ardie Boyose (12-0-1, 8) continue his winning ways with a decision over the incredibly tough Jaime Barcelona (38-56-1, 10). Although Boyose is a big puncher credit needs to go to Barcelona who has managed to go 95 bouts over 17 years with only 5 stoppage losses. Another 8 round decision saw the much touted Neil John Tabanao (9-0, 6) being taken the distance by Jo-as Apericio (11-13,8). For the 20 year old Tabanao this was his second successive decision win and will have helped him develop more than blow away victories.

One stoppage that came in the bouts scheduled for 8 rounds saw the criminally under-rated Gerpaul Valero (18-15-3, 12) stopping the so-so Arlon Batingal (7-9, 4) in 3 rounds. The 23 year old Valero has one of the ultimate "misleading records" and has turned his career around remarkably in the last 4 years, a real battler and credit to hard work, hopefully that hard work will, one day, pay off in a big pay day.

The only other result from this show that we know the result for saw Joey Canoy (7-0-1, 3) retaining his unbeaten record in a battle of unbeaten men as he over-came Ryan Bajala (3-1, 1) with a 6 round decision,.

Castilla-La Mancha, Spain
In Spain there was another Thai in action as the experienced Kiatchai Singwancha (35-12, 24) scored a 4th round KO against the fragile Ivan Martinez (29-5, 23).

(Image courtesy of Thairec.com)

It's not often that we get fights of note around the world but today was one such case with fights in Japan, the Philippines, Russia and Monaco.

Tokyo, Japan
The earliest action of the day was in Tokyo courtesy of a brilliant domestic card that was headlined by a national Light Flyweight title fight.

The aforementioned Japanese title fight saw Yu Kimura (13-2-1, 2) narrowly defeating Kenichi Horikawa (25-13-1, 4) in a split decision. The bout, Horikawa's 3rd national title fight, was one that could easily have gone either way and sadly for Horikawa it went against him just like his previous 2. Although Horikawa lost we'd love to see him getting one more chance, even if it's in a rematch with Kimura, because of how close he has been, not just in this attempt but in prior bouts to Ryuji Hara and Akira Yaegashi.

In the co-feature the well liked Yasutaka Ishimoto (24-6, 7) made light work of Indonesia's Zun Rindam (9-4-1, 4) stopping him early on. After the bout Ishimoto said he wanted to win titles this year and appeared to mention the OPBF title which is currently held by Shingo Wake which is a bout we'd love to see made as a world title eliminator.


Two of the three 8 rounders on the card went the distance with Masanobu Nakazawa (14-1-1, 5) out pointing Kazumasa Kobayashi (8-4-1, 5) the closest of the two bouts whilst Jun Hamana (9-1, 3) beat Kosuke Saka (8-2, 5) in what was, on paper, a very competitive looking contest. The third however was never going to complete the scheduled as Yuichi Yokoyama (13-2, 12) managed to force a retirement of Koichi Ito (9-2-2, 8) in what was, on paper, the least likely bout of the day to go the scheduled distanced.

In the opening bouts, both 4 rounders, Ryuya Kaji (1-0, 1) scored a debut win stopping Koichi Nagatsuka (3-2, 1) mid-way through round 2 whilst Regent Kusumoto (1-0) fought hard to claim a victory over Takahiro Yoneshige (0-1) in an all debutant contest.


Metro Manilla, Philippines
Whilst we'll admit that the Japanese card, above, and the Monaco card, below, were the two that had our interest there was also a notable card in Metro Manila with several title fights and a number of notable fighters.

The biggest fight on this show saw Dennis Laurente (47-5-5, 28) stopping the over-matched Thai Singdet Nonpitayakom (11-16-1, 8) in a successful defense of the WBC Asian Boxing Council Light Middleweight title. The experienced Laurente sent Singdet down for the count with a devastating body shot.

Laurente was one of two men who retained his title asJuan Martin Elorde (15-1-1, 7), the grand son of Flash Elorde, retained his WBO Asia Pacific super Featherweight title courtesy of a disappointing technical draw with Chaiyong Sithsaithong (32-12-4, 24). The bout was unfortunately ended when Elorde was cut on the temple from a clash of heads.

The Elorde/Chaiyong fight wasn't the only one which ended early due to a clash of heads as Randy Braga (12-0-1, 2) also suffered a cut from a clash of heads as he took on Jonel Alibio (16-17-5, 8). As with the Elorde fight this was ended in the second round.

Braga wasn't the only man keeping his unbeaten record on this show as the talented Giemel Magramo (9-0, 6) scored a 3rd round KO over Rey Morano (8-39-1, 1), Jay Loto (7-0) took a hard fought decision over Dexter Dimaculangan (3-4-5, 1), JK Elorde (3-0, 3) stopped the debuting Juanito Paderes (0-1) and Roderick Flores (2-0-1, 1) narrowly kept his 0 with a draw against the win-less CJ De Tomas (0-1-1).

The other bouts on the show saw Diomel Diocos (2-1-2, 2) fighting to a draw with Fidel Cuyno (1-2-2), Robin Langres (1-0) scoring a debut victory over fellow debutant Raul Luba (0-1) and Wilbert Berondo (1-0) also took an all debutant victory over Jomar Manlangit (0-1).

Chelyabinsk, Russia
As well as the shows in Japan and the Philippines we also had a small one in Russia courtesy of Ural Boxing Promotions. The main contest here sa Murat Gassiev (15-0, 9) out pointing teak tough veteran Ismail Abdoul (51-28-2, 19) to claim the vacant IBF East/West Europe Cruiserweight title. Although Gassiev was taken 12 rounds, for the first time in his career, it's unlikely he expected anythign less with Abdoul being one of the toughest men in boxing.

In a Welterweight contest on this show Konstantin Ponomarev (23-0, 11) managed to over come Ramon de la Cruz Sena (16-10-2, 9), who we believe was a late replacement opponent.

The only other bout on this show saw Heavyweight hopeful Murad Khalidov (10-0, 5) take an easy stoppage over the very limited Sedrak Agagulyan (1-27-1) who had previously been stopped 16 times.

Monte Carlo, Monaco
The biggest show of the day in Monaco as we got the excellent "Monte Carlo Boxing Bonanza" and thankfully for us it included a number of fighters of major interest to ourselves.

In the shows first contest we had a bout of interest to us as Russian born-German based Welterweight Roman Belaev (13-0, 10) defeated the gutsy but out classed Dean Byrne (17-3-1, 6) and claimed the WBA Continental Welterweight title. The fight, the biggest of Belaev's career so far, really saw him shining as he beat up and broke down Byrne.

Whilst it was a good win for Belaev, who was impressive and looked very strong from the opening round to the final round, we will admit that there are faults to be picked with his performance. Firstly Belaev's lack of a jab could have been costly against a better opponent than Byrne, secondly he doesn't really seem willing to throw combinations too much and thirdly his understanding of distance is questionable. With those things said however he does look very promising and very entertaining.

Although Belaev was the more impressive man we do need to give a lot of credit to Byrne who proved to be very tough, very game and the fact he lasted the distance was genuinely shocking considering how many hard shots he took.

The second bout on the show was another one of interest to us as Filipino Rey Loreto (18-13, 10) took on South African Nkosinathi Joyi (24-3-0-1, 17) in a battle for the IBO Light Flyweight title and scored one of the biggest upsets of 2014.

The fight started competitively with Loreto showing not fear of the highly regarded Joyi. It seemed obvious that Loreto knew he belonged at this and wasn't there to be intimidated despite the reputation of Joyi who was once regarded as being on the fringes of the pound-for-pound lists. The confidence of Loreto was obvious again in the second round as he landed a number of solid counter punches, including one that seemed to rock Joyi on the bell.

Knowing he had hurt Joyi in round 2 Loreto jumped on his opponent to start round 3 and within a minute of the round he had dropped Joyi hard with one of the best shots he will ever land. Joyi, with his eyes closed, was out for the count and Loreto deservedly celebrated his second major win in a row having beaten Pornsawan Porpramook last time out

The key thing that needs saying about Loreto's win is "what an upset!"

The third bout on the show was a Cruiserweight contest that saw the very highly ranked Ilunga Makabu (16-1, 15) stopping the previously unbeaten Ruben Angel Mino (20-1, 20) in 2 rounds. It wasn't a bout with an Asian interest per se but it was still an interesting result that was worth mentioning, like wise the same could be said of Jarrod Fletcher's (18-1, 10) victory over Max Bursak (29-2-1, 12).

In the main event we saw Gennady Golovkin (29-0, 26) successfully retain his WBA Middleweight title in an entertaining, though thoroughly one sided, bout with Ghana's tough Osumanu Adama (22-4, 16). Golvokin managed to drop Adama in rounds 1, 6 and 7 before the referee finally waved the bout off as Adama's knees buckled.

It wasn't the most impressive performance from Golovkin but it showed what he was about as he methodically broke down and beat up a game and brave opponent. At the end of the day however it was a mismatch with Adama having nothing to bother the Kazakh destroyer who took the challengers best shots and kept coming forward.

We're hoping that Golovkin gets a fight with a big name in the US in April, the rumour seems to be that he'll be facing James Kirkland next though from our view Daniel Geale would make for a much better contest. Whoever he fights it'll be a major day with the boxing world already in love with the man known as "Triple G".