The weekend is just around the corner but we've already seen several notable fights on a Thursday that was packed with fighters worth giving plenty of attention to. In fact in Japan there was 3 national title bouts whilst in the US fans had the chance to see a former world title challenger continue his ascent back to the top.

Tokyo, Japan
In the Japan the card began with a pair of intriguing non-title bouts before a trio of bouts for belts. Although it's fair to say it was the title action that got the attention the under-card was certainly not something that could have been ignored.

One of the under-card bouts saw recent Japanese Flyweight title challenger Yusuke Sakashita (13-5-2, 8) score a 6th round TKO against the tough but very limited Yasuhiro Sakurai (7-19). Sakashita, who was last seen being stopped by Suguru Muranaka, was too good for Sakurai and it showed here in what was, essentially, a comeback fight for Sakashita.

The other under-card bout saw former Japanese Featherweight title contender Yuki Ogata (21-1-1, 3) take a clear decision win over Kentaro Yamada (8-6-1, 6). Ogata had narrowly beaten Yamada last year with a split decision last year but this time he was a clear winner with no doubting the result.

The first of the title bouts saw Yukinori Oguni (14-1-1, 4) successfully retain his Japanese Super Bantamweight title with a 10 majority draw against Gakuya Furuhashi (17-5-1, 7). This was Oguni's first defense since winning the belt late last year with a narrow decision victory against Yasutaka Ishimoto and although it's a successful defense it's clear Oguni is a long way from being ready to move up a level. For Furuhashi it's clear that he'll feel he deserves a rematch even if he's not likely to get one any time soon.

The second title bout saw Kota Tokunaga (15-2, 10) claim the biggest win of his career as he stopped Yuya Sugizaki (20-10-1, 6) in the 8th round of their bout and claimed the Japanese Lightweight title. Toklunaga was narrowly behind at the half way mark but turned the screw from round 6 and eventually forced the referee to save Sugizaki. Impressive for Tokunaga's gym, WOZ Boxing, this is their second title win in the space of a few weeks following Shohei Omori's excellent victory over Kentaro Masuda for the Japanese Bantamweight title. Notably this title was vacated by Yoshitaka Kato, a stable mate of Sugizaki's.

In the main event fans saw Japanese Heavyweight champion Kyotaro Fujimoto (12-1, 6) narrowly retain his title with a split decision win over Nobuhiro Ishida (27-11-2, 11). This bout was nip and tuck through out and whilst it wasn't a classic it was compelling with neither man really knowing if they'd done enough to deserve the win and title. Sadly following the bout it's been revealed that Ishida is now likely to retire from the sport and wave good bye to what has been a genuinely memorable career.

California, USA
In the US fans saw the popular and exciting Mercito Gesta (28-1-2, 16) fight to a split decision draw with Carlos Molina (17-2-2, 7) in a solid fight that was genuinely entertaining. Going in Gesta did look under-sized and, especially early on, seemed to struggle but he found his range and rhythm in the middle rounds to get a well deserved draw. The only issue with the bout was the appalling 98-92 score card in favour of Molina from judge Eddie Hernandez, a genuinely shocking card for such a close and well contested bout.

(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

This past Thursday saw shows in both Japan and the Philippines and there was plenty of notable action.

Tokyo, Japan
The biggest of the two shows came from Tokyo where we had a bit of everything, from prospects looking to emerge through the ranks to veterans looking to win titles and continue their careers.

We'll start with that title bout which saw the 37 year Filipino fighter Dennis Laurente (49-5-5, 30) claim the OPBF Light Middleweight title with a 6th round TKO of Japan's 37 year old Tadashi Yuba (46-10-2, 33). Yuba, a former 5-weight Japanese champion, looked his age here as Laurente stormed inside and broke him up before knocking him down where the referee stopped the bout. For Yuba this could be the end whilst Laurente has become a 2-weight OPBF champion winning this belt 13 years after winning the OPBF Lightweight title.

In a Heavyweight clash fans saw Japanese champion Kyotaro Fujimoto (11-1, 6) widely out point Frenchman David Radeff (5-9-2, 2). Fujimoto did a number on Radeff but couldn't quite finish off the Frenchman who was returning to Japan following a previous loss to Nobuhiro Ishida and it now seems likely that we will see a much talked about rematch between Ishida and Fujimoto.

In a highly competitive contest former Japanese title challenger Kinshiro Usui (22-4, 10) beat form Japanese champion Masaaki Serie (25-8, 10) with a split decision. For Usui it was a great win given he has been out of the ring for over 3 years though unfortunately for Serie t continues his downward spiral which has now seen him losing 3 of his last 4 and retirement does look likely for him given his current down turn.

In an interesting 8 rounder at Flyweight fans saw Yuta Matsuo (7-1-1, 4) take a hard fought decision over Yota Hori (12-3-2, 7). Another 8 rounder at Flyweight saw Katsunori Nagamine (10-0, 6) continue his unbeaten run by clearly defeating Ryuto Oho (6-2-1, 2). The promising Nagamine had been inactive for over a year coming into this bout though still had no problems building on his 9 fight winning streak.

In the opening bout on the show fans saw Yoshia Tome (1-1-1) score his first win as he took a narrow victory over Shunya Saito (0-1-1).

Iloilo, Philippines
In the Philippines got their own show though it was at a much lower level than the card in Japan.

In the main event here fans saw Juren Labordo (14-2, 9) score a 7th round TKO against compatriot Jaymart Toyco (14-7, 10) whilst in the co-feature the unbeaten Arjan Canillas (9-0-2, 7) scored a 3rd round TKO over Roy Sumugat (9-11-1, 3).

In the sole 6 rounder Geo Santisima (4-2, 3) scored an opening round KO against John Rey Melligen (3-3, 2).

On the undercard we saw a trio of fighters remain unbeaten. One of those was Virgel Vitor (2-0, 1) who took a decision over the win-less Jimboy Rosales (0-2), another of those was Melvin Jerusalem (3-0, 2) who stopped the debuting Jomar Ceneta (0-1) in the second round, the other bout saw Gerard Suico (2-0, 2) score an opening round KO over Ronald Ombing (0-1)

(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

Today was a busy day in Asian boxing with several shows and some very notable bouts in what has been a long day.

Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand
Action kicked off with a bout between former foes of Takuma Inoue as Thailand's Fahlan Sakkreerin Jr (24-3-1, 15) battled against Japan's Tatsuya Fukuhara (13-4-5, 4). The men fought to a draw, very fun fight but neither of the men had the power to hurt the other so it was action packed bu lacked real drama. We wouldn't mind seeing a rematch of this one as bother were pretty much at the same level and botu fought to win, though neither should be considering a fight for a world title, at best they regional title level.

Following the under-card bout we then moved on to the day's big bout as IBF Flyweight champion Amnat Ruenroeng (14-0, 5) retained his title with a very narrow split decision win over Puerto Rican puncher McWilliams Arroyo (15-2, 13). The bout was a frustrating one to watch, especially considering how how fun the under-card bout was, though was highly competitive with several momentum shifts in the action. Amnat got off to a solid start before Arroyo came back into the fight and scored a knockdown in round 6, Amnat then bounced back brilliantly to win round 7 before both men struggled through the championship rounds. Ruenroeng was probably lucky to be at home and had he been away from Thailand there is every chance he'd have lost his title, especially considering that the split decision win only saw him winning courtesy of cards that read 115-114 and 114-113 whilst the third judge had the bout 114-113 to Arroyo.

It's fair to say that on the back of Amnat's win he has painted a bulls eye on his back and fighters like Naoya Inoue, Zou Shiming, John Casimero, Takuya Kogawa and Suguru Muranaka will all be eyeing him up as a clear target for a Flyweight world title.

A third bout on this card saw Mike Tawatchai (34-7-1, 21) take an 8 round decision victory over popular Indonesian fighter Rasmanudin (18-6-3, 9). Sadly we've not managed to see this one.

Tokyo, Japan
Soon after the action in Thailand we then got action in Japan at the Korakuen Hall.

The Japanese show kicked off with a 4 rounder that resulted in a draw between Souther Sawada (1-0-1, 1) and Toshiro Tarumi (1-0-1, 1). The draw saw both men retaining their unbeaten records though neither will have been too happy about the result of the bout.

The bulk of the card was bouts scheduled for 8 rounds. These were mostly KO challenge bouts where fighters were to be rewarded for knockout wins by the promoter. Amazingly however the promoter didn't have to pay a single bonus as not one of the 8 round bouts was ended in a conclusive stoppage fashion.

Although none of the 8 rounders saw stoppages 2 of them did fail to go the scheduled distance. One of these saw Daisuke Sakamoto (8-8-2, 4) fight to a 3rd round technical draw with Shiro Saito  (7-4-2, 2) whilst the other bout that failed to reach the final bell saw Yuki Nasu (24-8, 16) take a 7th round technical decision win against Jonathan Ligas (8-6-1, 1).

The other 8 rounders were both competitive. The most competitive of those saw recent Japanese Featherweight title challenger Yuki Ogata (20-1-1, 3) take a split decision over the unheralded Kentaro Yamada (8-5-1, 6). The other bout saw much touted Kenji Kubo (5-2-1, 2) take a narrow decision over Kota Sato (9-6-2, 4), this was the second meeting between these two after fighting to a draw earlier this year.

The Kubo/Sato bout wasn't the only rematch on this show and the main event was also a rematch. This saw Japanese Heavyweight champion Kyotaro Fujimoto (10-1, 6) forcing a stoppage of #1 challenger Kotatsu Takehara (10-10-3, 4). Fujimoto had struggled in his first defence against Takehara late last year though looked like a completely different fighter here as he landed heavy and sharp shots from the off. Takehara was cut over both eyes and eventually saved from further punishment as Fujimoto really showed off his ability in a dominant performance. From what we under-stand this win will likely lead to Fujimoto rematching Nobuhiro Ishida in another defence of his Japanese Heavyweight title.

Minsk, Belarus
In Belarus fans saw the heavy handed Kazakh Bantamweight Zhanat Zhakiyanov (23-1, 16) make very light work of the previously unbeaten Gagi Edisherashvili (7-1, 6). Edisherashvili came into the bout unbeaten but lasted less than a round with Zhakiyanov who claimed the WBC Eurasia Pacific Boxing Council Bantamweight title with this win.

(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

To end the month of April boxing fans all turned their attention to Japan for a show dubbed "Kamikaze 3", a show that seemed to have all the hardcore fans really interest. We'll admit it's odd for fans around the globe to even know about a Japanese domestic card but this one was different.

Tokyo, Japan
When a fighter scores a big win on US TV fans tend to note, fans seem to suddenly care and become interested in a fighter. This was the case when Japanese fighter Nobuhiro Ishida (25-10-2, 10) stopped the previously unbeaten James Kirkland on HBO. Kirkland was hyped a destroyer of men, a Light Middleweight who ruined anything he touched. Ishida made his name stateside by stopping Kirkland inside a round in one of the most shocking results of the last decade.

The fame Ishida had from that result saw him getting big fights with Paul Williams, Dmitry Pirog and Gennady Golovkin. Although he lost all 3 of those bouts American and European fans still had an interest in him and when it was announced he'd be fighting at Heavyweight that interest grew and grew.

Unfortunately for Ishida the interest from around the world didn't help him with the judges and after a very, very good performance he was narrowly outpointed by Japanese Heavyweight champion Kyotaro Fujimoto (9-1, 5), over 8 rounds, in a decision many have suggested was swayed by Fujimoto having a higher domestic profile. Although Ishida lost there have been calls from fans and the media to have a rematch, this time over 10 rounds and with the Heavyweight title at stake, though we have heard that Fujimoto has no interest in that and would rather fight international opponents. We're hoping that, no matter what happens, Ishida gets a chance to fight for the Japanese Heavyweight title. Whether that would be a rematch with Fujimoto or a fight for the vacant title is up for debate but we'd be happy to see either.

Although the Heavyweight bout wasn't a title bout, Fujimoto would have lost the title had he been defeated. There are some suggesting that his title was "protected" so that Japan would have a Heavyweight champion though on this showing the champion really may not be worth having.

Fujimoto wasn't the only reigning champion on the show and another was Lightweight champion Yoshitaka Kato (27-5-1, 7) who also retained his title as he stopped challenger Yuhei Suzuki (14-4, 11). The two men had fought last year to a close decision, this time around however Kato started fast and managed to stoop Suzuki in round 7 as he recorded the 6th defence of his belt.

As well as the two champions the card featured a further 3 bouts.

One of those three contests saw the once hotly tipped Kenji Kubo (4-2-1, 2) in action. Kubo, who beat former world title challenger Nouldy Manakane on debut, has been struggling in recent fights though showed a great attitude to stop Atsushi Hosogai (6-8) in the 7th of a scheduled 8 round bout. 

Both of the others went the distance. The closest saw Yusuke Sakashita (12-4-2, 7) taking a razor thin majority decision over Hideyuki Watanabe (7-6-2, 5) in a fight that could, and perhaps should, have been awarded as a draw. The other saw a genuine upset as journeyman Yasuhiro Sakurai (7-16) managed to out point Seiji Watanabe (5-4-1, 2) over 6 rounds to claim his first win over 4 years.

(Image thanks to boxingnews.jp)