Pungluang stops Akaho, Pagara crushes Rios, Nishida stops Fuchigami in thriller, Ishimoto beats Furuhashi

This past Friday was a hectic day with action in Thailand, Japan, Dubai and Asian fighters fighting in Australia.

Ratchaburi, Thailand
The most significant card of the day was in Thailand where we got the only world title bout of the day.

The show, like many in Thailand, began with a single preliminary bout. This saw WBO Asia Pacific Featherweight champion Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo (56-2, 37) score a 6th round TKO win over Indonesian visitor Boido Simanjuntak (18-29-1, 7). It seemed clear from the opening bell that Chonlatarn was too good for the Indonesian who showed some guts but was eventually ground down in the 6th round. Whilst this was an expected win for the former 2-time world title challenger the result was rather disappointing given that Super Flyweight contender Srisaket Sor Rungvisai stopped Simanjuntak in in just as many rounds a year ago.

The main event was the aforementioned world title bout. The contest was for the WBO Bantamweight title and saw Pungluang Sor Singyu (51-3, 35) become a 2-time champion as he stopped Japan's Ryo Akaho (26-2-2, 18). On paper it looked a really good bout but unfortunately Akaho was never really able to get into it before being stopped in the second round. There were complaints about infringements from Pungluang but it seemed like Akaho had lost the bout before a punch was even thrown. Amazingly this continues the terrible run that Japanese fighters have had in world title fights in Thailand.

Another notable name on this card was “Manny Pacquiao Look-a-like” Kwanpichit OnesongchaiGym (32-1-2, 17) who defeated journeyman Thaminkhao Sor Tharnthip (4-14-1, 3) by stoppage early in their bout. Kwanpichit, who lost to Zou Shiming last year, is now 5-0 (5) since his loss to the Chinese star.

The undercard here featured two prospects. One of those was Saentanong Onesongchaigym (7-0, 3) who continued his perfect start by over-coming Teeradech Sor Praithong (0-1). On paper Saentanong looks like a genuine prospect but sadly digging below the numbers shows that all 7 recorded bouts have come against debutants. The other prospect was Thewa Onesongchaigym (10-2, 5) who scored a stoppage win against Saksiam Or Sompote (0-1). Although Thewa has a couple of losses on his record he is on a 5 fight winning run and has seemingly put back-to-back defeats to Xian Wei Qian well behind him.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Whilst the most significant single bout was in Thailand it's fair to say that some of the most notable fighters were actually in Dubai as part of an ALA promotions show.

The main event of the evening saw the fast rising Albert Pagara (24-0, 17) make very light work of Mexico's Jesus Rios (31-8-1, 25). Rios, who had failed to make weight for the bout, had talked a good fight in the build up but lasted less than a round with the talented Pagara who really does look like one of the sports top prospects.

Albert wasn't the only Pagara in action as older brother Jason Pagara (36-2, 22) managed to take a technical decision win against Ramiro Alcaraz (15-5-1, 9). Pagara, who is world ranked at 140lbs by the WBO, really isn't up to the same level as his younger brother though will likely more attention when ALA make their promotional debut in the US.

A third main bout on this card resulted in an 8 round decision win for veteran Jimrex Jaca (40-8-4, 22) who out pointed Pablo Lugo Montiel (21-6, 17) in a relatively competitive bout.

This card also had 4 bouts on the under-card. One of those saw Larry Abarra (4-3-1, 3) score a stoppage against the fragile Tony Arema (3-7-1), who has now been stopped in 5 of his losses. Another stoppage on this card saw the promising Deo Krizito (2-0, 1) take out Thailand's Fapetch Manopchaigym (1-1). The only other stoppage on this undercard saw the debuting Lasisi Bamidel (1-0, 1) defeat Singnoi Simanasak (1-2).

In a bout that went the distance Muhammad Akram (4-0-1, 1) out pointed Nicholas Mwangi (0-1).

Tokyo, Japan
The Thai show was probably the one with the highest profile single bout and the show in Dubai was probably the strongest in terms of over-all name appeal. It was however a show in Japan that left a lasing impression, despite it being a flop for the promoter who saw only one of their 7 fighters pick up a win.

The one fighter to win from the promoter who put the show on was Hikaru Nishida (13-8-1, 5) who stopped former world title challenger Makoto Fuchigami (21-11, 12) in the 5th round of their bout. The contest was a rematch of their 2014 bout, which saw Nishida claim a narrow win. For 3 rounds it seemed like Fuchigami was going to avenge his loss as he boxed beautifully against a strong and determined, but basic, Naishida. In round 4 however Nishida began to turn the tide before forcing the referee to save Fuchigami in round 5, ending what was a Round of the Year contender.

The Nishida/Fushigami rematch was the co-main bout along with a brilliant Super Bantamweight bout between Yasutaka Ishimoto (26-8, 7) and Gakuya Furuhashi (17-6-1, 7). Whilst the the other main bout was a 5 round round war this one was a tactically sharp, high octane boxing contest with both men throwing a lot of leather in a brilliant, competitive and genuinely enthralling contest. The result was a close win for Ishimoto, who took the decision despite being deducted a point for holding in the penultimate round.

The two main bouts were both streamed on a ustream channel along with one of the under-card bouts. That under-card bout saw the much talked about Kohei Kashino (2-1, 1) suffer his first defeat at the hands of the under-rated Hizuki Saso (5-1, 1). Saso took over this bout in round 3 before stopping a tired Kashino in the 4th round of their Rookie of the Year bout.

Another much talked about fighter being stopped here was Riyako Goshi (3-4) who was stopped in round 3 by Chie Higano (4-3, 1). Goshi has been popular due to her out of the ring activities and her unusual ring outfits but the attention she got was massively more than her talent deserved.

Kashino wasn't the only fighter to lose his unbeaten record here as stablemate Yui Oikawa (2-1) also suffered his first defeat. Oikawa was relatively unfortunate to lose a very close majority decision to Sho Nagata (5-1, 2), who advanced to the next round in the Rookie of the Year.

Another bout with novices saw teenager Taiju Shitatori (2-0, 1) out point Ryo Nakano (1-3) whilst a 6 rounder saw Masayuki Ichikawa (6-2, 2) take a wide decision win over Masayuki Sakurai (3-9-2).

Victoria, Australia
In Australia we saw two title bouts featuring Asian fighters.

The more significant of those two bouts saw Czar Amonsot (29-3-3, 17) retain his PABA Light Welterweight title as he took a 4th round technical decision win over Rusmin Kie Raha (14-8-2, 3). Amonsot, a Filipino based in Australia, managed to add the lightly regarded WBA Pan African title to his collection, though we do wonder how a Filipino and an Indonesian qualify to fight for an African belt.

The other bout saw another Australian based Filipino in action, sadly however Roberto Lerio (16-22-1, 6) couldn't match the result of Amonsot. Instead Lerio was on the end of a clear decision loss to the unbeaten Ibrahim Balla (8-0, 5), who claimed the Australian Super Bantamweight title with this win.

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