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)
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This past Sunday was an incredibly busy day in Asia with a trio of Japanese cards as well as a show in the Philippines, which combined to give a very long list of bouts Hyogo, Japan For many fans there was one key show in Japan this Sunday, and that was the emotionally charged Taisei promoted card from Hyogo. The show, a memorial show dedicated to the tragic Kaito Hattori, had everything from celebration to tears and will live long in the memory for the fighters and fans. The headline bout saw 17 year old Riku Kano (6-1-1, 4) make his Japanese debut and force a 3rd round KO against Indonesian visitor Marihot Hutajulu (1-3). Kano, who has admitted he has eyes on becoming Japan's youngest ever world champion, was impressive but will need to step up significantly in his coming bouts. Kano was Kaito Hattori's best friend and although it was an emotional day for Kano it was even more emotional for Rikito Hattori (3-0, 1), Kaito's older brother, who broke down in tears following his decision victory over Yolen Arema (0-1-1). Hattori claimed a clear 4 round decision win but the emotions were too much for the 20 year old to get through. In an 8 rounder on this card Seizo Kono (15-7-1, 10) scored a surprisingly quick win over the once touted Hikaru Matsuoka (8-3-3, 1). Kono won't have expected to take out Matsuoka in just 144 seconds but that's exactly what he did in one of two scheduled 8 round bouts. The other 8 rounder saw Hiroshi Konoura (7-4, 1) take a split decision win over Hiroki Taniguchi (6-7-1, 2) in the most holy contested bout of the show. Whilst Kono will have been pleased at the speed of his win over Matsuoka he was actually only the second quickest winner of the day as Tesu Kanayama (4-2, 1) blew away Yuji Itani (4-2, 4) in just 1 minute of a scheduled 6 rounder. This was Kanayama's first stoppage win and will go down as a surprise. Another stoppage in a scheduled 6 rounder saw Juan Castillo Inami (8-3, 4) force a 4th round retirement of Kenji Ogiso (11-11-2, 8). The only other 6 rounder saw Mark John Yap (21-12, 10) over-come former world challenger Juan Jose Landaeta (26-8-1, 20). Landaeta, best known in Japan for his bouts with Koki Kameda, was dropped and clearly beaten by Yap who scored on of the most notable wins of his career. In 4 round action fans saw Kento Haraguchi (1-0) out pointed Kazuhiro Hirahara (1-7, 1) whilst Shosui Kitajima (2-3, 2) scored a 3rd round TKO against Tetsuya Kawabata (3-8-1, 1). Kanagawa, Japan In Kanagawa fans had a lower profile, yet still notable, show courtesy of Piston Horiguchi Promotions. The card was headlines by a pair of 8 round bouts. One of those was incredibly competitive with Yuto Saito (8-6-2, 6) taking a razor thin win over Keita Nakano (13-10-3, 4). There really wasn't much at all between these two come the final bell and neither should feel disappointed in their performance, though a rematch would be very interesting. The other 8 rounder saw the promising Shoma Fukumoto (7-1, 6) score a 4th round TKO against Kazuaki Irisawa (8-7, 5). Prior to the stoppage Irisawa was left a bloodied mess, a result of Fukumoto's heavy and accurate shots which really did take their toll. A competitive female bout saw Emika Himuro (5-1-1, 1) take a split decision win over the under-rated Kai Johnson (5-8-3, 2). The rest of this card was 4-rounders. The most of those saw Shota Irie (2-2, 1) take a majority decision against Mineharu Sakaguchi (1-5-3) in a very well matched contest. Amazingly the other 4 rounders all finished earlier. The quickest of those saw Yoshikazu Furukawa (2-1, 2) take an opening round KO against Takahiro Yoneshige (2-3, 1), in a bout that lasted just 72 seconds. It didn't take Seiryu Toshikawa (2-2, 2) too long to record his second win as he stopped Yutaka Horikoshi (4-4-2, 1) at the end of the 2nd round. The remaining stoppages both came in the final round. The quickest of those saw Takuya Muto (2-2, 2) stop Hiroyuki Yago (2-2) after 40 seconds of round 4 though it didn't take debutant Kazuki Sugano (1-0, 1) too much longer for him to defeat Akira Onishi (1-3). Yamaguchi, Japan Another low profile Japanese card was in Yamaguchi where Kanmon Japan put on a very low level card. The main event here saw Accel Sumiyoshi (5-4-1, 1) take a clear win over Filipino (14-10-3, 9). This as a rematch of a bout the two men had last year, which resulted in an 8 round split decision draw. Sumiyoshi, who was last seen losing in an OPBF title fight to Masayoshi Nakatani, showed improvements from the first bout between between himself and Doronio but it's clear that his potential is relatively capped. In the chief support bout Jump Ikeo (4-1-2, 3) stopped Takuya Taniguchi (4-6-2, 1) in the 2nd of a scheduled 6 rounds. The rest of this card, 5 bouts in total, was all scheduled for 4 rounds a piece. Amazingly only one of those 5 bouts failed to go the distance, and that was due to Shuma Nakazato (2-0, 2) who stopped Fever Maki (4-3-1, 2) in the third round. The 4 rounders here were typically well matched. This resulted in a couple of draws. One of those saw Fine Arai (3-1-1, 1) fighting to a majority draw with Hikaru Kawae (1-0-1, 1) whilst another saw Change Hamashima (3-0-1) fighting to a split draw with fellow unbeaten Kotaro Ishibashi (3-0-2, 3). We almost got another draw as Hironori Mitake (5-3, 1) only just squeezed a win against Yuya Kondo (2-2, 1). Even the “clear” win on this under-card was close with Chance Mochizuki (1-0) claiming a razor thin decision against Ryoyo Ikema (4-2, 4). Cotabato del Sur, Philippines As well as all the Japanese action there was also an interesting looking Filipino show with a mouth watering main event and an undercard of very promising young prospects. The main event saw a genuine upset as Kenny Demecillo (9-3-1, 6) stopped Daryl Basadre (14-2-1, 10) in the 2nd round of their scheduled 10 round bout. Basadre, who had only been beaten by Suriyan Sor Rungvisai prior to this bout, did claim the stoppage was unfair with the referee stopping the bout when he shouldn't have. From what we've been told about the bout it would apparently make a lot of sense for an immediate rematch. In the chief supporting bout the talented Harmonito Dela Torre (16-0, 11) continued his great run of form as he stopped Eusebio Baluarte (19-12, 12) in the 4th round. We're hoping to see Dela Torre move beyond this type of fight soon as he has the talent to go a very long way. In 8 round action fans saw Michael Angelo Plania (6-0, 3) score his best win to date, as he defeated Philip Parcon (26-21-3, 8) via decision and, in arguably the best matched bout of the card, Rimar Metuda (7-0, 3) also out pointed Jerry Castroverde (5-1, 3). The most one sided of the 8 round bouts saw yet another unbeaten man continue on the winning road, as Markquil Salvana (7-0, 2) stopped Roger Echavez (7-15-1, 4) in the 4th round. Another unbeaten fighter to remain unbeaten was Raymart Gaballo (9-0, 7), who stopped Rocky Alvarez (2-5, 1) in the 2nd round of their bout. On the lower part of the card fans saw Jonathan Francisco (7-4, 2) take a 6 round decision win over Raymond Dayham (6-4, 5), the wonderfully named Joy Joy Formentera (6-1, 4) took a 2nd round KO against the experienced Allan Doronilla (9-14-1, 3), the previously win-less Joey Antonio (1-1) managed to upset Gerald Barcenas (1-1) and the “win some lose some” Junny Salogaol (8-7-4, 8) recorded a 3rd round KO over the very poor Armando Yee (2-8-3, 1) (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp) |
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