This post Saturday was a hectic one for Asian fight fans who seemed to have action everywhere they looked.

Tokyo, Japan
For Asian fight fans the most notable show of the day was in Tokyo where two former world champions were in action.

The most notable of those former world champions was former WBC Flyweight champion Toshiyuki Igarashi (21-2-1, 11) who took a very hard earned win over talented Filipino Renerio Arizala (12-2-1, 5). Igarashi was forced to work incredibly hard for this win, despite the fact Arizala took on the bout on just 3 weeks notice. Sadly for Igarashi the win seemed to prove that he was miles away from being at world level as a Super Flyweight and it seems clear he shouldn't be looking at a world title bout any time soon.

The other former world champion was former WBA Super Bantamweight champion Akifumi Shimoda (29-4-2, 12) who out pointed former Japanese Featherweight title challenger Gosuke Seki (16-2-2, 3). For Shimoda this was his first fight in 16 months, following his spectacular KO loss to Marvin Sonsona, and whilst it was a win it's hard to imagine him ever mixing at the top level again.

In the chief supporting bout fans saw the heavy handed Kenichi Ogawa (15-1, 13) score a 6th round KO against Raymond Sermona (17-6-5, 8). Sadly for Sermona this was a second successive stoppage loss and it's hard to see where he goes. As for Ogawa he's now in the mix for a domestic title fight at Super Featherweight.

Another big puncher in action was Yuichi Yokoyama (15-3, 13) who was surprisingly taken the 8 round distance by Genki Horiuchi (5-2-3, 3). Another 8 round bout saw Musashi Suzuki (11-3, 4) take a technical decision over Hideyuki Watanabe (8-7-3, 6), in a bout that was taken the the cards in the 7th round.

On the under-card the unbeaten Teppei Kayanuma (4-0, 2) extended his winning record with a decision win over Kanehiro Nakagawa (2-2, 2) whilst the hard hitting Masato Niikima (3-0, 3) continued his perfect start with a 3rd round KO against Fumihiro Ijima (4-3).

Surabaya, Indonesia
In Indonesia fans had a treat as two of the best local fighters were in action.

Of the two notable Indonesian fighters in action it was Daud Yordan (34-3-0-1, 24) who stood out as he took a very hard earned victory over the tough Maxwell Awuku (40-3-1, 26). Yordan, a former world title challenger, was pushed all the way by his foe from Ghana but a did just enough to convince the judges hat he deserved the decision. With the win Yordan claimed the WBO Africa Lightweight title, some how, and added that belt to his WBO interim Asia Pacific Lightweight belt.

The other Indonesian in action was the heavy handed Defry Palulu (12-1, 11) who easily saw off Kaenpetch Manonprungroj (4-4, 2) in the 3rd round. This was Kaenpetch's third stoppage loss and his third straight defeat.

Cebu, Philippines
In Cebu fans saw the unbeaten Arjan Canillas (11-0-2, 9) continue his unbeaten run as he scored a 5th round KO against former world title challenger Balweg Bangoyan (19-10, 8). Sadly for Bangoyan he is a long way removed from the fighter who once challenged Toshiaki Nishioka for the WBC Super Bantamweight title.

Macao, Macao
Fight fans in the growing Asian hub of Macau also got a show. This wasn't as big or as interesting as the Bob Arum shows in the area but did feature some title action and some interesting fighters.

In the only 12 round bout fans saw Filipino hopeful Michael Enriquez (11-3-1, 7) score a 5th round TKO against Indonesian Oscar Raknafa (12-10, 5), who's career has totally fallen apart since his loss to Heri Amol back in July 2013. This was Enriquez's first bout since he was involved in a war with Rex Tso earlier this year and it's fair to say that he's going to be a fun fighter to follow.

In a bout at Super Middleweight fans saw China's Liu Yu (0-2) fail to claim the IBF Youth title as he was stopped in the 9th round by Andrey Kalyuzhnyy (8-1, 6). We're not sure how the IBF sanctioned Yu to fight for the belt considering his record.

Another title bout saw Filipino veteran Jujeath Nagaowa (13-15-1, 8) claim the WIBA International Light Flyweight title with a decision over Luo Yu Jie (3-7, 1).

In an interesting 6 rounder Estoni Autida (8-3, 3) took a decision over Wang Xinghua (11-11-1). Technically this bout was a “majority” decision but with two judges scoring it 59-55 to Autida it's hard to believe this was really a close bout.

In an all debutant bout Wang Jian Zheng (1-0, 1) took a 5th round TKO win against Sagidolla Muhamethali (0-1), in a bout scheduled for 6. Another all debutant match up saw Ye Rong Cheng (1-0) take a well fought 4 round decision against Anthony Waldon (0-1). One other debutant who picked up a loss was Li Le Shan (0-1) who was narrowly out pointed by Gabriel Royo (11-12-2, 8).

Gauteng, South Africa
South African fans got one of the highlights of the weekend as Kazakh prospect Roman Zhailauov (15-0, 9) scored a highlight reel KO against Luyanda Jako (9-10-2, 4). Zhailauov is tipped by some as the future of Kazakh boxing and his KO here showed just how under-rated his power is. Frightening KO and a genuine highlight of he weekend.

California, USA
The most notable Asian fighter in action in the US was former world champion Marvin Sonsona (20-1-1, 15) who narrowly over-came the under-rated Jonathan Arrellano (15-6-2, 3). On paper this looked like a mismatch but Arrellano gave his all and may well feel unlucky not to have had a draw, at the very least.

New York, USA
In New York fans saw Chinese Heavyweight hopeful Zhang Zhilei (4-0, 2) continue his perfect record as he dominated Glenn Thomas (1-4). The scorecards, all of which read 40-33, summed up just how one-sided the bout was. Zhilei, who may have been disappointed not to have scored the stoppage, now needs to take a step up in class rather than wasting time fighting at this level.

Virginia, USA
In Virginia fans saw Uzbek born prospect Zarifbek Nishanbaev (2-0, 2) score his second early victory as he saw off Norman Allen (6-15, 3) in the 3rd round of their bout.


(Image courtesy of boxingews.jp)

A busy Saturday saw fights all over the place with many of them having titles on the line from various levels.

New York, USA
For many fight fans the biggest fight involving an Asian was in the US as Filipino youngster Marvin Sonsona (19-1-1, 15) avenged his sole loss by out pointing Wilfredo Vazquez Jr (23-4-1, 19) in a less than stellar bout that saw holding as much as punching. Sonsona looked the much better fighter and did score a knockdown in the opening round but by the end of the bout it had become to watch with very little real quality landed by either man in the final few rounds. It wasn't a great fight but it was a fight that saw Sonsona expunging his sole loss.

Tokyo, Japan
The only card in Japan was a Teiken promoted show at the Korakuen Hall. The show, a very interesting on on paper, not only featured a title fight in the main even but several other bouts of not with prospects and hopefuls all in action.

The aforementioned main event saw Japanese Light Flyweight champion Yu Kimura (14-2-1, 2) defend his title for the first time as he put on an excellent showing against the much taller Yuki Chinen (14-2, 7). Chinen, who towered over Kimura, looked competitive early on though as the bout went into the second half it was totally taken over by the more skilled Kimura who got the well deserved decision and seemed to really be getting to Chinen in the final rounds.

Whilst Kimura/Chinen was the main event fight it wasn't the only one of major not on the show and the chief support bout was one of the other interesting bouts. This contest saw Kenichi Ogawa (12-1, 10) continue his development as he took out Filipino visitor Gabriel Royo (9-10-2, 8) in 4 rounds. This was the 4th straight victory for Ogawa since his lone defeat and whilst he's not ready to be thinking about fights above the domestic level he is showing real promise and by developing that promise there is every chance he could move on to the OPBF level in the coming years.

Masanobu Nakazawa (15-1-1, 5) taking a well earned decision over the "better than his record indicated" Kosuke Iwashita (14-17-2, 8) in a very good Light Welterweight bout. Ranked #4 in Japan Nakazawa will likely be targeting a national title fight later this year or very early next year. We'd not favour him against the current champion, Hiroki Okada, but he would likely be as competitive with the champion as almost anyone else in the country. 

Another of the support bouts saw the Japanese ranked Hiroyuki Otsuka (7-2, 6) stop Thai visitor Thaminkhao Sor Tharnthip (3-10-1, 2) in just 2 rounds. This was a mismatch though one that we can't complain about following very close back-to-back defeats for Otsuka who likely needed a confident boosting win.

The only other bout scheduled for 8 went the distance as Junki Sasaki (12-2, 5) took a clear decision over the tough but limited Kohei Maruoka (7-7-1, 1) who has suffered just a sole stoppage defeat.

On the undercard we had 2 Rookie bouts as Takunari Yokoyama (4-0, 2) out pointed Ryo Matsubara (1-0, 1) in a bout made at Flyweight and Ryuya Kaji (3-0, 2) took a 3rd round KO over Naoaki Kumagai (2-2, 2) in a Super Bantamweight contest. From what we under-stand these were both Rookie of the Year contests.

Kunming, China
It wasn't just in Japan that we had title action as championship bouts were spread across Asia, including in China as Zovi Boxing put on their latest show.

This card began with 4 undercard bouts, each scheduled for 4 rounds. These saw Wang Yi Ming (2-2, 2) taking a 2nd round TKO over the debuting Indian Promod (0-1). Ming was the only fighter on the under-card here to score a stoppage. The other bouts saw Xian Wei Qian (4-3-1) over-come the debuting Xu Que (0-1), Xu Chan (3-0) maintaining his unbeaten record with a victory over Neeraj Goyat (1-2-2) and, in a female bout, Saroj (1-1) took a split decision over Li Yun Ting (1-6, 1).

The chief support was the first of 2 title fights and saw Chinese Welterweight Yang Xing Xin (8-3-2, 5) claim the WBC Youth Welterweight title with a 10 round decision over Nelson Gulpe (8-2, 3). Xin, at just 21, could be part of a new wave of Chinese fighters to keep an eye on and although his record may not be anything great we are excited to see how he develops.

In the main event fans saw Filipino Mark Gil Melligen (19-4-1, 10) force a stoppage of Thailand's Petchsamuthr Duanaaymukdahan (8-3, 1) in the 4th round to claim the WBO Oriental Featherweight title. On paper this looks like a very impressive victory for Melligen though Petchsamuthr really killed himself to try and make 126lbs, a weight he wasn't even close to making. The attempt to make weight appears to have totally taken all the strength from the Thai.

Metro Manila, Philippines
The title action also spread to the Philippines where the hard hitting and fun to watch Warlito Parrenas (20-6, 18) stopped Indonesia's Junior Bajawa (!4-3, 7) in 7 rounds to claim the WBO Oriental Super Flyweight title. Parrenas, also known as WARS Katsumata, became the first man to stop Bajawa who had previously been the distance in losses to Omari Kimweri and Richard Pumicpic.

Unfortunately we were very late to get the rest of the results from this card but, thankfully, we have them now.

The unbeaten and hard hitting Richard Claveras (8-0, 2) continued his unbeaten run and claimed the WBC Asian Boxing Council Light Flyweight title with an opening round blow out against Thailand's limited Namphol Sithsaithong (6-8, 6). This was Namphol's 3rd loss away from Thailand and his second in the Philippines following a previous loss in the country to Jonathan Taconing.

In another title fight on this show Edison Berwela (13-28-7, 3) upset Rey Juntilla (17-5-3, 10) in a bout that was dirty and incident packed. The victory for Berwela saw him claiming the LuzProBA Super Bantamweight title via a majority decision that saw both men suffering from the effects of head clashes very early on.
In a female title bout on this show Momoko Kanda (6-6-2) took a shut out victory over Nongnun Mor Krungthepthonburi (2-2) to claim the WBC Asian Council Continental female Minimumweight title. This was one of two female bouts with the other being an all debutant affair won by Naome Tacda (1-0, 1) who stopped Ana Pitae (0-1) in 66 seconds.

The under-card featured 3 other bouts, other than the aforementioned all debutant female contest. These saw the one beaten Philip Luis Cuerdo (4-1, 1) defeat Mark Macabales (2-3) in a clear cut 6 round decision, Pablito Canada (3-4-1, 1) pulling himself off the canvas in the opening round to out point Mark Postrano (2-2, 1) and Jay Ar Diama (1-3-4) taking his maiden victory by shutting out Ronie Gaton (0-2), this win was well over-due for Diama who has a very misleading record.

Bangkok, Thailand
Amazingly even Thailand got in on the days activity with two female bouts from Bangkok. The most notable of these saw former female world title challenger Angor Onesongchaigym (6-1, 3) bounce back from her sole loss, a decision loss to Momo Koseki, and defeat her over-matched compatriot Nongfah Por Preechagym (0-1).

The other contest saw Anrey Onesongchaigym (6-1-1, 3) stop novice foe Irada Sithsornram (0-3) in 3 rounds to continue her development.


Queensland, Australia
In Australia we had yet more title action, unfortunately however it was a bit of a hard to explain title. 

The title bout saw Australia's Josh King (17-3, 8) successfully defend his WBO Oriental Lightweight title with a clear decision over Japan's Koichi Ito (9-3-2, 8). We're not sure how King qualified for an Oriental title though we're a little disappointed that Ito couldn't actually take the belt back to the Orient.

Ito wasn't the only Asian on this card as his Japanese compatriot Kazuyuki Fukuyama (9-5, 2) was also beaten. Fukuyama was dropped 3 times in a clear decision loss to Les Sherrington (34-3, 19). Although he was dropped thrice it was impressive to see Fukuyama actually make it to the end of the 8 round bout. Sadly however Filipino Aswin Cabuy (14-47-4, 7) couldn't even last 2 rounds in his fight against the promising Kolby Johnston (2-0, 2).

(Image, from Kimura/Chinen, is courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

The biggest boxing news on Saturday was all about "Ring of Gold", the latest in Bob Arum's Macau shows. The shows, which may split opinion between fans have been fantastic for exposing some Asian talent to a new audience and we've got to admit that we're huge fans of them, obviously. Though we under-stand that many fans may not like the idea of headlining shows with certain fighters or having shows on at unusual times of the day for the typical US audience.

Thankfully as fans of the shows we'll say that the latest was one of the most interesting and one of the shows that has really revealed just what you can do when you combine good amateurs with elite training.

Macau, China
The card kicked off with Filipino Jerwin Ancajas (19-1-1, 11) looking very impressive. Ancajas looked sharp, fast and skilled as he took apart the over-matched Inthanon Sithchamuang (20-7, 11). On this performance we're looking forward to seeing more of Ancajas and hopefully he will be on another of the Macau cards later this year. Although "pretty boy" Ancajas isn't ready for a world title fight, and won't be for quite some time, he does have all the traits of a man who could well move in to the mix at world level in a year or two. Saying that however the Filipino is the WBA #14 at Bantamweight.

Following Ancajas's win we saw another clear mismatch as Ancajas's countryman Harmonito Dela Torre (12-0, 7) easily stopped Indonesia's Yakobus Heluka (7-6). Heluka came out swinging though was left out lying flat on the canvas before the first round was over and it seems likely that Heluka was still feeling the ill effects of being stopped just a few weeks back.

The show's third contest saw Macau's own boxing prospect Kuok Kun Ng (3-0, 1) score his first stoppage as he defeated Indonesian Rocky Alap Alap (5-11) in 3 rounds. Kuok, known as "The Macau Kid" appears to be a very interesting prospect and although he's short for a Light Middleweight he does seem to be skilled and improving quickly making him a fighter that we have to keep an eye on, especially if he continues to improve. 

In the show's fourth contest, the first to feature an Olympic gold medal winner, fans got to see an improved Ryota Murata (3-0, 3) in action. Murata, a Japanese boxing icon, stepped up a level to fight Brazilian Carlos Nascimento (29-4, 23) though appeared to be well in his comfort zone as he let Nascimento hit him on the arms before firing back with heavier shots of his own. Those heavy shots broke down the Brazilian who was stopped on the ropes whilst taking an unanswered series of punches.

Murata's contest was followed by the first title fight which saw Hong Kong's Rex Tso (12-0, 8) battling Japan's Mako Matsuyama (7-8-1, 3) in the stand out fight of the show. The two men willingly traded through out the contest though Matsuyama was eventually broken down, as much from exhaustion as Tso's shots. The fight, the highlight fight on the card, proved to be a much better match up than the records of the fighters indicated though perhaps suggests that Tso isn't as good as hyped. He is however very fun to watch and the type of fighter who we can't help but want to see in action again.

The best fight on the card was followed by a KO of the year contender courtesy of a thunderbolt landed by former WBO Super Flyweight champion Marvin Sonsona (18-1-1, 15). Sonsona, a slight betting under-dog, left former WBA Super Bantamweight champion Akifumi Shimoda (28-4-2, 12) lying unconscious following one of the best uppercuts we're likely to see this year. This victory will likely see Sonsona given world rankings at Featherweight, where he is now the WBO International champion, and if given time there is no doubt that Sonsona can become a world champion for the second time.

The second Olympic champion to fight on the show was Russian Egor Mekhontsev (2-0, 2) who stopped the previously unbeaten Thai Atthaporn Jaritram (4-1, 1) in a very 1 sided contest. Atthaporn was too small and slow for the very gifted Mekhontsev who clearly has the talent to be moved quickly in a relative weak division. Although Light Heavyweight does have some great champions it is weak below those champions and there is no reason Mekhontsev can't be threatening the top 10 by the end of the year.

Unfortunately after an excellent card the life was sucked out of the venue in the only world title fight on the show. The bout in question was an IBF Lightweight title fight between the talented, yet thoroughly frustrating, Miguel Vazquez (34-3, 13) and Denis Shafikov (33-1-1, 18). Vazquez started well though as soon as he realised Shafikov could get close to him the fight became less about boxing and more about holding, clinching, hugging, spoiling and generally preventing the bout from having any semblance of a boxing contest. Vazquez, who retained his title, certainly won't be welcome to Macau again and Ernie Sharif, the referee of the bout, may well come in for a lot of questioning over the next few days.

Thankfully the crowd came back alive for the show's main event which saw China's very own Zou Shiming (4-0, 1) put in a very impressive performance. Shiming, the reason for these Macau shows, may get a lot of hate internationally though appears to be a fighter making huge improvements between fights. That improvement was fully on show as he scored his first stoppage by wearing down and beating up Yokthong Kokietgym (15-4, 11). Yokthong, who had been stopped quickly by Ryuji Hara a few years ago, came to fight but was unable to cope with the ability of Shiming who appears to have really grasped the core concepts of professional boxing after looking very poor in some of his earlier bouts.

With both Shiming and Murata showing real signs of improvement it's not a wonder both are having their names linked to world title fights already. The rumour seems to be that Shiming could be fighting Amnat Ruenroeng later this year whilst Murata will be hoping to claim a world title next year.

Cotabato del Sur, Philippines
Outside of Ring of Gold there were other contests involving Asian's. These included several bouts in the Philippines.

One of the Filipino bouts saw former world title challenger Richie Mepranum (27-3-1, 6) putting in a very dominant display over Thailand's limited Phupha Por Nobnom (10-9-1, 9) who was dropped a staggering 6 times before retiring between rounds 4 and 5. Phupha was dropped in every round of the bout and showed that he really didn't belong in the ring with Mepranum.

The only other bout we have the result for from this card saw Jetly Purisima (18-13-4, 5) out pointing Jerson Luzarito (8-4-3, 3) over the 10 round distance.

Pennsylvania, USA
In the US things were disappointing for Azerbaijan's Farid Aghayev (1-0-1, 1) who was held to a majority draw by Lanny Dardar (1-0-1, 1) over 4 rounds.

(Picture courtesy of Toprank)