Tokyo, Japan
The main show of the day, for Asian fight fans, was in Tokyo at the Korakuen Hall.

The main event of the show saw Teiken's Masanobu Nakazawa (18-1-1, 7) claim his biggest win to date as he won the Japanese interim Light Welterweight with a narrow decision win against Masayoshi Kotake (9-10-2, 5). Early on this one was really competitive with Kotake claiming a narrow lead during the first 5 rounds. Kotake's early lead was however over-come by Nakazawa who turned it on in the second half of the fight to take a close unanimous decision. It's now expected that Nakazawa will face full champion Hiroki Okada in 2016, when Okada recovers from a thumb injury.

In supporting bouts we saw two former Japanese champions. One of those was former Japanese Bantamweight champion Rikiya Fukuhara (31-8-1, 23) who scored a 4th round win over Yusuke Nakagawa (8-4-1, 4). On paper this was a bout between two Japanese ranked fighters but in the ring the class and experience of Fukuhara was far too much for Nakagawa.

The other former Japanese champion was former Light Welterweight kingpin Shinya Iwabuchi (26-5, 22) who stopped former OPBF champion Romeo Jakosalem (16-11-1, 8). Although Iwabuchi did take home the win here he was given a scare being dropped in the first round before forcing the referee to save Jakosalem in round 3.

Another stoppage on this card saw Ryuta Otsuka (15-8-2, 5) take a 7th round TKO win against Takaaki Ishikawa (11-7, 6). Although not a puncher Otsuka made the most of the fact that Ishikawa isn't the most durable and this was the 7th time in 18 bouts that Ishikawa had been stopped.

One bout that did go the scheduled distance saw Japanese domestic contender Hiroya Yamamoto (9-3, 3) take a decision victory over Takumi Suda (12-11-2, 3). With this win Yamamoto may well be pushed towards a Japanese title fight for the now vacant title.

In a 6 round bout Tsuyoshi Naito (4-3-4, 2) fought to a draw with Katsunori Imai (5-6-3)

Yangju, South Korea
Fans in South Korea also had fistic action with a card in Yangju.

In the main event Gun Woo Gang (2-0-1, 2) claimed a 6 round decision win over Dong Suk Han (1-7). The 18 year old Gang, who only debuted a few months ago, is showing signs of promise and he could well be worth keeping an eye for the long term. For Han however this was a third straight loss, and the 34 year old probably isn't going to think that today's bout was worth ending a 2 year break from the ring.

In an under-card bout the previously win-less Chan Young Kim (1-0-1) claimed a 4 round decision win over Chan Won Suh (0-2-2) whilst the win-less I Hoon Jun (0-2-1) fought to a draw with Se Yul Yang (0-0-2).

Distrito Federal, Mexico
In Mexico fans saw Filipino hopeful Jhon Gemino (12-5-1, 5) suffer an 8th round stoppage loss to the exciting Daniel Rosas (19-2-1, 11). Rosas, a former interim title contender, was too strong for the Filipino visitor.

Note-There was a second show in Japan though unfortunately the results weren't with up by the time of this

(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

This past Saturday was a hectic day for Asian boxing fans who saw action begin in Japan, with a trio of shows, and end in Mexico with a Filipino slugger getting his chance to make a statement.

Tokyo, Japan
The biggest show in Tokyo came from the Korakuen Hall where Teiken hosted a notable card featuring several notable names.

In the main event we saw the world ranked Yu Kimura (16-2-1, 3) put on a show-case performance as he defended his Japanese Light Flyweight title and stopped Hayato Yamaguchi (12-6-1, 2). Yamaguchi only got the bout a couple of weeks ago, following an injury to Shin Ono, but looked more out of his depth than ill-prepared. From the opening round Kimura looked too good, too fresh and too sharp before finally forcing the referee to save a bloodied Yamaguchi.

In the chief support bout we saw former world-ranked fighter Yasutaka Ishimoto (25-8, 7) take a 7th round technical decision over Yoshihiuro Utsumi (12-6-3, 7). The bout, scored 68-65 by all 3 judges in favour of Ishimoto, saw Ishimoto ending a 2 fight losing streak which had included a razor thin loss last December to Yukinori Oguni in a Japanese title fight. It's fair to say that Ishimoto will be hoping to get another title fight later this year. Interestingly this is the 3rd time Utsumi has last by technical decision.

Another support bout saw Masanobu Nakazawa (17-1-1, 7) score a late stoppage against Kazuya Soma (7-7-2, 6). Soma, who had only been stopped once previously, was taken out in the first minute of round 8 as Naklazawa claimed his second successive stoppage win and recorded his 14th straight win.

Another supporting bout saw 2014 Light Flyweight Rookie of the Year Kenji Ono (8-1, 4) score a 2nd round TKO against Taichi Yokote (6-3, 3). This was one of two scheduled 6 rounders with the other being a highly impressive debut by Tomoki Narumi (1-0, 1) who kicked of his career with a 2nd round TKO against Makoto Hiroki (4-9, 3) in a Light Middleweight bout. Narumi was a good amateur and it seems likely that he will be fast tracked as a professional.

On the under-card there were 4 bouts scheduled for 4 rounds. The most competitive of those saw Toshiki Nishihara (4-3-2, 1) fight to a majority draw with Kenta Yamada (3-1-1, 3) in a really nip-and-tuck affair. The only other 4 rounder to go the distance saw Akira Onishi (1-2) claim his first win as he over-came the still win-less Kimiaki Suzuki (0-1-1) with a close decision.

One bout that almost went the distance ended with with Masato Niijima (2-0, 2) taking a late stoppage over the previously unbeaten Junki Kobayashi (1-1, 1) whilst the remaining bout was over in just 72 seconds as Hayate Kaji (2-0, 2) blew away the debuting Musashi Yoshino (0-1).

Osaka, Japan
The “L-Osaka” played host to two shows, of those the most notable was the Osaka Teiken promoted card.

In the most interesting bout on that show fans saw Kosuke Saka (10-3, 7) lift himself off the canvas to stop the previously unbeaten Ryuto Kyoguchi (13-1-1, 9) in the 3rd round of a really short but fun fight.

Another stoppage on this card saw Myung He Lee (18-4-1, 6) make light work of Thailand's Dawut Manopkanchang (0-3). This was Dawut's 3rd stoppage loss in Japan following previous defeat to Kohei Kono and Atsushi Kakutani. From what we understand Lee is now hunting a Japanese title fight.

A third fight of note here ended in disappointing fashion as Bunta Mitaka (6-2-3) and Shingo Kawamura (9-2-1, 4) saw their bout end in a 3rd round technical draw.

On the under-card of this show fans saw a trio of low level bouts. The most competitive of those saw Go Mitaka (3-5-2) record a narrow win over Naoki Okumura (1-3) whilst another decision bout saw Hirohide Murakami (3-2) defeat the previously unbeaten Kenta Sakata (2-1-1). The only under-card not to go the distance saw Kyosuke Tsutsuminoto (3-0, 3) continue his perfect start with a 3rd round retirement victory over Shota Taguchi (2-2)

Osaka, Japan
The other “L-Osaka” show was promoted by Taiho.

The most notable of the fights saw Ryota Kajiki (25-9, 16) score a 2nd round TKO against the over-matched Tokiya Nishioka (9-5-2, 5). On paper Nishioka never stood a chance and that proved to be the case in the ring.

A more competitive contest saw Ippo Nishiwaki (8-3-1, 4) narrowly over-come Hirokazu Okajima (8-5-2, 4) in a really well matched contest. We don't imagine either of these two will become fixtures at the top of the domestic scene but they did make for an excellent matched up contest against each other.

A third bout from this show saw Akiyoshi Kanazawa (12-3-4, 5) score a 5th round TKO again Junya Nishikawa (7-6-2, 2). This loss was the first time Nishikawa had suffered back-to-back defeats whilst Kanazawa scored his first win in 3 bouts.

On this under-card there were 4 bouts with only a single one going the distance. That was the narrow 4 round decision win for Takuya Fujioka (4-4-1, 1) who narrowly over-came Noboru Osato (4-3-3, 1). As for the stoppages the quickest of those saw the unbeaten Daijiro Yuki (5-0, 2) score a 2nd round TKO against the debuting Kenji Okawa (0-1). It didn't take much longer for Ruka Shobu (1-0-1, 1) to force a retirement of Akihiko Hayashi (0-2). The other of the undercard bouts went into the 4th round as Kensei Hirano (4-0, 2) defeated Kazumi Hara (1-1)

México, Mexico
In the final bout of the day to involve an Asian we saw the brilliant Jonathan Taconing (21-2-1, 18) impress as he stopped former WBO Minimumweight champion Ramon Garcia Hirales (20-6-1, 12). The powerful Filipino seemed to be the boss from the first round and eventually forced the referee to save his Mexican foe who looked completely out powered and out fought. This was the win that proved Taconing's ability and it now seems likely that the aggressive Light Flyweight is going to be getting a world title eliminator in the coming months.

(Image courtesy of www.boxingnews.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)