Tokyo, Japan Japanese fans get to see hundreds of fights every year at the Korakuen Hall, the venue which is believed to host more fights every year than any other. This past Friday the venue hosted possibly the best fight this year as Masao Nakamura (20-3, 19) and Daiki Kaneko (24-5-3, 14) went toe-to-toe in a breath taking fight that combined everything a fight fan could wish to see. The action was intense from the off, both men were rocked, both men landed heavy leather and the fans were joining in on the action chanting through out. In the end it was Nakamura who just did enough to claim a split decision though neither man had anything to be ashamed by here in a bout that needs to be watched by every self respecting fight fan. Following the bout Nakamura signalled his intention to fight for the Japanese title, eyeing up a fight with Rikki Naito, and we'd not be shocked to see that made, possibly for December! For Kaneko, who has now lost back-to-back bouts, it would make sense to take an easy one though we'd not be shocked to see him in another exciting bout with talented opponent. In the chief support bout fans saw Ryohei Takahashi (7-1-1) score his 7th straight win as he out pointed Kenji Kubo (5-4-1, 2) over 8 rounds. Prior to this bout Kubo had stated that he would take a break from boxing if he lost and now it appears likely that he's likely to make good on his would. Sadly, given the expectation on Kubo when he turned professional, this is a very disappointing result. For Takahashi however it seems the future really is rather bright. A very close 8 rounder saw Kinshiro Usui (24-4, 10) claim a majority decision win over Yuta Horiike (9-5-3, 2). Horrike, on paper, was given no chance but he really performed well here against Usui, who is a former Japanese Bantamweight title challenger. In a 6 round bout fans saw the unbeaten Shogo Yamaguchi (8-0-1, 4) extend his perfect record with a unanimous decision win over Keisuke Arima (8-11-1, 1). Yamaguchi, a 21 year old Lightweight prospect, does appear to be worth keeping an eye on in a division that is relatively weak domestically. Another 6 rounder saw Hyuma Fujioka (6-3-1) over-come the limited Hokuto Sakata (5-6-1, 3) with a unanimous decision. Fujioka doesn't appear likely to make his mark as any sort of a contender but the 23 year old could well be in some interesting fights down the line. The card also featured a pair of 4 rounders. One of those saw 19 year old Seiryu Toshikawa (3-2, 2) take a unanimous decision over Atsushi Kudo (3-5-2, 3) whilst the other resulted in a draw between the win-less Jun Fudo (0-1-1) and the debuting Junpei Sato (0-0-1). Suwannakhet, Laos Thai fans who tuned in to channel 3SD also got action, including an all out war and a chance to see to promising fighters. The war that was aired on Thai TV saw Thai veteran Kompayak Porpramook (53-5, 37) claim a decision win against Filipino foe Jopher Marayan (7-7-2, 3), in a bout for the WBA Asia title at Light Flyweight. The bout saw Kompayak, a former WBC world champion, add to his long line of highlights which have also included bouts with the likes of Adrian Hernandez, Koki Eto and Oleydong Sithsamerchai. Although he picked up the win here the 33 year old Kompayak doesn't look like a fighter who is going to return to world level any time soon. One of the rising fighters on this card was Kongthara KKP (8-0, 6) who scored a 2nd round KO against the debuting Mathias Bernua (0-1) whilst the other was teenager Nampetch Kwanjaisrikod (6-1, 2), who scored a 5th round KO against Looksorn Sithsophon (0-1). Nonthanburi, Thailand Another televised on Thai TV came on channel 7 where fans had the chance to see one of the emerging stars of the Thai scene. The rising star is the unbeaten Teerachai Kratingdaenggym (31-0, 24) who made another defense of his PABA Welterweight title as he stopped Boitshepo Mandawe (14-7, 10) in the 6th round. The 23 yea old Thai will now be hoping to get some kind of WBA title fight though will likely plug away with his PABA until a bigger opportunity arises. Another promising fighter on this card was Ronnakit PKT College (4-0, 3) made very light work of Supertop Chalermprakiat Sport (0-1). Ronnakit appears to have fought under the “Technopoly Bangkok” name on this show. Former OPBF title challenger Kajornsak Sithsaithong (8-6, 8) came back from his recent trio of losses as he stopped the heavy handed but poor Khundon Chaiyonggym (7-2, 7) in the 2nd of their scheduled 6 rounds. We also believe that there were several other bouts on here featuring prospects, with Denappa Kiatniwat and Montree PKT College in action. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)
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This past Sunday was an incredibly busy day in Asia with 3 notable Japanese cards and another show in the Philippines. Not only was there a lot of action but there wa s alot of notable action with OPBF title fights, former title holders and prospects all on show. Osaka, Japan The most notable of two separate cards held at the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium was promoted by Shinsei promotions and featured 7 bouts in total. Among those bouts was an OPBF title contest and a couple of former world champions, alongside with 4 low level undercard bouts. The main event here saw the talented Masayoshi Nakatani (10-0, 5) successfully defend his OPBF Lightweight title for the 3rd time as he easily out pointed the over-matched Accel Sumiyoshi (4-4-1, 1). The bout was one-sided but Nakatani did admit he was disappointed with his performance and he seems to have felt as if he should have gotten Sumiyoshi out of there. One of the former world champions was former WBC female Flyweight champion Shindo Go (15-3, 10) who made light work of the over-matched Tantip Sithsaithong (0-2). Tantip was stopped in the 3rd round of their scheduled 8 rounder and never looked like she was going to be competitive with the power former champion. Go has now said that she wants a fight with either Susi Kentikian or a rematch with Arely Mucino, both of which would be fantastic match ups. The other former world champion was former WBA female Minimumweight champion Etsuko Tada (14-2-2, 4) who finished off Chamagorn Sithsaithong (0-2) in the 6th round. Chamagorn had been dropped numerous times before finally being stopped by Tada who has said she's wanting a big fight with anyone from 102lbs to 108lbs. The under-card here featured a couple more female bouts. One of those saw the debuting Eiko Shirouchi (1-0) claim a shut out against the over-matched Sae Ichimura (0-1) whilst the other saw Wakako Fujiwara (1-1-1, 1) claim her first win with a 4th round TKO against the debuting Tomoko Okuda (0-1). The other under-card bouts saw the debuting Ryuya Yanagida (1-0, 1) scoring a quick blow out win against Kiyonori Matsumoto (2-5) whilst the unbeaten Tetsu Araki (2-0-1) took a competitive decision over Tatsuki Yamamoto (1-1) Osaka, Japan The other show at the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium saw another OPBF title fight along with the second match up in the career of a very exciting prospect. The OPBF title bout here saw Yu Kawaguchi (23-6, 10) claiming the previously vacant OPBF Bantamweight title as he scored a thin split decision over the heavy handed Takahiro Yamamoto (15-4, 12) in what was a very competitive match up that saw both men landing their share of leather. At the end of the bout however it seems that Kawaguchi's higher quality of experience, including a Japanese title fight with Kentaro Masuda, was the difference. Kawaguchi had said the he was going to retire if he lost but it's fair to say this win will keep his career alive whilst Yamamoto will certainly come again. In the chief support bout fans saw the much touted Kazuki Tanaka (2-0, 2), a former amateur stand out, score a highly notable victory over Kaname Tabei (10-9-2, 7). Tabei, who had only been stopped once, was taken out in 4 rounds by Tanaka who has now stated that he would like to get a fight with a Japanese ranked for by the end of the year and appears to be set on being fast tracked. Another of the supporting bouts here saw Ryo Kosaka (9-3-1, 4) take a slightly surprising victory over former Japanese title challenger Satoshi Niwa (16-19-3, 2). The loss for Niwa was his 4th in 5 bouts and seems to spell the end to his title dreams whilst the win for Kosaka was, by far, the best of his career thus far. A supporting bout that went the way we expected saw Takayuki Okumoto (14-6-2, 6) claim a 7th round technical decision win over Yuta Saito (7-6-2, 6). The bout was more competitive than the records of the two men may suggest but neither of these two will be going far. A remaining 8 rounder saw Takahiro Murai (10-6-2, 4) take a 5th round retirement victory over Tomonori Ota (6-6, 4). In the show's sole 6 rounder fans saw Kenta Matsui (6-3, 1) take a decision over Michitaka Muto (4-2-1). The undercard here feature a trio of low level bouts. The shortest of these saw Naotoshi Nakatani (5-0, 4) score an opening round victory over Thailand's Noppakao Sankarong (0-2). Another Japan Vs Thailand bout saw Genki Maeda (1-0, 1) take a 2nd round TKO against Paengchai Soonkilabangmod (0-1). The other under-card bout he also failed to go the distance as Tomoaki Matsumura (3-0, 2) claimed a technical decision win over Tesu Kanayama (2-2). Osaka, Japan A third show in Osaka came from the Sumiyoshi Ward Center where there were several notable fighters in action, ranging from a very exciting Middleweight prospect to a former OPBF title holder. In the main event fans saw Middleweight hopeful Koki Tyson Maebara (8-1-1, 8) score his best win to date as he stopped former Japanese Middleweight champion Sanosuke Sasaki (11-4, 5) in the 7th round. This was a big step up in class for Maebara though it does seem like there is still a long way to go before he'll be ready for a shot at OPBF/Japanese champion Akio Shibata. Another interesting prospect on this card was Cyborg Nawatedani (9-2-2, 4) who recorded his 6th straight win with a 6th round TKO against Hiroki Taniguchi (6-6-1, 2). After starting his career 1-2-1 Nawatedani has improved markedly and the 26 year old is showing signs of becoming a domesic contender in the coming years. Another domestic hopeful in action was Yuki Strong Kobayashi (9-4, 5) who took a 5th round TKO win against Hikaru Matsuoka (8-2-3, 1). This was a much needed win for Kobayashi following a loss in December to Satoshi Niwa. As for Matsuoka this was a surprising defeat that brought an end to a 7 fight undefeated run. Another really notable bout on this card saw former OPBF Super Featherweight champion Masao Nakamura (19-3, 19) end a 2-fight losing streak as he blew away Patomsak Sithsaithong (2-1). Nakamura, also known as the “KO King”, really needed a win here to and although it was a mismatch it was the sort of confidence building victory that will do him the world of good. In a 6 rounder fans saw Masashi Wakita (5-3-1, 2) take a very narrow decision over Shachihoko Dragons Keita (4-4-1, 1). On the under-card fans saw the unbeaten Kaminoko Okamura Kentokid (4-0-3, 2) take a 4 round decision over Shoji Nakamura (1-1-1, 1) and Ryusei Kitamura (3-1, 1) take a shut out decision win over Naoya Hamaguchi (4-3-1, 1). Fukuoka, Japan A final Japanese show took place at the Kokura Kita Gym and featured 7 bouts, most of which were low level contests. The main event saw Yoshihiko Matsuo (18-5-6, 3) claim a narrow decision win over Tatsuya Miyamoto (11-13-1, 7) in what was a very competitive match up between two men with huge different records. Although the records of these two are different the two men are well matched and actually fought to a draw last year. In the chief support bout, a 6 rounder, fans saw Sho Yamamoto (5-5-1, 2) narrowly over-come Yuta Nakashima (7-8, 2) with a majority decision. Although neither of these bouts were “big” the fact they were both competitive suggests that the match maker deserves a real pat on the back. On the under-card we had 5 bouts all scheduled for 4 rounds. From those 5 bouts we again had a very close one as Yoshiki Tatsukami (1-1) claimed his first win with a very thin decision win over Sho Sakota (0-1). Tatsukami's win was one of two decision on the under-card with the other being a shut out win for Kaito Akiyoshi (1-0) who over-came fellow debutant Ryuji Takada (0-1). In another all debutant contest Kenta Komatsu (1-0, 1) scored a 4th round stoppage against Yu Shoko (0-1). The other bouts both ended in the opening round. One of those saw female fighter Sana Hazuki (2-0, 1) blow away Arisa Iwanaga (0-1) in 100 seconds whilst the other saw the debuting Shuma Nakazato (1-0, 1) take out Takanari Hamamura (2-5, 2). Davao Del Norte, Philippines As well as the 4 shows in Japan there was also action in the Philippines with an MP promoted card. In the main event here fans saw the unbeaten Jayar Inson (8-0, 5) continue his winning run as he scored a 4th round KO of the limited Elmer Legaria (13-9, 4). Although this looked like a mismatch on paper it was a significant step up for the 24 year old Inson who now seems ready to be matched with progressively more testing foes. As for Legaria, this was his 7th stoppage loss in 9 defeats. In one of the chief support bouts fans saw Ryan Lumacad (8-0-1, 4) over-come Dondon Navarez (12-20-6, 3) with a 10 round decision. This was Lumacad's first 10 round bout and although he was up against a limited foe the experience will do him the world of good. Unfortunately however it's hard to know how good Lumacad is given his competition so far. Another of the support bouts saw the highly touted Harmonito Dela Torre (15-0, 10) demolish the horribly over-matched William George (10-22, 3) in just 138 seconds. This was a stay busy fight for Dela Torre, who hadn't fought since last September, but the bout was a meaningless one for the exciting youngster who has now stopped his last 5 foes. The sole 6 rounder on this card saw Rene Mark Cuarto (4-1, 2) score a 2nd round win over Brobro Languido (5-17-2, 1). On the under-card there was 4 bouts with 3 of those going the distance. One of those saw the debuting Daniel Lim (1-0) over-come fellow debutant Eljun Salva (0-1), another debutant picking up a win here was Jhon Rex Ginang (1-0) who defeated the win-less Jayson Sanchez (0-4). It wasn't all good for debutants however as Ronnie Baldonado (2-0, 1) defeated Rolly Bersabal (0-1) with a decision and Guida Vera (0-1) was blasted out in a round by Jose Aballe (2-1, 1). (Image courtesy of www.boxingnews.jp) On December 28th there were 3 Asian cards in 3 different countries. Osaka, Japan The biggest of the three shows on Sunday came from Osaka where we had two very interesting bouts. The biggest of those was a Japanese Light Middleweight title bout that saw Yuki Nonaka (27-8-2, 9) successfully defend the Japanese national title with a very narrow and controversial split decision victory over Charlie Ota (24-3-1, 16). The bout, Nonaka's first of his second reign, really was a bout that split opinion though many opined that if the bout wasn't in Osaka, Nonaka's home city then Ota would probably have gotten the nod. Unfortunately for Ota this is a second notable set back in as many fights and it seems likely to be made worse by Nonaka fighting Takayuki Hosokawa next time out with the winner of that bout likely to be pushed well into the IBF top 10. We are hoping to have video of this bout in the coming days to try and see if it was a home town decision as some have told us or whether it was one of those close bouts that could have gone either way with no one really deserving to lose it.. Whilst the headline bout was highly competitive the same could not be said about the co-feature, which we expected to be a scintillating affair. Instead this was a blow out which saw Filipino tough guy Rey Labao (27-6, 18) take out former OPBF Super Featherweight champion Masao Nakamura (18-3, 18) in the second round. Nakamura was lucky to survive the opening round, despite being dropped twice and groggy, though couldn't survive long into round 2. For Nakamura this is a serious set back and, like Ota, is his second successive loss following a decision loss earlier this year to Masayuki Ito. Despite the co-feature being the blow out all the other bouts on the card went the distance. This included a good win for former OPBF title challenger Eita Kikuchi (16-4-4, 7), who claimed a narrow win over Kojiro Takada (13-8-3, 9) in an 8 round affair. Another 8 rounder saw the criminally under-rated Satoshi Niwa (16-18-3, 2) score a slight shock over Yuki Strong Kobayashi (8-4, 4) with a split decision. Another split decision, albeit in a 6 rounder, saw Shachihoko Dragons Keita (4-3-1, 1) fight to a split draw with Yoshiki Kawamura (4-6-1, 3). The only other 6 rounder on this show saw Kenta Shimizu (8-4-1, 4) take a win over Masaki Hirai (4-13-3, 2). In the only 4 rounder the debuting Masahiro Sakamoto (1-0) took a decision over Yusuku Hiranuma (1-1). Metro Manila, Philippines In the Philippines fans got an interesting show with 7 bouts in total including several title bouts, one of which ended in a notable upset. We'll start with that upset which saw former world title challenger Silvester Lopez (23-6-2, 17) claim the WBC International Bantamweight title with a 7th round KO of the previously unbeaten Rex Wao (10-1, 8). Although Silvester had competed at a much higher level his career was seriously on the rocks coming into this bout. He had lost his previous 2 bouts and scored just 3 wins in his last 10 bouts dating back more than 2 years. Lopez's poor form didn't stop him dropping Wao in the opening round and eventually stopping the touted “Igorot Warrior”. Another title bout saw the rampaging Tosho Makoto Aoki (19-12-2, 16) claim the IBF Australiasian Lightweight title with a 2nd round KO of Indonesia's Rengga Rengga (7-2, 1). For Rengga this was a second successive stoppage loss, following an opening round defeat to Masatoshi Kotani whilst Aoki is on the run of his career with 6 successive stoppage wins, including 4 in the Philippines. We believe a third title fight took place on this show as Dennis Tubieron (19-3-2, 8) and Carlo Magali (18-7-3, 9) threw down, though we're unsure what title was on the line, and it may be that no-title was eventually fought for. As the actual fight it resulted in a majority draw in what was scored very closely. On the undercard we saw a bit of everything. That included a 21 second blow out win for the unbeaten Rolly Sumalpong (7-0-1, 4), who swiftly dispatched Michael Landero (16-13-4, 5) and another opening round victory for Mujtaba Kamal (1-1, 1), who claimed his first win by stopping Romnick Dejano (2-8, 1). The under-card also included some very competitive action as Romel Oliveros (2-0-1, 1) was held to a draw by Vincent Bautista (1-2-2) and John Ray Logatiman (3-1-1) scored a solid win over the previously unbeaten Alvin Medura (2-1, 2), with Medura being dropped in the opening round. Indonesia In Indonesia fans got an obscure card, and one that we sadly don't have all the results for, at least we don't believe we do. The one result we do know is that Roy Tua Manihuruk (16-12-2, 12) scored a 7th round victory over a man we believe to be Rusmien Kierah (13-7-2, 2). Unfortunately the records of both men are disputed and we may be missing copious fights for both. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp) Tokyo, Japan The only card of note this Wednesday was Dangan 108, a showed dubbed "The Battle". The shows name came from the incredibly intriguing main event between the very heavy handed Masao Nakamura (18-2, 18) and the light hitting but very impressive skills Masayuki Ito (15-0-1, 6), the bout dubbed "The battle". Sadly the bout turned out to be less of a "battle" and more of an interesting but controlled bout with Ito's jab being the key punch in the contest. Nakamura managed to shine in some rounds but few would have seriously believed he had done enough to win with Ito taking a close but well deserved victory. If you're wanting to see the video of this fight, we have it here. Nakamura, a former OPBF Super Featherweight title holder, was one of two former champions on the show with the other being former 5-weight Japanese national champion Tadashi Yuba (46-9-2, 33). Unlike Nakamura we didn't see any struggles from Yuba who took care of Filipino foe Dondon Lapuz (19-46-7, 7) inside a round. Yuba finished the bout with a pair of solid body shots which folded Lapuz up and kept him down for the count. Again we've managed to get the video of the fight here. The third bout from the top of the show saw once beaten Filipino Michael Dasmarinas (17-1, 10) defeat the more experienced Hayato Kimura (21-7, 15) with an 8 round unanimous decision. For Kimura, who has also been known as "Big Yoo" and Joon-In Yoo, this is a major set back and one that looks even worse considering just how 1-sided the bout was. For Dasmarinas this is a win that should help push him towards an OPBF title bout even if he's not quite yet ready to face the likes of Ryosuke Iwasa. On the performance he gave however it's fair to say that Dasmarinas has a lot of potential and hopefully someone will nature it. Again, for those wanting to watch the fight, we did manage to get the video of the bout which can be seen here. Whilst the main event didn't live up to expectation it wasn't the only domestic bout of interest and another was the Super Bantamweight bout between Yusaku Kuga (9-1-1,6) and Koji Aoki (16-8-2, 6). The men both entered the bout ranked in the top 15 domestically though Kuga was far superior to his Aoki who looked out of his depth from early on and stopped Aoki in round 6. This is the third win for Kuga since his draw with the hotly tipped Naoto Uebayashi and we'd really be shocked if the 23 year old Kuga doesn't go a long way before his career is over. This is yet another bout we've managed to track down in terms of video footage, which can be viewed here. Prior to the 4 bouts mentioned above there were 4 undercard bouts. These began with a disappointing technical draw between Kazuya Nomura (0-2-1) and the debuting Koji Tomaru (0-0-1). The bout wasn't just disappointing in terms of result but in terms of actual fight as well with the ending coming after just 27 seconds! In a Featherweight bout fought early on the show fans had the chance to see Kei Iwahara (3-1, 2) stop the debuting Tsuyoshi Nakajima (0-1) in the 4th round of their bout. In another under-card bout we saw another early finish as the unbeaten Ryu Ueda (2-0, 2) took out fellow novice Masayuki Kondo (1-1, 1) in just 42 seconds! Amazingly we've also managed to track down the video of this quick blow out win for Ueda. The sole 6 rounder on the show, also one of the under-card bouts, saw Japanese-Brazilian Cristiano Aoqui (8-3-2, 4) take a clear decision over Quaye Peter (5-5-2, 3). Peter, originally from Ghana, is now 0-4-1 in his last 5 bouts suggesting that his career really looks like it's hit a brick wall after starting 5-1-1. (Image, of Kuga and Aoki, courtesy of boxingnews.jp) |
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