This past Friday was a busy day with Asian's in action around the globe along with a couple of Asian shows.

Tokyo, Japan
For us the most significant of the two Asian cards came from Japan where fans saw an OPBF title fight, a couple of world ranked fighters and some interesting action.

The main event was the aforementioned OPBF title bout which saw Lightweight champion Masayoshi Nakatani (11-0, 6) retain his title with a 5th round TKO win against Kazuya Murata (11-5, 5). This was Nakatani's 4th defense of the title and saw him get back to scoring stoppages after 4 straight distance bouts. The talented Ioka gym fighter took control early in the bout with his jab and movement and began to turn up the heat in round 4. At the end of round 5 the bout was stopped follow a doctor's inspection of the challenger who stopped the contest with Murata suffering a suspect eye injury.

In the chief support bout fans saw world ranked Super Bantamweight Shun Kubo (8-0, 6) make very light-work of Thailand's Jakarachlek Sor Wankaew (0-5). Kubo, who we had heard good things off through most of 2014, looked brilliant though the bout lasted just 54 seconds and it was hard to get a real read on just how good the Shinsei gym fighter really is.

Another world ranked fighter on this card was young Minimumweight hopeful Reiya Konishi (9-0, 4) who claimed a clear decision win over Naoya Haruguchi (7-6, 2). Konishi, who claimed the 2015 Rookie of the Year crown at 105lbs, showed some really nice touches in his work but he's a long, long, way from thinking about challenging for world honours. Saying that however he showed enough to suggest that he will be ready in 2016 for a Japanese title fight and we were genuinely impressed by his left hook to the body.

Konishi wasn't the only 2014 Rookie of the Year winner in action as Super Bantamweight winner Shohei Kawashima (11-0-2, 3) also picked up a victory. The relatively light hitting Kawashima managed to see off the limited Tatsuya Miyamoto (11-13-1, 7) in the 6th round following a lovely burst of shots. Although certainly not a puncher we do like Kawashima's combinations and he does look like a fighter who is going to grow in to his man strength in the coming years. Really one to keep an eye on.

In another bout at Super Bantamweight fans saw Yuta Uetani (17-5-1, 9) put in an impressive performance against the limited Serichai Nonpitayakom (0-2). On paper this was a mismatch but it was hard not to be impressed by Uetani's body punching, which put the Thai down for the count in roudn 2. Uetani might not be a top class fighter but he's going to be a handful for many fighters in and around the domestic level.

Another Japanese fighter to see off a Thai foe was Yasunori Kishigami (10-2-1, 6), who scored a 7th round KO against the win-less Kraithong Mansongkhram (0-3). Kraithong had made it to round 70 though was blasted with a vicious body shot in the opening seconds of the round. The Thai beat the count but was in no state to continue. Re-watching the shot it's amazing Kraithong didn't throw up on impact.

Bangkok, Thailand
The other card from Asia came from Thailand and was televised on Channel 7. The card was, for all intents, supposed to feature a couple of bouts that were warm up bouts for world ranked Thai's. Unfortunate for one of them the bout turned out to be less of a warm up and more of a nightmare.

One of those world ranked fighters was Paipharob Kokietgym (30-0, 23), who defended the WBO Oriental Light Flyweight title with an easy blow out win against Fanther Ndahiuw (7-4-1, 3). Ndahiuw, who had never been stopped, lasted just 105 seconds here as Paipharob kept up his hunt for a world title fight.

The other world ranked fighter was former challenger Pigmy Kokietgym (57-8-2, 23) who was surprisingly stopped in the 11th round by unheralded Filipino Jaysever Abcede (10-3, 6). The bout, for the WBO Oriental Minimumweight title was supposed to be a warm up for Pigmy before a showdown with Japan's sensational Kosei Tanaka. Instead it turned out to be a coming out party for 20 year old Abcede who finished the bout with a wonderful right hook in round 11. Whilst this is probably the end for Pigmy it's fair to say that Abcede may be worth keeping a serious eye on going forward.

On the under-card fans saw two unbeaten prospects extend their unbeaten runs. One of those men was the exciting Manachai Banchamek (7-0-1, 6), who stopped Singdech Laos PDR (0-1) in the 2nd round. The bout was a mismatch and although Singdech showed some heart he was battered by the aggressive and exciting Manachai.

The other prospect was Petchmanee Kokietgym (9-0, 4) who also picked up a 2nd round TKO as he beat Taosaifah Laos PDR (0-1). This was another mismatch in favour of the unbeaten man who showed touches of class, though was always far too good for Taosaifah.

South Africa
Another major shock involving a Filipino fighter occurred in South Africa where Rene Dacquel (15-5-1, 5) claimed the IBO International Super Flyweight title. The under-rated Dacquel scored two knockdowns on route to a split decision over local fighter Thembelani Nxoshe (13-6-1, 3). Coming into this one Dacque was 3-2-1 though this win will act as a major boost in

New South Wales, Australia
On a JNI promoted card in New South Wales fans saw two Asian fighters come up short.

One of those was Thailand's Paitoon Jaikom (5-16, 2) who was widely out pointed by the unbeaten Ahmed Dib (16-0, 9). Although the bout was scheduled for just 6 rounds one judge had Dib winning by 9 points, 60-51. Sadly for the Thai this defeat ends a 2 fight winning run.

The other Asian being beaten here was Aussie based Filipino veteran Aswin Cabuy (15-53-4, 7), who was shut out over 4 rounds by the unbeaten David Toussaint (6-0, 4).

New South Wales, Australia
A separate card in New South Wales saw Thai veteran Plaisakda Singwancha (38-22, 32) suffer an opening round TKO loss to Kariz Kariuki (26-11-2, 20).

District of Colombia, USA
In the US fans saw unbeaten Kazakh hopeful Shyngyskhan Tazhibay (2-0, 2) continue his perfect start with a 2nd round TKO win against the debuting Coleman Phelps (0-1). Tazhibay has been tipped as “one to watch” in some quarters though we must confess that his competition so far has told us very little about his ability or his true promise.

(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

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)

Hyogo, Japan
It's fair to say that today wasn't the busiest day nor was it the most interesting day of the week in Asian boxing circles. It was however a notable day with an OPBF title fight that featured one of the most exciting prospects in Japanese boxing, if not Asian boxing.

The prospect was Ioka gym hopeful Masayoshi Nakatani (9-0, 5), the current OPBF Lightweight champion who many are now ear marking for success. Nakatani made the second defense of his title in a controlled performance against the heavy handed but notably smaller Futoshi Usami (12-2-1, 9), who was stuck behind the champions long jab for vast swathes of the bout. It was a bout that ended up lacking the excitement we had hoped for but yet it was a very mature performance from the champion who looks the part already.

In the chief support bout we saw another Lightweight bout as former Japanese title challenger Yuhei Suzuki (15-4, 11) was given an almost perfect work out as he was taken 8 rounds by the extremely tough Keisuke Arima (8-10-1, 1). Suzuki, a heavy handed but limited fighter, scored a knockdown but couldn't see off the defensively minded Arima who has still never been stopped.

The other 8 rounder on the card was much more interest as the limited Yasunori Kishigami (9-2-1, 5) was forced to work for a decision win over Thai visitor Phissanuthep Chaiyonggym (4-12-1, 3) in what was a surprisingly competitive bout despite a clear win on the cards for Japanese fighter.

The two opening bouts both ended early. These saw Koji Ohori (9-3-2, 5) scoring a 2nd round KO over Thailand's Prayoot Saknarong (0-2), who was stopped at the very end of the second round, and a 4th round KO for female fighter Kana Fukuda (3-1, 1) who beat the debuting Wakako Fujiwara (0-1) with just under 90 seconds of their bout remaining.

(Image, from the Nakatani fight, courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

Osaka, Japan
The highlight of this boxing week was in Osaka as an Ioka promoted show attracted the attention of fans around the world courtesy of two world title fights, an OPBF title fight and one of the most out standing Japanese prospects.

The aforementioned prospect was Sho Ishida (16-0, 9), the first of the notable fighters on the show. Ishida, one of most exciting Super Flyweight prospects, made light work of limited Thai foe Brukluk Kor Narong Service (0-1). Ishida may not be a major name, yet, but his potential is special and with his speed, skills, size and under-rated power it's going to take a very special fighter to stop his rise.

Following Ishida's victory fans in the venue got to see the unbeaten OPBF Lightweight champion Masayoshi Nakatani (8-0, 5) defending his belt for the first time. The talented and rangy Nakatani was a clear winner as he out pointed a spirited challenger from Japanese based Filipino Ricky Sismundo (26-8-1, 12). We're surprised that Sismundo, who has been stopped in 4 of his previous losses, went the distance but a second successive 12 round distance fight for Nakatani will do him the world of good.

Following those two bouts of note we then moved on to the first world title fight which saw IBF Minimumweight champion Katsunari Takayama (27-6-0-1, 10) defending his belt for the second time. Takayama, known as the "lightning kid", was given some issues from the straight lefts of challenger Shin Ono (17-6-2, 2) though was the busier, better and more effective champion, as shown when Takayama dropped Ono in rounds 10 and 12 to secure a clear decision victory over the game Ono.

The second world title fight saw a genuine upset as Thailand's Amnat Ruenroeng (13-0, 5) successfully defended his IBF Flyweight title with a victory over the previously unbeaten 2-weight world champion Kazuto Ioka (14-1, 9). Ioka, attempting to become the quickest 3-weight world champion was unusually gun shy though the biggest talking point was the atrocious scorecard of Polish judge Pawel Kardyni, who some how managed to score the bout a shut out out to Ruenroeng leaving questions about whether or not he was even watching the action.

Prior to the big bouts the card had 5 other bouts on it. The most notable of those saw Takahiro Yamamoto (13-3, 10) blasting out Thailand's Jakaratlek Sor Wankaew (0-2) in 3 rounds of a scheduled 8 rounder. 

In the sole 6 rounder Tomoya Itosu (5-2, 3) stopped Takeshi Nakayama (3-5-2, 1) in 2 rounds. 

The card opened with trio of 4 rounders. These saw Tesu Kanayama (1-0) scoring a decision victory on debut as he over-came Ryusuke Hosoki (3-5-1, 1), Takeru Kamikubo (2-0, 1) scoring his first stoppage victory as he stopped Takuya Sumiyoshi (0-4-1) in the second round and, in a female bout, Aiko Yamagishi (3-0-1, 1) stopped Tomomi Kida (1-1, 1) in 3 rounds.

(Image, courtesy of boxingnews.jp, shows Takayama throwing a jab at Ono)

Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
The first OPBF title fight of the new year took place today and saw a new champion crowned as Masayoshi Nakatani (7-0, 5) managed to claim the biggest victory of his career. Nakatani, stepping up big time to challenge Yoshitaka Kato (26-5-1, 7) for the OPBF Lightweight title, may have been viewed by many as taking the fight too soon though showed exactly why so many rate so highly.

Despite coming in to the bout with just 21 rounds of career experience Nakatani looked like a veteran at times. He made the most of his sizable reach and height advantages to make Kato fight from range and also made the defending champion pay for his lack of accuracy in the later rounds with great counters.

With this victory we expect Nakatani to move into the world rankings. Prior to the bout Kato was ranked by both the WBC and WBO (#10 in both) and it'd not be a shock if Nakatani moved into a similar position when the rankings for those organisations were updated. Sure he's not ready for any of the active world champions but he's certainly a man who we think will be fighting on the world stage over the following few years. With his size, power, skill and developing experience this kid will be going a very long way.

In the chief support bout, at least in terms of professional contests, there was a rare stoppage victory for the promising Yukinori Oguni (12-1, 3). Oguni, a former OPBF Super Bantamweight champion, took time to get going though didn't really struggle with Yuki Fujimoto (7-3-1, 2) who suffered his first stoppage loss via an 8th round stoppage. Although Oguni was stopped last year by Shingo Wake we've no doubt that this young kid has the potential to make his mark on the world stage.

The least surprising result on the card saw Yusuke Sakashita (11-4-2, 7) take a stoppage over Thai tomato can Petchek Sithkorpolkanpim (0-12) who suffered his 11th career stoppage via this second round loss.

In a disappointing result the highly touted Kenji Kubo (3-2-1, 1) fought to a split decision draw with Kota Sato (9-5-1, 4). Kubo, who began his career with a very impressive decision over Nouldy Manakane, appears to have flopped and is now starting to look very unlikely to ever live up to his potential. Of course credit needs to go to Sato here though in all honesty it's hard to hide our disappointment over Kubo's career.

If Kubo suffering a draw was disappointing then it's fair to say that Yusuke Suzuki (4-1, 3) scoring a 3rd round KO over Takaaki Ishikawa (10-5, 5) was a delightful surprise. Of course Ishikawa hasn't got the greatest chin, suffering 5 stoppage losses now, but it was still a very solid win for Suzki who is still a novice himself.

As well as the competitive bouts on the show there was also the Heavyweight spar of Nobuhiro Ishida (25-9-2, 10). Ishida, a former Japanese Light Middleweight champion, shared the ring with Yamato Fujinaka (4-3, 1) and seemed to do relatively well. There were issues with his sparring but it's expected that he will be given a Japanese ranking and he will be able to challenger Kyotaro Fujimoto on April 30th. It's not yet confirmed but indications are suggest that the JBC ranking committee WILL grant Ishida a Heavyweight ranking.

Barangay. Namayan Basketball Arena, Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila, Philippines
As well as the show in Tokyo there was also action in the Philippines thanks to Aljoe Jaro. This card, which had made headlines before it had even started, turned out to be a pretty interesting one for numerous reasons.

With 13 fights on the show, yes, you read that right 13 fights, it was bound to have talking points and that's certainly what we got.

The lowest level bouts on the card were a trio of 4 rounders. These saw Joel Tamayo (1-1) taking his first victory courtesy of a 4 round decision over the debuting Jeromias Aguinaldo (0-1); Joyjoy Formentera (2-1) winning a tight split decision over Jeffrey Alejandre (1-2) in an excellently made bout, and a good stoppage victory for the promising Rolly Sumalpong (3-0, 1) who stopped Rodney Ramirez (0-1-1) in the 4th and final round.

The card amazingly had 7 bouts scheduled for 6 rounds. Surprisingly only 3 of those bouts actually went the distance. These distance bouts saw Rowel Rosia (6-2, 3) score a very credible win over Lionel Legada (11-6-1, 5) with a unanimous decision, Danilo Gabisay (5-2, 3) scoring a narrow victory over Regan Delos Santos (2-2-1, 2) with a majority decision whilst the unbeaten Joey Canoy (4-0-1, 3) was unexpectedly held to a draw by Felipe Cagubcob Jr (1-1-4) who is starting to become an expect in scoring draws.

Of the other scheduled 6 rounders the longest lasted 5 rounds as Jonathan Francisco (5-3, 2) struggled to finish off Mac Mac Canisio (2-4-1). This was somewhat the opposite of Lloyd Jardeliza's (5-0-3, 4) 159 second blow out of the fragile Marco Niones (3-11-1, 1) who suffered his 9th stoppage loss.

For us some of the most noteworthy results came in the other 6 rounders. One of those was a 3rd round victory scored by the very promising Neil John Tabanao (6-0, 5). Tabanao, fighting Warren Mambuanag (6-4-2, 3), showed why he is so highly regarded as he dropped Mambuanag in the opening round before finishing him in round 3.

The second noteworthy result in the 6 round bouts saw former IBF Minimumweight champion Florante Condes (26-8-1, 22) stopping journeyman Marzon Cabilla (9-11-1, 4). On paper this shouldn't be noteworthy though it is for several reasons. Firstly this was Condes's first bout in well over a year and his first win since 2010. Both interesting facts, though the key is that Cabilla was supposed to be a better opponent, despite being a very late replacement, than Condes's original opponent Rey Morano who the GAB refused to sanction for the bout. If Cabilla, who lasted just 133 seconds, was better then just how bad do the GAB think Morano is?

In the shows sole 8 round bout, the unbeaten Ardie Boyosi (9-0-1, 6) stopped the experienced Prell Tupaz (8-23-4, 1) in just 111 seconds as he showed off why his is touted as a really credible prospect. Tupaz might have collected losses but he has rarely been stopped and actually came in to this bout following an 8th round technical decision loss to one time world title challenger Sylvester Lopez.

We believe the card had 2 bouts scheduled for 12 rounds. One of these saw Jomar Fajardo (13-4-1, 6) claim the new Asian Boxing Federation (ABF) Light Flyweight title courtesy of a 3rd round stoppage over the limited Robel Villegas (9-8, 3), whilst the other again brought question marks to the GAB.

Former WBC and Linear Flyweight champion Sonny Boy Jaro (35-13-5, 25), originally scheduled to fight Pit Anacaya, instead took on Charlie Cabilla (13-13-4, 2) and took him out inside a round. Cabilla, a late replacement for Anacaya who the GAB said was an unfit opponent for Jaro, was also unfit though with the matchmaker given less than a week to sort out an opponent it's questionable as to what the GAB expected.

Auditorio Benito Juárez, Veracruz, Veracruz, Mexico
In Mexico things went as expected for a trio of Filipino's who were thrown in hard and expected to sink.

Things for Vergel Nebran (11-7-1, 7) went exactly as most would have expected, with the Filipino being stopped by former WBC Super Flyweight world champion Tomas Rojas (42-14-1-1, 28). In fact if anything was surprisingly here it was how long Nebran lasted, refusing to be stopped early on he survived until round 8 against the rangy Mexican fighter.

Rojas wasn't the only former world champion beating up on a Filipino foe as Ramon Garcia Hirales (19-4-1, 12), the former WBO Light Flyweight champion, over came Lionel Mark Duran (11-10-2, 5) in what looked like a mismatch on paper. Although the expected winner won Duran impressed by refusing to be stopped

The closest a Filipino came was Adones Aguelo (20-9-2, 12) who gave Mexico's Nery Saguilan (27-4-1, 10) a good run for his money in a competitive 10 round bout. Aguelo, who was narrowly beaten, proved he was on an even keel with Saguilan and a rematch in a neutral venue may well see the decision reversed.