This past Saturday was an incredibly busy day, especially for Filipino fans, who had bouts involving their fighters through out the day.

Cebu, Philippines
Fans in the Philippines had a good day with a trio of shows, 2 of which were in Cebu.

For us the more interesting of the two was at the Mandaue city Grand Fiesta Carnival as we got several interesting prospects, a major upset, and a few notable “journeymen”.

The big upset came in the only title bout on the show as the highly experienced Edgar Gabejan (27-31-6, 9) scored a shock 8th round KO against Marbon Bodiongan (11-3-2, 9) to successfully defended the Philippines Games & Amusement Board (GAB) Super Featherweight title. Although on paper this was a huge mismatch it now seems clear that Gabejan has one of the many “misleading” records that we find through out the Filipino boxing scene.

Another man with a misleading record on this show was Gerpaul Valero (19-16-3, 13) who made light work of Nicardo Calamba (6-20-3, 3) courtesy of a 2nd round KO. This was an expected win for Valero who has really turned his career around after having been 1-13-3 just 4 years ago. A third man who proved how “wrong” his record was was Rodel Wenceslao (9-11-1, 3) who stopped Takamori Akita (10-5-1, 8).

It wasn't all about the “misleading” records however and it was good to see the promising Neil John Tabanao (11-0, 7) continue his perfect start as he over-came the experienced Jason Egara (21-13, 10) with a 10 round decision win. Another unbeaten man in action was Ardie Boyose (15-0-1, 11) who blew away Joel Escol (8-18-3, 5) inside a round.

In a 6 rounder fans saw Rommick Magos (11-4, 7) see off Juma Diana (2-10, 2) in the 2nd round whilst a 4 rounder saw the debuting Morten Olson (1-0, 1) blow away Holly Quinones (0-4) in just 77 seconds.

Cebu, Philippines
There was another show in Cebu that was equally as interesting.

In the main event ended in a genuine upset as Rene Dacquel (14-4-1, 5) took a split decision over the previously unbeaten Melvin Gumban (19-1, 10) and claimed the GAB Super Flyweight title. Gumban was defending the belt for the first time following his opening round blow out of Wiljan Ugbaniel in January though was unable to over-come the more battled hardened Dacquel. Despite the loss we do see Gumban coming back and he still has a bright future ahead of him.

In the chief support bout was saw Jason Canoy (23-5-2, 17) blow away Juren Labordo (14-3, 9) in the 2nd round. Labordo was unable to take Canoy's power and was down 3 times in the round.

In a 6 rounder Cris Ganoza (5-0, 1) claimed his first stoppage win as he over-came Rafael Sueno (3-3, 3) with a 4th round TKO. Another unbeaten man extending his winning run was Virgel Vitor (4-0, 2), who stopped Kenneth Neron (1-2-1) in the 3rd round.

Lower down this card we did see a couple of upsets. The most notable of those saw Andrew Palas (4-3, 1) take a decision win over the previously unbeaten Jeffrey Concerman (3-1, 1) whilst another saw Raul Yu (6-1, 5) defeat Gerard Suico (4-1, 3).

Metro Manila, Philippines
The third of the Filipino shows came from Mero Manila and seemed to see all the bouts going the “expected” way.

In the main event fans saw former world title challenger Michael Farenas (40-5-3, 32) make light work of Thai foe Chaiyong Sithsaithong (36-14-4, 26) with a 2nd round stoppage. Chaiyong was dropped twice in the round with the referee saving the over-matched Thai, who suffered only his second stoppage loss.

In the chief support bout fans saw the unbeaten Rommel Oliveros (4-0-1, 1) take a competitive decision win over journeymen Ricky Oyan (4-24-2, 2) in what turned out to be a good test for the novice, despite looking like a mismatch on paper.

Sadly the 6 rounders weren't particularly competitive. One of those saw Ryan Sermona (17-7, 10) force a stoppage of Gilbert Donasales (5-9-1, 3) whilst another saw experienced traveler Cris Alfante (11-4, 3) score a 2nd round TKO against Rolando Niones (4-17-2, 2).

In the 4 rounders we saw a bit of everything. One of those was a blow out as Mike Mirafuentes (3-1-1, 3) took care of Arben Escayo (0-4) in just 61 seconds. A more competitive saw the debuting Argie Guiriba (1-0) defeat fellow debutant Jovil Helario (0-1), with Helario being dropped in the opening round. The most competitive of the 4 rounders however saw Glen Medura (1-1-1, 1) trade knockdowns with Manny Mamacquiao (0-6-1) with Medura taking the split decision.

Haikou, China
In China fans saw the talented Froilan Saludar (22-1-1, 14) move a step towards a world title fight as he claimed the WBO Inter-Continental Flyweight title with a 5th round TKO against Indonesian journeyman Faris Nenggo (10-8-3, 3). Coming into this bout Nenggo was flying high from a shock TKO win over former world champion Merlito Sabillo though he couldn't over-come Saludar who is now 3-0 following his defeat to McWilliams Arroyo last June.

Distrito Federal, Mexico
Things weren't as good for Filipino fans who stayed up to watch Jeffrey Arienza (12-4-1, 7), who was stopped in 6 rounds by former world title challenger Dante Jardon (26-5, 21). This bout, for the WBC International silver Lightweight title, saw the Filipino suffering his second successive defeat, following a loss last November to Japanese novice Daishi Nagata. Although Arienza was more than competitive early on he ran out of steam before being stopped.

Queensland, Australia
In Australia we did see a slight shock as Aussie based Thai Arnon Yuchareon (0-8-1) managed to score a draw with Ben Kite (1-2-1). It was the first time Arnon had managed to avoid a defeat and it was a well earned draw for the still-win-less Thai ho continues to prove that his record is misleading, despite the fact he's nothing “special” as a fighter.

This coming weekend is huge however Friday wasn't that important with one one genuinely notable bout, involving an Asian fight,

Hato Rey, Puerto Rico
That aforementioned "notable" fight sadly ended in disappointment as Filipino slugger Michael Farenas (39-5-4, 31) found himself on the wrong side of a boxing lesson courtesy of unbeaten Puerto Rican Jose Pedraza (19-0, 12). Pedraza genuinely dominated the bout with his sharp punching, intelligent movement and great timing as he made Farenas miss and then countered time and tiem again. Farenas, to his credit, showed off his trademark toughness but really struggled to connect with any type on consistency in what was a real break out performance from Pedraza. Sadly for Farenas this loss came in an IBF title eliminator and will essentially put him to the back of the queue despite his impressive victory earlier this year against Mark Davis.

Tokyo, Japan
In Tokyo fans saw Noguchi put on a small but interesting card with 9 bouts in total.

The card began with a number of 4 rounders. These were mostly competitive contests with Kenji Motegi (2-3-2) fighting to a draw against Norris Yano (2-1-1) the most competitive of the bouts, though we did almost end up with 2 draws however as Yukito Tomori (2-0) narrowly claimed a decision over Tadashi Nunoya (1-2, 1) in a bout that could easily have been scored 38-38. Another somewhat competitive contest saw Tomoki Takada (1-0-1) take a close decision over Yasuhiro Koyama (1-3) whilst the debuting Yasuaki Miura (1-0) took a clear win over Ryusuke Arai (0-3-1). The only 4 rounder on this show that failed to go the distance saw the debuting Ryuta Okumura (1-0, 1) make very light work of fellow debutant Fire Terakado (0-1), who was stopped in the opening round of the in a bout that lasted less that a round.

The first of 3 bouts scheduled for 6 rounds saw Takashi Sakamoto (6-3, 1) over-come the heavier handed but limited Kyohei Tsunashima (4-5, 3) with a clear cut 6 round victory. A second of the 6 rounders that went the distance saw Kazunori Takayama (20-8-4, 4) return from more than 3 years out of the ring to over-come the Japanese ranked Noriyuki Ueno (17-12-5, 5) in a result that needs to be regarded as a genuine upset, despite the records of the men involved. The only 6 rounder that didn't go the distance on this card saw Takeshi Inoue (1-0-1, 1) score his first win with a 3rd round win against Thai visitor Samson Sor Meter (0-1) who was unable to cope with the talented Inoue.

In the sole 8 rounder fans saw Daisuke Yokoyama (16-5-1, 6) take a clear decision over Keita Ito (8-19-2, 4) in what was a one-sided contest in favour of Yokoyama who is now unbeaten in 3 following a loss to Hisashi Amagasa back in April 2013. 

Osaka, Japan
In Osaka we had another Japanese card and in all honestly this one appears to have been better than the Tokyo show.

The main event here saw the OPBF ranked Jetly Purisima (20-13-4, 5) out work and out point Japan's very own Yuki Takemoto (16-19-2, 7) in a very interesting 10 round affair. Purisima was the notably shorter man in the ring but he kept finding a way inside Takemoto where he managed to unload his shots time and time again as he won a comfortable decision to maintain his hopes of an OPBF title fight.

In the co-feature fans saw Japanese based Brazilian fighter Cristiano Aoqui (9-3-2, 5) score an 8th round stoppage against Koichi Ogawa (10-5-1, 5) in an interesting affair on paper. The fight looked even going in to it but it proved to be rather one sided in the ring with Ogawa never quite settling into the bout and Aoqui had him rocked hard at the end of round 7 before forcing the referee to step in in round 8. In another 8 rounder the heavy hitting Shinya Yamaguchi (10-10, 8) scored a second round stoppage over the fragile Hiroki Yoshimura (7-11, 4), with Yoshimura being dropped 3 times in the second round forcing an automatic stoppage.

We also saw stoppages on the undercard here with the promising Welterweight hopeful Yuki Takahashi (4-0, 1) scoring his first stoppage as he over-came Masanori Kawai (1-2, 1) in the third round whilst the debuting Shota Asaumi (1-0, 1) kicked off his career with a second round win over Akihiko Hayashi (0-1). The only under-card bout that went the distance saw Golgosaithon Kenji (3-0) over-come Ryo Miyagaki (0-1-1) in an interesting scrap scored 38-36 to Kenji by all 3 judges.

Bangkok, Thailand
In Bangkok Thai fans had televised action though sadly the bouts were, mostly, mismatches.

Sadly, though as is common with Thai shows, a few of the bouts are a mystery though we do know about 2 of the contests on the card. One of those saw former world title challenger Pigmy Kokietgym (54-7-2, 23) score his second successive victory over Indonesian journeyman Samuel Tehuayo (18-27-2, 3). Unfortunately for Tehuayo it appears he's getting into the ring with the intention of going through the motions in recent bouts, as seen in his recent loss to Stamp Kiatniwat as well, which is disappointing as he has the ability to give a good fight to some fighters. As for Pigmy it's fair to say his career looks like it's coming to an end and the Thai looked a very old 33 at the end of this bout.

The other bout we have footage for saw Kongthara KKP (5-0, 5) defeat Indonesian journeyman Budi Risky (8-6, 5) who was stopped for the 4th time in 5 bouts and he may need to consider a new career given that he really has found his limit in the sport.

This past Wednesday wasn't a huge one for boxing, despite a live ESPN card in the night, though was a great one if you were a Filipino fight fan.

Connecticut, USA
The biggest fight, by far, for Asian fans was in the US as the hard hitting and always fun to watch Michael Farenas (39-4-4, 31) stopped the previously unbeaten Mark Davis (18-1, 5) in the 8th round. The fight, an IBF Super Flyweight eliminator, saw Farenas showing off his pressure, power and experience to stop the more technically skilled Davis who was taking a big step up and simply didn't have the answers to the questions Farenas was asking of him.

From what we understand this result should secure a fight between Farenas and the winner of the upcoming contest between Argenis Mendez and Rances Barthelemy.

Cotabato del Sur, Philippines
As well as the major bout in the US fans of Filipino boxing would also have rejoiced with action at the Bula Gymnasium.

This show saw the very promising John Vincent Moralde (10-0, 6) claiming the Philippines Boxing Federation Super Bantamweight title courtesy of a 2nd round stoppage of the over-matched Ronerex Dalut (8-15-2, 2). Moralde may not be one of the truly elite Filipino prospects but it's hard to deny that he is a very promising young fighter.

Another promising fighter on this show was the once beaten Daryl Basadre (12-1-1, 9) who scored a stoppage victory against the over-matched Saddam Barambangan (3-6-1, 2). 

Sadly it seems the three bouts of not on this card were all stopped early with American Danny McDermott (10-5-2, 4) taking an opening round DQ victory over Jesar Ancajas (15-25-2, 7). From what we've seen of the fight it looks like Ancajas was DQ'd for repeated headbutts in a bout that was certainly not a highlight real of the sweet science. 

This past Friday was a busy one for boxing fans in Asia with notable fights in both the Philippines and Thailand.

Bueng Kan, Thailand
The most notable bout of the day was in Bueng Kan in Thailand as the world ranked and very highly regarded Teerachai Kratingdaenggym (25-0, 19) successfully defended his PABA Welterweight title, super version. 

Teerachai, ranked #7 by the WBA, continued his rise by stopping former foe Behzod Nabiev (22-8-1, 16) in round 7. 

This was the second meeting between the two after Teerachai was forced to take a decision over Nabiev last year. The first bout saw the Thai being knocked down and forced to struggle to a decision this time though an improved Teerachai did what was expected and became just the second man to stop the Uzbek fighter.

Bangkok, Thailand
As well as the Thai card with Teerachai on their was a second Thai card, this time in Bangkok. This card was a much deeper show with 4 bouts on it as opposed to just one though for us none were as notable as Teerachai/Nabiev II.

The shows opening bout on the broadcast saw the very highly ranked Tabtimdaeng Na Rachawat (52-2, 34), the WBA #3 Bantamweight, take an 8 round decision over the game but completely out classed Shark Mac (0-2). Mac, who was on the receiving end of a controlled beating, hardly landed a punch of note during the 8 round contest though he will likely be welcome to return to Thailand for more fights like this given his proven toughness.

The main event on this show saw the unbeaten Thong Sithluangphophun (8-0, 5) defend his PABA interim Featherweight title for the first time. Thong, who won the belt back in January, made very light work of the over matched Tony Arema (3-5). Arema was down twice in round 2 before being down again in round 3 as the towel came in.

From what we saw of Thong here he looks very promising and at 21 years old he has a lot of time to develop into an excellent fighter. Technically he has a fantastic jab that he likes to throw and although he needs to step up he does look a little bit special.

The third fight on the show saw baby faced southpaw Hanuman Sithluangporphun (2-0) take a decision over the more experienced Thaminkhao Sor Tharnthip (3-9-1, 2) before Yodsingdaeng Jor Chaijinda (4-0, 2) stopped the debuting Kaewkangwan Sithporkae (0-1) in 4 rounds.

Metro Manila, Philippines
In Metro Manila MAG Pacman put on a very interesting 8 bout card at the San Juan Arena.

The main event here featured 2-time world title challenger Michael Farenas (38-4-4, 30) who scored a controversial cut stoppage over Mexican veteran Hector Velazquez (56-21-3, 38). Velazquez, who suffered a genuinely nasty cut, was ruled to have been damaged by a punch though replays seem to show it was a clash of heads that forced the early conclusion to the bout and the bout should have been a 2nd technical draw.

In the chief support bout fans got to see the promising Giovanni Escaner (11-2, 7) score a 7th round KO over the usually tough Jaymart Toyco (14-5, 10) who suffered just his second stoppage defeat.

The show's only 8 round contest saw the unbeaten John Vincent Moralde (8-0, 4) struggle past his toughest test so far. The touted Moralde was genuinely given a great work out by Roman Canto  (8-4-2, 3), who some felt may have deserved more respect on two of the score cards.

Whilst Moralde struggled fellow unbeaten Dave Penalosa (8-0, 5) did as he was expected to and clearly beat the game but out classed Alem Robles (6-5-2, 2). A third unbeaten prospect, Jake Bornea (6-0, 3) was given an unexpectedly tough contest from Felipe Cagubcob Jr (1-2-4) who showed why he gets so many draws with his ability to keep things close and competitive. 

The only other 6 rounder on the show saw Jestoni Autida (4-1, 1) out point Eric Pansa (3-2-1) in what looked like a very competitive bout on paper though proved to be very one sided in the actual ring.

In the 4 rounders Mark Macabales (1-2) defeated the debuting Jocel Calantos (0-1) whilst fellow debutant Jiffy Castaneda (1-0) out pointed the win less Felipe Suyom (0-3).

(Photo courtesy of Boxrec.com)