Tokyo, Japan This past Wednesday Japanese fans saw a small but notable show at the Korakuen Hall. The card didn't feature a title but did feature some very interesting fighters. In the main event fans saw Japanese Heavyweight champion Kyotaro Fujimoto (13-1, 7) score his first stoppage win in over a year as he took out Mexican slugger David Torres Garcia (10-2, 9) in just 3 rounds. On paper this one looked interesting but at the weigh in Garcia looked out of shape and unmotivated, which showed in the ring. Whilst the main event was decisive the two supporting bouts were both very competitive. The most competitive of those saw former Japanese Welterweight title challengers fight to a draw as neither Nobuyuki Shindo (16-3-1, 6) or Moon Hyun Yun (16-4-3, 3) did enough to a claim a win over each other. The other support bout saw Yuta Nakagawa (16-4-1, 9) being taken to the wire by Yutaka Kamioka (9-4-2, 5) in a split decision bout. The top 3 bout were all 8 rounders with a couple of 6 rounders underneath them. One of those 6 rounders was incredibly close as Koji Okubo (4-1-2) narrowly saw off Yuta Itagaki (3-3-2, 1), via a majority decision. The other 6 rounder saw Koji Kase (6-5, 3) score a 5th round TKO win against Tomoyuki Yokota (5-5, 2) To open the show fans had a couple of 4 rounders. One of these saw Daichi Yamamoto (4-3-1, 3) score a 2nd round TKO over the previous unbeaten Kentaro Omori (2-1, 1) whilst the other saw Jun Muto (2-0) narrowly over-come Kenji Matsumoto (1-6). (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)
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One of the busiest days so far this for us came this Saturday with great action across Asia. Macao, China The major action of the day came from Macau where we really got a bit of everything. There was nothing lacking in a show that will have gone over-looked by many fans who really did miss out in some ways. The headline bout was supposed to be the fairy tale for Chinese boxing as their Olympic hero was supposed to become a professional boxing icon. In the end however is was a disaster as Zou Shiming (6-1, 1) failed to do much of anything against the relaxed, accurate and frustrating Amnat Ruenroeng (15-0, 5). Ruenroeng, defending his IBF Flyweight title for the 3rd time, hardly got out of first gear as he made Shiming look like a novice. The jab of Ruenroeng was effectively the key punch of the fight however it was the footwork of Ruenroeng that made Shiming look terrible, embarrassing in fact. This is the end of the Shiming hype, though we hope it's not the end of the Macau shows which have delivered action on a regular basis. Talking about action the show had a brilliant 4 rounds as the upset minded Paul Valenzuela (3-2-1, 2) managed to take a split decision over China's previously unbeaten Zhou Yun Fei (4-1, 1). The bout lacked skill but also lacked defense, with the commentary team joking about it being banned, which made for a really exciting 4 round war. The deciding fact was an opening round knockdown by the visiting Mexican. Another action packed bout saw Macau's very own Kuok Kun Ng (7-0, 3) score a 3rd round KO against Chingchai Kiatpracha (7-3, 3). Ng hit the canvas in the opening round but came back well to drop Chingchai twice in the 3rd round, with the Thai staying down after the second knockdown. This was short but sweet and highly entertaining. Another entertaining affair saw the Heavy handed Ik Yang (19-0-0-1, 14) put on a memorable bout against Thailand's Patomsuk Pathompothong (29-3-1, 18). The bout, an IBF Light Welterweight eliminator and Pan Pacific title bout, saw Yang start well before slowing down and taking a few rights hands from the Thai which cut him. Despite being cut Yang put on a show with show boating and a destructive finish that left the Thai needing to be saved by the referee. In terms of action however one fight stood out. That was the insanely fun Super Flyweight bout between Hong Kong's Rex Tso (16-0, 9) and gutsy Filipino Michael Enriquez (10-3-1, 6). Tso, who recently signed a professional deal with Top Rank, fought with pressure on his shoulders, a smile on his face and action through his veins as the two traded shots, round after round. The bout was an action war sadly decided by a knock down early on by Tso who again showed his excitement fact and flaws. The win saw the “Wonder Kid” claim the WBA International Super Flyweight title and although the aim is to get him a world title fight later in the year, he simply isn't yet ready for a bout at that level. One man who really did impress was Filipino puncher Aston Palicte (17-1, 15) who forced a mercy stoppage of gutsy Mexican Ismael Garnica (13-6-1, 5). Garnica looked out-sized and out powered but gave his best for 6 rounds before being stopped in the 7th by a man we want to see a lot more of. This was the 7th successive stoppage win for Palicte who holds a very notable blow out win against Gerpaul Valero. We'd suggest watching out for this kid as he is exciting. Sadly not all the bouts were exciting. One of the worse was the 106 blow out win by Jose Felix Jr (29-1-1, 24) who easily saw off the over-matched Raymond Sermona (17-5-5, 8) in a massive mismatch. Sermona landed little of note before being dropped and taking the full count. Another mismatch saw popular American Glen Tapia (23-1, 15) score a 3rd round TKO over Australian Daniel Dawson (40-5-1, 26), who has now suffered back-to-back losses. Tokyo, Japan Whilst the biggest action was in China there was notable action across Asia with title action in Japan where two national champions retained their belts, albeit in very different manners, and fans also got a bit of everything on the undercard. The most impressive performance on the card came in the main event as the heavy handed Hiroki Okada (10-0, 8) retained his Japanese Light Welterweight title with a 3rd round TKO victory against Hayato Hokazono (18-5-1, 11). Okada looked on fire from the opening bell and was ultra-aggressive with sharp, fast and accurate shots that quickly took their toll on the challenger who was bloodied earlier on. The blood however wasn't the end for Hokazono who was dropped hard in the 3rd and failed to recover to his feet in an orderly manner. The other title defense was less certain as Suyon Takayama (22-1, 7) narrowly over-came a spirited effort from Nobuyuki Shindo (16-3, 6) and retained the Japanese Welterweight title. Takayama was dropped hard in the opening round, cut early on and behind at the half way mark before fighting back hard to take a clear but close decision over Shindo. Unfortunately for Shindo this was his second loss to Takayama however he did give a credible performance in a bout that broke down into be a stinker after his good start. In a bloody contest Hisao Narita (9-1, 4) took a split decision over Yusuke Konno (8-2, 3) in a very competitive match up. In a minor shock Takumi Takahashi (7-4-1, 2) scored a 2nd round TKO over Yukinori Hisanaga (16-6-2, 9) as Takahashi resurrected his faltering career. The 33 year old victor had suggested he was going to return if he lost but this performance seems to show there is life left in his career. Sadly for Hisanaga, who came up short in a Japanese title bout in 2013, this was a painful loss and his first stoppage loss. Popular puncher Shuhei Tsuchiya (17-3, 15) bounced back from his loss to Ricky Sismundo last year in style as he destroyed Thailand's Singphayak Kokietgym (6-6-1, 5). Singphayak, fighting under the name “John Ford” has now been stopped in 3 straight. One other bout from this card saw Hideaki Yamaji (5-7, 2) score an upset win over Masayuki Ichikawa (5-2, 2) in a hard fought 6 round decision. Ichikawa had lost in the East Japan Rookie of the Year final last year and was expected to bounce back here. Unfortunately for him Yamaji was hungry for a win which was very well deserved. Bukidnon, Philippines In the Philippines ALA put on a small show of prospects. The most notable prospect in action was Jess Rhey Waminal (6-0, 4) who scored a 2nd round TKO against professional loser Rowel Garcia (6-17-3, 1). This was Garcia's 13 stoppage loss and his 4th in a row. We wonder what Garcia is really teaching a kid like Waminal who padded his record a little bit with a relatively pointless win against a man known as “Merciless”, we must admit we're unsure if that name was intentionally sarcastic. Another equally poor match up saw Gerard Suico (4-0, 3) blow away Sonny Boy Dasan (0-2) inside a round. This was Suico's 4th bout in as many months but the opposition so far has been pathetic for the promising 21 year old. Melvin Jerusalem (5-0, 4) was another man who scored an opening round stoppage as he stopped Rodante Suacasa (1-10-2, 1), who has now been stopped 5 times. Another opening round stoppage was scored by Michael Estrella (3-0, 1) who stopped Jessie Suacasa (3-5, 2). Another early win was scored by the hands of Mardie Muana (1-0, 1) who took 2 rounds to see off the win-less Sonny Basanez (0-4). In bouts that did go the distance fans saw Elmo Traya (8-1, 6) defeat Rodel Wenceslao (8-11-1, 2), who was fighting for the first time since he was stopped by Keita Obara, and Junder Gregorio (3-0) extend his winning run with a decision over Ronald Garcia (2-7). (http://www.boxeomundial.com) |
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