Tokyo, Japan
The only Japanese show this past Friday was “DANGAN 131” which came from the Korakuen Hall.

The main event of the card ended in less than spectacular fashion as bout between Toyoto Shiraishi (25-8-3, 12) and Kenta Nakagawa (9-2-1, 7) ended in a 3rd round technical draw. The ended was a disappointing way to end the card that has otherwise been rather solid.

Part of the solid action has been the chief support bout which saw a minor upset as Yusuke Tsukada (8-4, 3) out pointed the more experienced Kazuhiro Nishitani (14-3-1, 7) over 8 rounds. The bout was really competitive through out and really did make up for the disappointing main event.

Another of the top of the card bouts saw Moon Hyun Yun (16-4-2, 3) take a 3rd round TKO win over the over-matched Shiro Saito (7-5-2, 2). Saito looked out of his depth from the off and was broken down with body shots before being stopped.

In a 6 rounder Yuichiro Kasuya (7-0, 1), scored a unanimous decision over Takashi Sakamoto (6-5, 1). This was the first win this year for Kasuya who was the All Japan Rookie of the Year last year at Super Featherweight. The talented unbeaten fighter appears to be very promising but his lack of power is likely to hold him back in the long run.

In another 8 rounder fans saw the experienced Ryuichi Funai (24-6, 16) take a shut out win over Japanese based Filipino Ryan Bito (22-15-3, 8), who was unable to record a win on his 40th pro bout.

On the bottom part of this card were a trio of 4 rounders. Two of those were Rookie of the Year bouts. One of those bouts saw the heavy handed Yugo Ueda (5-2, 4) score a 3rd round KO win against the previously unbeaten Takayoshi Miyachi (2-1, 2). The other Rookie of the Year bout saw the unbeaten Ryota Ishida (4-0, 3) take an opening round victory over Daiki Chinen (2-2, 1).

The remaining 4 rounder was an all debutant bout that saw Taichi Ueno (1-0, 1) kicked off his career with a 3rd round TKO win against Yohei Asami (0-1).

Thailand
In Thailand fans saw the promising Palangpol CP Freshmart (9-1, 6) over-come tough Indonesian fighter Samuel Tehuayo (18-36-2, 3). The Indonesian, also known as Sammy Hagler, retired between rounds 8 and 9 with what appeared to be an arm or shoulder injury.

Bangkok, Thailand
This past Wednesday saw the action continuing with fights in Thailand featuring several notable fighters, including a man some are tipping for world honours and another fighter who looks to be a very promising young prospect.

The prospective world title holder is Palangpol CP Freshmart (8-1, 5) who made relatively light work of Filipino foe Bimbo Nacionales (12-8-1, 2), who was stopped in the 4th round of a scheduled 12. There is now talk that Palangpol, who currently holds a minor title at Light Flyweight, will be dropping to Minimumweight in an attempt to claim a world title though we're unsure if that will come to any more than just idle chatter from his team.

It took the very talented Kongfah CP Freshmart (12-0, 7)* just 3 rounds to see off his over-matched opponent, Geboi Mansalayao (9-19-4, 3) in a bout that really was little more than a training exercise for the very promising Thai youngster. We're now hoping to see Kongfah facing a slightly stiffer test to try and speed up his development, though we understand protecting him a little bit given his young age.

Another talented youngster on this card was Kongputorn CPFreshmart (8-0, 6)** who easily over-came Kompetch Twins Gym (0-5). Kompetch did come to fight but was broken down and took the count having felt the effects of Kongputorn's solid and hurtful punches.

A less significant, though more evenly matched bout on paper, saw Ratchasak KKP (26-3-1, 12) score a 2nd round win against Junio Bajawa (14-5, 7) of Indonesia. This was Ratchasak's 3rd win since his loss to Rex Tso last May, in a bout that saw Tso being dropped twice. For Bajawa this was unfortunately his 4th straight loss, 3rd by stoppage.

*Boxrec.com are missing one of Kongfah's fights
**Boxrec.com are missing THIS bout and 2 of Kongputorn's previous bouts

(Image courtesy of Thairec.com)

Bangkok, Thailand
Boxing might not be back to full swing as of yet but there has been enough action this week to say the year is beginning to warm up and it was seen again this Friday when Thailand hosted a televised card with several notable prospects.

For us the pick of the bunch in regards to the prospects was the brilliant Kongfah CP Freshmart (11-0, 6) who recorded his first win of the year as he stopped the limited Fahpikard Twins Gym (2-8) in the 3rd round. Kongfah really impressed us last year with 8 wins, including a beautiful knockout of Santhong Chor Pakdee that was possibly the most visually pleasing knockout of the year and a brutal knockout of an unknown opponent in December, which isn't yet included on his boxrec record, and it seems he'll be doing the same this year as well.

Another unbeaten prospect to pick up a win here was WBC Youth silver Bantamweight champion Petch Sor Chitpattana (29-0, 19) who made relatively light work of Chinese novice Hou Tin Long (1-1) who was out sized and under-prepared for a fight with Petch, who scored a 4th round TKO. Despite his 29 fight record we're very unsold on how good Petch really is and his competitive has, on the whole, been terrible leaving us to question how much potential he really has. Amazingly Petch has been a pro for close to 4 years and at just 21 years old he may well end up being in a ridiculous amount of fights before his career comes to a close.

A third prospect on this show, albeit one with a loss as a professional, was the much touted Palangpol CP Freshmart (7-1, 4) who was given a solid work out by Filipino veteran Donny Mabao (21-24-1, 4) who has continued to show he is better than his record indicates, despite having now lost 4 in a row. dating back 10 months. Palangpol won a deserved 8 round decision though really doesn't look close to being ready for a world title fight as he team seemed to be indicating last year.

In the only other fight on the card fans saw saw Iranian fighter Mohamadreza Hamze (5-5-1, 2) scored a 4th round KO against Kwanpichit Twinsgym (0-2). Sadly we were unable to see this one to say anything more about it.

Wow, wasn't Friday a busy day with shows in Thailand, Japan and Russia...and here we go with all the results!

Nonthaburi, Thailand
Today there was two Thai cards, one on channel 7 and one on channel 3. Of those cards it was the Channel 3 one that caught the attention with former world champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (30-4-1, 27) in action as he was defending his WBC Asia Boxing Council Super Flyweight title. Srisaket, who was listed on some sources as fighting Mateo Handig, scored his 27th stoppage as he over-came Filipino Bobby Concepcion (11-6-1, 5). The bout was straight forward enough for Srisaket who is now hoping to secure a rematch with WBC Super Flyweight champion Carlos Cuadras.

On the same card in Thailand we saw the exciting but limited Kongfah Nakornluang (17-0, 10) score a second round stoppage over Indonesian visitor, and professional loser, Safwan Lombok (1-27-1). Kongfah started the bout by boxing but in the second round went into fight mode and swiftly saw off the Indonesian fighter. Although Kongfah against us wondering just how far he will go we've got to admit we're going to love following his career and for the second time this year we were really entertaining by this young and exciting Thai warrior.

Ayutthaya, Thailand
On the channel 7 show fans saw Palangpol CP Freshmart (6-1, 4) in the main event as he defended his WBA Asia title against former foe Heri Amol (34-20-4, 14). Palangpol took a decision over the Indonesian veteran though still didn't look ready to take the next step up, we suspect that Palangpol will take a big fight next year and if he wins that he'll be moved towards a world title contest though it's hard to see him beating any of the top Light Flyweights at the moment.

Thai veteran Noknoi Sitthiprasert (51-4, 30) scored his 30th stoppage victory, as he over-came Dechai PetchasemfourGym (0-1) in just 2 rounds.

Other bouts on this card saw Petch Sor Chitpattana (28-0, 18) extend his winning run with a decision over Petchchumpol Sor Visetkit (4-3, 2) whilst Ratchasak KKP (25-3-1, 11) over-came the tough Joel Kwong (1-7, 1) in what was a second meeting between the two men.

Tokyo, Japan
At the Korakuen Hall, the holy land of Japanese boxing, there was 8 domestic bouts with several of them being of genuine interest.

The main event saw Japanese based Filipino Ricky Sismundo (27-8-1, 12) narrowly over-come heavy handed Japanese fighter Shuhei Tsuchiya (16-4, 14) with an 8 round split decision. Although the bout went the distance it certainly wasn't a dull one with Tsuchiya down twice and Susmundo down once in a great contest between two men who knew just how much this bout meant to their careers. For Tsuchiya this is his second loss of the year, following a stoppage loss to Leonardo Zappavigna, and seems to hint that he's never going to be a domestic champion however he will always be a lot of fun to watch. For Sismundo this win should move him towards a Japanese title fight.

In an 8 support bout Yuya Sugizaki (20-9-1, 6) managed to take a fifth round technical decision over Filipino Gabriel Royo (9-11-2, 8), who has now lost 4 in a row. Royo is a heavy handed fighter but is clumsy and it showed against the more skilled Sugizaki. Another 8 rounder saw Yuta Nakagawa (14-4-1, 8) take a clear 8 round win over Yuta Saito (7-5-2, 6) in a Bantamweight contest. The first of the 4 bouts scheduled for 8 rounds was the only one that saw a knockout as Kazuya Nakano (8-3, 7) lived up to his reputation as a heavy handed fighter and stopped Takahisa Nayuki (11-12, 2) in the 5th round of their bout with an eye catching shot that immediately caused the referee to wave off the bout.

On the under-card there was one man we were particularly interested in, Koki Koshikawa (3-0, 1). Koshikawa is tipped as a prospect with real potential having been a stand out amateur and he showed that class as he dominated Ryoji Miyagi (7-5-1, 4) to take a 1-sided decision win.

Another unbeaten fighter in action was Hiroyasu Shiga (4-0, 3) scored a 4th round TKO victory over Takuo Watanabe (2-8-3), an impressive victory considering that Watanbe has got a reputation as being somewhat durable. Another unbeaten man extending his run was Daisuke Yamada (2-0, 1) who scored a second round KO against Kosuke Tsunoda (1-3). In the opening bout Takuya Kurata (1-2, 1) defeated Yuta Ouchi (0-1), also by second round TKO.

Moscow, Russia
We had another show in Russia as the capital city, Moscow, played host to a show that got more interest than many Russian shows have in recent years.

The card began simple enough with two debutants scoring low profile wins. One of those was Dmitry Bivol (1-0, 1) who scored a 6th round TKO against the limited but experienced Jorge Rodriguez Olivera (25-11, 12) the other debutant was Heavyweight hopeful Sergey Kuzmin (1-0, 1) who blasted out Nicholas Buule (3-1, 3).

Another of the undercard bouts saw the very promising Sergey Lipinets (5-0, 4) score and 8th round knockout against Filipino visitor Ernie Sanchez (14-6-1, 5) in a bout that saw the unbeaten Russian claim the WBC International silver Light Welterweight title, Lipinets's first title as a professional boxer. Another man in title action was Andrey Klimov (19-1, 9) who took a very wide decision over Gabino Cota (16-3-1, 14) to defend his WBO Inter-Continental Super Featherweight title.

One of the more interesting under-card bouts saw Olympic champion, and former amateur stand out, Egor Mekhontsev (7-0, 6) take hid first decision win as he completely shut out Joey Vegas (17-10-1, 10) in an 8 round bout. Mekhontsev will likely feel disappointed that he didn't score the stoppage here but will certainly feel happy to get some professional rounds under his belt given that his first 6 opponents lasted a combined 16 rounds.

One man who didn't need to go any rounds was the heavy handed Eduard Troyanovsky (20-0, 17) who scored a beautiful knockout out as he took out Jose Agustin Feria (16-2-1, 10) inside a round. Another man who scored an opening round KO was Cruiserweight crusher Dmitry Kudryashov (16-0, 16) who took just 22 seconds, yes you read that correctly, to wipe out former world champion Juan Carlos Gomez (55-4-0-1, 40). Gomez might be well beyond his prime but no one would have expected this from Kudryashov who is now ready for a top contender.

Another Cruiserweight contest saw Rakhim Chakhkiev (21-1, 16) make relatively light work of Brazilian Light Heavyweight Jackson Junior (15-2, 13) with a fourth round TKO. Although the bout was relatively straight forward for the big punching Russian he did seem to have problems the few times Junior did catch him.

Towards the top of the card, in fact in the chief support slow, we ended up with a contest that many dubbed a freakshow. The bout, supposedly an exhibition, saw Mickey Rourke (6-0-2-1, 4), yes the Hollywood actor, score a knockout against the frankly hapless Elliot Seymour (1-9-0-1, 1). Seymour may well have put in the worst performance of a professional fighter this year and fought such an incredibly tame effort that it appears he was the actor pretending to be a boxer. For what it's worth we're unsure if this bout will feature on either man's record though we've noted it as a “no contest” on both records.

In the main event of the card we saw former world champions colliding as Russian slugger Ruslan Provodnikov (24-3, 17) took on Mexican veteran Jose Luis Castillo (66-13-1, 57). The two men, from completely different eras, were never on an even keel as Provodnikov took control of the bout in the opening round and was never really under any sort of pressure before Castillo was eventually stopped in round 5.

Barnaul, Russia
A second Russian card came from Barnual and attracted much less attention from the boxing world.

Theunder-card hear features 3 bouts with one of those being an all debutant 4 rounder that saw Mahir Pashayev (1-0) out point Abbas Turgunbaev (0-1). The show's sole upset came in an 8 rounder as Vladyslav Yeromenko (2-1) out pointed Artem Merzlikin (5-1-1, 3).

The show's sole 10 round bout saw the unbeaten Yury Kashinsky (5-0, 5) continue his stoppage streak as he stopped Yuriy Barashian (27-8, 18) in the 7th round

The main event here saw PABA Light Middleweight champion Pavel Mamontov (10-1-2, 1) retain his title with a 12 round decision win over Oscar Roberto Medina (24-7-2, 9).

(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

Buriram, Thailand
The only Asian fights today took place in Thailand where fans were treat to 1 and a half televised fights courtesy of Thai Channel 7 who were, not for the first time this year, force to cut off mid-fight for other scheduled programming.

The main fight of the day was televised in full as unbeaten Minimumweight's collided for the right to call themselves the WBA interim Minimumweight champion. The bout saw Thailand's very own Knockout CP Freshmart (9-0, 5) claim the interim title with a narrow win over over Carlos Buitrago (27-1-1-1, 16) in a bout that was incredibly competitive for 10 of the 12 rounds. The bout started and ended very well for the Nicaraguan who appeared to take the opening round and the final round with no argument, the 10 rounds between however were very good rounds with each man making a solid claim to take them in what was a clash of styles. Buitrago was the far busier man scoring at will with his wonderful razor like jab with was doubled and tripled with ease however it was the Thai landing the bigger, heavier and more eye catching shots whilst also applying the pressure. If you prefer the more conservative but explosive approach you'd have had no argument with the judges who all scored the bout 115-113 to the Thai, if you prefer busier work and higher output then you'd likely feel that Buitrago was hard done to by this decision. The only thing everyone will agree on is that it was a a highly competitive and very good bout between two men who will almost certainly both improve from this contest.

The bout that was screened sadly cut out part way through, though what we did see was an excellent battle between Thailand's highly touted former Muay Thai great Palangpol CP Freshmart (5-1, 4) who went to war with Indonesia's Tommy Seran (24-3, 15). The bout saw Palangpol retain his WBA Asia Light Flyweight title though do little to show he's ready for a world title bout despite being very entertaining in there. Whilst it's worth noting that Seran was dominated by Milan Melindo last year the Indonesian did give away almost 4lbs to Melindo, an advantage that Palangpol didn't have going into this bout. It could well have been that that weight helped Melindo significantly to do what Palangpol couldn't do, but on this showing Palangpol doesn't look even close to being ready for a world title bout. He lacks the power, despite his record suggesting otherwise, and the skills right now to move onto the next level.

Some days are amazing with great fights all over, others are merely interesting. We would suggest that this Thursday was certainly an interesting day for Asian boxing fans.

Tokyo, Japan
Probably the most notable card of the day was in Japan where Ohashi Gym promoted "Phoenix Battle 50". The show it's self wasn't a mind blowing card but it did feature a number of notable fighters, the most notable of which was WBA Atomweight champion Ayaka Miyao (18-5-1, 3) who was in the main event and defeated Thailand's still win-less Yokfah Mor Krungthepthonburi (0-7). As you may assume from the records this was a clear stay busy fight for Miyao who stated she'd be back in action in October to defend her belt.

Another major name on this card was Shin Ono (18-6-2, 2) who, like Miyao, was in a stay busy fight as he out pointed Petchnamchai Sor Sakulwong (1-1, 1). This was Ono's first bout since his loss to Katsunari Takayama in an IBF Minimumweight title fight and from what we've been told this bout was certainly not a memorable affair.

As well as the bigger names on his show there were 7 other bouts with them all featuring either novices or young hopefuls. 

One of the young hopefuls was Kenichi Miyazaki (6-1-1, 1) who took a 6 decision win over the more experienced but less talented Naoto Takanashi (4-8-2, 3) and another was the heavy handed Yoshimichi Matsumoto (6-1, 5) who blasted out the completely over-matched Petchjah Sithphasean (0-4) inside a round.

In terms of the bouts with novices there was a quintet of 4 rounders. These included an all debutant affair between Ryoji Suzuki (1-0) and Masayoshi Yamazaki (0-1) which Suzuki won via clear decision. Another debutant to pick up a win was Reo Watanabe (1-0) who out pointed Rasher Aoki (1-2) in a competitive contest. The only other man to secure a win on the undercard saw Kentaro Endo (4-4, 3) struggle to a majority decision win over Kensuke Sakamoto (3-6, 1).

The two remaining bouts both resulted in draws as judges struggled to split Shin Tomitaka (1-0-1) and Yo Takekawa (1-0-1, 1), in what was a split decision draw, or Daigo Yamamoto (0-1-1) and Takaya Tsuji (1-3-1, 1) which was a 38-38 draw across all 3 cards.

Bangkok, Thailand
In Thailand we had another notable show, even if it was a short one with just 3 contests on it. 

One of those bouts saw the very promising Kongputorn CPFreshmart (3-0, 2) take a clear 10 round decision over Zhu Yuan Kai (0-1) to claim the WBC Youth Flyweight title. Kongputorn again showed off the traits that have caught the eye since he made his boxing debut back in June though did fail to see off his Chinese foe which may some question just how good the Thai really is. In honesty however you just need to watch Kongputorn to see his potential and if you've not yet seen him we have got the video of this bout here.

The other notable bout on this show saw the much touted Palangpol CP Freshmart (4-0, 4) continue his stoppage run and successfully defend his WBA Asia Light Flyweight title as he over-came Filipino Joan Imperial (9-5-6, 4) to defend his WBA Asia Light Flyweight. For Imperial this was his 5th loss in 7 bouts and it seems that his 9-0-4 start to professional life is now well behind him. As with Konputorn's bout we managed to get the video of this bout here for those interested in giving it a watch.

A third bout on this show saw Petchmai Chor Sungnork (1-0, 1) score a debut blow out victory over Kwanpichit Twinsgym (0-1).

Barranquilla, Colombia
Another bout of interest took place in Colombia as the heavy handed Light Middleweight contender Kanat Islam (18-0, 15) defeated the experienced Fidel Monterrosa Munoz (32-10-1-1, 26) in the 5th round. Munoz had come out to attack early on and made a good start but Islam never looked in any danger and managed to turn the tables when he went on the offensive with his heavy artillery being far too much for Munoz. Hopefully Islam's next bout will be a step up towards a world title as this is enough of him wasting time on opponents that aren't capable of really challenging.

(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

Yesterday was an interesting day for boxing though the most interesting story of the day was less about a fight that happened but rather one that didn't. This left a shadow over the sport for us, and for many others, though there was plenty of genuinely good action that shouldn't be forgotten for the single act of stupidity by one particular fighter.

Phitsanulok, Thailand
The earliest action of the day was in Thailand as Channel 7 televised an interesting show. Much of the action was Muay Thai though we did have a couple of boxing contests on it both of which had genuine significance in the sport.

The biggest name in action on this Thai show was WBC #1 ranked Minimumweight Wanheng Menayothin (34-0, 11) who made light work of Indonesian journeyman Domi Nenokeba (11-17-1, 7). Nenokeba appears to have established his place in boxing with 17 successive losses include 2 to Wanheng who really must be wondering if the WBC will ever give him a title show after being the #1 contender for a considerable length of time now.

The other boxing bout on this card saw Muay Thai fighter-turn-boxer Palangpol CP Freshmart (3-0, 3) rack up his second good stoppage win in as many months. Palangpol put on an aggressive display as he stopped the usually durable Indonesian Heri Amol (34-17-4, 14), who famously dropped Kazuto Ioka. Palangpol apparently claimed the WBA Asian Flyweight title with this victory and should move into the PABA rankings as a result.

Moscow, Russia
Whilst the Thai card was the first of the day we were all more excited about the action from Moscow which had the potential be something a little bit special. We had been anticipating the rematch between WBA Cruiserweight champion Denis Lebedev (25-2, 19) and Guillermo Jones (39-3-2, 31) though that was unfortunately scrapped at the final hour after Jones was forced off the card after a positive drugs test.

Although the main event was cancelled the show still went ahead with the other 6 bouts from the card.

Of the bouts that did happen the best, on paper, looked like the battle of unbeaten Middleweights as the big punching Arif Magomedov (11-0, 8) took on Colombia's highly touted Alex Theran (16-1, 9). We had expected this to be an excellent match up but the big punching Russian just decimated Theran who was dropped, battered, cut and beaten. Although reports in Spanish language sources suggest Theran was cut by a headclash it seems that the Colombian was on to a hiding to nothing and realised it as he quit in his corner after 3 rounds. This victory grants Magomedov the WBA Fedelatin Middleweight title and a probably WBA world ranking.

Another unbeaten fighter on this card was Umar Salamov (10-0, 9) who stopped the brave but out-matched Gasan Gasanov (7-3-1, 5). Gasanov pushed the action early on but was dropped twice in round 4 before being stopped by the big punching Salamov. Stood at 6'3" and aged just 19 Salamov looks like yet another Russian to keep an eye on at 175lbs though will likely fill into an excellent Cruiserweight. At the moment the unbeaten man holds the WBO and IBO Youth titles and is already getting his links to the major organising bodies.

In another title fight Andrey Knyazev (10-1, 5) successfully defended his Russian Cruiserweight title stopping the game Ruslan Semenov (5-27-1, 3) in 4 rounds. We've been lead to believe that this was a very harsh stoppage in a fight that was being fought on a very even keel.

The lower part of the card saw Ilya Rolgeyzer (3-0) defeat Roman Mirzoev (2-9, 1) in a relative dull bout whilst the debuting Sergey Lipinets (1-0) thoroughly dominated Franklin Varela (21-15, 10) who did very well to survive the course.

With the main event being cancelled the biggest bout on the show was a contest between well regarded Lightweight pair Andrey Klimov (17-1, 8) and Francisco Contreras (22-5, 17). Although the bout looked good on paper it turned out to be a shocking contest full of fouls, hugging, holding and very little clean action. Whilst Boxnation didn't show this contest we can't help but feel relieved. 

Podolsk, Russia
On a second Russian card there were several smaller bouts. One of those saw Maxim Maslov (14-1-1, 8) taking a decision over the tough but limited Arturs Kulikauskis (13-19-3, 6) whilst the unbeaten Igor Ivanov 98-0-1, 2) was unexpectedly held to a draw by Ukrainian Oleg Korobko (4-1-2, 1) who is odd 2-0-1 in Russia.

Yucatán, Mexico
Another Russian fighter who was in action was the unbeaten Andrey Meryasev (16-0, 11) who scored the biggest win of his career by defeating Argentina's Carlos Manuel Baldomir (49-16-6, 15) in a neutral venue of Mexico. Baldomir, best known for his shock upset over Zab Judah is no longer the fighter he once was and at close to 43 years old it's no surprise he was beaten by the younger fresher man.

(Picture, of Wanheng, courtesy of boxrec.com)

It's rare for a Tuesday to be a big day in boxing but this past Tuesday was a major day in Asia with a trio of title fights and two major shows.

Bangkok, Thailand
The first of the shows was in Thailand and televised, at least partly, on Thai Channel 7.

Not only was the Thai card the first show to get under-way but in terms of significance it also had the "biggest" bout of the day as WBA "interim" Flyweight champion Yodmongkol Vor Saengthep (34-2, 20) defended his title for the first time. Yodmongkol had genuinely impressed when he won the title ripping it from the hands of Japan's exciting but limited Koki Eto. Unfortunately though this time he disappointed us. Fighting against Takuya Kogawa (22-4, 13) we knew this was set to be a good fight and proved every bit as good as anticipated though it was Kogawa making much of the action and bringing the fight with amazing combinations and bundles of energy. Unfortunately for him however the judges weren't impressed and it was Yodmongkol, pictured, who controversially retained his title.

Whilst Kogawa had impressed there was some suggestion after the fight that he's considering retirement. We're really hoping that he doesn't as he proved himself here and he belongs in other top fights amongst some of the best at 112.

Another man who impressed on the show was Thai novice Palangpol CP Freshmart (2-0, 2) who scored a hugely impressive stoppage over Indonesia's experienced Jack Amisa (20-30-2, 14). Whilst Amisa is beatable and has regularly lost through his career he rarely gets stopped and very rarely gets beaten by such a novice. Excellent win by Palangpol.

The only other bout on the show that we have the result for saw former world title challenger Panomroonglek Kaiyanghadaogym (39-2, 22) stopping Rick Paciones (6-17-2, 3) in 3 rounds.

Tokyo, Japan
Over in Japan we had two national fights on an excellent domestic show. The first of those title fights saw the excellent and unbeaten Hiroki Okada (8-0, 7) managing to over-come his toughest so far. Okada, fighting against Masayoshi Kotake (9-8-1, 5), was taken the distance for the first time though did more than enough to secure the Japanese Light Welterweight title.

The second title fight saw a slight upset as Tadashi Yuba (45-9-2, 32) lost his Japanese Light Middleweight title to Takayuki Hosokawa (25-10-3, 8)  via a majority decision. Yuba, aged 37, now seems likely to retire and hang up his gloves after a memorable and historic career.

As well as the title fights there were a further 5 bouts on the card. These included a 6th round KO victory for Masahiro Ishida (14-5-2, 8) who saw off the over-matched Ryuta Wakamatsu (9-9, 6). Ishida's victory was one of two stoppages on the card alongside one scored by Hideto Miyoshi (7-2-1, 5) who stopped Hitoshi Ando (4-6-1, 3).

The biggest name on the under-card was Dai Iwai (14-3-1, 5) who managed to win a competitive 8 round decision over Shogo Ishikawa (10-6, 3). Another victory on the under-card was scored by Yoshiyuki Takabayashi (7-3, 3) who managed to score a 5 round victory over Ryuto Araya (5-2-1).

The only other bout on the show show saw Mitsumasa Takahashi (8-4-1, 2) fighting to a draw with Takeshi Goda (7-2-1, 2).


(Picture courtesy of WBAnews.com)