Bangkok, Thailand
The action in Thailand continued on Friday afternoon when we had a trio of bouts in Bangkok, those bouts included a former world title challenger and promising prospect, two of which collided in a genuine barn burner. Incidentally all 3 bouts saw Thai locals taking on Indonesian visitors.

The former world title challenger was former WBC Light Flyweight challenger Samartlek Kokietgym (22-5, 7) who scored a rare KO win as he stopped limited Indonesian Iwan Key (9-13-3, 1). This was Key's 7th stoppage loss and Samartlek is now 5-0 since being beaten by the sensational Naoya Inoue a year ago.

One of the prospects on this card who picked up a win was Kongthara KKP (9-0, 7) who scored a 3rd round KO win against the visiting Rasmanudin (19-11-3, 3). For 2 rounds Kongthara fought in neutral gear and did very little before moving through the gears in round 3. When Kongthara upped the pace Rasmanudin had no answer and was dropped 3 times forcing the referee to stop the bout.

The highlight of the card was a rematch between Indonesian teenager Iwan Zoda (7-1, 6) and the previously unbeaten Petchchohae Kokietgym (13-1, 8), in a bout for the interim WBO Asia Pacific Flyweight title. Last year Petchchorhae took a decision over Zoda this time around however it was Zoda coming out on top as he battered Petchchorhae to force a 12th round stoppage. Early on it was Petchchorhae on top, but in the middle rounds Zoda came on strong before brutally beating the Thai up in rounds 11 and 12 before the eventual finish. At just 18 years old we really do think that Zoda is going to be the next star of Indonesian boxing and this performance showed just how good he really is.

This past Friday wasn't an incredibly day but was a day with some notable fighters and some very young talent.

Bangkok, Thailand
The most notable action of the day came from Thailand where there was a number of contests, including, for us, the bout of the day.

That stand out bout was a WBC Youth Flyweight title contest that saw Daigo Higa (7-0, 7) score a sensational 7th round KO against the previously unbeaten Kongfah CP Freshmart (14-1, 8). The aggressive Japanese visitor set an hellacious pace from the opening round and although Kongfah showed his resiliency and toughness he was eventually ground down by Higa, who looks like a star in the making.

Another bout on this card saw world ranked Bantamweight contender Petch Sor Chitpattana (32-0, 21) score a stoppage in 4 rounds over a very poor opponent. The unbeaten hopeful never broke sweat en route to his victory.

Thailand
On a second Thai show, at a much lower level, fans saw a couple of noteworthy bouts.

The main event saw former WBA Super Flyweight champion Tepparith Kokietgym (30-3, 19) make very light work of Indonesian veteran Ricky Manufoe (23-23-2, 10), in what a really pointless rematch for the two men. Tepparith, who stopped Manufoe in 2 rounds in 2013, scarcely broke sweat as he took out the Indonesian in 2 to claim the WBA Asia Bantamweight crown. Manufoe went down from a left to the body and although the shot didn't look too nasty it left him in agony for the count.

The other bout saw the unbeaten Petchchorhae Kokietgym (13-0, 8) continue his unbeaten start as he over-came limited Indonesian fighter Madit Sada (9-22-1, 3) in what was the second meeting between the two men. The two fought in May last year with Petchorhae taking 4 rounds to stop Sada, this time around he needed just 3 rounds to see off Sada, who was unable to keep the Thai away. The finish was an eye catching one but one that looked very much like Sada was happy to see the end of the bout.

London, UK
In the UK we unfortunately saw Filipino Dennis Tubieron (19-5-2, 8) suffering an opening round stoppage defeat to Super Featherweight prospect Mitchell Smith (13-0, 7), who seemed to break Tubieron in half with just a single right hand to the body.

This past Friday was an eventful day in Asian boxing even if it wasn't a headline grabbing day.

Thailand
The most notable action was in Thailand.

Unbeaten Thai Petchchorhae Kokietgym (12-0, 7) was given an unexpectedly good work out by Indonesian journeyman Domi Neneokeba (11-24-1, 7). The result was never in doubt but the Thai had to work for his win in a bout that really saw the unbeaten man being forced to work hard for his win. The Indonesian, who is a regular fighter in Thailand suffered his 24th straight loss though made it clear why he gets invited back to Thailand so often, where he is now 0-15

In the main event Petchbarngborn Kokietgym (32-7-1, 15) successfully defended his WBO Asia Super Flyweight title as he forced over Tommy Seran (24-4, 15) to retire from the bout during the 5th round.

A third bout of note on this card saw Petch Kokietgym (20-1, 3) take a decision over the limited Daiboy Sajiro (3-8-2). On paper this was farcical, even for Thailand, though Petch was fighting fro the first time since October 2013 and probably felt the need to shake off some ring rust. Interestingly this was the second time these two faced each other.

Another bout saw Manachai Banchamek (4-0-1, 3) take a 4th round KO against Boonpon Rachawongsi (0-1-1). This was the second meeting between these two in the space of just a few weeks, with the first ending in a draw. This time Manachai wasn't going to waste time getting rounds and set off with the intention of getting the stoppage, that eventually came.

New South Wales, Australia
In Australia it wasn't a great day for Asian fighters.

In the main event the once touted Filipino Marco Demecillo (20-4-1, 15) came up short against unbeaten Australian TJ Doheny (11-0, 7) in a bout for the PABA Super Bantamweight “super” title. Demecillo, who was once 18-0-1 has now lost 4 of his last 6, with this being the second successive decision defeat following a slightly shocking defeat last time out to compatriot Monico Laurente.

Another Asian to pick up a decision loss here was Thailand's Komkit Chanawong (0-2), who dropped a 6 round decision to Darragh Foley (5-0, 3) in about fought just above the Lightweight limit.

Thankfully Australian based Chinese fighter Zhang Yong (4-4-1, 1) managed to stop it being a clean sweep as he defeated win-less Australian Ehsan Shakero (0-5) with a 4 round decision.

Tokyo, Japan
In Japan we had some East Japan Rookie of the Year bouts. Originally there was 13 bouts scheduled for the show though due to pull outs fans “only” had 11 bouts, with them taking place from Light Flyweight to Welterweight. As with all Rookie of the Year qualifying bouts these were all scheduled for 4 rounds.

At Light Flyweight it was Takuya Kihashi (2-2, 1) who scored a win as he narrowly over-came the previously unbeaten Kazunori Yorimasa (1-1, 1).

In the Flyweight division fans has a couple of bouts. One of those saw Jun Ishimoto (5-3, 2) blow away Shunya Nagaoka (2-3, 1) in just 84 seconds. The other saw Norris Yano (4-1-1) take a very competitive decision against Gen Kawasaki (2-2, 2).

At Super Bantamweight fans had a couple of stoppages. The quickest of those saw Masayoshi Yamasaki (2-1-1, 1) blow away Ryuichi Kakuni (3-4-2, 1) in just 62 seconds. The other saw Shun Wakabayashi (4-1, 1) stop Daigo Yamamoto (2-2-1, 1) in the 4th round.

At Featherweight Shogo Sakai (4-2-1, 3) scored his first decision win as he defeated Yu Takegaki (4-4-1, 1) with a razor thin unanimous decision, scored 39-38 by all 3 of the judges.

In the Super Featherweight division fans had three bouts. One of those was, on paper, the stand out bout of the show between unbeaten men as Genki Ishikawa (4-0, 2) over-came Hideaki Takagi (2-1) with a surprisingly 1-sided decision. Another bout ended in the most spectacular fashion as Tatsuro Jin (4-2, 2) scored a sensational KO again Taiga Suzuki. The remaining bout saw the inexperienced Yui Oikawa (2-0) take a comfortable decision over Teppei Tsukamoto (3-6, 1).

The Welterweight division has two bouts. One of those saw the unbeaten Toshiro Tarumi (3-0-3, 2) extend his undefeated streak as he out pointed Kazuhiro Baba (2-3-1, 1) whilst the other ended in 71 seconds with Hiroki Ashizawa (3-1, 3) blowing away Teruhisa Komori (1-2)

(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

This past Sunday was a busy day in Asian boxing with two shows from Thailand and another card from Japan.

Nakhon Pathom, Thailand
The most notable of two Thai shows came from Nakhon Pathom where fans saw a combination of prospects and title holders.

One of the prospects in action was Manachai Banchamek (3-0, 2) who blew away Saengpetch Kwanjaisrikot (0-1) in the second round of their Light Flyweight bout. This was Manachai's third bout this year and it seems clear he's going to be kept active through 2015.

Another notable prospect in action was Petchchorhae Kokietgym (11-0, 7) who took a 6 round decision over Indonesian veteran Samuel Tehuayo (18-34-2, 3). This was Tehuayo's second loss in the space of a week, following a previous loss to Suriyan Sor Rungvisai, and was his 11th straight loss, all in the space of just 8 months.

One of the title bouts saw PABA Flyweight champion Myung Goo Yuh (26-4-1, 21) successfully defend his title as he swiftly stopped Filipino fighter Richie Behec (2-3-1, 1) in the 3rd round of their bout. Behec, who has now lost his last 3 bouts, is likely to be forced into taking a break from the ring following this stoppage and that may not be a bad thing for the fighter who has managed to squeeze in 5 fights already this year. Despite being a Korean Yuh has impressively won 12 bouts in Thailand where he is now making a name for himself and moving towards a world title fight.

The other title bout here saw Petchbarngborn Kokietgym (31-7-1, 14) successfully defend his PABA Super Flyweight title as he scored an 8th round TKO against Indonesian fighter Frans Damur Palue (10-7-2, 5). This was the 9th straight win by Petchbarngborn who has been on an excellent run since his knockout loss to Sho Ishida back in September 2013.

Bangkok, Thailand
In Bangkok fans saw a pair of fights with each of them featuring an experienced Japanese visitor battling against a Thai novice.

One of the Japanese fights was Tatsuya Fukuhara (14-4-5, 4) who made very light work of Pangpormn Por Singdet (0-1). Fukuhara was returning to Thailand for his first bout in the country following his draw with Fahlan Sakkreerin Jr last September and is now 1-0-1 (1) in the country of smiles. 

The other bout saw Ryusei Yoshida (26-6, 13) take out Siangthip Sithbunkon (0-1) in the 3rd round. This is Yoshida's 4th straight win since coming up short against Paul Fleming back in April 2013 in Macau.  

Aichi, Japan
As well as the action in Thailand there was also a show in Japan featuring 6 bouts, though none of them looked particularly notable.

The main event here saw Japanese ranked Kazuya Maruki (18-3, 12) score an easy win over Thai visitor Mongoldam Sithwarunee (1-4, 1) with a 3rd round KO. This was Mongkoldam's 4th successive stoppage loss, according to boxrec.com, and in those 4 stoppages he has only survived a combined 15 rounds. For Maruki this is a good comeback win after he suffered a shock loss to Quaye Peter last December.

The chief support bout saw Takashi Omae (13-4-5, 1) take a hard fought win over Thai visitor Petchnamchao Sor Sakulwong (1-2, 1). On paper this was a mismatch though Petchnamchai gave a solid account of himself and will likely be invited back to Japan having given two solid performances there.

The under-card qas equally uninspiring. The most competitive of the bouts saw Yuta Imaizumi (2-1) take a split decision over the win-less Takumi Koroki (0-2) whilst another competitive match up saw Kohei Furusawa (4-6) take a narrow unanimous decision over the win-less Masahiro Hayakwa (0-5-1).

Still on the under-card fans saw Tamaki Miwa (2-0, 1) score an opening round win over the debuting Takashi Arakawa (0-1). It took just a round longer for Shinpei Tominaga (2-2, 2) to take out So Watanabe (0-1).


Jakarta, Indonesia
In Indonesian fans saw Abdul Haris Sofyan (3-2, 1)* claim a variation of the Indonesian national Featherweight title with a 6th round TKO against Agus Kustiawan (13-3, 5)*. Not many details of this bout are known though it was the third meeting between the two men who first fought back in 2012. 

Notably both records are believe to be incomplete.

This past Tuesday has certainly been a hectic day with bouts coming across Asia with titles up for grabs in 4 separate countries!

Korakuen Hall, Japan
In Japan we had the most notable bout of the day in many ways as fans got the chance to see an OPBF title bout. Sadly aside from that bout the card was relatively lacklustre and even that title bout wasn't something to write home about, despite it's regional significance.

The title bout in question saw Yuzo Kiyota (27-4-1, 25) stopping Fuji's Abhay Chand (16-14-4, 10) in the 5th round of their bout. Kiyota, a genuinely heavy handed guy, was deducted a point in round 4 for a low blow but seemed to feel that the body was Chand's weak spot and a jab in round 5 to the challengers guy put him down for the 10 count in what was a really poor challenge of the title.

In the co-feature of this card Kenta Nakagawa (8-2, 6) scored a 3rd round TKO against Ryo Nakamura (7-5, 3) who was stopped almost as soon as round 3 began.

Also on the Japanese card were 6 undercard bouts. Of those 6 bouts only one ended with a stoppage as Akihiro Yamanaka (4-3, 1) scored his first stoppage win and defeated Muneyuki Kishii (3-5, 2) in the 4th round. One other bout that failed to go the distance saw Joji Tsuchiya (1-2-1, 1) fight a 1 round technical draw with Takuya Yamaguchi (1-2-2, 1), in a bout that lasted just 160 seconds.

A competitive undercard bout saw Shunta Terai (0-2-1) fight to a 4 round draw with Hiroaki Tokuoka (0-1-1) whilst a similarly competitive contest between Ryuji Kohama (1-1) took a split decision over the debuting Yuki Nakajima (0-1). A third competitive contest saw Daisuke Sudo (3-2) taking a narrow win over Takuya Suzuki (1-2-1, 1). The only other bout was a female bout which saw Yunoka Furukawa (4-1-2-1, 2) take a decision over Mikiko Muto (2-2)

Bangkok, Thailand
Staying with title action and Japanese fighters there was also a Japanese fighter in action in Thailand as part of an interesting card in Bangkok.

The Japanese fighter in question was 17 year prospect Riku Kano (5-1-1, 3) who claimed his first title, the WBA Asia Minimumweight title, with a 12 round shut out against Indonesian fighter Madit Sada (9-19-1, 3). Kano, who hasn't made his Japanese debut yet, looked like he has the ingredients to go far and win world titles somewhere down the line however the big fear is that his promoter burns him out too early, a real fear considering this was his 6th bout this year.

A second bout on this card saw Petchchorhae Kokietgym (10-0, 7) defeat Indonesian visitor Johan Wahyudi (9-31, 5). The Indonesian really was outclassed from the off and Petchchorhae was made to look sensational at times before finishing the bout with a vicious body shot in the second round. Prior to the finishing blow the visitor had been down from a swiping left upstairs, it was however the body breaking uppercut that finished the show that really left a lasting impression.

Also on the same show in Thailand fans saw Petchmanee Kokietgym (5-0, 1) winning an easy decision over journeyman Jack Amisa (20-32-2, 14). Amisa has now lost 20 times in Thailand and it appears clear he has no intention of trying to win when fighting in the country. He appears to know that losing is what he'll be doing in his career and he's now won just 1 bout in the last 6 years!

Metro Manila, Philippines
In the Philippines fans got their share of fills and thrills with an array of knockouts, including one by a very highly ranked Super Flyweight.

The aforementioned Super Flyweight was Warlito Parrenas (23-6, 20) who retained his WBO Oriental title with an opening round blow out against the horribly over-matched Hengky Baransano (11-5, 4). Parrenas, who will be angling for a world title fight next year, broke up his foes resistance with a body shot inside 2 minutes of the bout.

Another body shot KO helped the destructive Richard Claveras (11-0-2, 11) continue his unbeaten run as he took out the experienced Rodel Tejares (20-32-6, 5). This was Tejares's 3rd loss this year and he may need to consider his future, especially considering he is now win-less since springing an upset over Lionel Mark Duran back in September 2012.

A third notable knockout on the top part of this card saw Ardin Diale (26-9-3, 13) score a 2nd round KO against Ricky Manufoe (23-22-2, 10). Manufoe failed weight at the weigh in and had a 4lb advantage over Diale, that didn't help and Diale recorded his third successive stoppage since his own stoppage loss to Koki Eto in an OPBF title bout.
In a WBC Youth Super Flyweight title bout on this show fans saw the unbeaten Jhaleel Payao (11-0, 6) over-come the defending champion Rene Dacquel (12-4-1, 4). Dacquel was attempting to record his first defense of the belt was out pointed over the 10 round distance in what was sadly the show's only genuinely competitive bout.

The sole 8 rounder on the card went 3 as the heavy handed Jon Jon Estrada (6-1-1, 5) easily took care of Junjie Lauza (4-13-1, 1). In a 6 rounder Aljhon Osabel (9-2, 5) took care of the wonderfully named Daffy Dempo (2-4, 2) in the 3rd round, after dropping him twice in the second round. The other 6 rounder saw the unbeaten Lorence Rosas (2-0-2) take a technical draw after an accidental headclash cut Joel Lagusan (3-10-1, 1).

In the 4 rounders we saw on go the distance as Jaymark Borbon (1-1) scored his first and over-came the debuting Rizalde Caballes (0-1). Caballes had been down in the opening round and will not see this as a debut to remember. The other 4 rounders saw Jermone Clavite (2-0-1, 1) score his first stoppage win as he took out the win-less Joshro Lindon (0-4), in the 4th round, and JayAr Diama (2-5-4, 1) also took his first early victory as his opponent Ronie Gaton (0-4) retired at the start of round 2.

Daejeon, South Korea
Yet more title action occurred in South Korea where fans got a title double in a relatively low key show.

Domestically the key fight was a South Korean Light Welterweight title fight that saw Myung Soo Sun (2-0) make the first defense of his title with a decision win over the more experienced Jin Soo Kim (6-4, 3). Sun, who won the title on his debut against Jae Ho Kim, appears likely to become the KBC's poster boy and at just 20 years old does look to be a promising youngster who now has 2 complete 10 round bouts under his belt.

The second title bout on this show saw the unbeaten Eun Hye Lee (6-0, 1) claim the WBO Asia Pacific female Flyweight title with a clear victory over the brilliantly named Lady Love Sampiton (2-3, 1) of the Philippines.

The 4 under-card bouts here were all debutant affairs. At Featherweight fans saw Ye Chan Gang (1-0, 1) score a 3rd round TKO over Doo Hwa Lee (0-1). From the details we have it seems Lee, a 17 year old, had the size advantage with 5” of height, though probably lacked the physical maturity of the 22 year old Gang. At Lightweight Dae Won Sunwoo (1-0) took a decision victory over Bum Jin Kim (0-1) with a shut out. At Light Welterweight fans saw a well fought draw between Sung Koo Han (0-0-1) and Bo Kwan Shim (0-0-1).

The other all debutant bout was all the way up at Cruiserweight where Sang Ho Kim (1-0, 1) stopped Jung Soo Lim (0-1) in the 2nd round. At 5'8” and aged 31 we can't see Kim going on to do much with his career unfortunately.

(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

This past Friday was a somewhat busy day though most of the more notable action came from Thailand with a number of title fights whilst in Japan we had some low level action.

Wat Tako, Thailand
In one of the Thai shows we saw two unbeaten men extending their winning records and claiming regional title belts with relatively straight forward wins, though wins which came in completely different ways.

One of those bouts saw the less than impressive Saenganan KKP (8-0, 5) claim the WBC Asian Boxing Council Continental Light Flyweight title with a 12 round decision over the limited Wilber Andogan (10-16-4, 4). Unfortunately for fans wanting to see excitement this bout would have been thoroughly under-whelming with Andogan showing little in terms of positivity whilst Saenganan left us wondering just how low his ceiling will be. To say we are less than impressed by both of these men would be stating the obvious and Saenganan has really disappointed us in successive fights now.

Whilst one Thai disappointed us the other impressed us. That was Petchchorhae Kokietgym (7-0, 5) who looked sensational in a second round blitz to claim the WBC Asian Boxing Council Silver Flyweight title. Petchorhae had won the opening the opening round and done all the feeling out he needed before rushing Roilo Golez (15-13-1, 6) in the opening seconds of round 2 to stop the Filipino in what was really a statement making win.

On the same card there was also a trio of other bouts. The most interesting of those saw the unbeaten Petchmanee Kokietgym (2-0) defeating the highly experienced Domi Nenokeba (11-21-1, 7). On paper this looks like a straight forward win however Nenokeba did drop Saenganan KKP in a recent bout and may well have done enough to have deserved the win on that occasion. The bouts both ended in second round KO's as Kongthara KKP (2-0, 2) stopped the debuting Samart Por Aripai (0-1) and Petchnamchai KKP (1-0, 1) scored a debut win over Sakadpetch Sor Kanitsorn (0-1)

Bangkok, Thailand
The second Thai card took place in Bangkok and featured a trio of notable bouts.

The main event here saw Petch Sor Chitpattana (26-0, 17) defend his WBC Youth Silver Bantamweight title with an 8th round KO against Filipino foe Jaymart Toyco (14-6, 10). Petch didn't have things all his own way though the ending was a decisive one with a fantastic 1-2 sending a defeated Toyco down. In credit to Toyco he put up a decent effort though he was fighting a better over-all fighter.

Whilst Petch and Toyco were the only title fighters on this card they weren't the only notable fighters on the card, in fact the most notable was former WBC Minimumweight champion Oleydong Sithsamerchai (53-1-1, 21) who, at the third time of asking, stopped Indonesian journeyman Falazona Fidal (25-41-1, 8). The ending was a controversial one with the Indonesian protesting the stoppage though he seemed to act more hurt than he was when he went down and was effectively punished for his poor acting.

A third bout on this show saw Kongfah CP Freshmart (8-0, 4) score an amazing KO over the previously unbeaten Sangthong Chor Pakdee (4-1, 4). The bout was relatively even through the first 2 round rounds with Kongfah doing enough to win them with out dominating though in round 3 Sangthong was dropped hard in a real KO of the year contender. We kid you not, this was stunning.

One fighter who didn't score a stoppage on this card was Fahpituck Por Pakdee (4-0, 3) who had to take a 6 round decision over the usually fragile Fahpikard Twins Gym (2-7).

Tokyo, Japan
As well as the action in Thailand there was also a card in Japan featuring 9 bouts, many of which were highly competitive affairs, albeit at a low level.

One of the competitive bouts saw Daisuke Sudo (2-2) claim a very narrow majority victory over the previously unbeaten Naoyuki Sakamoto (1-1, 1) likewise Fumihiro Ijima (2-2) did the same against Hiroyuki Yago (2-1) who also lost his unbeaten record. A third majority decision in the 4 rounders saw Jim Miura (2-0) narrowly keep his "0" with a win over the debuting Seiryu Toshikawa (0-1). Had any of those bouts ended up in 4 round draws no one would really have had much of a complain as they really were tight and close contests with little to seperate them. Thankfully we did have some decisive action in the 4 rounders with Mao Tameda (1-1) taking a clear decision over Ryuji Kohama (0-1) and, even more clearly, Satoshi Hongo (2-2, 1) scoring a 4th round KO against Hiroki Ishii (1-3-1).

In the sole 6 rounder Yasuhiro Tanaka (4-1-2) took a clear cut decision over Takahiro Iida (4-5-1, 2). This was Tanaka's first bout in 17 months.

The main trio of fights were all 8 rounders the most competitive of which resulted in a majority draw between Ryutaro Taira (8-4-2, 3) and Ryu Onigashima (12-6-1, 7). One of the scorecards, a 78-74 win for Onigashima, appears to be far out with the others agree to a draw with scores of 76-76 and 77-77 suggesting the bout was extremely close in their eyes. 

Another of the 8 rounders saw Kazuki Matsuyama (9-5, 5) take a 6th round TKO win over the limited but heavy handed Yudai Ueno (7-7-2, 6) whilst the final bout saw Yuki Fukumoto (16-9, 5) take an expected victory over Yasuhiro Sakurai (7-17). The Fukumoto/Sakurai bout came to an end with less than 2 minutes left due to an accidental injury with Fukumoto taking a wide technical decision win.

Western Australia, Australia
It wasn't a good day for Asian's in Australia as a trio of travellers lost.

The most notable of these was Indonesian James Mokoginta (25-14-2, 13) who lost a clear decision to Nathaniel May (7-1, 4) in a bout for the WBO Asian Pacific Youth Super Flyweight title. Although the clear loser Mogoginta likely showed up May's questionable about power, especially when one considers that that Indonesian fighter has been stopped in 8 previous fights.

Thai debutant Payayong Sueksasongkro (0-1) was a clear loser against the unbeaten Louisa Hawton (3-0, 1) though was game enough to last the distance, as was Pantiwa Laewmahosod (0-2) who took on the talented Lauryn Eagle (9-4-1, 3) in a 6 round bout.

(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp is from the Fukumoto/Sakurai bout)

Lop Buri, Thailand
After yesterday's huge success for Amnat Ruenroeng, who successfully defended his IBF Flyweight title with a victory over Kazuto Ioka, the action turned to Amnat's homeland of the Philippines where we got the only Asian card of the day.

The action, televised on Channel 7, may not have been at the same level as yesterday's world title action but was still significant, especially the main event which saw the very highly regarded Paipharob Kokietgym (24-0, 19) claim the WBO Oriental Light Flyweight title. Paipharob, one of the real danger men in regards to Thai boxers, became the first man to stop Filipino Jay-ar Estremos (10-7, 4) after scoring a 4th round stoppage.

Whilst the victory for Paipharob was impressive it needs to be put into perspective and it needs to be said that Estremos had won 5 of his last 6, all 6 previous losses had been debatable decisions and the most recent was a very controversial defeat at the hands of the unbeaten, and very highly ranked, Kwanpichit OnesongchaiGym. To see that Paipharob did such an impressive job on the Filipino really should be eye opening.

Another impressive performance on this card came from fast rising prospect Petchchorhae Kokietgym (5-0, 3) who scored his second successive victory over an Indonesian opponent. Matched against the experienced Madit Sada (9-17-1, 3), we had expected a victory for Petchchorhae though we were aware that Sada had taken some very credible opponents, such as Fajlan Sakkreerin Jr and Wanheng Menayothin, the distance. This victory will be an under-rated one but is still excellent from the Thai.

A third stoppage on this card saw Fonluang Kokietgym (19-1-1, 8) over come novice foe Marcelo Santos (0-2), also in 4 rounds. This was a mismatch and really didn't need to take place though, as explained in our recent article about Thai boxing, this fight will help Fonluang collect a pay day and possibly go towards feeding his family.

Another stoppage on this card saw Saenganan Sithsaithong (5-0, 4) defeat the debuting Pornsawan Sor Saenpalang (0-1) in 2 rounds. Unfortunately for Saenganan this was his 5th straight bout against a debutant so we have no idea how good, or bad, he really is.

One bout on this show did go the distance and that one saw the 22 year old Ratchasak Kokietgym (22-2-1, 10) take a decision over Indonesia's Anis Ceunfin (16-20-5, 6). For a fighter like Ratchasak this will have been a huge disappointment considering that Ceunfin was stopped in 5 rounds by Naoto Uebayashi just a few short weeks ago.

Tokyo, Japan
As well as the Thai show we also had a major one in Japan as the Rookie of the Year-East kicked off with a monster 13 bout show.

The show began with a Light Flyweight bout that saw Kenji Ono (3-1, 2) stopping the previously unbeaten Kazutaka Matsunishi (1-1-1) in 3 rounds. This was the lowest weight bout on the show and was subsequently followed by a pair of Flyweight bouts. These saw Sonin Nihei (3-0-1, 1) stopping Naoki Inaba (2-2) and Naoki Mochizuki (4-0, 3) claim a surprisingly tough majority decision over the more experienced Muneyuki Kishii (3-3, 2).

At Super Bantamweight we had a show between unbeaten men as Ryo Hino (3-0, 1) took a unanimous decision against Toshizane Kinoda (3-1, 1) over 4 rounds whilst Hikaru Takaki (5-4, 4) as on the winning side of a majority decision against Yuta Itagaki (3-2-1, 1).

We had a trio of Featherweight bouts including an opening round including an opening round KO by Reiya Abe (4-1, 2) against Taichi Kimura (3-2, 2), a third round KO for Naoto Moriya (5-1, 2) who stopped the previously unbeaten Takahiko Suzuki (3-1, 2) whilst Yu Takegaki (4-2-1, 1) won a decision over Yuji Awata (4-1, 2).

In the Super Featherweight division Kaishi Shimizu (3-1, 2) took a second round KO over Fumio Ujihara (2-2, 2) whilst at Lightweight Shintaro Nakamura (3-2-1, 2) stopped Katsunori Yano (1-3, 1) and Ryusei Yabe (3-0, 2) continued his winning run by claiming a stoppage over Shingo Okada (1-2).

The highest weight that saw any action was Middleweight where we had two bouts. These saw Akira Naganuma (2-2, 1) wipe out Tatsuya Aizu (2-5, 2) in 100 seconds whilst Asahi Hatsumi (2-1, 1) stopped Takahiro Jin (1-1, 1) in 3 rounds.


New South Wales, Australia
In Australia Korean journey man Hwi Jong Kim (6-12, 1) was sadly stopped in 3 rounds by the very promising Kye MacKenzie (9-0, 7) who now seems likely to be moving towards title fights in his homeland. Whilst Kim may not be happy at suffering his 3rd stoppage loss there really is little doubting that MacKenzie is a talented fighter and this loss is nothing to be ashamed by.

(Image, of Paipharob, courtesy of boxrec.com)