This past Friday was an amazing day of boxing in Asia with a number of major cards through Asia and a lot of very notable bouts.

Tokyo, Japan
Although there was 3 notable cards today there was only 1 standout card, the Ohashi promoted "The Fight" card in Tokyo. The card not only had the best fights on it but also the best prospects.

The show, which had several televised bouts, began off TV with a number of bouts of varying levels. 

The least significant bout on the show saw Kazuki Sanpei (3-2, 1) score his first stoppage with a 2nd round TKO over fellow unknown novice Genji Ishida (1-4). The bout really was a preliminary bout but it was the only contest on the card that didn't excite us in one way or another.

The first of the 5 significant bouts on the show saw Takuma Inoue (3-0, 1) score his first stoppage as he beat Thai debutant Chanachai Sor Siamchai (0-1) in 2 rounds. The contest was by far the easiest of Takuma's young career though it was still an impressive performance by the 18 year old who is tipped to go a very long way in the sport. It's a shame this bout was such a huge step backwards from his last fight, an 8 round decision win over Fahlan Sakkreerin Jr, though it seems likely that Inoue will take a big step up in his next bout with a possible title fight looming.

Following Takuma Inoue's win fans then saw the highly touted Ryo Matsumoto (12-0, 10) blow away Thai veteran Denkaosan Kaovichit (63-5-1, 26). Kaovichit, a former Flyweight world champion and an interim world champion at Super Flyweight, was supposed to be a good test for Matsumoto though the touted Japanese fighter dropped the Thai in the opening round and then crumpled him in round 2 with a devastating body shot. After the fight it was strongly hinted that Matsumoto would be challenging for the Japanese Super Flyweight title currently held be fellow unbeaten prospect Sho Ishida.

The first televised bout, at least in Japan, was a Middleweight contest between Olympic champion Ryota Murata (5-0, 4) and Mexico's Adrian Luna Flores (17-3-1, 11). The bout saw Murata score a clear 10 round decision over his Mexican foe though look less than impressive with serious questions be asked about his stamina late in the contest. The Mexican looked ready to go in round 10 though Murata was out of gas and had to coast the final round. The official cards were all in favour of Murata, 100-90, 99-91 and 98-92 though it's clear that he has a lot more work to do before stepping up to world level. After just 5 fights however no one will begrudge Murata more developmental fights.

Murata's bout was followed, at the venue and on Japanese TV, by the first of two world title fights. This contest saw Japanese star Naoya Inoue (7-0, 6) in action defending his WBC Light Flyweight title against Thailand's limited but tough Samartlek Kokietgym (17-5, 5). Inoue was in control through out the bout though he looked more flawed than he had in his previous 6 bouts. Fighting with the intention of putting on a show Inoue neglected his defensive duties more often than not as he loaded up with big shots, devastating combinations and some very eye catching offence. At the end of the day however it was a clear case of Inoue trying to entertain the fans and post-fight he admitted that it was a "garbage fight", an honest admission from a young fighter who is chasing genuine greatness. Whilst it was a poor bout it was Inoue's final one at 108lbs and he's now going to be moving to Flyweight where bouts against Juan Francisco Estrada and Amnat Ruenroeng were both mooted.

Another man who Inoue could fight is Roman Gonzalez (40-0, 34) who over-came Inoue's friend and stablemate Akira Yaegashi (20-4, 10) to claim the WBC Flyweight title in one of the best bouts of the year. The fight started slowly though quickly heated up with both Yaegashi and Gonzalez trading combinations through out the fight. Unfortunately for Yaegashi his warrior's mentality let him down in the end and he was eventually stopped after being dropped for the second time in the bout. Prior to the stoppage he had began to look exhausted and it was clear that he wasn't going to last the course against arguably the #1 offensive fighter in the sport. Unlike many fighters these two showed respect to each other before and after the bout knowing that the fight sold it's self on paper and didn't need hyping. In the ring both were warriors and both gave their all, though for Yaegashi he was simply up against a better warrior with bigger weapons.

Nonthaburi, Thailand
In Thailand fans got the chance to see a low profile show headlined by the very promising Teerachai Kratingdaenggym (27-0, 21) who retained his PABA Welterweight "super" title once again. Teerachai became the first fighter to stop Filipino Nelson Gulpe (8-3, 3) who has now lost 3 successive bouts though never has been bossed around as he was here. Sadly it's a shame that Teerachai still isn't stepping up when he has the potential to be so much more than he is showing. We understand there is a lack of Welterweights in the Orient though he needs to find someone better than Gulpe to fight next time out.

Another prospect ready to step up is Eaktawan Mor Krungthepthonburi (5-0, 4) who continued his winning run with an easy stoppage over Indonesian visitor Gaspar Ampolo (2-25-2, 1). Eaktawan didn't look great but didn't really struggle struggle. Like Naoya Inoue however it seemed that Eaktawan ignored his defensive responsiblities in the aim of entertaining fans.

A third bout on this show saw Inthanon Sithchamuang (23-7, 13) defeat the always game Indonesian journeyman Heri Amol (34-19-4, 14). Unfortunately for Amol this was his 5th straight loss and comes just a month after he was defeated by Japanese debutant Ken Shiro. 

Dubai
In Dubai fans saw the international debut of ALA who took their "Pinoy Pride" shows on the road for the first time and saw their trio of fighters all come back with victories.

The first of those Filipino's to notch up a victory was the popular Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista (36-3, 25) who took a 7th round technical decision over Juan Jose Martinez (19-2, 15). The fight was entertaining with both men loking for the knockout and although Bautista did score a knockdown in round 5 he was badly cut from a punch. The fight however came when the cut was worsened by a headclash that left the doctor with no decision but to take the fighters to the cards early where Bautista took a majority decision for the win.

One of the two co-features saw the unbeaten Arthur Villanueva (26-0, 14) claim the IBF International Super Flyweight title with a very narrow split decision win over the heavy handed Henry Maldonado (19-4, 14). The bout, refereed by British veteran Mickey Vann, saw an amazing second round which featured a knockdown against Villanueva though again saw many questioning Villanueava's world class potential. On the back of this fight and Villanueva's narrow win over Fernando Aguilar we're starting to think that he's either not as good as advertised or really struggling at Super Flyweight. Whatever it is, something is going to stop "King Arthur" from reaching the heady heights expected of him.

In the other co-feature we saw the ultra-talented Genesis Servania (25-0, 11) successfully retain WBO Inter-Continental Bantamweight title with a retirement victory over Jose Cabrera (22-5-2, 10). Cabrera had been dominated through out the early portion of the fight and had been dropped in round 2 and battered in rounds 3 and 4 though the bout swung in round 5 and Servania became hesitant after feeling the power of his Mexican foe. From round 8 the bout swung back in favour of the Filipino and Cabrera was eventually pulled between rounds 9 and 10 to give a relatively disappointing ending to the contest.

Prior to the bouts with the Filipino star trio there was a trio of under-card bouts. One of these saw another Filipino, Larry Abarra (3-2-1, 2), take a decision victory over Thailand's limited Chatpayak Sithkopon Nuengkawkawhok (2-8, 1). Another of the undercard bouts saw Dubai based Ugandan Deo Kizito (1-0) take a very narrow decision win over the previously unbeaten Anusher Abdullaev (4-1, 4). The remaining bout was a 1-sided beat down as Mohammad Akram (2-0-1, 1) dominated Thailand's Kong Windy Sports (1-6) to record a 2nd round victory.

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Another title fight took place in Burkina Faso as Filipino Silvester Lopez (22-8-2, 16) attempted to claim the WBC International Super Bantamweight title. Sadly for Lopez he suffered a wide loss to Alexis Boureima Kabore (23-1, 6). Lopez, now fighting way above the division that he first made his name, really is too small for Super Bantamweight and should be looking to move back down to Bantamweight, at the highest. Of course however he'll fight where opportunities arise.

Lombardia, Italy
In Italy fans saw the return to the ring of Japanese born European based Aniya Seki (25-3-2, 2) who took a decision over journey-woman Claudia Ferenci (8-36-5, 3). This was Seki's first bout following her stoppage loss to Judith Rodriguez a few months back and although Seki won here few will feel she will be a world champion before she calls it quits on a long career.

(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

It seems that, in recent weeks, it's been Japanese boxing that has been getting all the headlines. This past Saturday however our main interest was in Filipino fighters with the Philippines hosting two separate shows, both in Metro Manilla.

Metro Manila, Philippines
The bigger of the two Filipino cards was "Pinoy Pride XXV" a show otherwise known as Nietes Vs Fuentes II. With the name of the show coming from the main event which saw Donnie Nietes (33-1-4, 19) dominate Mexico Moises Fuentes (19-2-1, 10).

We had, foolishly, written off Nietes going in to this bout but he looked sensational as he out boxed a fundementally one dimensional Fuentes. The Mexican, who we felt beat Fuentes in their first bout, was tagged from the outside, neutralised up close and eventually stopped in the 9th round by a man who seemed to be wanting to make a statement that he was one of the divisional elite. Unfortunately however it seems unlikely Nietes will get a unification bout though it was said that he'd like a fight with either Juan Francisco Estrada or Roman Gonzalez, we'd love either of those fights.

Although the main event was a clear and dominant victory for the Filipino fighter the support bouts were much, much closer. The closest saw a below par Milan Melindo (31-1, 12) struggle past a game Martin Tecuapetla (11-6-2, 8). Tecuapetla did enter as the #5 ranked Light Flyweight, according to the WBA, but this was still a very poor effort from Melindo who was lucky to escape with a majority decision.

Things were also close for Rey Bautista (35-3, 25) who defeated Sergio Villanueva (26-4-2, 13) in a competitive bout. Bautista, fighting for the first in over a year, was given a very tough time by Villanueva as ring rust showed it's self on the Filipino but victory and decision will do the popular "Boom Boom" the world of good and hopefully help him "fall back in love" with boxing.

Down the card we got to see a number of promising prospects in action. The most impressive of those was Mark Bernaldez (13-0, 9) who forced a first round retirement of the experienced Marvin Tampus (27-19-2, 18). Bernaldez was expected to win but no one expected this one to be over so early and with such an impressive victory, on paper at least, Bernaldez will almost certainly be receiving more attention.

Another prospect who scored an early stoppage was Filipino based Cuban Reymi Castellano Aleye (5-0, 2) who stopped Warren Mambuanag (6-5-2, 3) in 5 rounds of a scheduled 6 rounder. The Cuban has been helping Nonito Donaire prepare for his upcoming bout with Simpiwe Vetyeka and looks to have improved himself from that time in the gym with the "Filipino Flash".

One of the other, very highly regarded prospects on this card was Mark Magsayo (6-0, 4) who was taken the 6 round distance by tough Korean Hyuk-Tak Joo (1-2). Hyuk-Tak Joo was one of two Koreans on the card with Sung-Tak Joo (5-0-3, 1), we believe Hyuk's brother, fighting to a draw with Joseph Von Minoza (14-6-1, 6).


The one other bout on this show saw the stoppage streak of JK Elorde (4-0, 3) come to an end as the debuting Jeffrey Garcia (0-1) saw out the 4 round schedule.

Metro Manila, Philippines
Whilst much of the attention was focussed on the Pinoy Pride card at the SM Mall of Asia Arena there was also a second Filipino show, held at the Olivarez Stadium. This show lacked the world class feel of the other show but still managed to give us title action as we had a trio of international bouts with titles on the line.

In the main event of the show the WBO Oriental Bantamweight champion Alie Laurel (12-3, 8) successfully defended his title with an opening round blow out over the horribly over-matched Mike Espanosa (12-7-1, 7). From what we understand Espanosa was a late replacement for unbeaten Indonesian Defry Palulu unfortunately robbing us of what would have been an excellent match up.


Although the main event was an all-Filipino battle the other two title bouts saw Filipino's fighting Japanese opponents in two regional title bouts. In an expected result fans saw Tosho Makoto Aoki (17-12-2, 14) claim the WBC Asian Boxing Council Lightweight title with a stoppage victory over limited Filipino Jonel Alibio (16-18-5, 8). Although Aoki did what was expected of him we've got to admit we were a little shocked by the fact Argie Toquero (7-3-1, 5) scored a 9th round TKO over former world title challenger Kenichi Yamaguchi (17-3-2-1, 4). This victory for Toquero saw him claiming the WBC Asian Boxing Council Bantamweight title.

Another stoppage came on the undercard the brilliantly named Warlight Dapidran (2-0, 1) stopped the debuting Juanito Paredes (0-1) in the second round of a scheduled 4 rounder. In the other 4 rounders Riku Kanou (1-1-1) fought to a draw with the debuting Vecinte Montecino (0-0-1) and Kenta Ide (1-1) defeated Jason Catalin (0-2).


Frenkendorf, Switzerland
In Switzerland there was also a little bit of Japanese action as Swiss based Japanese female fighter Aniya Seki (24-2-2, 2) recorded an opening round stoppage over the massively over-matched Alexandra Gorog (5-15-1, 1). Seki is a talented fighter and bouts like that are unnecessary for her, especially when you consider she really should be competing with some of the best in the world.

(Image thanks to ALA Gym)