Tokyo, Japan
The main show of the day, for Asian fight fans, was in Tokyo at the Korakuen Hall.

The main event of the show saw Teiken's Masanobu Nakazawa (18-1-1, 7) claim his biggest win to date as he won the Japanese interim Light Welterweight with a narrow decision win against Masayoshi Kotake (9-10-2, 5). Early on this one was really competitive with Kotake claiming a narrow lead during the first 5 rounds. Kotake's early lead was however over-come by Nakazawa who turned it on in the second half of the fight to take a close unanimous decision. It's now expected that Nakazawa will face full champion Hiroki Okada in 2016, when Okada recovers from a thumb injury.

In supporting bouts we saw two former Japanese champions. One of those was former Japanese Bantamweight champion Rikiya Fukuhara (31-8-1, 23) who scored a 4th round win over Yusuke Nakagawa (8-4-1, 4). On paper this was a bout between two Japanese ranked fighters but in the ring the class and experience of Fukuhara was far too much for Nakagawa.

The other former Japanese champion was former Light Welterweight kingpin Shinya Iwabuchi (26-5, 22) who stopped former OPBF champion Romeo Jakosalem (16-11-1, 8). Although Iwabuchi did take home the win here he was given a scare being dropped in the first round before forcing the referee to save Jakosalem in round 3.

Another stoppage on this card saw Ryuta Otsuka (15-8-2, 5) take a 7th round TKO win against Takaaki Ishikawa (11-7, 6). Although not a puncher Otsuka made the most of the fact that Ishikawa isn't the most durable and this was the 7th time in 18 bouts that Ishikawa had been stopped.

One bout that did go the scheduled distance saw Japanese domestic contender Hiroya Yamamoto (9-3, 3) take a decision victory over Takumi Suda (12-11-2, 3). With this win Yamamoto may well be pushed towards a Japanese title fight for the now vacant title.

In a 6 round bout Tsuyoshi Naito (4-3-4, 2) fought to a draw with Katsunori Imai (5-6-3)

Yangju, South Korea
Fans in South Korea also had fistic action with a card in Yangju.

In the main event Gun Woo Gang (2-0-1, 2) claimed a 6 round decision win over Dong Suk Han (1-7). The 18 year old Gang, who only debuted a few months ago, is showing signs of promise and he could well be worth keeping an eye for the long term. For Han however this was a third straight loss, and the 34 year old probably isn't going to think that today's bout was worth ending a 2 year break from the ring.

In an under-card bout the previously win-less Chan Young Kim (1-0-1) claimed a 4 round decision win over Chan Won Suh (0-2-2) whilst the win-less I Hoon Jun (0-2-1) fought to a draw with Se Yul Yang (0-0-2).

Distrito Federal, Mexico
In Mexico fans saw Filipino hopeful Jhon Gemino (12-5-1, 5) suffer an 8th round stoppage loss to the exciting Daniel Rosas (19-2-1, 11). Rosas, a former interim title contender, was too strong for the Filipino visitor.

Note-There was a second show in Japan though unfortunately the results weren't with up by the time of this

(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

This past Thursday was a great day for fight fans in Asia with action in both Japan and Thailand

Chonburi, Thailand
The most notable action occurred in Thailand where fans got the chance to see a bit of everything, ranging from former world champions to novices beginning their careers.

The former world champion was Indonesian veteran Muhammad Rachman (65-12-5, 35) who was hoping to call himself a world champion for the 3rd time as he went up against unbeaten Thai Knockout CP Freshmart (10-0, 5). Knockout, who was defending his WBA interim Minimumweight title for the first time, quickly showed that his 19 years of youth “advantage” was more than enough to over-come the Indonesian fighter who had previously held the IBF and WBA world titles. Knockout was too good, too energetic, too fast and over-all too good for his experienced for gave his best but was never really in the bout.

In an under-card bout fans saw the highly experienced Panomroonglek Kaiyanghadaogym (44-2, 26) retain his PABA Bantamweight title with an 8th round KO against the smaller but game Mateo Handig (13-9, 7). Panomroonglek is said to be targeting a world title shot and this was more about ticking over than anything else, though the PABA title was on the line.

Another bout on this card saw Noknoi Sitthiprasert (53-4, 30) extend his winning streak to 52 straight wins as he took a decision win over Filipino journeyman Donny Mabao (21-25-1, 4) in what was a third meeting between the two men. Noknoi had beaten Mabao in both 2009 and 2010 and is now 3-0 against the busy Filipino who has now lost 4 in a row.

We are aware that there were other bouts on this show though unfortunately we've not had those results as of yet. From what we understand one bout involved Yodmongkol Vor Saengthep, who returned to the ring for the first time since he was stopped by Juan Carlos Reveco at the end of 2014, whilst another involved the exciting Chanachai Cp Freshmart. Hopefully we'll get those results shortly.

Tokyo, Japan
In Japan fans had a great day of action which culminated in a really exciting Japanese title fight though also showcased an OPBF title holder, a female world champion and a former Japanese title holder as well as several novices.

The least experienced fighter on the card was Toru Kiyota (1-0, 1) who made a successful debut with an opening round victory over Kohei Isozaki (1-2). Although Kiyota now has some professional experience under his belt it is worth noting this bout lasted just 123 and was Isozaki's second successive stoppage loss.

Another undercard bout that failed to last long was a Middleweight clash that saw Rasher Aoki (3-2, 1) blow away Tomoki Akutsu (1-2) in the second round. This Akutsu's first bout since he was stopped inside a round by Kenyu Ojima last June and it seems clear that his durability will hold him back.

In an interesting Light Flyweight bout fans saw the promising Kenichi Miyazaki (8-1-1, 2) take a clear 6 round decision over the experienced Takuro Habu (11-10-2, 3). This was Miyazaki's 3rd straight since being stopped in the West Japan Rookie of the Year back in November 2013 and it seems clear that he has a lot of potential.

Another 6 rounder saw WBA Atomweight champion Ayaka Miyao (20-5-1, 4) take a clear and comprehensive victory over Momoko Kanda (8-7-2, 2). The bout showed the class difference between a world champion and a domestic level fighter however it comments made after the bout that served as being notable with Miyao suggesting she was open to fighting WBC Atomweight champion Momo Koseki. If that bout can be made it would be the first ever Atomweight unification bout.

In an 8 rounder fans saw Tatsuya Yanagi (11-2, 4) take a razor thin decision over the more experienced Toru Suzuki (24-5, 8) in a minor upset. Yanagi had entered on back-to-back losses, including a decision loss to the much touted Johnriel Maligro, though had won the 2012 All Japan Rookie of the year. Suzuki, the more experienced man, had been stopped in 3 of his previous 5 and appears to have found his level as being below national title level. Notably Suzuki was testing the water as a fully blown Super Featherweight having previously made his name as a Featherweight.

In another 8 rounder we saw Masaki Saito (12-10-4, 3) score an upset win over former Japanese Super Featherweight champion Seiichi Okada (18-6, 11). Sadly for Okada, who made 3 defended of the national title in 2011, it appears this will have been the final nail in his coffin. The popular 32 year old has lost 5 of his last 7 now and has been stopped in 4 of those bouts suggesting it's time he though about retirement. It's a shame for Okada if that's it but he's had a good career over-all. For Saito this is a huge win and he's now 4-1-1 (2) in his last 6 suggesting he's turning his career around.

The most notable of the 8 round bouts saw OPBF Super Flyweight champion Ryo Matsumoto (14-0, 12) make light work of Thai visitor Thanuthong Chor Kangwal (0-1) who was stopped after 33 seconds of round 2. The talented Matsumoto landed a liver shot that left Thanuthong in agony and showed the huge gulf in class between the two fighters. Prior to the fight Matsumoto had hinted at aiming for a Bantamweight world title later in the year and on this showing he does look healthier as a Bantamweight than as a Super Flyweight.

In the main event the fans got a real treat as Japanese Featherweight champion Satoshi Hosono (27-2-1, 20) over-came a very spirited effort from Rikiya Fukuhara (30-8-1, 22). Fukuhara, who had previously been stopped by Hosono, started really well but had to pull himself off the canvas in round 4 as Hosono's power and toughness forced Fukuhara into the wrong type of fight. Late on Fukuhara managed to find some success but it was too little too late to over-come the tough Hosono who is hoping to get another world title fight, though seems unlikely to beat any of the current champions, sadly. For Fukuhara this may be the end of his long career, which has seen him claim the Japanese Super Bantamweight title and challenge for titles at both Featherweight and Super Featherweight.


(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

This past Friday was a busy day with fights across our area.

Tokyo, Japan
In Japan fans saw a Watanabe card that may not have oozed big names but domestically it was a highly important card that will have helped piece together some bouts for 2015.

The main event of the card saw the bleached blonde Hayato Kimura (22-7, 15) take a 5 round technical decision over Kanae Onogi (6-7-1, 3) in what was, on paper, a total mismatch. Although on paper this was far from an even bout it was a case of getting Kimura a win after back to back losses to Marlon Tapales, technical decision 5, and Michael Dasmarinas, an 8 round unanimous decision. Whilst we'll admit we don't see him progressing to winning a national or OPBF it's still good to see Kimura getting the W under his belt after what has been a nightmare year for him.

In one of the other feature bouts fans saw the always entertaining Rikiya Fukuhara (30-7-1, 22) score an opening round blow out against Thailand's Thiendaeng Manoprungroj (1-5, 1). The bout was a complete mismatch but it was effectively a tune up bout before Fukuhara gets a rematch with Satoshi Hosono in 2015. In Fukuhara's first bout with Hosono, which can be seen here, he was stopped in 7 rounds but he is unbeaten since then and seems very hungry for the rematch.

The other 8 rounder on the show saw Ryuichi Funai (22-6, 15) score a 4th round TKO against the out matched Toshikuni Wake (8-14-3, 2). Funai did have a scare early on when he was caught by a hard right but that was his only worry and he quickly took control of the bout from there on stop his over-matched foe.

The only other early result we have from this card was a genuine upset as Kota Oguchi (10-13, 1) managed to take a split decision over Kununobu Shimamura (16-4-1, 11). This was Oguchi's 2nd successive win following 9 losses in a row and it seems that something in him has finally clicked whilst for Shimamura this is a very damaging loss for his career.

Bangkok, Thailand
In Thailand we saw a former world champion in action as former WBO Bantamweight champion Pungluang Sor Singyu (47-3, 31) narrowly over-came Tanzania's Fadhili Majiha (15-5-4, 7) to claim the interim WBO Asia Pacific Bantamweight title. We do wonder how Majiha qualified for an Asia Pacific title fight though the bigger worry is how much Pungluang has left considering just how much he struggled here and it may be that his loss to Tomoki Kameda earlier this year has actually ruined him, a real shame but a possibility all the same.

Moscow, Russia
In Russia there was 9 bouts in total including some very interesting bouts with very recognisable names at the top tier of the sport.

The undercard began with with a 6 round contest at Featherweight between the unbeaten Evgeny Smirnov (4-0, 1) and the more experienced Michael Nyawade (12-3-2, 8). The bout saw Smirnov taking the win with a decision though has left questions about his lack of power considering Nyawade had been stopped in his previous 2 losses. 

In a major Middleweight bout Arif Magomedov (12-0, 9) dominated the previously undefeated Michael Zerafa (15-1, 7) to continue his fast and impressive rise through the ranks. We know Magomedov isn't a big name in the Middleweight division though we suspect he will become one in the near future given his talent and his talent, power and promise. In a second 10 rounder we saw the unbeaten Sergey Ekimov (12-0, 6) make light work of the experienced Miguel Velozo (17-3-2, 5) with a 5th round TKO to give Velozo his first stoppage loss in 22 fights.

The final of the 10 rounders Heavyweight contender Manuel Charr (27-2, 16) stopped American Michael Grant (48-6, 26) who refused to come out for round 6 and never really looked interested in the fight even at the opening bell.

In the least interesting of the 3 bouts scheduled for 12 rounds we saw Lightweight Eduard Troyanovsky (19-0, 16) destroy former WBA Lightweight title holder Jose Alfaro (27-9-1, 12) in 5 very one sided rounds to claim the WBA International Lightweight title. A second 12 rounder saw Cruiserweight hopeful Rakhim Chakhkiev (20-1, 15) score a KO of Italian veteran Giacobbe Fragomeni (32-5-2, 13). Fragomeni, a solid contender in his own right, was made to look like an old man fit for retirement after this loss in which he really was dominated by Chakhkiev.

The main event saw former WBA Heavyweight title holder Alexander Povetkin (28-1, 20) score an excellent 10th round KO against Carlos Takam (30-2-1, 23) to claim the WBC Silver Heavyweight title.

(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

This past Saturday may have been all about "The Moment" in terms of boxing but there was other, lower profile action in Asia.

Cebu, Philippines
The card we were looking forward to the most was in the Philippines. The show had promised a world title fight, a handful of top Filipino prospects and was expected to be a show to look forward to. Instead what we got was a disappointment. We still got the prospects but the world title fight was effectively taken from us after the the champion was stripped of their title.

The man who was stripped was the now former IBF Light Flyweight champion John Riel Casimero (20-2, 12), who was stripped of his title for weighing more than 5lbs over the Light Flyweight limit. That weight advantage wasn't needed by Casimero and the class difference was quickly shown as he swiftly dispatched the hapless Mauricio Fuentes (16-3, 10) who was dropped 3 times inside a round. Although Fuentes was "able" to win the title in theory he really shouldn't have been given this opportunity and the fight really was a farce from the second it was announced to the second it was stopped.

Whilst the "world title fight" was a farce we did get some interesting prospect action. Amongst the prospects in action was the very highly touted Harmonito Dela Torre (13-0, 8) who managed to score a 3rd round stoppage over the limited Gadwin Tubigon (10-9-2, 5). Dela Torre's win saw him claim the lightly regarded vacant World Boxing Federation International Super Featherweight title. 

Another of the prospects in action was former amateur stand out Jack Tepora (10-0, 6) who scored a 10th round stoppage over Jo-as Apericio (11-12, 8) to claim the World Boxing Federation International Super Bantamweight title.  Tepora, dubbed "The Golden Boy", claimed his first title with this victory and seems set to move up a level or two in the next year.

The same Filipino show had yet more title action as Rey Labao (26-5, 17) defended his Lightweight title with a 5th round TKO over Rodel Wenceslao (7-8-1, 2) in what was a mismatch, whilst Jessie Cris Rosales (14-0-1, 5) claimed the WBO Asia Pacific Youth Featherweight title with a hard fought 10 round victory over Anthony Sabalde (8-4, 4).

Lower down the card, in 8 round bouts, Jessie Espina (7-1, 3) out pointed the debuting Philip Jun Pronco (0-1) whilst Joey Canoy (5-0-1, 3) out pointed Mark Anthony Florida (8-5, 7).

In the only 6 rounder Jaybie Haya (3-1-1, 2) out pointed the previously unbeaten Carlo Demecillo (2-1, 1). Whilst over the 4 round distance Junuel Lacar (4-1-1, 2) wiped out Honorato Boc (0-1) inside a minute and the previously win-less Eduardo Joaquino (1-1) upset the previously unbeaten Ronnie Tanallon (3-1, 1).

Davao Del Sur, Philippines
On a second Filipino show we saw the return to the ring of the very talented highly promising Jerwin Ancajas (20-1-1, 12) who made very light work of Thai opponent Petchwanchai Sor Visetkit (14-7, 6), scoring an opening round stoppage. This was Ancajas's second stoppage this year over Thai opponents and it seems time that he was stepped up a level. There is little point in such a talented fighter running up a series of these type of wins when he could well be fighting his way to a world title fight.

Tokyo, Japan
Whilst the action in the Philippines stole the day in regards to the Asian fight scene there was two shows in Japan. One of those was in Tokyo as we got "Dangan 100".

This show began with a female bout that saw Chie Higano (2-0) over-come the debuting Sayaka Aoki (0-1) in a clear decision over 4 rounds. The female bout was one of three 4 rounders with the others both seeing swift stoppages. The swiftest of those stoppages came inside a round as the debuting Ryu Ueda (1-0, 1) scored an 83 second victory over Taisho Sugano (0-2), the other stoppage came part way through the second round as Hisao Narita (5-1, 3) stopped Naoya Kaneko (3-2, 3).

The only 6 rounder on "Dangan 100" saw the debut of the very highly touted former amateur stand out Kenya Noguchi (1-0) who out pointed Hideharu Takahashi (6-10, 2), Noguchi is a teenager we've been told is "an outstanding talent" and we'd advise fight fans to follow him intently.

Following the under-card we than had a foursome of feature bouts. None of them featured world class fighters but all 4 were interesting contests on paper.

The first of those bouts saw Johnreil Maligro (11-0, 8) out point the unbeaten Tatsuya Yanagi (10-1, 4) in a genuinely excellent match up. Maligro, known as Jun Sakura, got easily the most impressive victory of his career and the 19 year old really does have the potential to go on and win titles if he continues to develop like he seems to be.

Following Maligro's fantastic victory we then saw former Japanese title challenger Ryuta Otsuka (14-6-2, 4) score a stoppage over Yosuke Fujihara (14-3, 4). For Otsuka this was his first stoppage in well over 2 years whilst it was Fujihara's second successive stoppage loss.

In the chief support bout fans got to see former Japanese Super Bantamweight champion Masaaki Serie (25-6, 10) out point Filipino visitor Michael Escobia (10-7-1, 2) in what turned out to be an very hard fought and competitive match up. Although not an old fighter in terms of years, the 31 year old does look like an older fighter and perhaps needs a break from the ring.

A former opponent of Serie was also in action on the card, that was Rikiya Fukuhara (29-7-1, 21). Fukuhara, a hard hitter, made light work of Filipino fighter Jaderes Padua (9-4-1, 6) scoring an opening round KO. After the fight Fukuhara called out Japanese Featherweight champion Satoshi Hosono. We can't help but think that Hosono would stop Fukuhara, as he did in a previous meeting between the two men, but it'll certainly be fun.

Osaka, Japan
A second show in Japan was headlined by Hiroshige Osawa (25-3-4, 14) stopping the game Kosuke Saka (8-3, 5). Saka fought well but was stopped due to a nasty injury. Osawa, a former OPBF champion, is really rebuilding his career after a year long suspension by the JBC for taking part in an unsanctioned contest in South Korea.

(Picture, courtesy of Celes Boxing Gym, is of Noguchi)

This past Wednesday saw just a single Asian show with it taking place in Korakuen Hall, Tokyo. This show, "Dangan 90", featured 9 fights in total though it was just 1 of them that really stood out, the main event, in terms of attention and name value.

Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan

The show,the final "Dangan" card of the year saw a meeting of former Japanese champions Super Bantamweight champions as Rikiya Fukuhara (28-7-1, 20) managed to out point Masaaki Serie (24-6, 10). Fukuhara forced the pace early and was on the offensive as he took an early lead. Although Serie tried to come back in to the bout it was too little too late and none of the judges felt he had done quite enough, though the score of 76-75 did suggest that he was closer to winning than he really was. For Fukuhara this is a key win and one that could keep him in the hunt for another title fight somewhere in 2014 though retirement does loom for the veteran who turned 35 today.

One of the chief support bouts was an explosive encounter as Kengo Nagashima (13-10-2, 12) scored a 5th round stoppage over Tatsuya Miyazaki (8-5-1, 8). The bout always seemed likely to finish inside the distance with both men having chilling power and it was that power of Nagashima's that was used to the better effect. For Nagashima this is a great turn around for his career. He had lost 4 fights inside 10 months between 2011-2012 though has now won 3 of his last 4 and his career seems to be on the right tracks. For Miyazaki this is a 4th loss in 7.

The biggest shock on the card came in the other chief support bout as Tomoyuki Omura (8-3, 3) was upset by Yasuhiro Okawa (11-11-3, 3). Although this was Omura's first bout over the 8 round distance it was still hugely disappointing with him losing very clearly on the score cards.

The sole 6 rounder on the card surprisingly ended in a draw with Junpei Sakagami (4-2-3, 3) fighting to a split draw with Takumi Koyama (7-2-1, 5). The scoring was a bit all over the place with one jusdge going 58-57 to Sakagami, another going 59-56 to Koyama before the third judge's card of 57-57 lead us to the draw.

The undercard was primarily formed from 5 bouts sheduled for the 4 round distance. These saw 3 contests going the distance. in those 3 distance bouts all were close as Haruka Itakura (3-0) took a split decision over Masaya Kohama (1-2-1), Tatsuro Jin (2-0, 1) took a majority decision over Kosuke Higuchi (1-1, 1) whilst Daisuke Uchikawa (0-1-1) fought to a draw with the debuting Manabu Yamaguchi (0-0-1).

The other 2 bouts went just 5 rounds between them. These saw the debuting Kenya Yamashita (1-0, 1) stopping Kazuma Fukino (0-2) in the 3rd round whilst Shogo Dairakuin (2-0, 1)  finished off Satoshi Hongo (1-1) part way through round 2.