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)

May 2nd 2015 was a date we all had marked in our calendars for several months. Sadly however it came and went with out leaving a lasting memory.

Las Vegas, USA
We had the biggest bout of the day, in fact the biggest bout of all time, in the US as the era's two biggest fighters met in the supposed “Fight of the Century”. Sadly however it turned out to be more of a damp squib than a great and memorable fight.

The bout in question saw Floyd Mayweather Jr (48-0, 26) unify the WBC, WBA and WBO Welterweight titles as he out pointed Filipino legend Manny Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38) in a bout that had it's moments but over-all lacked drama. Mayweather was his usual self showing great technical ability and movement but unfortunately Pacquiao failed to show his usual aggression and only really fought in spurts winning only a handful of rounds. The bout, on the whole, felt like we were watching two men coming to the end of their HOF careers and sadly it left us wondering what would have happened a few years. For Mayweather however it was a career defining win and proof that technically he is the best boxer of his era.

Tokyo, Japan
Prior to the big show in Las Vegas there had been action in Tokyo with Dangan 127. The show wasn't anywhere near the profile of the Las Vegas card however there was still a number of interesting bouts on it.

One of those interesting bouts was the main event, a Light Welterweight bout between former Japanese champion Shinya Iwabuchi (25-5, 21) and the under-sized Ryusei Yoshida (26-7, 13). Coming in both men were ranked by the JBC however Iwabuchi was too strong from the off and stopped Yoshida in eye catching fashion with a vicious salvo in round 6.

Another of the main bouts saw Hayato Kimura (23-7, 15) take a 6th round technical decision win over Filipino brawler Jomar Fajardo (14-7-2, 7). The bout was unfortunately curtailed due to a cut on Fajarado that had been caused in round 4. Notably the the Filipino had taken this bout on short notice after Takuya Kogawa pulled out due to an upcoming Japanese Flyweight title fight, and unfortunately he appeared to be under-sized from the off.

The third of the main bouts saw Ribo Takahata (11-5-1, 3) score a shock stoppage win over the previously unbeaten Japanese-based-Filipino Johnriel Maligro (12-1, 9). Maligro had looked really promising in his previous two bouts but trouble with the weight saw him looking flat before being stopped in the 5th round.

The sole 6 rounder on this card saw Takahiro Araki (6-4, 3) take a clear decision win over Koki Yoshida (4-5, 2). Prior to this bout Araki had lost back-to-back bouts though his win sees Yoshida suffering his third successive loss.

Prior to the notable bouts this card had had 6 under-card bouts, each scheduled for 4 rounds.

One of those bouts was a female contest that saw the debuting Emi Iwashita (1-0) take a clear but competitive decision over the win-less Natsuki Tarui (0-3). Another clear but competitive bout saw Koji Ida (4-0) extend his winning record with a decision win over Shogo Dairakuin (2-3, 1). A much closer bout saw Naoki Morooka (3-2, 2) take a majority decision over Yuki Uchida (2-3).

In less competitive bout Masaya Sakamoto (2-0, 1) dominated Takuya Tamaguchi (1-3-2, 1) to a very wide decision, another wide decision saw Ryota Ishida (3-0, 2) dominate Akira Watanabe (1-4-1, 1).

The only under-card bout to end inside the distance was a win for Masaya Kohama (4-2-1, 2) who stopped Masafumi Suzuki (3-4-1) in the opening seconds of round 3.

(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

Tokyo, Japan
The Dangan series of shows had their second show this week as we had a relatively underwhelming card saved by the star power of the main event fighter and of a man retiring a somewhat legendary career on the Japanese domestic scene.

The retiree was former 5-weight Japanese national champion Tadashi Yuba who took part in his retirement ceremony, which was certainly an emotional event. Tadashi had a short public sparring session with Japanese and OPBF Middleweight champion Akio Shibata before taking to the microphone and making an emotional speech abut how his career had ended but his life in boxing hadn't. The speech mentioned that Yuba will now focus on opening a gym to give back to the sport which has been such a big part of his life.

As well as Yuba's retirement ceremony the show also featured 8 fights across a variety of levels. At the lowest level was a 4 rounder which saw Shogo Kitsukawa (2-0, 2) score a final round stoppage against Shota Irei (1-2, 1).

Stepping up slightly there was a trio of 5 round bouts. The most competitive of those, at least in terms of result, was a 5 round majority draw between Salsa Iwabuchi (4-4-1, 3) and Shogo Sumitomo (5-7-1, 4) in what was a really well matched bout. Another well matched 5 rounder saw Manato Homna (8-3, 4) just over-come Tsubasa Matsudo (4-10-4, 1) in a razor thin contest. The remaining 5 round contest saw Ryosuke Takami (6-1, 5) show off his power as he flattened Shintaro Nakamura (5-4-1, 2) in the 3rd round.

In a female bout fans saw Yunoka Furukawa (5-1-2, 3) inflict the loss loss on Aiko Yamagishi (4-1-1, 2), with a 4th round stoppage in a scheduled 6 rounder. The only other 6 rounder saw Kazuyuki Nakayama (5-4-2, 1) just edge his way past Naoto Takanashi (4-9-2, 3) with a 6 round majority decision.

On the chief support bout here saw Kenta Nakagawa (9-2, 7) score a 3rd round TKO over domestic journeyman Tahashi Nishiura (8-13-1, 1), who has now been stopped 8 times in just 22 bouts.

In the main bout of the card fans saw former Japanese champion Shinya Iwabuchi (24-5, 20) finally finish off Venezuelan visitor Luis Araguayan (11-8, 6). Araguayan proved to be much better than his record indicated and at times he made Iwabuchi look silly due to his fantastic movement. In the end however Iwabuchi was simply too heavy handed as he managed to stop his visiting foe in the 7th round.

(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

Tokyo, Japan
For a third successive day we got titles action involving Japanese fighters, this time we got a double however as fans at the Korakuen Hall got a show to remember.

The card, like a good concert, began relatively softly with a couple of low profile 4 rounders but grew into a crescendo with a memorable ending.

The 4 rounders saw the debuting Kohei Isozaki (1-0) take a 4 round majority decision over the win-less Tomohiro Tsunoda (0-3) and a 2nd round KO win for Toshiya Tanaka (1-1, 1) who got off the mark by stopping Kimihiro Suda (0-2). Interestingly both of these bouts were at Super Featherweight.

As well as the 4 rounders on the undercard we also had a couple of 8 rounders. These included a Featherweight bout that saw the Japanese ranked Ryo Takenaka (11-2-1, 6) secure a 6th round stoppage over Yuki Ozawa (10-4, 2). For Takenaka this was a 4th successive victory since suffering back-to-back losses in 2012 whilst this was a 4th straight loss for Ozawa who began his career 10-0. The other 8 rounder was highly competitive as former Japanese title challenger Yukinori Hisanaga (16-5-2, 9) narrowly over-came the heavy handed Taiki Minamoto (9-4, 8). The contest was the sort of domestic under-card contest that warms up fans really well for the main bouts and was thoroughly engaging from early on. Hisanaga did deserve the victory, just, but a rematch certainly wouldn't go a miss.

After the under-card we moved on to the first of two title bouts. A clash for the Japanese Super Flyweight title with Yohei Tobe (8-2-1, 5) attempting to make the first defence of his title. Unfortunately for Tobe he came up against the very talented and still unbeaten Sho Ishida (17-0, 9) who secured the title with a hard fought and close decision in what was great display, by both, of boxing. The jabs, counters and straights were on show and although it wasn't a war it was still a very solid bout as Ishida moved a step closer to a world title fight. Although the loss for Tobe will hurt we wouldn't be shocked to see him bouncing back with out too many issues. For Ishida the focus has to be on bigger and better things and we'd not be shocked to see him in with a world champion in the next 12 months.

In the main event we had a bout that looked great on paper and proved to be great in the ring, despite a nervous start. This bout saw monster puncher Keita Obara (12-1, 11) successfully retaining his OPBF Light Welterweight title with a 12th round stoppage against fellow hard hitter Shinya Iwabuchi (23-5, 19). Obara was in the lead on the scorecards going into the final few rounds and looked likely to be taking a decision before stylishly closing the show within 20 seconds of the final round. Whilst this was Obara's first fight to go beyond 8 rounds it was also Iwabuchi's 1st stoppage loss, an impressive feat for Obara considering that Min Wook Kim couldn't finish off Iwabuchi when the two fought in a highly entertaining contest last year. With Iwabuchi taking a WBO world ranking in to this fight we're now expecting to see Obara, a stable mate of Ryota Murata, moving into at least one of the world rankings.

We're hoping to bring you videos of the main fights from this card over the next day or two.

(Image, of Obara and Iwabuchi, courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

February has, on the whole, been a disappointing day with only a handful of notable contests. Thankfully though the month did end on a high with a trio of notable Asian cards.

Bangkok, Thailand
The first of the cards took place in Thailand and was televised on Thai Channel 7. The show, which featured a total of 4 bouts, including a title bout, was arguable the show with the most significant fight of the day on it.

The notable fight in question saw the world ranked Noknoi Sitthiprasert (48-4, 28), pictured, successfully defending his WBC international Silver Flyweight title against the previously unbeaten Rajah Renoel Pael (12-1-1, 5) of the Philippines. Unfortunately for Pael he was denied what seemed like a clear victory with the judges some how preferring the work of Noknoi who was very fortunate to retain his belt.

Fights like this one explain why Thailand do struggle to get over top class fighters. The judging is simply too questionable and with Noknoi's world rankings, including a WBC #4 and WBA #5 placings, there was no chance he was going to lose unless Pael could knock him out. Very unfortunate for the poor Filipino.

Thankfully no other bout on this card much in terms of controversy, though unfortunately they weren't great match ups. The most notable of which included the promising Petch Sor Chitpattana (24-0, 16), who stopped the debuting Carlo Bavetta (0-1) in 4 rounds. 

The other two bouts saw novices fighting each other with Petchchumpol Sor Visetkit (2-1, 1) defeating the debuting Kengkaj Sakpracha (0-1) via a decision and Morakote Patanakan Gym (3-3, 1) stopping Petch Twins Gym (1-4) in just 3 rounds.

Tokyo, Japan
Although the most important bout of the day was in Thailand the best shows were both in Japan. These included "Dangan 94" which was headlined by a fantastic international contest between a highly regarded Japanese fighter and a world ranked Filipino.

The fighters alluded to were WBO #12 ranked Light Welterweight Jimrex Jaca (39-7-3, 22) and former Japanese national champion at 140lbs Shinya Iwabuchi (23-4, 19). 

The fight started well for Jaca who looked sharp from the opening round and dropped Iwabuchi in the first half of the fight. Unfortunately for the Filipino he was unable to see off the brave Japanese fighter who began to turn the fight around as it progressed and eventually stopped Jaca in round 7 with the Filipino being saved after taking some bombs.

Below the main event this show had a notable upset as Koji Umetsu (21-14-3, 9) defeated Tsuyoshi Tojo (12-13-3, 2). On paper we accept this wasn't a shock but Tojo was the #1 ranked Japanese Super Featherweight challenger whilst Umetsu was unranked. As a result of this bout we expect to see a major shake up of the domestic rankings.

Further down this card, though staying with the more important under-card bouts Koshinmaru Saito (20-5-1, 11) stopped Yuichi Ideta (13-10-1, 7) in 6 rounds and Yusaku Kuga (8-1-1, 5) stopped Yuki Iwasaki (11-5, 6) in round 5. 

On the undercard, where we had 4 other bouts. This included the shows opening 4 rounders which saw Gaku Sato (1-1) take a split decision over Takaya Tsuji (1-3, 1) and Kazunori Sato (2-4, 2) stopping the debuting Masato Nunotani (0-1).

As for the 6 rounders, they saw Norimitsu Ebine (9-7-1, 6) taking 6 rounds to stop Yuichi Asano (7-8-1 6) in a bout that looked like a shoot out on paper, and Tomoyuki Kaneko (7-2, 4) taking less than a round to defeat Takuma Okada (4-9, 2).

Hyogo, Japan
A second major card, "Real Spirits 35", was held in Japan in Hyogo. This card, a 7 bout show, was headlined by a contest between Akihiko Katagiri (14-7-2, 5) and Kota Fukuoka (15-4-2, 13). Going in to this bout Fukuoka was ranked by the OPBF whilst Katagiri was ranked by the JBC. Amazingly it was the "non-puncher" of the two who managed to take home the victory with Katagiri opening a cut on Fukuoka's eye that caused the end of the bout and handing Katagiri a 6th round TKO.

Whilst the main event was brilliant on paper it wasn't joined by other great match ups. Despite that lack of great bouts on paper the chief support bout, between Ryotaro Kawabata (10-2, 4) and Kenta Toi (3-4) proved to be great fun whilst it lasted, even if it did prove to be 1 sided with Toi being stopped in round 5.

Another mismatch on the card saw Tokiya Nishioka (8-3-2, 4) quickly stopping Thailand's Thiendaeng Manoprungroj (1-4, 1) in 2 rounds. It took Kazuki Hashimoto (9-4, 5) just as long to stop Khunkhiri Wor Wisaruth (10-8-1, 5) in another mismatch.

The under-card wasn't all mismatches and Yuichi Arai (7-8-1, 2) only just managed to over-come Kenta Sugimoto (6-6-1) in a brilliantly even match up. There is no debating that this one was close though could have been swayed by "what you like" as shown in the score cards.

Unfortunately the other lower card bouts were both lacking the competitive edge as Tatsuya Yoneo (6-3, 1) put on a great performance to clearly defeat Ryuto Maruo (5-6, 2) in a 6 rounder whilst the debuting Takaaki Maeda (1-0) scored a shut out over Masashi Katayama (0-2).

California, USA
In the US Filipino prospect Bruno Escalante (12-1-1, 6) proved he his harder than his record indicates as he swiftly took out Lorenzo Trejo (33-29-1,20) and claimed the lightly regarded International Boxing Association Super Flyweight title in the process. It took Escalante less than a round to see off Trejo and whilst the IBA might not be a major title it will still have boosted Escalante's confidence no end to wrap the belt around his waist.


(Picture courtesy of boxrec.com)