Kyoto, Japan
Today saw Japanese fans turn their attention away from the usual boxing hotspots of Tokyo and Osaka and instead focus on Kyoto which hosted a couple of Japanese title fights which saw the fighters not only trading blows for the title but also for regional bragging rights.

The main event of the show was the second of the shows title bouts and saw the world ranked Shohei Omori (15-0, 10) successfully defend his Bantamweight title for the first time with a dominant 6th round TKO win against former 2-time world title challenger Hirofumi Mukai (11-4-2, 1). From the opening bell it seemed that Omori was too big and too strong for his challenger, who never seemed to be able to feel at ease. Omroi's domination was made more evident in round 3, when he dropped Mukai for the first time. Mukai was again down the following round as Omori landed a devastating body shot, tough his sloppy assault allowed Mukai to see out the round, and mount something of a comeback in round 5. Despite Mukai stemming the tide slightly he was unable to survive the 6th round when the referee was forced to save him.

Although the performance was sloppy from Omori the youngster seemed to accept that the fight was a learning experience and that he would look to defend his title again before chasing a world title fight. Incidentally Mukai had previously taken Super Flyweight destroyer Srisaket Sor Rungvisai 9 rounds so in comparison this is an incredible result for Omori.

In the other title fight Japanese Lightweight champion Kota Tokunaga (15-2, 11) stopped his good friend Yuhei Suzuki (16-5, 12) in the 10th round to keep a grasp on title and pull out a truly fantastic come-from-behind win. Through the first half of the fight it was Suzuki in charge, with two judges having it 50-46 after 5 rounds. From then on however Tokunaga moved up a gear and the final 3 rounds were a fantastic charge from the champion who eventually saw off Suzuki with just 70 seconds left. Despite the win, which secured his first defense of the title, Tokunaga has perhaps given away his gameplan for the future with this bout seeing him start slowly, as he did last time out, and maybe future opponents will see that in future bouts. Whilst the champion is clearly a long way from a world title fight he will develop a a great fan base with performances like this.

Not only did both champions record their first defenses but they are both stablemates at Woz boxing, a gym that really appears to have had a defining year in 2015 and will be hoping to see their success continue into 2016.

As well as the two title bouts the card featured a trio of under-card bouts. One of those was a female bout which saw Tamao Ozawa (9-2, 2) score a decision win over Filipino visitor Carleans Rivas (4-3-3). This was Ozawa's 3rd successive win since she was stopped by Kai Johnson in March 2014.

Another of the under-card bouts saw light punching 20 year old Shun Kosaka (10-2, 1) score his first stoppage win as he took care of Thailand's Petchmai Sor Praithong (0-5) in the 5th of 8 scheduled rounds.

The remaining bout was a 4 rounder which saw the debuting Ryotaro Motohashi (1-0, 1) defeat Ryuichiro Okada (0-2) with a majority decision.

(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

Tokyo, Japan
The “Dangan” series of shows really does provide Japanese boxing fans with a bit of everything. They do everything from shows packed with 4 rounders between novices to acting as launch pad for really sensational prospects. The best Dangan shows are well remembered for showcasing some of the best fighters on the Japanese domestic scene on that was the case this past Monday.

Like many shows the card began in relatively uninspiring fashion but ended with two real high high points in a co-main event.

The first of those main events saw the sensational Shohei Omori (14-0, 9) announce himself on the Bantamweight scene as he decimated defending Japanese Bantamweight champion Kentaro Masuda (21-7, 11) in just 3 rounds. Omori, challenging for his first title, started fast and dropped Masuda twice inside the opening round with the champion very lucky to see out the round. Masuda did a bit a bit better in the second round though in round 3 Omori managed to finish the show landing several solid looking left hands that forced the referee to save Masuda. This was the type of performance that captures the attention of fans and the fighters in the division and it now seems very clear that Omori is heading towards much bigger and better things than just a Japanese title.

The other main event saw the heavy handed Keita Obara (14-1, 13) defend his OPBF Light Welterweight title with a 6th round TKO victory over the brace but out gunned Yuya Okazaki (11-8-1, 4). We had this one pegged as a total mismatch though Okazaki did his best to prove us wrong and seemed to hurt Obara at one point. Despite the good effort from the challenger he was eventually stopped by the talented and heavy handed champion who made it clear that he had an extra gear when it was needed. It's now obvious that Obara is taking a lot out of himself by making Light Welterweight and a permanent move to 147lbs is certainly on the books.

Prior to the main event the fans had 4 under-card bouts, all scheduled for 8 rounds. The first of those saw Kyosuke Sawada (3-2, 2) score an opening round TKO against Thai visitor Kamraiyok Orwandavee (9-4, 3)*.

The second of the under-card bouts saw Yosuke Kawano (9-4-1, 4) force a 4th round TKO against Hiroyuki Sagehashi (7-8-2, 1). On paper this was a mismatch however Sagehashi had only been stopped once in his 16 previous bouts, this was however his third straight loss.

The third of the under-card bouts saw former OPBF Featherweight title challenger Ryo Takenaka (12-3-1, 6) over-come Junki Sasaki (13-3, 5) in an excellent and very competitive match up. Takenaka, who was stopped by Hisashi Amagasa last time out, did just enough to take the decision with cards of 77-76, twice, and 77-75 though we know that some of those in the venue felt Sasaki had done enough. A rematch between these two would certainly not be a bad idea though we suspect Takenaka has hopes of moving back into title fights instead.

The final of the under-card contests saw Japanese and OPBF ranked fighter Dai Iwai (17-3-1, 6) score a 5th round TKO, due to cuts, over the tough and experienced Noriyuki Ueno (17-13-5, 5). The promising Iwai is now coming into his own and has scored 8 straight wins though sadly this looks like the end for Ueno, who came up short in 4 title bouts earlier in his career.

For fans wanting to watch the main events on tape delay they will be aired this coming weekend on Fuji TV at 2:40AM Tokyo time.

Gauteng, South Africa
In South Africa fans saw Kazakhstan youngster Roman Zhailauov (14-0, 8) begin his allegiance with Golden Gloves. The 20 year old from Astana was scheduled to fight Luyanda Jako though Jako was pulled out at late notice and in the end Zhailauov ended up fighting Willis Baloyi (3-4-2, 1). Despite the change in opponent the youngster still picked up the win with a 6 round decision victory. From what we under-stand Rodney Berman, the man in charge of Golden Gloves, sees the Kazakh making his name at 140lbs in the near future.

(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)


*Boxrec list the Thai as making his debut, the Danganboxing website list his record as 9-3 (3) entering the bout. Due to how incomplete the records of Thai's are on boxrec we tend to feel that Dangan's record is more accurate.

This past Sunday wasn't the busiest day in Asian boxing but it was still an interesting one with several bouts of note taking place in Japan.

Kyoto, Japan
The bouts took place on a Woz boxing card put on in Kyoto and although the card wasn't a huge one it was a very interesting one with several interesting prospects in action.

One of those was the world ranked Shohei Omori (13-0, 8) who scored his third win of the year by stopping former Rookie of the Year Bunta Mitaka (6-2-2) in the 3rd of a scheduled 8 rounds. This win effectively closes off a perfect year for Omori who's win over Cristian Esquivel a few months ago really brought him to the attention of the hardcore fans who now seem to be viewing him as a potential Bantamweight star of the future. This was a step back in some ways for the unbeaten Japanese youngster but the fact he's being kept active is a good thing.

Another promising prospect in action was the much touted Ken Shiro (2-0, 1) who made light work of Thailand's Phuwanai Wor Surapol (7-4-1, 2)*. Ken Shiro dropped the Thai in the opening round before detonating a huge right in the second round that dropped him hard. From what we understand Ken Shiro's next bout will be against an OPBF top 10 ranked contender with the intention to fight for a title at some point in 2015.

Not all the bouts included a prospect and the sole 6 rounder on the show certainly didn't feature one as Taisei Higashi (6-7, 5) took on Naoki Yamamoto (5-8-2, 3) in a bout that looked incredibly even on paper. Although the records were similar Higashi's power was the difference as he stopped Yamamoto in 3 rounds suggesting that his power is legitimate even if his skills aren't the most outstanding. 

In the 4 rounders we saw more prospects in action, one of which was Super Featherweight hopeful Naotoshi Nakatani (3-0, 3) who made very light work of Kiyonori Matsumoto (2-3) courtesy of an opening round KO. Although Nakatani might be a trainers nightmare with his hands down style he is genuinely so fun to watch that he made us real fans of his with his performance. 

Another hopeful was Yuya Shimakawa (1-0) who took a 3rd round technical decision over fellow debutant Atsushi Maekawa (0-1) in an all debutant contest. For other debutants there was mixed fortune with Yusuku Takahashi (1-0) taking a shut out over Sumeeman Shoki (0-4) whilst Ryuta Miyoshi (0-1) was stopped by Yuki Nakanishi (1-1) and Tomohiro Tomiyama (0-1) was beaten by Shota Taguchi (1-1).

The only other undercard bout here saw Yosuke Shimagawa (4-5-1, 2) take a hard fought split decision over Masaki Mori (2-2-1, 1).

(*record taken from Japanese source, boxrec.com list him at 0-1)

Kyoto, Japan
In this sport there are fighters destined for greatness. Fighters who has such unreal natural talent that they are viewed as blessed. One such fighter who falls in to that category is Japanese Middleweight sensation Ryota Murata (4-0, 4) who scored his 4th stoppage earlier today with a very straight forward victory over Mexico's Jesus Angel Nerio (12-3, 6).

The bout started with Murata in charge, with him coming forward, showing off lovely variety in his work and generally showing that the two men were in completely different leagues. This continued through to the end of round 4 with Murata hardly breaking sweat whilst dominating the bout with accurate and heavy handed attacks. 

In the 5th round the Japanese fighter began to up his work rate and he seriously rocked Nerio after connecting with a huge head shot. He was unable to put the Mexican down in a follow up attack, with the bell coming just before Nerio was knocked down, but the damage had been down with gust busting body shots and vicious head shots, The minute break between rounds wasn't so much respite for Nerio but more a case of delaying the inevitable which came in round 6 after Nerio suffered a second knockdown in the round and decided to stay down for the count. It was clear the Mexican was done though it hardly looked like Murata had even began in a very impressive performance,

Murata's bout was the headline contest, the main event, though it wasn't the only bout on the show. 

Earlier on the card had featured several other bouts.

For Japanese based Filipino Malcolm Tunacao (34-3-3, 20), the former WBC Flyweight, things were tough but successful as he out pointed South Korea's very tough Joo-Hyun Jung (6-3-1, 2). Jung put up an excellent effort and gave Tunacao the type of work out that he'll have wanted despite the fight being tougher than anyone would have expected.

Tunacao's former rival Christian Esquivel (27-5, 20), a man Tunacao stopped in 7, had a nightmare showing as he was stopped by Japanese youngster Shohei Omori (12-0, 7). Omori, a relative unknown in international boxing circles, was thoroughly impressive and could, or rather should, find himself in the next WBC world rankings considering that Esquivel was the #9 ranked Bantamweight prior to this bout.

Incidentally both Tunacao and Esquivel had been stopped in recent WBC title fights by the sensational Shinsuke Yamanaka. Omori however stopped Esquivel quicker than Yamanaka in a performance that really should open the eyes of a lot of fans.

Tatsuya IkemizuOmori was one of 3 highly regarded man on the under-card. Another one of those men was Sho Nakazawa (4-0, 4) who, like Murata in the main event, scored his 4th successive stoppage. Nakazawa made very light work of Indonesia's Gun Tinular (11-17-1, 6), and ended the bout with a nasty body attack as he continued to impress fans with his speed, skills and power.

The other highly regarded unbeaten prospect on the card was Tatsuya Ikemizu (10-0, 4) who stopped Oke Haryanto (5-2-1, 2) inside a round as he put on one of his most impressive performances so far.

(Image, of Murata landing a body shot, courtesy of boxingnews.jp)