This past Friday was a busy day with Asian's in action around the globe along with a couple of Asian shows. Tokyo, Japan For us the most significant of the two Asian cards came from Japan where fans saw an OPBF title fight, a couple of world ranked fighters and some interesting action. The main event was the aforementioned OPBF title bout which saw Lightweight champion Masayoshi Nakatani (11-0, 6) retain his title with a 5th round TKO win against Kazuya Murata (11-5, 5). This was Nakatani's 4th defense of the title and saw him get back to scoring stoppages after 4 straight distance bouts. The talented Ioka gym fighter took control early in the bout with his jab and movement and began to turn up the heat in round 4. At the end of round 5 the bout was stopped follow a doctor's inspection of the challenger who stopped the contest with Murata suffering a suspect eye injury. In the chief support bout fans saw world ranked Super Bantamweight Shun Kubo (8-0, 6) make very light-work of Thailand's Jakarachlek Sor Wankaew (0-5). Kubo, who we had heard good things off through most of 2014, looked brilliant though the bout lasted just 54 seconds and it was hard to get a real read on just how good the Shinsei gym fighter really is. Another world ranked fighter on this card was young Minimumweight hopeful Reiya Konishi (9-0, 4) who claimed a clear decision win over Naoya Haruguchi (7-6, 2). Konishi, who claimed the 2015 Rookie of the Year crown at 105lbs, showed some really nice touches in his work but he's a long, long, way from thinking about challenging for world honours. Saying that however he showed enough to suggest that he will be ready in 2016 for a Japanese title fight and we were genuinely impressed by his left hook to the body. Konishi wasn't the only 2014 Rookie of the Year winner in action as Super Bantamweight winner Shohei Kawashima (11-0-2, 3) also picked up a victory. The relatively light hitting Kawashima managed to see off the limited Tatsuya Miyamoto (11-13-1, 7) in the 6th round following a lovely burst of shots. Although certainly not a puncher we do like Kawashima's combinations and he does look like a fighter who is going to grow in to his man strength in the coming years. Really one to keep an eye on. In another bout at Super Bantamweight fans saw Yuta Uetani (17-5-1, 9) put in an impressive performance against the limited Serichai Nonpitayakom (0-2). On paper this was a mismatch but it was hard not to be impressed by Uetani's body punching, which put the Thai down for the count in roudn 2. Uetani might not be a top class fighter but he's going to be a handful for many fighters in and around the domestic level. Another Japanese fighter to see off a Thai foe was Yasunori Kishigami (10-2-1, 6), who scored a 7th round KO against the win-less Kraithong Mansongkhram (0-3). Kraithong had made it to round 70 though was blasted with a vicious body shot in the opening seconds of the round. The Thai beat the count but was in no state to continue. Re-watching the shot it's amazing Kraithong didn't throw up on impact. Bangkok, Thailand The other card from Asia came from Thailand and was televised on Channel 7. The card was, for all intents, supposed to feature a couple of bouts that were warm up bouts for world ranked Thai's. Unfortunate for one of them the bout turned out to be less of a warm up and more of a nightmare. One of those world ranked fighters was Paipharob Kokietgym (30-0, 23), who defended the WBO Oriental Light Flyweight title with an easy blow out win against Fanther Ndahiuw (7-4-1, 3). Ndahiuw, who had never been stopped, lasted just 105 seconds here as Paipharob kept up his hunt for a world title fight. The other world ranked fighter was former challenger Pigmy Kokietgym (57-8-2, 23) who was surprisingly stopped in the 11th round by unheralded Filipino Jaysever Abcede (10-3, 6). The bout, for the WBO Oriental Minimumweight title was supposed to be a warm up for Pigmy before a showdown with Japan's sensational Kosei Tanaka. Instead it turned out to be a coming out party for 20 year old Abcede who finished the bout with a wonderful right hook in round 11. Whilst this is probably the end for Pigmy it's fair to say that Abcede may be worth keeping a serious eye on going forward. On the under-card fans saw two unbeaten prospects extend their unbeaten runs. One of those men was the exciting Manachai Banchamek (7-0-1, 6), who stopped Singdech Laos PDR (0-1) in the 2nd round. The bout was a mismatch and although Singdech showed some heart he was battered by the aggressive and exciting Manachai. The other prospect was Petchmanee Kokietgym (9-0, 4) who also picked up a 2nd round TKO as he beat Taosaifah Laos PDR (0-1). This was another mismatch in favour of the unbeaten man who showed touches of class, though was always far too good for Taosaifah. South Africa Another major shock involving a Filipino fighter occurred in South Africa where Rene Dacquel (15-5-1, 5) claimed the IBO International Super Flyweight title. The under-rated Dacquel scored two knockdowns on route to a split decision over local fighter Thembelani Nxoshe (13-6-1, 3). Coming into this one Dacque was 3-2-1 though this win will act as a major boost in New South Wales, Australia On a JNI promoted card in New South Wales fans saw two Asian fighters come up short. One of those was Thailand's Paitoon Jaikom (5-16, 2) who was widely out pointed by the unbeaten Ahmed Dib (16-0, 9). Although the bout was scheduled for just 6 rounds one judge had Dib winning by 9 points, 60-51. Sadly for the Thai this defeat ends a 2 fight winning run. The other Asian being beaten here was Aussie based Filipino veteran Aswin Cabuy (15-53-4, 7), who was shut out over 4 rounds by the unbeaten David Toussaint (6-0, 4). New South Wales, Australia A separate card in New South Wales saw Thai veteran Plaisakda Singwancha (38-22, 32) suffer an opening round TKO loss to Kariz Kariuki (26-11-2, 20). District of Colombia, USA In the US fans saw unbeaten Kazakh hopeful Shyngyskhan Tazhibay (2-0, 2) continue his perfect start with a 2nd round TKO win against the debuting Coleman Phelps (0-1). Tazhibay has been tipped as “one to watch” in some quarters though we must confess that his competition so far has told us very little about his ability or his true promise. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)
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This past Saturday was one of the busiest and most interesting days of the year with numerous notable bouts taking place across the planet. Texas, USA Things have been really disappointing for the Kameda brother's recently and it's fair to say that the most recent hit to their once impressive empire came late on Saturday when the previously unbeaten Tomoki Kameda (31-1, 19) came undone in a thrilling encounter with WBA Bantamweight champion Jamie McDonnell (26-2-1, 12). Tomoki had vacated his WBO title ahead of this bout and stupidly threw away round 12 which cost him the bout and the WBA title. Were it not for the non-effort in the final round Tomoki, who dropped McDonnell in round 3, would still be unbeaten. For fans who missed this one we suggest you give it a watch as it was an incredibly close and well fought bout. One of the best of the year so far. Hyogo, Japan In regards to action in Asia one show certainly got more attention than any other. That was the Shinsei promoted card from Kobe with featured a world ranked prospect and a former 2-weight world champion, as well as several other notable contests. The main event here saw former Bantamweight and Featherweight world champion Hozumi Hasegawa (34-5, 15) roll back the clock and put on a stirring performance as he dominated the previously unbeaten and world ranked Horacio Garcia (29-1, 21) of Mexico. Hasegawa took a few rounds to feel his way into the bout but dominated it soon afterwards with Garcia coming off second best time and time again. We're unsure if Hasegawa will get another world title fight but he looked great here. World ranked prospect Shun Kubo (7-0, 5) moved towards a title fight, likely to be a Japanese title fight or an OPBF title fight, as he made light work of domestic foe Masajiro Honda (6-6, 4) with a 7th round TKO. The talented Kubo is very promising and needs a more challenging bout than this one. A very interesting looking 8 rounder bout saw Filipino veteran Jonathan Baat (29-6-3, 14) out point the once promising Takahiro Shigee (12-2-1, 10) over 8 rounds. The bout was moderately competitive but Baat was the well deserving winner. This was great second win in the space of a few weeks for Baat who has got to be approaching a more notable bout in the near future. Another bout that went the distance saw Shota Yamaguchi (13-2, 8) take a wide decision win over Filipino visitor Roman Canto (10-6-2, 5). For Canto this loss ends a 2-fight winning streak, however he's better than his record suggests and he could test decent fighters in the future. Another 8 rounder on this show saw Tetsuya Hisada (22-9-2, 12) score an 8th round KO against the light hitting Shun Kosaka (9-2), who suffered his first stoppage loss with this defeat. Interestingly the win for Hisada was his first in around 18 months. Osaka, Japan In a separate Japanese show fans got the chance to see a female world title fight as well as some low level support bouts. The main event saw southpaw fighter Yuko Kuroki (13-4-1, 6) retain her WBC female Minimumweight title as she easily out pointed close veteran Masae Akitaya (9-6-2, 3) in a very 1-sided contest. Kuroki found a home for her straight left hand early on and dominated with it, but couldn't finish off Akitaya, who has now lost in 4 world title challenges. On the under-card we did see stoppages with Ryota Yada (7-3, 5) making very light work of Thai visitor Teerapong Sithsaithong (0-1), who lasted just 165 seconds. Another quick blow out saw the limited Hisashi Kawanishi (5-7, 2) over-come Prabpram Sithsaithong (0-4) in just 2 rounds. Seoul, South Korea Korean fans got a title double header in Seoul with a weak under-card but a pair of notable feature bouts. The main event saw Eun Chang Lee (9-4, 5) claim the WBA Asia Middleweight title with a 4th round KO against Australian based Thai John Ford (6-7-1, 5), real name Nawakon Kitee. Ford was stopped just 2 months ago in a bout at 140lbs and we really do wonder what made anyone think he was going to be competitive at Middleweight. The other title bout saw Nam Joon Lee (8-4-3, 4) claim a variant of the PABA Featherweight title with a 2nd round TKO win against Thailand's Rachamongkol Sor Pleonchit (14-10, 6). From what we understand this was a bout for the PABA junior title, similar to the “youth” titles that we see. On the under-card their was 3 bouts involving novices. The most notable of those bouts came in a scheduled 6 rounder as Kyoo Hwan Hwang (1-0, 1) began his career with a 4th round TKO against Jung Ho Jang (1-1-1, 1). A more competitive bout saw Jong Hyuk Yoon (2-1) take a clear decision victory over Chang Kyoo Lee (0-1-1) whilst a very close bout saw Jae Hyung Ahn (1-0) take a split decision over Myung Soo Kim (0-1). Texas, USA Back in the US fans saw Chinese Heavyweight giant Taishan Dong (4-0, 2) struggle to a win over over the limited Jamal Woods (6-19-3, 6). Dong looked exhausted in the final round and it's clear his stamina, power and speed are going to be an issue when he steps up. He is however a big of a circus figure and one that Golden Boy seem happy to wheel out on a regular basis as he continues his development. Vratsa, Bulgaria In Bulgaria, and shown on our live stream, fans saw the heavy handed Kazakh Zhanat Zhakiyanov (15-1, 18) score a 6th round KO of the previously unbeaten Hector Rolando Guzman (14-1, 9) of Argentina. On paper the bout was interesting with Guzman down twice in the early rounds and Zhakiyanov himself down in round 2, however the bout felt like a really low quality contest until Zhakiyanov finally showed some world class ability and knocked out Guzman in eye catching fashion in round 6. The win for Zhakiyanov netted him the WBA International Bantamweight title though seemed to show that he wasn't ready for a world title fight and although he has a very potent right hand he is very predictable. Wellington, New Zealand In New Zealand fans saw Thai visitor Anrey Onesongchaigym (7-2-1, 3) suffer her first stoppage loss as she was beaten in the 6th round by Gentiane Lupi (4-1-1, 2). As a result of this win Lupi claimed the WIBA interim Super Bantamweight title. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp) This past Friday was a busy day in the world of Asian boxing, both regionally and internationally. Mendoza, Argentina In Argentina fans saw a WBA Flyweight title fight that saw interim champion Yodmongkol Vor Saengthep (34-2, 20) attempt to unify his title with “regular” champion Juan Carlos Reveco (35-1, 19). Sadly for Yondmongkol he was stopped in the 5th round as Reveco unloaded on his and forced the referee to step in. Prior to the stoppage both men had scored knockdowns with Reveco going down in round 2 and Saengthep down just prior to the stoppage. Quebec, Canada In Canada was saw several Russian's in action and all of them seemed to have very different nights. The most disappointing of the Russian's was Dmitry Sukhotsky (22-3, 16) who looked awful, genuinely awful, as he challenger Adonis Stevenson (25-1, 21) and put up a nothing effort. Sukhotsky did little more than follow the champion who landed left hands at will before stopping Sukhotsky in round 5 after scoring a trio of knockdowns in the round. Another notable Russian on the card was the unbeaten Artur Beterbiev (7-0, 7) who over-came Jeff Page Jr (15-1, 10) with a 2nd round TKO. Whilst on paper the result was a good one the performance was terrible from Beterbiev who was dropped in the opening round and showed little more than crude power as he came out swinging for the fences whilst setting nothing up. It was, in many ways, a humbling performance from one of the most touted up-and-comers in the sport and will hopefully serve as a reminder that he needs to use his boxing ability as well as his power. A third Russian was the debuting Vislan Dalkhaev (1-0) who scored a clear win over journeyman Csaba Toth (13-25-1, 8). Samut Prakan, Thailand The feature bout in Thailand saw former world champion Suriyan Sor Rungvisai (28-6-1, 17) bounce back from his recent loss to Shinsuke Yamanaka with a very easy win over the horribly over-matched Tony Arema (3-6). Arema was never able to put the That under any pressure and midway through the opening round Suriyan landed a nasty left to the body which put Arema down in agony, where he stayed for the count. Strangely this bout was for the WBC Asian Boxing Council Bantamweight title and see Suriyan getting immediately back into the mix for a world title fight in 2015. In a stay busy fight we saw former WBC Super Flyweight champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (31-4-1, 28) score a straightforward win over limited journeyman Jemmy Gobel (18-16-5, 13). Srisaket tried to pick his shots in a controlled opening round as it appeared he was attempting to get some rounds under his belt though Gobel didn't take the chance to test the Thai, despite landing some clean uppercuts in the opening round. In round 2 Srisaket went to work and broke down Gobel with steady and hurtful body shots that quickly had Gobel in trouble, a follow up attack up top dropped the visitor who stopped soon afterwards. Another bout on this card saw the limited, but unbeaten and exciting, Kongfah Nakornluang (18-0, 10) over-come the win-less Vichannoi Chaiyonggym (0-3) with a 6 round decision in what was an unexpectedly close fight. As is often the case Kongfah made life very difficult for himself but very entertaining for us and we don wonder how many times he can get away with having such damaging fights though we can't complain about the entertainment as he is great value every time he's in the ring. Possibly the stand out performance came from debutant Jirapan Nakornluang (1-0, 1) who dominated fellow debutant Toto Lookmuangbangklang (0-1) en route to securing a 4th round TKO. If we were to suggest that Jirapan was the most complete Thai prospect we've seen recently we wouldn't be lying and he looks like he has the potential to be the real deal. He showed a nice sharp jab at range and really great body work up close, that body was eventually what ground out Toto. This guy is one to watch. The remaining bout on the show saw Denchai Por Korbkua (1-1) claim his first professional win as he over-come the more experienced Namphol Sithsaithong (7-9, 5) to take home a 6 round split decision. The scoring was a bit all over the place here unfortunately. Hyogo, Japan We're sorry it's taken us a while to get all the results from this show, which was the only Japanese show last Friday and came courtesy of Shinsei Promotions. In the main event fans saw the very promising Shun Kubo (6-0, 4) score his best win to date as he took a decision over the world ranked Luis May (15-8-1, 7). Both men had knockdowns rules against them, though the one against Kubo did seem harsh, and May had a point deducted to leave us with weird looking scorecards but it was a clear win for Kubo who has announced himself with this win. Although clearly a novice Kubo has called out Japanese champion Yukinori Oguni and has made it clear that the domestic title is his aim for next year. An interesting co-feature saw Toshiya Yokogawa (7-7-1, 6) score a shock win over Tokiya Nishioka (9-4-2, 5) with a 2nd round KO. Another bout from the top of the card saw Takahiro Shigee (12-1-1, 10) score a 5th round TKO against Petchfankaen Keelanakornpatom (0-1), this was Shigee's first bout since he was stopped by Rodrigo Guerrero. The least interesting of the 8 rounders saw Kenta Sugimoto (8-7-1, 1) score his first stoppage as he over-came Saengpetch Lukmatulee (0-1) in the 2nd round. The undercard here featured 5 bouts scheduled for 4 rounders with only a single bout failing to go the distance. The one bout that didn't go to the final bell saw Makoto Mizoshita (3-1, 2) score an opening round blow out against Hiroki Yatomi (2-1, 1). In bouts that went the distance we saw Shintaro Yano (1-0) take a debut win with a split decision Shin Tomita (1-1-2), another close decision saw Taichi Sugimori (3-1) take majority decision over Ryusuke Tanaka (3-3, 1). The closest bout saw Ryo Sumiya (1-1-1) fighting to a draw with Shohei Matsuo (1-1-1). The only clear decision saw the unbeaten Kenta Sakata (2-0-1) take a clear decision over Kodai Nakashoya (0-2) (Image, from the Kubo fight, courtesy of boxingnews.jp) Amazingly busy day in Asia sees numerous notable fights with Eto, Kubo, Parrenas, Watanabe...8/23/2014 It's been a whilst since we had some fights though this past Friday was chock-a-block with fights taking place through out Asia. The day had cards in Thailand, the Philippines and Japan and gave us a share of shocks, blowouts, predictability and excitement reminding us why we all love boxing, even in it's down periods. Tokyo, Japan For us the most notable of the shows was the reason promoted show at the Korakuen Hall that featured a trio of notable match ups alongside 7 lesser fights. The card wasn't an amazing one but was notable and significant on the Japanese and Asian boxing scene due to the main trio. The first of that significant trio was Taiki Eto (13-3, 10) who bounced back from his loss last time out to Yohei Tobe and simple destroyed Brukluk Kor Narong Service (0-2) in just 2 rounds. Whilst Eto was stopped in a Japanese title fight by Tobe it's interesting to note that Brukluk's only previous fight was a loss to current Japanese champion Sho Ishida who, just like Eto, stopped the Thai in 2 rounds. The second of the significant bouts also ended in the second round as the heavy handed former Japanese, OPBF and PABA champion Akinori Watanabe (31-4, 27) easily took out Thailand's Chatchai Sithsaithong (8-4, 6). This bout was Watanabe's return to the ring after a 9 month break though it's obvious from this performance that he still has enough to compete at title level. In the main event Super Featherweight hopeful Shingo Eto (14-2-1, 9) made light work of Arnon Sithsaithong (0-1) who was stopped inside a round. After the fight it was announced that Eto would be fighting Japanese champion Rikki Naito in October in what looks almost certain to be a fantastic bout. Whilst the main trio of bouts went a combined 5 rounds it's worth noting that the 7 undercard bouts also all ended early, in fact those 7 bouts went a combined 13 rounds! The quickest of those undercard bouts saw the debuting Tsubasa Koura (1-0, 1) score a notable opening round blow victory against Naoki Morooka (2-1, 2). Aged just 19 Koura may be worth keeping an eye on desite his bout here only last 142 seconds. The only other opening round victory scored on this undercard was by Daichi Yamamoto (1-2-1, 1) who took just 25 seconds longer than Koura to score his victory. For Yamanoto he got his maiden victory with a KO over the still win-less Kazuma Fukino (0-3). Of the 7 undercard bouts 4 went into the second round. The quickest of those 2 round bouts saw Shunsuke Mori (1-2, 1) scoring a stoppage 28 seconds into the round as he punished Takuya Sagehashi (0-1). It took Ryotaro Tokusa (1-0, 1) a further 20 seconds, 48 seconds of round 2, to take out his debut foe Hiroshi Higuchi (0-1) in an all debutant bout. Another debutant who suffered a set back was Kaiki Oshira (0-1) who was beaten by Hokuto Kawana (3-0, 2) at the 2:22 mark of round 2. The other man who scored a second round KO was 19 year old Daigo Higa (2-0, 2) who were impressed by on his debut. Higa made light work of Thai visitor Rotthang Wor Por Srisaket (0-3) who was stopped at the 2:40 mark of the second round. The only bout on the entire show to go beyond 2 rounds saw Kazumichi Ishizawa (3-4, 1) taking a 3rd round stoppage victory over Motonobu Suzuki (2-5). On paper this was one of, if not the, most evenly matched bout but even that didn't help it go the distance. Hyogo, Japan At the Kobe Central Gym there was a small but very notable show courtesy of Shinsei Gym. The card featured just 6 bouts though a number of them were fought as part of a small Japan Vs Philippines event. The show opened with a 4 rounder between Koichi Sumiya (0-1-1) and Yuki Arakawa (0-1-1) that ended in a split decision draw. The only other "under-card" bout saw Ryo Kosaka (8-3-1, 4) taking a second round KO over Monkey Shuhei (5-5-1, 2) in a scheduled 6 rounder. The first of of the main bouts was a win for the Philippines as as the battle hardened and experienced Roque Lauro (11-16-4, 2) took a split decision over Japanese teenager Ryuya Yamanaka (7-2, 2). On paper this was a mismatch though delving below just the raw records suggests that Lauro is a very capable foe and has been in with a relative who's who whilst fighting well above his natural weight. With wins over Joan Imperial, Ronelle Ferreras and Myung Goo Yuh we'll suggest that Lauro is one of those potential banana skins, as Yamanaka found out here. The second bout was another win for the Philippines as former OPBF title challenger Jhunriel Ramonal (14-7-4, 7) took a narrow split decision over Kota Fukuoka (15-5-2, 12). Ramonal had been stopped, in 3 rounds by Shingo Wake, last time he was in Japan though appears to have found that his level here with this win, a great result given that he had been stopped in his 2 previous bouts. The Philippines made it 3-0 as the criminally under-rated Renoel Pael (14-1-1, 5) scored a dominant decision over the heavy handed Yuki Yonaha (3-2, 3). This bout wasn't even close and there was no debating the winner here as Pael put on a masterclass against a man who looked out of his depth. We'd suggest keeping an eye Pael as he appears to have plenty of skills and has no fear fighting on foreign soil, in fact his best performance came in Thailand against Noknoi Sitthiprasert just 6 months ago, the judges gave that to Noknoi though Pael really did deserve the win. The only win for Japan came in somewhat disappointing circumstances as the the highly regarded Shun Kubo (5-0, 4) defeated Renren Pasignahin (6-4-1, 2) with a 4th round TKO. From what we understand the Filipino suffered a nasty injury that forced him to suffer his first stoppage defeat. In saying that we do suspect that Kubo would have won regardless of the injury but it is still a disappointment from the all involved. Pasignahin was robbed of his chance to compete after less than 4 rounder and Kubo was robbed of a "clean" win, a real shame. Makati City, Philippines As well as the action in Japan we also had two cards in the Philippines. At the bottom of this card was a number of novices, including the debuting Mark Angelo Plana (1-0) who successfully kicked off his professional campaign with a clear decision over fellow debutant Lordy Pateno (0-1) in a 4 round. The Plana/Pateno bout was one of two 4 rounders with the other one being won by female hopeful Naome Tacda (2-0, 2) who defeated Aisah Alico (5-4, 4) in the second round. In the sole 6 rounder Jonathan Dela Cruz (5-0, 2) recorded a second round KO against the usually durable Jomar Borbon (4-19-2, 2). The bulk of the show's contests were 8 rounders and these featured the show's most competitive bouts. The compeititve contests featured a surprising split draw for Ronelle Ferreras (14-7-3, 6) with JC Francisco (6-8-3, 2), a further shot to Ferreras's career which has really taken hit after hit this year, and also a split decision win for Eric Panza (6-2-1, 1) who narrowly over-came Pablito Canada (4-4-1, 1) in a very close contest. In less competitive contests we saw a pair of stoppages for Japanese fighters. The less significant of those bouts saw Ryuta Wakamatsu (10-10, 7) stopping Aroel Romasasa (11-7, 5) in the second round in a slight upset. The other bout shocked no-one as Momoko Kanda (7-6-2, 1) stopped Nongnun Mor Krungthepthonburi (2-3) in 4 rounds and claimed the WBC Asian Boxing Council female Minimumweight title. This was the second bout between Kanda and Nongnun, the first time they met Kanda took a decision over 6 rounds but this time it seems she was fighting with real confidence and forced the stoppage of her Thai opponent. The card featured a pair of 10 rounders but neither of them was even close to being competitive. One of them saw popular world ranked power puncher Warlito Parrenas (21-6, 18) completely dismantling Richard Garcia (25-20-1, 7) in the third round. Parrenas, one of the hardest puncher in the Super Flyweight division, broke apart Garcia with body shots in the third round and left Danrex Tapdasan with no option but to stop the contest. The other 10 rounder lasted a mere 36 seconds as Rey Juntilla (18-5-3, 11) detonated a body shot on Cris Leon (7-11-4, 3) who failed to recover. Sadly the main event was equally as one sided with Richard Claveras (9-0-2, 9) defending his WBC Asian Boxing Council Light Flyweight title with an opening round KO against Thailand's Sangthong Chor Pakdee (4-1, 4). We expected this to be explosive, but we didn't think it was going to be over quite so quickly. Metro Manila, Philippines The second Filipino show took place in Metro Manila at the The Flash Grand Ballroom of the Elorde Sports Complex and proved to relatively full of mismatches. The card opened with a pair of 4 rounders, both won by men who went into the bouts as unbeaten. These saw Robin Langres (2-0, 1) take a 4th round TKO over Jonathan Pedrosa (0-6-1) and Jetlee Formentera (2-0, 1) take an opening round blow out victory against Roberto Mendano (0-2). Although the opening contests didn't last long the pair of 6 rounders both went the scheduled. These saw Wilbert Berondo (4-0, 2) score a near sut out over Roy Albaera (2-24-5) whilst the once beaten Diomel Diocos (4-1-2, 2) took a majority decision over Vincent Bautista (1-2-1). Strangely the Diocos/Bautista bout was scored 59-54 by two judges whilst the third had contest level at 57-57. The final "undercard" bout was the sole 8 rounder which saw Jeffrey Francisco (10-0-1) extending his unbeaten run with a clear decision over domestic journeyman Jeson Berwela (4-17, 2). The bulk of the card was the trio of 10 rounders. The first of those saw Giemel Magramo (11-0, 8) taking and early and easy win over over the experienced but limited Jovel Romasasa (10-20, 4). Romasasa retired at the end of the 2nd round giving Magramo his 11th win though hopefully he will be matched more competitively next time out. Sadly much of the top bouts here were uncompetitive and in Featherweight action Juan Miguel Elorde (16-1, 8) took a 5th round TKO over Paulus Baransano (0-4). Juan Miguel Elorde wasn't the only member of the Elorde family to score a win as his brother, Juan Martin Elorde (16-1-1, 7), defeated Juniston Simbolon (7-12-1, 3) via a 6th round technical decision. At the end of the bout Elorde was bloody from an accidental headbutt hence going to the cards early. Both of the Elorde's were facing Indonesian foes. The main event saw another easy win for a Filipino against an Indonesian as Dennis Laurente (48-5-5, 29) stopped the very limited Elly Pangaribuan (3-4, 1). This was Pangaribuan's second successive second round stoppage following on from his defeat to Nobuhiro Ishida just over a year ago. Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand In Thailand we saw PABA Featherweight champion Thong Sithluangphophun (10-0, 7) defend his title with a 3rd round KO against Indonesian challenger Yakobus Heluka (7-8). For Heluka this was a 4th straight loss and it seems like he's generally just getting in the ring to lose right now, a real shame. The ended for this one was a bit on the nasty side from Thong though it does appear that Heluka decided that he didn't want to continue. Quebec, Canada In Canada fans got to see the heavy handed and very promising Artur Beterbiev (5-0, 5) take a very quick win over the over-matched Alvaro Enriquez (12-13-2, 4) in what was clearly a stay busy fight after spending 7 months out of the ring. We now expect to see Beterbiev facing former world champion Tavoris Cloud in September in what looks to be a genuinely fantastic bout. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp) This past Friday was an interesting one in the world of Asian boxing with major fighters from Japan, Thailand and the Philippines all in action. It may not have have been a huge day of televised action but their was still enough of it to keep us interested in the days proceedings. Hyogo, Japan The biggest disappointment for Asian boxing fans came in Japan where Japanese Bantamweight champion Kohei Oba (35-3-1, 14) failed in his attempt to secure an IBF world title fight. Oba, fighting against unbeaten American Randy Caballero (21-0, 13) was broken down with vicious body shots that saw being stopped in round 8. We had expected this to be a competitive contest but it seemed that Oba was out of his depth from relatively early in the contest with the sharpness, power and speed all seemingly favouring Caballero who will now move on to IBF world title fight later this year, probably with Britain's Stuart Hall. Also from this card there was a victory for the promising Shun Kubo (4-0, 3) who took a huge step backwards to beat Thai novice Nongbeer Sor Bangkru (0-2). Kubo beat Monico Laurente last time out so we've no doubt about his talent but we see no real point this match up. We saw no point before hand and we're still unsure on the point after the fact. A title fight on this show saw Kei Takenaka (7-0, 3) stopping the win-less Yokkhao Loei Citygym (0-5) to claim the female OPBF Light Flyweight title in a clear mismatch. The other results on this show saw Shota Yamaguchi (21-1, 8) score an 8th round stoppage over Tetsuya Nishinaga (11-9-1) as well as 4 undercard bouts. The undercard bouts saw just one stoppage as Masaki Kimura (2-0, 1) stopped Yuki Abe (1-4) inside a round. This was then followed by 3 decision as the unbeaten Shun Kosaka (5-0) extended his unbeaten run with a shut out against Hiroya Kojima (2-2, 2), Seita Mochizuki (3-5) struggled to a majority decision over Kazuhiro Hirahara (1-5, 1) and also a victory for Kyohei Okutani (4-1, 3) who beat Yu Konomura (1-2-1). Tokyo, Japan A second Japanese show took place at the Korakuen Hall and was one of the Dangan shows with both Rookie of the Year qualifying matches and Class C tournament matches. This card kicked off with Desierto Nagaike (1-1) taking a majority decision over the debuting Junpei Ota (0-1) in a none competition bout. The second bout was a shut out victory for Sho Kimura (4-1) who over-came Katsunori Shimooki (3-4-1) whilst in the third bout Genki Ishikawa (1-0) scored a debut decision over Toshiya Tanaka (0-1). The first of the competition bouts saw Wataru Hosokawa (1-1, 1) stopping the debuting Tatsuya Matsumoto (0-1) in 2 rounds. This was surprisingly 1 of just 2 stoppages on the entire card. Hosokawa's victory was one one of the two C-Class tournament bouts with the other seeing debutant Yuta Tanaka (1-0) narrowly over-coming Jun Funatsu (0-1). All 6 of the remaining bouts on this card were qualifiers for the Rookie of the year of the tournament. These began with an upset victory for Daiki Yoshimatsu (4-2, 1) who beat the previously unbeaten Shogo Dairakuin (2-1, 1). Yoshimatsu's victory was followed by Yasuki Katagiri (2-0, 1) who took a 3 round technical decision over the previously unbeaten Takuya Yamaguchi (1-1-1, 1). After the technical decision we then saw a serious of 4 round decision wins. These saw Toshizane Kinoda (3-0, 1) beat Seishiro Kumakiri (3-4, 1), Ken Kodama (2-0-1, 1) out point Kensho Tokutome (1-2, 1), Shonosuke Sango (2-0) defeat Ryo Sugimoto (1-6-1) and Akinori Kubota (2-0, 1) beat the limited Ryosuke Ota (1-6). The final bout on the show was a rather nice show case for the very hotly tipped teenage sensation Andy Hiraoka (3-0, 2) who stopped Susumu Nakata (1-5-2, 1) in the second round. Whether he goes on to win the competition or not we will be keeping a serious long term eye on Hiraoka who came to our attention last year Ratchaburi, Thailand If the card in Japan had the most significant bout of the day then the card in Japan had probably the #2 bout of the day, in terms of immediate significance, as Chatpetch Sithmorseng (7-3, 3) stopped Dicky Amtiran (3-8) to claim the PABA Super Flyweight title. In terms of significance a PABA title is meaningful though in reality this bout wasn't all that important and Chatpetch is unlikely to go far. However saying that his 3 losses came in his first 3 bouts and he could well become "the next Srisaket Sor Rungvisai" who also started his career with some poor early results before developing into a monster. Another bout on this card saw former world champion Kwanthai Sithmorseng (45-2-1, 25) score his second stoppage victory since being stopped himself by Kazuto Ioka last year. Unfortunately Kwanthai's opponent is currently unknown. Distrito Federal, Mexico In Mexico fans got the chance to see the unbeaten Filipino Joebert Alvarez (14-0-1, 6) in action. Alvarez, fighting for the first time outside of the Philippines, over-came Mexico's very own Julian Rivera (13-9-1, 2) via a 12 round decision. The victory, a hard fought one, saw Alvarez claim the WBC Continental Americas Flyweight title and complete his first full 12 round bout. Whilst he claimed the win Alvarez will know he was in a tough one after being dropped early and cut rather badly before bravely rallying back to take the victory in what is clearly the most impressive victory of his career so far. (Photo courtesy of boxingnews.jp) |
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