Igarashi and Shimoda pick up wins in Japan, Yordan claims a close one, Sonsona fortunate in the US6/7/2015 This post Saturday was a hectic one for Asian fight fans who seemed to have action everywhere they looked. Tokyo, Japan For Asian fight fans the most notable show of the day was in Tokyo where two former world champions were in action. The most notable of those former world champions was former WBC Flyweight champion Toshiyuki Igarashi (21-2-1, 11) who took a very hard earned win over talented Filipino Renerio Arizala (12-2-1, 5). Igarashi was forced to work incredibly hard for this win, despite the fact Arizala took on the bout on just 3 weeks notice. Sadly for Igarashi the win seemed to prove that he was miles away from being at world level as a Super Flyweight and it seems clear he shouldn't be looking at a world title bout any time soon. The other former world champion was former WBA Super Bantamweight champion Akifumi Shimoda (29-4-2, 12) who out pointed former Japanese Featherweight title challenger Gosuke Seki (16-2-2, 3). For Shimoda this was his first fight in 16 months, following his spectacular KO loss to Marvin Sonsona, and whilst it was a win it's hard to imagine him ever mixing at the top level again. In the chief supporting bout fans saw the heavy handed Kenichi Ogawa (15-1, 13) score a 6th round KO against Raymond Sermona (17-6-5, 8). Sadly for Sermona this was a second successive stoppage loss and it's hard to see where he goes. As for Ogawa he's now in the mix for a domestic title fight at Super Featherweight. Another big puncher in action was Yuichi Yokoyama (15-3, 13) who was surprisingly taken the 8 round distance by Genki Horiuchi (5-2-3, 3). Another 8 round bout saw Musashi Suzuki (11-3, 4) take a technical decision over Hideyuki Watanabe (8-7-3, 6), in a bout that was taken the the cards in the 7th round. On the under-card the unbeaten Teppei Kayanuma (4-0, 2) extended his winning record with a decision win over Kanehiro Nakagawa (2-2, 2) whilst the hard hitting Masato Niikima (3-0, 3) continued his perfect start with a 3rd round KO against Fumihiro Ijima (4-3). Surabaya, Indonesia In Indonesia fans had a treat as two of the best local fighters were in action. Of the two notable Indonesian fighters in action it was Daud Yordan (34-3-0-1, 24) who stood out as he took a very hard earned victory over the tough Maxwell Awuku (40-3-1, 26). Yordan, a former world title challenger, was pushed all the way by his foe from Ghana but a did just enough to convince the judges hat he deserved the decision. With the win Yordan claimed the WBO Africa Lightweight title, some how, and added that belt to his WBO interim Asia Pacific Lightweight belt. The other Indonesian in action was the heavy handed Defry Palulu (12-1, 11) who easily saw off Kaenpetch Manonprungroj (4-4, 2) in the 3rd round. This was Kaenpetch's third stoppage loss and his third straight defeat. Cebu, Philippines In Cebu fans saw the unbeaten Arjan Canillas (11-0-2, 9) continue his unbeaten run as he scored a 5th round KO against former world title challenger Balweg Bangoyan (19-10, 8). Sadly for Bangoyan he is a long way removed from the fighter who once challenged Toshiaki Nishioka for the WBC Super Bantamweight title. Macao, Macao Fight fans in the growing Asian hub of Macau also got a show. This wasn't as big or as interesting as the Bob Arum shows in the area but did feature some title action and some interesting fighters. In the only 12 round bout fans saw Filipino hopeful Michael Enriquez (11-3-1, 7) score a 5th round TKO against Indonesian Oscar Raknafa (12-10, 5), who's career has totally fallen apart since his loss to Heri Amol back in July 2013. This was Enriquez's first bout since he was involved in a war with Rex Tso earlier this year and it's fair to say that he's going to be a fun fighter to follow. In a bout at Super Middleweight fans saw China's Liu Yu (0-2) fail to claim the IBF Youth title as he was stopped in the 9th round by Andrey Kalyuzhnyy (8-1, 6). We're not sure how the IBF sanctioned Yu to fight for the belt considering his record. Another title bout saw Filipino veteran Jujeath Nagaowa (13-15-1, 8) claim the WIBA International Light Flyweight title with a decision over Luo Yu Jie (3-7, 1). In an interesting 6 rounder Estoni Autida (8-3, 3) took a decision over Wang Xinghua (11-11-1). Technically this bout was a “majority” decision but with two judges scoring it 59-55 to Autida it's hard to believe this was really a close bout. In an all debutant bout Wang Jian Zheng (1-0, 1) took a 5th round TKO win against Sagidolla Muhamethali (0-1), in a bout scheduled for 6. Another all debutant match up saw Ye Rong Cheng (1-0) take a well fought 4 round decision against Anthony Waldon (0-1). One other debutant who picked up a loss was Li Le Shan (0-1) who was narrowly out pointed by Gabriel Royo (11-12-2, 8). Gauteng, South Africa South African fans got one of the highlights of the weekend as Kazakh prospect Roman Zhailauov (15-0, 9) scored a highlight reel KO against Luyanda Jako (9-10-2, 4). Zhailauov is tipped by some as the future of Kazakh boxing and his KO here showed just how under-rated his power is. Frightening KO and a genuine highlight of he weekend. California, USA The most notable Asian fighter in action in the US was former world champion Marvin Sonsona (20-1-1, 15) who narrowly over-came the under-rated Jonathan Arrellano (15-6-2, 3). On paper this looked like a mismatch but Arrellano gave his all and may well feel unlucky not to have had a draw, at the very least. New York, USA In New York fans saw Chinese Heavyweight hopeful Zhang Zhilei (4-0, 2) continue his perfect record as he dominated Glenn Thomas (1-4). The scorecards, all of which read 40-33, summed up just how one-sided the bout was. Zhilei, who may have been disappointed not to have scored the stoppage, now needs to take a step up in class rather than wasting time fighting at this level. Virginia, USA In Virginia fans saw Uzbek born prospect Zarifbek Nishanbaev (2-0, 2) score his second early victory as he saw off Norman Allen (6-15, 3) in the 3rd round of their bout. (Image courtesy of boxingews.jp)
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It's been something like 5 weeks since the year began but it seems, at least, that boxing is starting to come alive in Asia. That was highlighted this past Saturday with a pair of notable shows. Davao del Sur, Philippines The most significant of the two shows was in the Philippines as ALA put on their first big show of the year which featured several notable fighters involved with the biggest Filipino promoter. One of those major Filipino fighters was the world ranked Arthur Villanueva (27-0, 14) who put on a showcase performance against former WBO Flyweight champion Julio Cesar Miranda (28-12-2, 29). Villanueva had been less than impressive in his previous two bouts but really shone here as he almost shut out the very dangerous Miranda of 10 rounds. Given that Villanueva has struggled recently it could well be that he felt the pressure was on to perform here and that he knew a potential world title fight was on the line coming into this bout. Another fighter who performed was Light Welterweight hopeful Jason Pagara (35-2, 22) who decimated Mexican for Cesar Chavez (24-8, 12) in just 2 rounds. Chavez was bounced off the canvas several times before being stopped at the 1:56 mark of the second round. For Pagara this was the statement performance he needed to move towards his own big fight. The remaining headline bout from this show was a bit more disappointing as Super Bantamweight hopeful Genesis Servania (26-0, 11) took a wide but unspectacular decision win over Juan Luis Hernandez (17-4-1, 9), who seemed happier to survive than try to win. The crowd seemed to be disappointed by the end of this but know that Servania can produce so much better than they saw in this bout. As well as the trio of main bouts that card also featured several very exciting prospects on the under-card. The most notable of those was Featherweight hopeful Mark Magsayo (10-0, 8) who stopped Thailand's Sukkasaem Kietyongyuth (13-4, 8) in 5 rounds. This was an especially notable result considering it took the world ranked Ik Yang 8 rounds to stop Sukkasem late last year. Another unbeaten prospect scoring an early win was Arjan Canillas (10-0-2, 8) who blew away Stevi Ongen Ferdinandus (15-8-1, 8) in 4 rounds whilst Brian Lobetania (10-0-3, 8) took less than 2 rounds to see off Armando Yee (2-7-3, 1). Just a couple of bouts on this under card went the distance. One of those saw the heavy handed Vic Saludar (9-1, 7) going the distance for the second time as he took an 8 round decision over Lester John Pronco (9-9-1, 6). The other saw Arnold Garde (4-3-2, 1) drop Rafael Sueno (3-2, 3) en route to a 6 round decision win. Tokyo, Japan Whilst the Philippines had contenders in action Japan had a former Linear champion in action, albeit one who is really rebuilding his career after a serious injury. That former world champion was former WBC and linear Flyweight champion Toshiyuki Igarashi (20-2-1, 11) who is now campaigning at Super Flyweight. Igarashi struggled somewhat in his bout as he over-came under-rated Efrain Perez (17-6, 12), who also gave Mark Anthony Geraldo a tough bout recently, with a 10th round technical decision. Igarashi was fighting for just the second time following major surgery and seem to be a long way from title contention still. In the chief support bout we saw a genuine upset as Yuto Shimizu (9-2-2, 3) scored a very unexpected stoppage win over the usually tough Takehiro Shimokawara (19-10-3, 6). Shimokawara retired at the end of the 7th round with a cut eye and looked to be on his way to another round of hurt had he continued here. Shimizu's win was his 6th in a row and we'd not be shocked to see him in the running for a title bout of some type later this year. Another stoppage in a key support bout saw Kenichi Ogawa (14-1, 12) score a 1-punch KO against Kazuya Nakano (8-4, 7) in the 3rd round of their bout. The referee waved this one off as Nakano was down without counting. In a competitive 6 rounder Heisuke Ono (6-2-2, 5) took a majority decision over Tatsuya Mukai (5-4-2, 1). The cards here were a bit all over the place with one judge having the bout level whilst another had it a shut out. The only other decision on this card came in one of 3 all debutant bouts as Akira Tsutsumi (1-0) narrowly beat Takuma Izumi (0-1). The remaining 4 bouts on this card all ended early with the longest lasting just a round and a half. That saw the unbeaten Ryota Toyoshima (1-0-1, 1) score his first win as he stopped Makoto Takahashi (1-8-1, 1) at 1:28 of round 2. The quickest of the remaining bouts lasted just 52 seconds as Ryo Matsubara (2-1, 2) blew away Yugo Ueda (3-2, 2). The other opening round blows out saw Hayate Kaji (1-0, 1) see off Tomonari Ohira (0-1) whilst Daiki Funayama (1-0, 1) stopped Seiji Nakazawa (0-1). (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp) Tokyo, Japan Just a day after Tokyo had hosted a world title double header action returned to Japanese capital and the Holy Ground of Japanese boxing, the Korakuen Hall. It wasn't just boxing that returned to the "Hall" but also former WBC Flyweight champion Toshiyuki Igarashi (19-2-1, 11) who had been forced out of the ring for almost a year following damage to his left shoulder. The Japanese southpaw, now campaigning at Super Flyweight, was less than spectacular though he did take a 9th round technical decision over Filipino fighter Renren Tesorio (13-5-3, 4). Following the win Igarashi indicated that his intention was to win a world title at 115lbs to become a 2-weight world champion. Whilst Igarashi has proven his ability at the world level he wasn't the only world class fighter on the show as the highly ranked Ryosuke Iwasa (18-1, 11) made very light work of the over-matched Rommy Wassar (10-17-7, 5). The bout was a stay busy contest for the OPBF Bantamweight champion who hinted that he wanted to fight for a world title fight with the IBF belt the likely option for "Eagle Eye". The chief support bout to the two big names was an 8 rounder bout that saw the talented Masaru Sueyoshi (7-1, 5) take a clear decision win over Yuta Nagai (28-10-4, 19). This was Sueyoshi's first bout in almost 16 months and the 23 year old didn't really miss a beat as he scored the best win of his career. The show's 6 rounders both saw stoppages as Manato Honma (7-3, 4) stopped the limited Yuzo Mitani (5-4, 2) in 4 rounds and the heavy handed Heisuke Ono (5-2, 5) scored a 3rd round KO against Tatsunori Yoshizaki (4-5, 2) The show's opening bouts also saw stoppages as the unbeaten Ryusei Nakajima (2-0, 1) stopped the debuting Junpei Tsujimoto (0-1) in 2 rounds and the once beaten Yoshinobu Kakinaga (3-1, 1) scored his first stoppage by defeating Shogo Shigyo (1-5-1), also in the second round. (Image, of Iwasa and Wassar, courtesy of boxingnews.jp) |
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