Incheon, South Korea
The first of the action came from Korea where the KBC held their latest rookie show. The show featured 5 bouts in total with a single 6 rounder along with 4 bouts scheduled for 4 rounds.

The 6 rounder saw Jae Man Kim (3-1, 1) claim a majority decision against Sang Hoo Kil (3-3-2) in a bout at Super Bantamweight. This bout saw Kim bounce back from his sole loss whilst Kil saw a 4-fight unbeaten run come to an end.

On paper the stand out bout was a Welterweight bout between Han Jong Yuh (2-0, 2) and Jae Pil Huh (2-2). The bout looked good on paper and turned out to be great, albeit short lived. Yuh managed to stop Huh in just 157 seconds, but had to drop Huh twice and was dropped himself in a bout that featured a lot of action in a very short amount of time.

Another stoppage saw the debuting Yoon Kil Kim (1-0, 1) score a 2nd round TKO win against Ki Suk Lee (0-1), with Lee being stopped early in the round.

Another debutant to pick up a loss was Sang Hoon Jang (0-1) who was out pointed by 34 year old namesake Jung Ho Jang (2-1-1, 1). Sang Hoon Jang was successful in bouncing back from his stoppage loss, last time out, to the exciting Kyoo Hwan Hwang though he was forced to struggle with his debuting opponent here.

Another bout that went the distance saw Tae Ho Gang (3-4) claim a clear decision win over the win-less Seung Hak Shin (0-2). This bout, at Cruiserweight, ended a 2-fight losing streak for Gang.

New Jersey, USA
In the US fans had the chance to see a couple of unbeaten Chinese fighters.

The most notable of the two Chinese fighters was Heavyweight hopeful Zhang Zhilei (5-0, 3) who moved into 6 rounders in a successful fashion. Zhilei, who's progress has been slow as a professional, was battling the tough but limited Dennis Benson (2-7-1, 1) and was taken into the 6th round before finally seeing off Benson. On paper a 6th round TKO doesn't look great for Zhilei but it is worth noting that this was the first time Benson had been stopped.

The other Chinese fighter was Wang Zhimin (4-0, 2) who stopped the win-less Carlos Nieves (0-8-1) in the 4th round. This was Zhimin's second successive stoppage after going the distance in his first couple of fights.

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)

Chonburi, Thailand
The first Asian card of the day came from Thailand where a number of promising South Korean fighters were on show as AK Promotions managed to keep their stable of fighters busy.

The most notable name on the card was former OPBF title challenger Jaesung Lee (18-4-2, 9) who surprisingly struggled to over-come the previously unbeaten Rivera AK Gym (1-1, 1). Lee's performance was much worse than expected though it may be excused by the fact he was fighting at Featherweight and had had a March 1st bout changed and then cancelled prior to this contest. Hopefully we'll see an improved version of Lee next time out.

The other 3 Korean fighters on the card were all involved in title bouts. Of those the most promising was Hyun Woo Yu (4-0, 4) who claimed the WBC Asian Boxing Council silver Light Welterweight title with a 31 second blow out win against Indonesia's Oke Haryanto (5-6-1, 2), who has now been stopped in 4 successive bouts. We like what we've seen of Yu but we don wonder what the WBC were doing allowing Haryanto to fight for any title at 140lbs.

Another early blow out in a title contest saw Hong Kyoon Shin (10-3-1, 6) score a 2nd round KO against Jack Madison (2-4) to claim the WBC Asian Boxing Council Continental Super Flyweight title. Amazingly for Shin this is his first win since 2006, however he has been inactive in recent years with a record of 0-2-1 in his previous 3 bouts dating back more than 7 years. For Madison this was his 4th stoppage loss overall and his second in a row.

The remaining title bout came in a female contest as Hee-Jun Yun (15-2, 6) scored an 8th round TKO win over Nonggift Onesongchaigym (7-3-2, 1) to claim the WBC Asian Boxing Council female Super Flyweight title. This win saw Yuh scoring her 13th straight win and become the first fighter to stop Nonggift, who had previously been in with Hongfah Tor Buamas and Eva Voraberger.

The one bout that didn't feature a Korean saw “losers” colliding as Kongfah Singwancha (6-12-1, 3) take an opening round stoppage against Kong Windy Sports (1-9) who was stopped for the 6th time in his career, including a loss last time out to the very promising Yu.

México, Mexico
In Mexico we had a genuinely thrilling female fight between two of the sports elite female fighters. The bout saw Japan's sensational Naoko Fujioka (13-1, 6) look like a star as she gritted her teeth and over-came Mexican starlet Mariana Juarez (40-8-3, 17) in a bout our friend Jake Donovan described as FOTY contender. Juarez, a very popular Mexican, started well as was in the lead on two of the cards when the open scoring was announced after 4 rounds. That announcement seemed to wake up Fujioka who moved up a gear to win the final 6 rounds and take a very well deserved split decision win with scores of 98-93 and 97-93 in her favour, whilst the dissenting judge gad it 94-96. Despite being 39 it's clear that Fujioka still belongs at the top and should continue to be recognised as one of the best female boxers on the planet, despite her loss to Susi Kentikian last time out.

Baja California, Mexico
Things in Mexico weren't as good for Filipino fighter Rogelio Jun Doliguez (19-3-2, 14) who suffered his 3rd loss in 4 bouts as he was easily beaten by the world class Fernando Montiel (54-4-2, 39). The bout was completely one-sided with Montiel winning by a score of 99-88 on all 3 cards. Sadly for the once promising Filipino it seems like his early hype has now been thoroughly finished.

New Jersey, USA
In New Jersey fans got the chance to see two touted Chinese fighters in action with both of them taking decisions wins.

One of those Chinese fighters was Heavyweight hopeful Zhang Zhilei (3-0, 2) who went the distance for the first time in his career as he was unable to see off American fighter Eric George (2-9). For Zhilei, dubbed “Big Bang” this will be a disappointing result but at the end of the day a win is a win for the 2008 Olympic silver medallist.

The other Chinese fighter was Wang Zhimin (2-0) who took a 6 round decision win over the very testing Jesus Lule (7-11, 1). Although Lule's record is less than spectacular this was a genuine good result for the Chinese novice who could well be one of the countries most promising fighters despite the lack of hype he's received so far.

Queensland, Australia
In Australia we saw a minor upset as the unbeaten Filipino John Vincent Moralde (12-0, 6) dominated and out pointed the previously unbeaten Brayd Smith (12-1, 10) in a very one sided bout that showed just how good Moralde is. Aged 20 we thought this bout might have come too early for Moralde but he was sensational landing combinations at will and looking a clear level above his foe who struggled to claim more than a round. For Moralde this win is likely to be rewarded with a fringe WBC ranking to go alongside his newly acquired WBC Asian Boxing Council Continental Featherweight title.

(Image courtesy of Pepe Rodriguez)

This past Saturday was the first major day for Asian fight fans as we got a major bout in Asia, some notable debuts and action involving a number of unbeaten prospects. It may not have been a day of world title fights but it's certainly been the highlight of the year so far.

Tokyo, Japan
The biggest of two Asian cards came from the Korakuen Hall and was televised NTV G+, a subscription based channel in Japan. The show was the first Japanese show of the year and featured the first OPBF title fight of 2014 as well as several other notable bouts.

We'll begin with the main event which featured Thailand's very highly regarded Jomthong Chuwatana (9-0, 4) successfully retain the OPBF Super Featherweight title and record his best win to date. Jomthong, defending the belt for the 4th time, looked awful on the scales on Friday but looked brilliant in the ring as he out boxed, out landed and generally out fought the teak tough and Hercules-like Daiki Kaneko (21-4-3, 14). Coming in to the bout it seemed like a 50-50 contest though through the middle rounds it seemed like Jomthong was in a league of his own as he bloodied the face of the Japanese fighter, who had previously given Takashi Uchiyama a tough bout in a world title contest.

Although it's not been stated we now suspect that Jomthong will be hunting a world title bout and on this performance you'd have to give him a chance against any of the current world champions at 130lbs.

In the key support bouts we had Middleweight action with two separate Middleweight bouts.

The more competitive of those Middleweight bouts saw the heavy handed Shoma Fukumoto (6-1, 5) take his first distance win as he took a majority decision over the tough Kazuyuki Fukuyama (9-6, 2). The 8 round win will serve Fukumoto well going forward though we do wonder just how promising he really is.

The other Middleweight bout saw former Japanese Middleweight champion Tomohiro Ebisu (13-4, 13) score an opening round victory over the poor Tatsuro Kawabata (6-6, 2) who really lacked the toughness to hand with Ebisu.

Lower down the card we had a pair of 6 rounders. One of those saw Hideki Suzuki (6-4-1, 1) score his first stoppage win as he stopped the chinny Hikaru Takaki (6-6, 5) with just seconds left in round 5. The other 6 rounder lasted little more than a minute as the heavy handed Naoki Mochizuki (6-1, 5) quickly dispatched Takuma Okara (5-10, 2).

The card began with 4 rounders. One of those was an all debutant contest that saw Masato Niijima (1-0, 1) kick off his career with an opening round win over Kenji Haruta (0-1). Another stoppage on this portion of the card saw Ryosuke Yokota (4-1, 3) stop the previously unbeaten Eisuke Hara (3-1, 2). One unbeaten man who maintained his unbeaten record was Teppei Kayanuma (3-0, 2) who had his stoppage run ended by Seiryu Toshikawa (1-2, 1) in a genuinely competitive contest.

Cotabato del Sur, Philippines
As well as the action in Japan there was also some in the Philippines. This was at a lower level to the Japanese card but still an important one.

In the main event fans saw former Filipino amateur stand out Adam Diu Abdulhamid (4-2, 1) avenge his loss to JR Mendoza (10-18, 4) with a 10 round decision. Abdulhamid lost his first bout with Mendoza in November though will take great solace from this win. Incidentally this is Abdulhamid second rematch with an opponent in just 6 pro bouts and some would have suspect that he's not going tio live up to the expectation many had of him.

In the chief support bout fans saw Ronie Tanallon (5-1-1, 1) take an 8 round decision over journeyman Jonathan Ricablanca (7-46-2, 1) in what was the sole 8 rounder.

Much of this show consisted of 6 round bouts, with two of those going the distance. One of those saw Markquil Salvana (6-0, 1) take a decision win over Dave Ogbamin (2-3-2, 1) whilst the other saw Raymart Gaballo (7-0, 5) take a decision over the debuting Paolo Romero (0-1).

The other 6 rounders were both over quickly with Michael Angelo Plania (4-0, 2) taking out Marwin Cristota (2-12-1, 1) in the 3rd round and Romero Duno (4-0, 3) blowing out Rey Liparanon (4-11-1, 1) inside a round.

In the sole 4 rounder of the card fan saw the debuting Benny Jade Slight (1-0, 1) blast out the win-less Michael Manambay (0-10).

Connecticut, USA
In the US we had a trio of Chinese fighters in action, including 2 debutants and a touted Heavyweight hopeful.

The Heavyweight was Zhang Zhilei (2-0, 2) who scored his second early victory as he took out the much smaller Perry Filkins (0-1) inside a round. To our knowledge Filkins is an MMA fighter and and he may well stay away from boxing after this 70 second defeat. Incidentally Filkin's did last almost a minute longer than Curtis Lee Tate who faced Zhilei in Zhilei's farcical debut.

One of the debutant was Wang Zhimin (1-0), a much touted Chinese fighter than some feel could go a very, very long way. Zhimin took a clear decision over fellow debutant Kin Moy (0-1) and it's hard to see anything but a fantastic future in the sport for Zhimin. The other debutant was Olympian Meng Fanlong (1-0) who over-came Marcellus Yates (0-2) via a majority decision. Strangely Fanlong won a shut out on 2 cards whilst the 3rd judge had it a draw.

(Image courtesy of boxmob.jp)

This past Friday so plenty of fights taking place involving Asian fighters tough few bouts from Asian's really stood out as being competitive or great fights.

Nevada, USA
In the US fans got to see the biggest Asian of the night, China's huge Heavyweight hopeful Zhang Zhilei (1-0, 1). It took just 17 seconds for Zhilei to see off rotund American Curtis Lee Tate (7-5, 6) in what was a bit of a waste of time, though for a debut it was the impression Zhilei's team have been wanting to leave. The footage of this bout is available here.

Tokyo, Japan
The biggest show, in terms of fights, in Asia took place at the Korakuen Hall an was headlined by a contest between one-time Japanese title challenger Tetsuma Hayashi (24-2-2, 8) and Hideyuki Watanabe (7-6-3, 5). We had expected Hayashi to be far too good for Watanabe but a very good performance form the under-dog reduslted in a well earned split draw.

We also saw a shock in the co-feature as Toshio Arikawa (9-4, 7) upset former 2-time title challenger Yoshihisa Tonimura (17-10-4, 5) with a 6th round technical decision. This was Arikawa's first win in well over a year and seems to have given his career some life having looked all but over prior to the contest.

One bout that did go the way we expected saw former Japanese Featherweight champion Koji Umetsu (22-14-3, 10) stop Thai novice Chamuakpetch Por Panya (0-3) in 3 rounds. Aged 37 we're unsure how long Umetsu has left in the sport but this is his second win of the year.

In the mid part of the card we had a trio of 6 rounds. One of those saw Jo Tanooka (9-1-3) continue his winning run as he over-came Jun Koseki (7-4, 3) in a very hard fought 6 round majority decision. Another of the 6 rounders saw Yoshinori Wakahara (7-4, 4) score a 5th round TKO over Dragon Jun (6-12, 3). The win for Wakahara was his first bout since he lost to Takumi Sakae last December whilst for Jun this was his second stoppage loss this year.

The other 6 rounder, arguably the most important, saw the hotly tipped Kenya Noguchi (2-0, 1) make very light work of Thai visitor Yodarewut Torpran (0-2). Noguchi showed a great body attack en route to stopping the Thai. Aged just 18 we would advise keeping a very close eye the progress of this fantastic young fighter.

The card began with a trio of 4 rounders. These saw Daisuke Uchikawa (2-1-1, 1) out point Jun Ogawa (1-2-1) in a clear cut decision, Hidetoshi Ueki (4-9-1) take a hard fought decision over Yamato Kikuchi (2-6-2) and Takahiro Yoneshige (1-1, 1) score a 98 second blow out victory over Adisorn Kesornsombat (0-1).

Bangkok, Thailand
In Thailand we saw youngster Stamp Kiatniwat (9-0, 4) announce himself as a real prospect as he out pointed former WBA Minimumweight world champion Kwanthai Sithmorseng (46-3-1, 24). The bout was a huge step up for Stamp though will have done him the world of good showing that he can compete with experienced top tier fighters. We have to say, once again, that this kid is possible the brightest shining light in Thai boxing. For those who want to know just how good Stamp is, we would advise watching the footage of this bout.

Suwannakhet, Laos
In Laos we had a number of Thai's in action on a 4 bout show in Suwannakhet. The main event of this show saw the world ranked Norasing Kokietgym (11-0-1, 8) making very light work of Filipino journeyman Geboi Mansalayao (9-17-4, 3). The victory for Norasing saw him claiming the WBC Asian Boxing Council Silver Super Flyweight title and moving a step further towards a world title fight.  We've managed to get footage of this bout  for those interested in seeing how good Norasing looked.

On the same show in Laos there was also a female contest that saw  Nampetch Kwanjaisrikod (2-1, 1) take a 10 round decision over Kanda Por Muangpetch (1-1). This victory saw Nampetch claiming the WBC Asian Boxing Council Continental female Light Flyweight title though we're unaware how exactly this bout went. What we do know is that Nampetch became the first ever fighter from Laos to win a professional boxing title.

Another bout that went the distance saw the unbeaten Saenganan KKP (7-0, 5) take a 6 round decision victory over Indonesian journeyman Domi Nenokeba (11-20-1, 7). This was Nenokeba's 20th straight loss and it seems likely he will just be matched up time and time again with Thai's that are meant to beat him. It's hard to say how good  Saenganan is despite his 7-0 record because of the fact he has faced awful opposition so far, though we are expecting to see him step up next time out.

A fourth bout on this show saw  former female world title holder Kanittha Kokietgym (21-6, 8) score a 4th round KO against the debuting Sroipetch Sithphosai (0-1). Kanittha's win saw her bouncing back from a loss, last November, to  Kledpetch KKP.

Queensland, Australia
In a low level bout in Australia Thailand's Pramool Boonpok (1-7) finally secured his first win as he took a 4 round unanimous decision over the the debuting Brent Dames (0-1).  

New South Wales, Australia
It wasn't all good news "down under" as Stevi Ongen Ferdinandus (15-7-1, 8) was stopped, in 5 rounds, by Chad Bennett (34-4-3, 25). Bennett, with this victory, picked up the WBC Eurasia Pacific Boxing Council Light Welterweight title.

(Image, of Hayashi and Watanabe, courtesy of boxingnews.jp)