Tanaka claims gold in fight #5 whilst Melindo falls short in Mexico

Saturday was a major day for Asian boxing fans and it turned out to be a memorable one, with one Japanese youngster continuing his development towards being a star, a major surprise in the Philippines and a show in India.

Aichi, Japan
The action kicked off incredibly early with a major show from Japan that was headlined by a young fighter looking to make history.

That young fighter was fast rising star Kosei Tanaka (5-0, 2) who claimed the WBO Minimumweight title with a clear decision victory over Mexican Julian Yedras (24-2, 13). Tanaka, who beat Naoya Inoue's Japanese record for the fewest fights to win a world title, looked sensational at times, despite showing some defensive flaws. Interestingly it seems like we're now heading towards a unification bout between Tanaka and compatriot Katsunari Takayama.

In an unexpectedly competitive bout Yushi Tanaka (14-0-3, 9) was pushed all the way by the gutsy but limited Mako Matsuyama (7-9-2, 3). Tanaka claimed the majority decision but didn't look as good as he'd have hoped and it seems clear that he has a lot of developing to do before he thinks about fighting for domestic title, especially at Bantamweight.

Another unexpectedly competitive bout contest saw Shota Hayashi (25-5-1, 15) take a majority win over Yasuyuki Otagaki (5-4-3, 1). This was Otagaki's third straight loss but he's much better than his record illustrates and we'd not be shocked to see him continue to test good fighters. For Hayashi this performance was disappointing though it did extend his current unbeaten run to 11 fights.

The undercard of this show featured 4 other bouts, all of which went the distance.

One of the most competitive saw Yuta Ando (2-0) take a very slim decision over decision over Yoshiaki Inoue (2-5-1, 1) whilst another close bout saw Retsu Kosaka (2-0) over-come the debuting Ryosuke Matsutani (0-1). A clearer decision saw Jinya Ito (2-0) take a slight shock win over Tamaki Miwa (2-1, 1) whilst the debuting Kentaro Yoshida (1-0) took a very clear win over Takumi Koroki (0-3)

Baja California, Mexico
In Mexico we had another title fight as Milan Melindo (32-2, 12) took on IBF Light Flyweight champion Javier Mendoza (24-2-1, 19). Sadly for Melindo he was unable to over-come the hard hitting Mexican who took charge of the bout early on before headclashes forced the bout to the scorecards at the end of round 6. Melindo had been deducted points for low blows and certainly didn't make any friends with his performance, though he did show guts to fight back against a very aggressive Mendoza.

Sadly for Melindo this was his second loss in a world title bout and it may be a while before he gets another. As for Mendoza there is some very interesting match ups that he could be involved in, such as fights with Ryo Miyazaki or Rey Loreto.

Cotabato del Sur, Philippines
Filipino fans had an interesting show more local to home, but unfortunately results from the show haven't yet become fully available.

One result we do have was a real shock as Jason Canoy (24-5-2, 18) scored an exceptional opening round TKO against former WBA “interim” Super Flyweight champion Drian Francisco (27-3-1, 21). Francisco was dropped 3 times inside the first round.

Another result we have from this card was a 5th round TKO win for the unbeaten Romero Duno (6-0, 5) who saw off Arnel Acebuque (4-4, 4).

Dongducheon, South Korea
On a KBC sanctioned card in Korea fans got the chance to see a number of novices in action as part of the KBC's attempts to “Create a Champion”.

In the sole 6-rounder on the card Tae Kyung Um (2-5-2, 2) scored a 6th round TKO against Min Wook Lee (2-2), who suffered his second stoppage defeat. Interestingly this bout was Lee's second in the space of 2-weeks.

Another stoppage on this card saw Sung Il Lim (1-0, 1) begin his career with a 4th round TKO against Jin Suk Lee (0-1). A third bout that failed to go the distance saw Se Yul Yang (0-0-1) fighting to a technical draw with Gun Woo Gang (0-0-1).

One of the few bouts that went the distance saw Min Young Kim (1-0-1) extend his unbeaten run with a decision over I Hoon Jung (0-1). Another bout that went the distance saw Won Suk Lee (1-0-1) take a majority decision over Woo Min Kim (1-1).

???, South Korea
In a second South Korean show fans saw Ji Hyun Park (21-2, 6) take a 6th round TKO victory over Thailand's limited Yokfah Mor Krungthepthonburi (9-9). With this win Park claimed the WIBA title at 102lbs. From what we understand this show was held under the auspices of the the KBA.

New Dehli, India
Whilst there was a card in India we sadly don't have the results as of yet.

Texas, USA
In Texas we saw two Asian fighters suffering stoppage losses.

The first of those was Middleweight journeyman Rahman Mustafa Yusubov (11-21, 9) who suffered his 6th straight loss courtesy of a 5th round TKO defeat to Milorad Zizic (12-1, 6). Yusubov has now suffered a trio of successive stoppage losses and we do wonder how much longer he'll continue to fight.

The other man to come up short was Filipino veteran Juanito Rubillar (49-23-7, 24) who suffered a 4th round TKO to former world champion Joseph Agbeko (30-5, 23). Rubillar was fighting for the first time since August 2013, when he was stopped by Rey Vargas, and at 38 years old we hope this is the last time he'll be in the ring.

Connecticut, USA
Staying in the US there was also a loss for Timur Shailezov (17-10-1, 4) who was widely out-pointed by the unbeaten Nate Green (8-0, 2). Shailezov has now lost 8 of his last 9 bouts and it seems clear that he's becoming little more than a journeyman, however he did manage to take a few rounds from Green here.

Queensland, Australia
Another Asian losing on the road was Fernando Ocon (13-9-1, 5) who suffered a unanimous decision loss to Jason Cooper (14-2-1, 7) in a bout for the WBA Oceania Super Bantamweight title. Ocon has now gone 1-4-1 in his last 6 bouts.


(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

---