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It's fair to say the recent WBO Flyweight title fight between Sho Kimura and Kosei Tanaka created a lot of buzz with fans who perhaps haven't followed the Japanese scene too well. Thankfully this has been a brilliant year for Japanese fights, even if it's been a rather disappointing one for Japanese fighters on the global scene. For those new fans, and for those who perhaps missed some of what has gone on this year, we've decided to look at some of the very best fights in Japan these year. For the sake of this particular piece we've only included fights that were either on Japanese TV or have been made freely available via online sources. This unfortunately means that anything on boxingraise won't be included, though I do suggest that fight fans do give Boxingraise a look, as it is a fantastic service well worthy of a subscription. This is part two of a multi-part article and will look at 5 bouts that took place from May 20th to July 23rd. More parts to this will be posted in the coming weeks, so please keep your eye on for those! If you missed part 1 than can be read here The best Japanese Fights of 2018 (Part 1) May 20th – Ota-City General Gymnasium Hiroto Kyoguchi (9-0, 7) vs Vince Paras (13-0, 11) In May we saw the then IBF Minimumweight champion Hiroto Kyoguchi take on little known Filipino challenger Vince Paras. This bout was sadly not shown live, instead being made to go the way of the already frustrating TBS tape delay, but it was worth the wait with the challenger not being intimidated by the champion, and instead he held his own in a brilliant war that was regularly fought on the inside at a hectic pace. May 20th – Ota-City General Gymnasium Ryoichi Taguchi (27-2-2, 12) Vs Hekkie Budler (31-3, 10) Whilst fans had to wait to see Kyoguchi's bout with Paras the same how actually had a live televised bout between the then WBA “Super”, IBF and Ring Magazine Light Flyweight champion Ryoichi Taguchi and former WBA Minimumweight champion Hekkie Budler. This wasn't quite as smooth as the Minimumweight title bout, but was thrilling, rough, and exhilarating, with the two men regularly standing their ground and unloading punches. The final rounds of this one were particularly enthralling as both men fought through exhaustion. July 13th- Central Gym, Kobe Reiya Konishi (16-1, 5) vs Orlie Silvestre (11-3-1, 7) After having had a thrilling bout in March with Carlos Canizales, featured in part 1, we saw Reiya Konishi return to the ring in July and get involved in another memorable contest as he battled little known Filipino Orlie Silvestre. The Filipino hadn't read the script and really did travel to win, cutting Konishi early on and forcing the Japanese fighter to dig deep to just keep up with him in a hectic, bloody, pulsating contest that was fought an incredible pace. Not only was it a great fight but it was one where both men came out with enhanced reputations. July 13th- Central Gym, Kobe Ryuya Yamanaka (16-2, 5) Vs Vic Saludar (17-3, 10) Whilst the Konishi Vs Silvestre bout was great, you could make a strong case that it was only the second best bout on the card, with the WBO Minimumweight title bout between Ryuya Yamanaka and Vic Saludar being an even better bout. Yamanaka was looking to secure his second defense of the title, and he had really impressed in his first defenses when he schooled Moises Calleros. Saludar on the other hand was looking to claim a world title in his second attempt, having come up short when he faced Kosei Tanaka in 2015, being stopped whilst leading the contest. This enthralling with the only dark mark being that this was Yamanaka's final career bout. July 23rd – Korakuen Hall Masayuki Kuroda (29-7-3, 16) vs Akinori Hoshino (14-7-2, 9) Asign boxing delivered again in July when they put the Japanese Flyweight title bout between Masayuki Kuroda, the defending champion. and Akinori Hoshino online. This looked weak on paper but delivered in the ring as both men managed to land solid shots through out. Hoshino proved, as he had done in a number of previous fights, that his record was misleading, and he certainly landed the best shot from the early portion of the fight. This was a high intensity bout, like the others in this list, but was a brutal, gruelling contest that left both men showing battle scars at the end.
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It's fair to say the recent WBO Flyweight title fight between Sho Kimura and Kosei Tanaka created a lot of buzz with fans who perhaps haven't followed the Japanese scene too well. Thankfully this has been a brilliant year for Japanese fights, even if it's been a rather disappointing one for Japanese fighters on the global scene. For those new fans, and for those who perhaps missed some of what has gone on this year, we've decided to look at some of the very best fights in Japan these year. For the sake of this particular piece we've only included fights that were either on Japanese TV or have been made freely available via online sources. This unfortunately means that anything on boxingraise won't be included, though I do suggest that fight fans do give Boxingraise a look, as it is a fantastic service well worthy of a subscription. This is part one of a multi-part article and will look at 5 bouts that took place from February 8th to May 7th. More parts to this will be posted in the coming weeks, so please keep your eye on for those! February 8th - Korakuen Hall Hiroaki Teshigawara (15-2-2, 9) vs Jason Canoy (27-7-2, 19) Back in February Japanese brawler Hiroaki Teshigawara looked to make his first defense of the WBO Asia Pacific Bantamweight title, as he took on tough Filipino Jason Canoy. The bout has all the ingredients of being some fun and thrilling but what we got was a bout that greatly exceeded expectations and turned out to be something exciting and very evenly matched. It wasn't the most skilled bout of the year, but it was certainly one of the most exciting, hard hitting and intense. Although both guys are very flawed they combined for an all action war that will sadly be forgetten by many when it comes to talking about the best Japanese bout of 2018. March 18th – Portopia Hotel Reiya Konishi (15-0, 5) vs Carlos Canizales (19-0-1, 16) The first world title bout on this list is March's WBA Light Flyweight war between Japan's Reiya Konishi and Venezuelan Carlos Canizales. This bout was a higher level of skill than the Teshigawara Vs Canoy bout, but also combined Canizales's frightening power with Konishi's insane heart and work rate. Both men had unbeaten records going into the bout, the winner would remain unbeaten and take a world title, albeit the “regular” version. The loser would have to rebuild and it was obvious both men had a lot riding on it. This is another bout that we think could end up being forgotten by some, but with Canizales later picking up a big win over Lu Bin in China we hope fans give this a shot. April 4th – Korakuen Hall Mark John Yap (28-12, 14) vs Takafumi Nakajima (29-9-1, 13) Not every great bout needs to be an all out war, and that was proven in the OPBF Bantamweight title bout between Mark John Yap, the defending champion, and Takafumi Nakajima. Although not a war it was a high skilled and intensely fought contest. This bout wasn't actually televised though A-sign boxing made it available and we're glad they did as it was a really good solid bout between two men who didn't have outstanding records but had a point to prove, and knew how valuable the OPBF title was. April 12th – Korakuen Hall Keita Obara (19-2-1, 17) Vs Alvin Lagumbay (9-2, 8) I Punchers collided on April 12th to give us a shoot out. Going in Keita Obara was heavily favoured, he had previously fought for a world title and was expected to go on to another world title fight down the line. Lagumbay on the other hand had been defeated by a Japanese Lightweight just 2 fights earlier and was stepping up to Welterweight to challenge Obara for the WBO Asia Pacific title, which he had already defended once. What we got was a shot, but thrilling fight that ended in a bizarre yet eye catching fashion, that will likely end up being replayed for years to come. May 7th – Korakuen Hall Valentine Hosokawa (22-6-3, 9) vs Vladimir Baez (24-3-2, 22) Another war on Asign saw Japanese Light Welterweight champion Valentine Hosokawa battle mandatory challenger Vladimir Baez, also known as Destino Japan. This bout looked even on paper though maybe was a little bit over-looked given that Hosokawa was in his mid 30's and Baez was a Japanese Dominican without much of a following in his homeland. What they delivered however was something special with both men being dropped and fans being given something to remember in what might end up being the best Japanese title fight of 2018. On Saturday night we saw Kazuto Ioka (23-1, 13) [井岡一翔] return to the ring after well over a year out and dominate McWilliams Arroyo (17-4, 14) on Superfly 3. It wasn't just a comeback bout for Ioka following a long period of inactivity but it was also his US debut and his first bout as a Super Flyweight, with the Japanese fighter looking to begin his chase of a 4th divisional world title. The win saw Ioka claim the WBC “Silver” Super Flyweight title and announce himself on the Super Flyweight division. It also saw a lot of interesting potential match ups become available for Ioka, who is clearly very serious about retaking his position as one of the biggest names in Japanese boxing. A win over Arroyo would have been impressive by it's self, but the dominating fashion of the win, which saw him take a decision with scores of 97-92, twice, and 99-90, as well as score a knockdown and cut Arroyo, really put the division on alert. Having seen that performance it made us thinking about the most interesting match ups Ioka could be involved in at Super Flyweight going forward.  Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (46-4-1, 41) – WBC Champion If Ioka wants to become the big dog of the division who better to target the current dog of the yard! Thailand's Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, also known as Wisakil Wangek, is the division's biggest name and leading figure. He's the current WBC champion, enjoying his second reign, and put himself on the global boxing map last year when he defeated Roman Gonzalez, repeating that feat this year. He's by far the most dangerous man in the division and the biggest light at 115lbs, so big in fact that he will be headlining a ONE Championship card in October in Bangkok! The Thai is 31 years old so is likely to be slowing down in the near future, but he's not been in too many wars, due to his power, and is seen as a really dangerous force in the lower weight classes. He can be beat, but it will take a very talented fighter to beat him, and the rub they will get from defeating Srisaket will ba massive. With that in mind Ioka will have to join a queue, headed by Juan Francisco Estrada, to face the Thai, but that could just give him a little bit more time adapt to the division before taking on the Thai. This bout would be one that makes a lot of sense to promote, with a very long standing Japan Vs Thailand rivalry, and we've seen several fights between Ioka and Thai's, and Srisaket and Japanese. In fact both men won their first world titles by beating an opponent from the other's country, with Ioka stopping Oleydong Sithsamerchai and Srisaket stopping Yota Sato, giving a lot of promotional angles to sell this fight.  Juan Francisco Estrada (37-3, 25) Having mentioned Juan Francisco Estrada just a moment ago it's hard not to actually be very excited about an Ioka Vs Estrada bout, potentially even holding that bout with Srisaket contest up as a reward for the winner. This was a bout that also has a sub-story, with the two men being ordered to face off when both were Flyweights before Estrada abandoned the 112lb division to chase Super Flyweight glory and a second bout with Roman Gonzalez. Not only has this bout got a bit of a sub-plot but also arguably the highest boxing IQ of any potential Super Flyweight bout, with both being incredibly smart fighters. Estrada is regarded as the best non-champion at 115lbs and pushed Srisaket hard earlier this year. As a Flyweight he was a unified WBO and WBA “super” champion, with notable wins against the likes of Brian Viloria, Milen Melindo, Giovani Segura and Hernan Marquez. He has built on his reputation with a big win over Carlos Cuadras at 115lbs but failed to shine on the same card as Ioka's win over Arroyo, when he was pushed all the way by the unheralded Felipe Orucuta. Despite being a talent we do wonder if Estrada is someone who struggles to get up for lesser fights, and maybe rather than fight in another stay busy contest a bout with Ioka would be in his best interest. The only real thing standing in the way of this potential clash is the fact that Estrada is almost certain to get a Srisaket rematch in early 2019 and he's not going to want to risk that match by facing off with Ioka first. However a bout with Ioka after Srisaket Vs Estrada II would be something very special and something we'd look forward too, whether Estrada avenges his loss to Srisaket or not.  Kal Yafai (24-0, 15) – WBA Champion Another bout that has a sub-story is a potential showdown between Ioka and WBA champion Kal Yafai. The Englishman has history with Japan, following successful title defenses against Suguru Muranaka and Sho Ishida, with Ishida and Ioka being former gym mates at the Ioka gym, run by Kazuto's father, in Osaka. A chance to avenge his friend's loss would give Ioka real fire to want Yafai, whilst Yafai would see this as a potential chance to give his record a much needed win over a proven world class fighter. As with the Estrada bout it would see two very talented boxers in action and should be a very interesting match up. The Englishman has held the WBA title for close to two years, having defeated Luis Concepcion for the best in December 2016. His reign however has been very disappointing. Ioka is ranked #2 by the WBA, meaning that a bout between the two makes a lot of sense for a world governing body point of view, and would also see Ioka continue his relationship with the WBA, having held their Minimumweight and Light Flyweight titles. Although it makes sense from both fighters point of view, and makes sense from a WBA perspective, the bout may fail on the grounds of boxing politics. Eddie Hearn is unlikely to risk his Super Flyweight champion on a HBO “Superfly” card whilst it's unlikely that 360 Promotions would be in a rush to let Ioka fight on a DAZN card. Both 360 and Matchroom do work together, and have a good working relationship, but we struggle to see either side compromising to get this bout done, at this moment in time. Sadly. A great bout, but one where the stars may not quite align.  Jerwin Ancajas (30-1-1, 20) – IBF Champion Another world champion that Ioka might be interested in face is Filipino Jerwin Ancajas, the Top Rank promoted IBF champion. Ancajas probably makes the least sense, from a political side of things but as a fan it's a bout that would again be a highly skilled chess match of a bout, between two sharp boxers. Of the two Ioka is the more rounded and aggressive, but Ancajas is the more natural Super Flyweight and the more active, having defended the IBF title 5 times since winning it September 2016. Of those 5 defenses 2 have come this year, and he's set to make his next defense later this month. In the ring Ancajas is one of the most eye pleasing fighters to watch, when he gets going, but can also be a huge frustration to watch, waiting too long and fighter too safety first. He impressed when he got the chance, against Teiru Kinoshita on the Manny Pacquiao Vs Jeff Horn under-card, but has underwhelmed with his opposition since. We understand why certain bouts were taken but he will need a win over a proven world class fighter very soon. A bout against Ioka would give him that opportunity. Sadly the situation with 360 Promotions and Top Rank aren't quite as good as they are between 360 and Matchroom and we really can't see anyway Top Rank allow Ancajas to get in the ring with Ioka. The Filipino is being groomed slowly to become a star, and Top Rank will have no intention to take any big risks unless they absolutely need to. We think Ancasjas would happily take the fight, but his team will certainly not be wanting to see the contest take place.  Donnie Nietes (41-1-5, 23)
On the same show as Ioka's win over Arroyo we also saw Donnie Nietes fight to a draw with Aston Palicte in a bout for the vacant WBO Super Flyweight title. The result of the draw left the title vacant but in a strange way it could have opened the door to a Nietes Vs Ioka fight, and what a fight that would be. Not only is a mouth watering match up on paper, but it's a very doable one with no political issues, and no real excuses. Not only that but it could see the two men fighting for the WBO title, a title that would make the winner of the bout a 4-weight champion, and the third man to win belts in the lowest 4 divisions. It would also have two of boxing unheralded little men clashing in a very special bout. Amazingly, during his 47 fight career, Nietes has never fought a Japanese fighter. A staggering fact given the divisions he's fought in have been filled with Japanese fighters. Similarly Ioka has only ever fought one Filipino, Albert Alcoy way back in 2010. That sort of adds another level of intrigue to the contest, with the Japan V Philippines rivalry being an often over-looked one. With both fighters working with 360 promotions, and both featuring on Superfly 3, the bout is one that makes a lot of sense from a promotional stance. The styles of the two men should gel and it should be a much more exciting contest than a potential rematch between Nietes and Palicte, who had an interesting contest but not an exciting one. A bout between Ioka Vs Nietes, as part of Superfly 4, along with Srisaket Vs Estrada II could have the winners clash down the line, to unify the WBO and WBC titles. The two matches would give us a lot of action and would make for the strongest card in the Superfly series so far! (Images courtesy of Wit 094, Chris Farina, Sky Sports, Rey Baniquet and HBO)  On September 14th fight fans will be able to see unbeaten Japanese Light Welterweight fighter Hiroki Okada (18-0, 13) [岡田博喜] make his US debut. The unbeaten fighter from the Kadoebi Houseki Gym in Tokyo will be a bit of an unknown to American audience, but those who have followed the sport in Asia, specifically Japan, will be aware of the heavy handed 28 year old and what he brings to the ring. Ahead of his bout with Argentinian fighter Cristian Rafael Coria (27-6-2, 11) we've decided to look at Hiroki Okada by the numbers, and try to help American fans get a grasp of what they are going to get from Okada when he steps in the ring next week. In terms of his style he's a hard hitting and intelligent counter-puncher, with a feared right hand and unlike many Japanese fighters he's not a fighter who relies on being teak tough. Instead he's a fighter who uses a solid ring IQ to find holes in his opponents and land some solid counter shots. As a result he can be a little unexciting at times, but with his power it's often a case of when will he strike with dynamite, as opposed to "if" he will strike. Amateur Record 35-8 (16) Okada wasn't a stand out amateur, but was a solid one winning the ultra-competitive Inter-High School crown in 2007. Professional Debut October 1st 2011 Vs Kazuya Nakano (Debut) - 4 round bout Okada would make his professional debut against fellow debutant Kazuya Nakano back in October 2011. The then 21 year old Okada would stop his foe in the 2nd round of the bout, with Nakano being dropped to his knees from a brilliant counter-right hand.
World Rankings
4 At the time of writing Okada holds world rankings with all 4 world title bodies. His rankings are currently WBO#3, WBA#4, IBF #5 and WBC#9. This makes him eligible for any of the champions, though he had unfortunately been over-looked for the World Boxing Super Series, leaving only WBC champion Jose Ramirez in his sights for the foreseeable future. (Image courtesy of Boxmob.jp) |
Takahiro Onaga
Takahiro Onaga is a regular contributor to Asian Boxing and will now be a featured writer in his own column where his takes his shot at various things in the boxing world. Archives
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