This coming Monday is an exciting day thanks to TV Osaka who will be showing a couple of small shows from Japan. It's from those that we pick our one to watch, and it has the potential to be something very exciting and very action packed. It's also going to be free thanks to TV Osaka who will be allowing fans to watch the bout live on their website, and have typically archived their bouts on YouTube!
 
The One to Watch?
Katsunari Takayama (31-8-0-1, 12) vs Reiya Konishi (17-2, 7)

When?
November 23rd (Monday)

Why?
Every so often we get a bout between two men who, stylistically, should guarantee something very, very special and that's what we think we'll be getting here. Both of the men involved like to fight, like to let their hands go and like to dig their toes in. The bout also marks the ring return of one of our favourite little men, who will know that a loss here will almost certainly end their boxing career, which has been one of the most intriguing of any Japanese fighter in the 21st century.

Who?
In one corner we will have 37 year old veteran Katsunari Takayama, one of the good guys of Japanese boxing and one of the most fan friendly fighters the sport has had. He's really been a man who has been a trailblazer the sport for Japanese boxing and has always been in charge of his career, along with mentor Hiroaki Nakade. Takayama has previously handed in his JBC license to pursue the IBF and WBO titles, chasing the IBF around the world, then turned amateur to chase an Olympic place before coming back to the professional ranks after missing out on Olympic selection.
 
For fans who haven't seen Takayama we really need to say you've missed out on a legendary career. The Japanese warrior has won WBC, IBF and WBO world titles, and the WBA interim title, before they were being handed out like candy, and he has been in sensational wars with the likes of Yutaka Niida, Roman Gonzalez, Mario Rodriguez and, of course, his 2014 epic with Francisco Rodriguez Jr. Sadly however he's now 37 and hasn't fought as a professional in over 4 years, so there are real worries about what he has left in the tank.
 
Unlike Takayama we've never seen Reiya Konishi win a world title, but he has had two shots at world honours, coming up short in a close bout against Carlos Canizales and losing a pretty clear one to Felix Alvarado. Despite not yet winning a world title bout we have seen Konishi involved in some great bouts as his all action style is made for excitement. He's a come forward fighter who's strong, doesn't hit hard, but throws a lot of leather. He can be bullied, as Alvarado did, but he has shown no quit, and has become a cult favourite of sorts thanks to his toughness and tenacity. Sadly for him he is a slow starter, and it does take a few rounds for him to find his groove, and this could be a potential issue here.
 
At the age of 27 this is Konishi's big chance to bounce back from the loss to Alvarado and to plant his flag for another world title fight, potentially against a fellow Japanese fighter in 2021. A loss, however, would likely spell the end of any dreams he has to reach the top of the sport.

What to expect?
If these two men were in their primes we would have no problem in marking this down as a "potential FOTY candidate", sadly however there are a lot of questions over it, and it's only scheduled for 6 rounds. We expect a lot of action, a lot of excitement, but we don't expect it to be FOTY contender. Sadly.
 
We expect a fast start from Takayama. Whilst he has been away from professional boxing for 4 years he has been dabbling with amateur boxing, over the shorter distances, and we expect that will show here. He'll probably still look rusty, but will move around the ring, use his feet well, and rack up the first few rounds on his boxing skills. In rounds 3 and 4 however we expect to see Konishi getting closer, bulling in, and making things tough. We then expect Konishi to begin to take over by rounds 5 and 6.
 
We expect hoitly contested action, a lot of punches being thrown, and cuts. We almost expect to see Takayama's paper skin cut every time he fights, and we don't see this being any difference. The real question is "when will he be cut?" If the skin holds up for 4 rounds we see Takayama taking the razor thin decision, any earlier and we suspect Konishi takes home the win.

The bad news?
Obviously this is going to have a 37 year old, ring rusty Takayama, with damaged paper skin. It's not the Takayama of 2014, who went to war with Francisco Rodriguez Jr. There's also a very, very real chance that he will bust open early, especially with head clashes. We are, genuinely, looking forward to this, but there is a worry it could be a bloody, messy, bout with a very early, disappointing ending. Fingers crossed we avoid that!

The Light Flyweight division is one of the most interesting in the sport right now, with a lot fantastic fighters in an around the world level, some really interesting prospects and some fantastic match ups being put together.

Earlier we looked at the champions, The state of the Division - Light Flyweight - The Champions, and now we'll take a look at the contenders. These aren't ranked in a specific order, other than the top fighters who listed first and second due to upcoming title bouts later this year.

Saul Juarez (24-8-2, 13)
Mexican 28 year old Saul Juarez has been a professional for close to 9 years and has become known as world class fighter who can give problems to very good fighters, even if he does come up short against the better opponents. His only stoppage loss came way back in 2011, to Martin Tecuapetla, and since then he has lost to the likes of Jose Argumedo, Juan Hernandez Navarrete, Milan Melindo and Wanheng Menayothin. Despite having a good record he is very much out of form, going 1-4-1 in his last 6, and will have to be at his best on December 30th when he challenges WBC champion Kenshiro.
 
Hiroto Kyoguchi (11-0, 8)
The heavy handed Hiroto Kyoguchi burst on to the pro ranks in 2016, following a successful amateur career, and raced away to a world title, winning the IBF Minimumweight title just 15 months into his career. His reign as a world champion at 105lbs saw him record 2 defenses before out growing the division. In the ring Kyoguchi is an aggressive fighter, with under-rated inside skills, very heavy hands, good speed and a killed instinct. He'll be looking to become a 2-weight champion on December 31st when he challenges WBA "super" champion Hekkie Budler in Macau.
 
Tetsuya Hisada (33-9-2, 19)
Japanese veteran Tetusya Hisada recently vacated the Japanese national title, which he had defended 5 times, as he intends to move into world title fights in early 2019, with the rumour being that he will face Carlos Canizales in the Spring. At the age of 34 Hisada hasn't got time to waste, and he also doesn't have the glamour looking record, but he comes into his next bout, whoever it's against, with a lot of self belief and 12 fight winning run. He's not a big name in the division but is world ranked across the board and certainly deserves a chance before his career comes to an end.
 
Jonathan Taconing (28-3-1, 22)
Filipino puncher Jonathan Taconing is a 2-time world title challenger, having lose decisions to both Kompayak Porpramook, a technical decision, and Ganigan Lopez. Despite those losses he has remained a very live contender in the division and will be hoping to get one more title shot before his career is over. At 31 years old he doesn't have long left, but with his toughness and his power he is a nightmare to face, as Vinca Paras found out earlier this year when Taconing over-came him. At the moment Taconing is ranked by all 4 world title bodies and is likely to get another shot in the near future.
 
Edward Heno (13-0-5, 5)
The current OPBF champion is unbeaten Filipino Edward Heno, who was touted for a shot at IBF champion Felix Alvarado but appears to accept he needs more experience before a fight at that level. Heno has impressed in recent years, scoring notable wins over Cris Ganoza, Seit Ogido, Merlito Sabillo and Jesse Espinas. Strangely he began his career 0-0-3 but has really come a long way since then, and will be looking to continue his development on February 11th, when he defends the OPBF title against Japanese veteran Koji Itagaki.
 
Reiya Konishi (17-1, 7)
Japan's Reiya Konishi is an All Japan Rookie of the year, a former Japanese Minimumweight champion and is the current WBO Asia Pacific Light Flyweight champion. Despite his success he's actually best known for his competitive decision loss to Carlos Canizales earlier this year, where he was dropped but came bout and gave Canizales hell. Konishi isn't much of a puncher, and is technically pretty flawed, but he has a high work rate, he's a proper battler and he comes to fight for every minute of every round. He was expected to fight for a world title in early 2019 but it sounds like plans have changed and that he'll push a title fight back to make some technical improvements first.
 
Randy Petalcorin (29-3-1, 22)
Filipino fighter Randy Petalcorin is one of the division's better pure boxer's, with sharp movement and punching and the ability to punch on the move. Sadly for him his last out saw him face off with Felix Alvarado for the vacant IBF title, and he was broken down by the Nicaraguan monster, who fought like a man possessed. Despite the loss to Alvarado the Filipino remains a top contender, and could well find himself getting another world title fight in the near future, especially given that loss. At the age of 26 he's still got a lot of his career left, but will need to be given more backing to secure the fights he needs to, something that has been lacking at times.
 
Palangpol CP Freshmart (16-2, 9)
Former world title challenger Palangpol CP Freshmart, also known as Rangsan Chayanram, is a heavy handed fighter who is in and among the better Thai contenders in the sport. He's technically a little stiff, but is tough, hard hitting and a nightmare to face. His only world title fight saw him come up short against Kosei Tanaka in 2017, though he did drop Tanaka and fractured both of Tanaka's orbitals. Sadly his recent competition hasn't been great, though in fairness he seems like a fighter itching to face better competition, and just fighting low level foes to stay busy, rather than boosting a ranking. Fingers crossed he gets another shot in 2019, as he's already 33 and going to be on the slide.
 
Milan Melindo (37-4, 13)
Filipino veteran Milan Melindo is a former IBF champion who has scored big wins over Fahlan Sakkreerin Jr, Akira Yaegashi and Hekkie Budler. Despite those big wins the 30 year old has had a string of tough bouts, including a TKO loss last time out to Kenshiro and damaging battles with Budler and Ryoichi Taguchi. At his best he was a fantastic fighter, but right now it's unclear what he has left to offer. Until he returns to the ring he'll still be, rightfully, considered a top contender, though that could all change with a loss, or a poor showing, next time out.
 
Vince Paras (13-2, 11)
Another Filipino contender is Vince Paras, who lost in an IBF Minimumweight title fight to Hiroto Kyoguchi and has also lost to Jonathan Taconing. Despite those set backs the 20 year puncher has shown enough to be considered a top contender, and he'll likely be competing at world level again in the future. He's beyond the typical "prospect" stage, and is a former title challenger, but still needs development to get over the line in a big one, and we expect to see him really come into his own in 2019, and work on the flaws that Taconing and Kyoguchi both exposed. Those losses could turn out to be vital for his development.

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.

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.