When it comes to boxing in Hong Kong there's only ever been one fighter of real note and that was the all action, must watch, thrill a minute Super Flyweight warrior Res Tso (22-0, 13). Tso seemed set for a world title fight in 2017 before vanishing from the boxing world, until he resurfaced and announced he was going to pursue an Olympic medal. He seemed on the verge of something huge and gave it up, just when it seemed like he was about to get a career defining bout. Win or lose, Tso in a world title fight would have been massive news for the still under-developed Hong Kong boxing scene.
With his career now looking like it's over, and with Tso being one of the fighters requested for this series, here we bring you 10 facts you probably didn't know about... Rex Tso 1-Tso has admitted that he wasn't very good at school, but was a good at video games. 2-Boxing runs through Tso's veins. Prior to picking up the sport himself his father was a very talented fighter and was a multi-time national champion. In fact it was his father who gave him some basic training in the sport prior to Rex considering the sport as a potential career. 3-Talking about Rex's father he was also the trainer of Rex's future manager Jay Lau, of DEF Boxing. Lau would give Rex a job as an assistant coach, despite Rex having no experience coaching. That job would later give us the most successful partnership in Hong Kong boxing, with Lau promoting Tso through his professional career to a world rankings. 4-Despite being a boxer Tso has revealed he doesn't like violence! 5-Although he would become the "Wonder Kid" that wasn't actually the nickname some of those around him gave him originally. That was actually "Flat Tyre Rex", as he ran out of stamina quickly. That was due to the fact he was, admittedly, very lazy. Thankfully he buckled down, and would end up really changing that, and build an incredible level of fitness. 6-On January 2nd 2015 Tso got married to his long term girlfriend, Candy Wu. The two had a wedding reception in Mong Kok in March that year. 7-Also in 2015 Tso got a new trainer as he began working with former Filipino fighter Jake Verano. Although not a well known name Verano fought 39 professional bouts and went 20-16-3 (10) during his in-ring career, which saw him beat Roly Lunas, and face the likes of Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym, Terdsak Kokietgym and Ricky Sismundo. 8-Although Tso failed to make it to the top of the sport, he was regarded as one of, if not the, most marketable Hong Kong athletes. This saw him working as the face of a number of companies in Hong Kong and featuring in numerous commercials. This ranged massively, but included Nike, Hauwei, INOX, Stanard Chatered, Hong Kong Broadband and Hong Kong International Airport. Interestingly the relationship with Hauwei saw Hauwei live streaming one of his fights on their Facebook page. 9-Talking about Tso being the face of something he also partnered with the Hong Kong AIDS Foundation to help promote HIV tests. This saw him featuring in a series of posters with the theme of "Love with Sextitude", with Tso's fame in his homeland being used to raise the profile of HIV tests and responsible sexual attitudes in Hong Kong. 10-In 2020 Tso told the press that he had been discriminated against in Jordan for a wearing a mask when he arrived to compete in the Asia-Oceania Olympic Qualifier event. It needs to be remembered the event had been moved from Wuhan, China to Amman, Jordan due to Coronavirus.
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One of the best things about this sport is the unpredictable nature of it. Larry Merchant one called it the Theatre of the unexpected, and we feel like that is one of the most perfect descriptions of the sport. It's part of what makes today's Remarkable Round so amazing. It seemed be so unpredictable through out, swinging one way until the unthinkable happened. This was a round that needs reliving, it needs to be re-seen and it needs to be enjoyed once again. Sornpichai Kratingdaenggym (16-0, 13) vs Leo Gamez (32-6-1, 24) Back in March 1999 Venezuelan great Leo Game claimed the WBA Flyweight title, stopping Hugo Rafael Soto in 3 rounds to become a 3-weight world champion. At that point Gamez was 35, he had score just 1 win in 3 years and was assumed to have been beyond shot. He then noted his first defense in May, stopped Joshue Comacho, before travelling to Thailand to take on the unbeaten Sornpichai Kratingdaenggym. Although unbeaten Sornpichai Kratingdaenggym was something of an unknown. He was 25 years old and, for the most part, been matched softly. His biggest wins were over Willy Salazar and Luigi Castiglione, both of which were defenses of the lightly regarded WBU title. He was entering into this bout as the home town fighter, but also the man stepping up to face a world class fighter, and the then reigning world champion. The first 7 rounds were pretty much won, with ease, by the Thai local, but Gamez wasn't a man who was just going to hand his title over and in round 8 he managed to land some solid shots early in the round as his bull like strength paid dividends. Sornpichai responded with some of his own, but the pressure and experience of Gamez was starting to drag the inexperienced Thai into a phone booth war. Sornpichai was happy to battle and went to town with Gamez on the ropes. To his credit Gamez fought back well, picked his shots and then turned the tables managing to put Sornpichai in trouble. With Sornpichai stumbling Gamez saw his chance, going for the kill, until he ate a huge left hand that dropped the champion flat on to his back. Gamez, some how beat the count, but the referee was unwilling to let the veteran continue, sending the local fans into fits of joyous rapture. This is a round that perfectly encompasses why we love boxing. It was dramatic, exciting, and like something taken from a Rocky movie. A special round, with a sensational finish, great back and forth and something that needs to be seen! A couple of weeks ago in this series we looked at a blow out win scored by a Japanese fighter on the road. This week we actually follow up with another upset by the same fighter who again went on the road, and again picked up a big stoppage win. Unlike the last "What a Shock" however this wasn't a blow out but was an even more brutal finish. Date February 3rd 2018 Venue Bolshoy Ice Dome, Adler, Russia Hurricane Futa (23-7-1, 14) Vs Vage Sarukhanyan (17-1-1-1, 4) Of course two weeks ago we looked at Hurricane Futa's win over Will Tomlinson. That was a massive upset of a fringe world level contender, and came in a "blink and you miss it" fight. The entire bout lasted just 40 seconds, and essentially ended when Futa landed the first shot of any value, sending Tomlinson down for the count. Sadly for Futa he was unable to build on that win originally, losing to Ernie Sanchez in 2017, with Futa on the wrong end of an upset there. Following his loss to Sanchez we saw Futa pick up an easy win before travelling off to Russia to face the then rising Vage Sarukhanyan. Aged 30 at this point Futa had little on his record other than the win over Tomlinson. He had been stopped by Sanchez and was 5-4 in his last 9 and 6-5 in his previous 11. He was expected to just lose against the once beaten Sarukhanyan. Whilst Sarukhanyan wasn't too well known he was a rising hopeful in Russia. He was a skilled fighter who's only set backs, a draw and a loss, had come against Igor Ivanov, with the draw being a technical draw on the basis of rainfall. Following those setbacks Sarukhanyan had reeled off 9 straight wins, including victories over Rey Laspinas, Jhertiz Chavez and Gamaliel Diaz. He seemed to be on his way to some bigger and better things and had already claimed a WBC regional title. Although not a puncher Sarukhanyan was looking like a very talented boxer, with a lot of skill and promise. At this point he was 27 and coming into his prime. He had confidence, youth, good form and home advantage. He was expected to continue his form here. From the opening round Futa seemed happy to come out swinging but was made to look crude by the light feet of Sarukhanyan who got on his toes and looked to create distance and try to neutralise Futa. To his credit however Futa was keeping the pressure on, chasing the local fighter around the ring and making Sarukhanyan work for every inch of space he could get. It was a clear sign that Futa wasn't there to be a willing loser, but was their to advance his own career, and that he was hungry to win. He did take some solid shots, eating several very good right hands from Sarukhanyan, but he never seemed to be too buzzed by them. Round 2 Futa's pressure seemed less intense, with Sarukhanyan managing to create space more often get off his work with fewer issues. It seemed like the intensity of the opening round took more from Futa than it did from Sarukhanyan but in round 3 Futa managed to show his power as he dropped Sarukhanyan for the bouts first knockdown. The knockdown came from what originally looked like a solid left hook, but on replay seemed to come from a solid headclash. Sarukhanyan got to his feet, and didn't look badly shaken, but was under intense pressure for the remainder of the round. Futa continued to take the fight to Sarukhanyan in round 4, but it was the Russian who seemed to be finding his range and landing the better shots and countering the pressure of Futa. Despite the success of Sarukhanyan he wasn't able to slow the pressure of Futa, even when he pushed him over later in the round. It seemed the plan for the Russian was to counter, move, and hope Futa would tire himself out with his own pressure. Sadly for the local fans Futa's energy reserves weren't wearing thin and he kept the pressure up, forcing Sarukhanyan to remain on the backfoot. The work wasn't always pretty from Futa but he was always pressing and always forcing the Russian fighter to work harder than he would have wanted. That began to show big time in round 6, as Sarukhanyan threw little and began to get bullied around, with Futa showing no respect at all to the Russian fighter. The lack of respect continued in round 7 as Futa began to lower his hands, trying to get Sarukhanyan to fight with fire. The tactic worked and he drew more aggression from the Russian. It was the type of fight Futa wanted and Sarukhanyan began to fight the wrong fight. That aggression saw Sarukhanyan trying to unload when Futa ended up on the ropes, at which point Futa landed a dynamite left hook, dropping Sarukhanyan, and forcing the referee to wave off the bout. The shot to end this was every bit as good as Futa's shot to stop Tomlinson, and helped secure him a minor WBC title. It was a brilliant shot and gave Futa his second big win on international soil. Since this bout Sarukhanyan has bounced back well, going 3-0-1. Sadly Futa fought only twice, beating Roy Tua Manihuruk before losing to Masayoshi Nakatani in December 2018, in an OPBF title fight. That loss to Nakatani appears to be the end for Futa who is now 33. Note - The video for this wasn't the smoothest and it does, sadly, have some pauses of several seconds. Last weekend we saw Jong Seon Kang (12-0-2, 6) kick off the boxing year for Asia with a sensational 12 round decision win over Nam Jun Lee in an early runner for the 2021 Fight of the Year. For fans who missed it, we really recommend giving it a watch, especially given the general lack of action taking place in the ring at the moment, as it was 12 rounds of totally brutal, thrilling action.
The win saw Kang claim the WBO Oriental Featherweight title and push his career forward, whilst notching the 19 year old hopeful his 12th professional win and extending his unbeaten record to 14. He was also, at least for a few days, a man that fans were genuinely quite interested in seeing more of, and wanting to know about him, as well as his ceiling in the sport. Despite thinking his ceiling isn’t that high, we certainly want to see more of him and he is easily among the most exciting fighters out there to watch, with his flawed defense, incredible stamina, his toughness and his incessant work rate. With that in mind we thought we’d look at 5 potential bouts for Kang for the rest of this year as we give Jong Seon Kang our Five For treatment. 1-Jae Woo Lee (7-3, 6) The obvious fighter to start this with is a bout between Kang and fellow Korean warrior Jae Woo Lee, who famously took part in the Hajime No Ippo 30th Anniversary Featherweight tournament and beat Tsuyoshi Tameda in an upset win before losing to Shingo Kusano. Lee, like Kang, has that Korean in ring mentality that sees him showing no quit at all in the ring, and happy to always have a war, even if they have the skills and tools to avoid it. The edge in power goes to Lee here, but the energy and incessant pressure from Kang may end up being enough for him to take the victory over 12 non stop rounds of action. Either way this would be brutal, thrilling, and seems like the best possible fight for Korean fans wanting to get their teeth into some Featherweight action. 2-Renji Ichimura (8-5, 7) Having seen Kang in some gruelling wars in recent years the youngster deserves an easy one, and not one that’s easy due to a late replacement opponent. He also deserves a chance to shine on foreign soil and begin working his way towards bigger and better fights. With that in mind an “easy” bout in Japan at some point in late 2021 would be a great career move, and we don’t see many better opponents for Kang in Japan than Renji Ichimura. The 27 year old Ichimura has enough to look threatening but with 3 stoppage losses in his last 5 bouts he is certainly not a world beater. Instead what he should be is a showcase opponent for Kang, who would get a chance to break down an opponent over a few rounds on a Boxing Raise or A-Sign show. This wouldn’t be a big name win for Kang, but would help open doors for him. 3-Qiang Ma (6-2-2, 4) Jae Woo Lee wasn’t the only international fighter involved in the Hajime No Ippo 30th Anniversary Featherweight tournament, as Chinese fighter Qiang Ma also featured in the competition. And thinking about it for a few minutes a bout between Kang and Ma would have all the ingredients of a thrilling war. Ma, like Kang, is a very flawed fighter, but Ma’s biggest issue isn’t just his defence but also his stamina and pacing. We suspect Ma would be competitive, and maybe even dangerous for 3 or 4 rounds, but as the bout went on the pressure and none stop punching from Kang would get too much for Ma. If this one happens, in either China or South Korea, it would be a thrill ride, but one that Kang should finish on top of. 4-Inthanon Sithchamuang (31-14-1, 19) Thai veteran Inthanon Sithchamuang, also known as Tanawat Phonnaku, is a long, long way from his best. The 34 year old, who was once a credible Super Flyweight contender, is not a natural Featherweight, but he is someone who has spent the last few years competing up at 126lbs and would be a solid enough name, with former world level experience, to make a bout with Kang sellable. The reality is that this would be very, very cynical matchmaking from Kang’s team, but also very smart matchmaking to get Kang in with someone who has fought for a world title. At just 19 Kang deserves an easy fight or two, and a chance to get some ring time based about building his experience, and Inthanon should ask him questions for a few rounds, before the volume of Kang breaks him down. This might not be the best bout out there, but would be a shrewd bit of business from Kang’s team. 5-Shun Kubo (14-2, 9) We finish this by heading back to Japan for what could be a very left of field choice, but one that Kang and his team may genuinely be thinking about, if he and his team can travel to Japan this year. That would be a fight with former WBA Super Bantamweight champion Shun Kubo. On paper it might seem ludicrous to put the 19 year old Korean in with a former world champion, at this early stage, though Kang and his team may well be looking at Kubo and licking their lips. But both of Kubo’s losses have come against aggressive fighters, who throw a lot of leather and apply almost constant pressure. Neither of the men who have stopped Kubo have been massive punchers but have instead broken down the Japanese fighter through repeatedly tagging him. Kubo is certainly the more skilled and more experienced but Kang’s style is something that has been shown to give Kubo fits. Maybe, just maybe, Kang and his team should be giving Masato Yamashita a call to get this one sorted and get their man a relatively huge win for the all action teenager! After sharing a number of videos in this series where the Asian fighter scored the spectacular finish we've decided it's only fair to mix things up and in this "Reliving the Finish" we look at a recent KO that saw the Asian fighter left flat on his back after a short, but brutal bout in Australia. Jon Jon Jet (10-0, 8) Vs Luke Boyd (7-0, 7) The Asian fighter in question was Indonesian fighter Jon Jon Jet, a promising youngster with power of his own. In his 10 bouts up to this point Jet had stopped 8 opponents, with 7 of those 8 stoppages coming in the first 3 rounds. The 25 year old was one of the few Indonesians who seemed to be heading in the right direction, but was desperately in need of a step up in class. Rather than stepping up he leaped up from low level domestic competition to hard hitting international level fighters as he travelled to Australia and took on rock fisted Australian Luke Boyd. Although Boyd wasn't a big name the 32 year old was a brute, a crude, big punching brute who had fought at a higher level than Jet. Although not a very good boxer Boyd had that nasty power, and knew that, at this sort of level, that power could be a game changer. Prior to facing on Jet he had scored 5 wins in the opening round, and his only bout that went beyond 2 rounds saw him taking out Robert Trigg, who had been out boxing him, in the 6th round. On paper it seemed hard to imagine this one going the distance and from the first bell neither man looked like they wanted this one to go long. Sadly for Jet his power couldn't bother Boyd. Boyd's power however did hurt Jet, and did so quickly. Just seconds into the fight Jet felt the power of the Australian and backed off. That didn't stop Boyd from going for the kill, getting Jet into the corner and unloading a vicious onslaught. Jet managed to battle his way off the ropes but quickly ate a single right hand right in the chin, sending him down, hard, to become the 8th victim of Boyd and his power. This is brutal finish of a man who simply out of his depth against a monster puncher. A very nasty finish and one of 2019's most under-rated and under-seen KO's. We've all heard of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, and we've decided to put our spin on things with "Six degrees of separation" looking to connect Asian fighters you may never have assumed were connected! Today we connect former world champion Ji won Kim to the legendary Jung Koo Chang.
Just as ground rules, we're not doing the more basic "A beat B who beat C who beat D" type of thing, but instead we want to link fighters in different ways. As a result we will limit A fought B connections, and try to get more varied connections together, as you'll see here! We also know there are often shorter routes to connect fighters, but that's not always the most interesting way to connect them. 1-Although best known for retiring as an unbeaten world champion Ji Won Kim did hold 2 lesser titles before winning the IBF Super Bantamweight title later in his career. One of those belts was the South Korean Super Bantamweight title and the other was the OPBF Super Bantamweight title. Another man to have held that OPBF title is Filipino fighter Willie Lucas, who seemingly won the belt in just his 4th professional bout. 2-Filipino fighter Willie Lucas was fast tracked early in his career, reportedly beginning his career in 10 rounders. The reason he was moved so quickly was his amateur success, which had included winning a Bronze medal at the 1974 Asian Games. Another fighter who won a Bronze medal at those same Asian Games was Japan's Noboru Uchiyama. 3-Although he never turned professional, due to suffering injuries when he was an amateur, Noboru Uchiyama was a very talented amateur. He went to the Olympics, won the Asian Games Bronze medal and claimed a Silver medal at the 1975 Asian Championships. Another man who claimed a Silver medal at the 1975 Asian Championships was Thailand's Payao Poontarat, who did turn professional after his amateur success. 4-After turning professional Payao Poontarat had a short but notable professional career. He fought just 14 times in the paid ranks, but was fast tracked from his 1981 debut, fighting for an OPBF title in his third professional bout and winning the WBC Super Flyweight title in his 9th bout. Sadly for Poontarat his reign was a short one, and came to an end in a very controversial bout against Jiro Watanabe in 1984, in the first of two bouts between the two men. 5-Prior to his bouts with Poontarat Japan's Jiro Watanabe had won the All Japan Rookie of the Year, back in February 1980. He notably beat future world champion Koji Kobayashi in his Rookie final. Despite being the most famous of that year's winners Watanabe wasn't the only man to win the Rookie of the Year that year before winning a world title, another fighter who did just that was Katsuo Tokashiki. 6-The talented Katsuo Tokashiki won the WBA Light Flyweight title in his 16th bout, at the age of 21. Sadly his reign was a relatively short one, lasting less than 2 years before he lost the belt to nemesis Lupe Madera, in their third bout. In his final professional contest Tokashiki challenged the then WBC champion Jung Koo Chang, in what is a truly brilliant bout. Sadly Tokashiki suffer his sole stoppage loss at the hands of the Korean Hawk, before retiring at the age of 24. It also helped solidify Chang as an elite level Light Flyweight, with the bout serving as his 4th defense of the WBC title. One thing we've always loved has been flawed but aggressive fighters. These are the type of guys who can close the show with a single punch, but are defensively open enough to take punishment themselves. It often seems like their best defense is their offense. A great example of that type of fighter was former Japanese 140lbs fighter Shinya Iwabuchi (26-6, 22) who fought as a professional from 2004 to 2016 and was involved in some amazing bouts, with his 2013 bouts against Valentine Hosokawa and Min Wook Kim both being fantastic wars. He was a former Japanese national champion who fought 3-times for the OPBF 140lb title. Whilst we know fans internationally likely missed much of his in ring career Iwabuchi is someone who has always interested us, and we always enjoyed watching him. Rather sharing his fights today we thought we'd take this opportunity to share some facts as we bring you 5 midweek facts about Shinya Iwabuchi! 1-Iwabuchi was in the same year, at the same school, as fellow boxer Akinori Watanabe. Sadly whilst Iwabuchi's cronwing achievement was winning the Japanese Light Welterweight title, which he defended twice, Watanabe has managed to win Japanese, OPBF and PABA titles during his career, massively over-shadowing Iwabuchi's in ring success. 2-Whilst most boxers seem to use rock or rap songs for their entrance music Iwabuchi used a song by English pop band EAST 17. The song he used was "House of Love", which was released more than 10 years before Iwabuchi made his professional boxing debut. A very odd choice for a Japanese boxer, but as we usually do with these types of facts the video for the song can be seen at the end of this article. 3-Iwabuchi's trainer was former fighter Kazu Arisawa, the "less successful" of the two Arisawa brothers. As a fighter Arisawa went 19-3-1 (14) and was a 2-time Japanese title challenger, meaning the student achieved more than the master. 4-As an amateur Iwabuchi went 13-7 (9). 5-Rather interestingly Iwabuchi lists not only Kazu Arisawa, and his brother Koji Arisawa, as boxers he respects along with world champuiions Daisuke Naito and Takanori Hatakeyama but also Hironari Oshima and former Yakuza member, turn boxer, Tatsuki Kawasaki. During this series we have looked at some real legends of the sport, and we do the same today as we look at Yoshio Shirai, the first Japanese world champion and a man who acted as the hope of light in post war Japan. His career was one of the most remarkable, and his achievements really helped set Japan up to become the Asian boxing powerhouse it would later become.
With Shirai being such an amazing person in the history of the sport we bring you 10 facts you probably didn't know about... Yoshio Shirai, and hopefully help give Shirai and his career some extra attention. 1-According to various reports in Japan Shirai wanted to become a boxer after boxing with a kangaroo at the circus when he was a child. Certainly a different reason to many who became boxers! 2-Shirai was injured in the first world war, and as a result suffered from sciatica. Prior to being injured he had served in the Japanese navy, as a mechanic. This injury almost saw Shirai retiring from the sport, years before he would become a star. 3-For most successful part of his professional career Shirai was trained by American Alvin Robert Cahn, who had no previous boxing training experience and was instead an American scientist working in Japan who convinced Shirai not to retire. The work between the two would see Cahn in still a very scientific approach to boxing in Shirai. 4-Under Cahn's guidance Shirai would win both the Japanese Flyweight and Bantamweight titles, and would defend both belts, switching between the two weights before settling on the Flyweight division. 5-Shirai would become a world champion on May 19th 1952 by beating Filipino Dado Marino for the Flyweight title. What's not so well remembered is that this was actually the third meeting between the two men in less than a year. Marino had defeated Shirai in May 1951, taking a split decision in front of 35,000 fans, with Shirai avenging that defeat in December 1951, in Hawaii. Their rubber match would see Shirai winning the title, becoming the first Japanese world champion. The two would then meet 6 months later, with Shirai beating Marino in his first defense, to close the series 3-1. in 2010 the anniversary of this win was celebrated with a special "Boxing Day" event in Japan. 6-Shirai is the only Japanese world champion to have not officially belonged to a gym under the JBC gym system when he won the title. Instead he was training under Cahn, who essentially had an exclusive contract with him, before the JBC was even set up. He was exempt from the rules that followed, and no other world champion from Japan has managed to get a similar exemption. As a result he is listed by some as having been "free" or "Shirai gym", which didn't officially exist and was essentially used as a place holder. 7-Shirai's 1955 rematch with Pascaul Perez set a Japanese audience rating record, of 96.1% on NTV, a record that still stands to today. Yeah that number isn't a typo, the bout had almost all of the TV audience of Japan watching. This was acrually the third bout between the two men, who had fought twice in 1954. 8-In 1995 he was made the honorary chairman of the Shirai Gushiken Sports Gym, set up by Yoko Gushiken. His role at the gym was regarded as being minimal, and he was told to keep out of the boxing business after retiring by Cahn, who had described the sport as being a "Monkey business", essentially telling Shirai the business side of boxing was dodgy and to be avoided. 9-The Japan Professional Boxing Association list him as having a record of 44-8-2 (15) with 9 exhibitions. Notably different to Boxrec's record of 46-8-4 (18). The reality is that his record isn't fully known and other sources have him listed at 53-8-4 (22) or 50-9-4 (22), with 9 exhibitions. 10-When Shirai passed away, on December 26th 2003, there had been over 40 other Japanese fighters who had won world titles. Interestingly exactly 7 years after Shirai's death Koki Kameda would claimed the WBA "regular" Bantamweight title, becoming the first Japanese fighter to have claimed world titles in 3 weight classes On New Year's Eve we saw WBO Super Flyweight champion Kazuto Ioka (26-2, 15) put in one of his career defining performances as he stopped Kosei Tanaka in 8 rounds to record his second defense of his title. The 4-weight Japanese world champion went into the bout as the under-dog with the bookies, though pulled out an excellent win over the younger man who was looking to etch his name in the history books. The bout saw Ioka drop Tanaka twice and force referee Michiaki Someya to save Tanaka midway through round 8.
With the win now under his belt and with Ioka able to look forward, towards the future, we thought there was no better person to look at for one of our regular Five For articles. For those new to this series this is where we look at five potential bouts for a fighter to take next, looking at who’s available and who would make the most sense for the fighter at hand, in this case Ioka. For the sake of this, and given what is expected in 2021, we will not be including Juan Francisco Estrada, Roman Gonzalez or Srisaket Sor Rungvisai. They are obviously 3 men we would love to see Ioka take on next, but the reality is that their calendar for the next 9 months are so will make them unavailable, with Gonzalez Vs Estrada II booked for March and Srisaket expected to take on the winner. Ideally however Ioka Vs the winner of that trio would certainly be the bout we want at the end of 2021 in the now traditional New Year’s Eve show from Japan. 1-Jerwin Ancajas (32-1-2, 22) The obvious #1 choice for Ioka’s next bout, all things considered, is IBF champion Jerwin Ancajas with the bout seeing the two men unifying the WBO and IBF titles around the Summer or Autumn time. The two men are the two champions sitting outside of the Gonzalez Vs Estrada situation and the only chance either will get to unify before the very end of 2020. The match up would be a compelling one between a technically excellent Ioka and a very sharp and naturally bigger Ancajas, who would also bring his southpaw stance to the fight. For Ioka this really is a chance to unify, to return to a US ring and a brilliant opportunity to showcase what he can do against a man who is somewhat known to an American fan base. As for Ancajas it would help silence some of his critics who have condemned his long, but incredibly poor, IBF world title reign. For both men it would be a big bout, and given the situation with Gonzalez, Estrada and Srisaket, there really aren't that many big bouts out there at Super Flyweight. 2-Francisco Rodriguez Jr (33-4-1, 24) If Ioka can’t secure a big unification bout with Ancajas he’ll likely want to face someone who can make him look good, can bring the action and make for an exciting fight. With that in mind Mexican warrior Francisco Rodriguez Jr seems to tick a lot of boxes, and could, potentially, be lured over to Japan for a Summer fight. Rodriguez is a former unified Minimumweight champion, like Ioka, he’s also well respected in Japan thanks to his 2014 FOTY bout with Katsunari Takayama, and he makes for fun battles. He would be the very clear under-dog against Ioka, where natural size and boxing skills would play a big factor, but he would make for very fun action. It’s also worth noting that Rodriguez is expected to become the #1 contender when the WBO re-issue their rankings, and this would be a great chance to request an early mandatory, get it out of the way and have Ioka free for New Year’s Eve with no obligations to defend against anyone in particular. 3-Charlie Edwards (16-1-0-1, 6) We’re thinking a little bit outside of the box here, but bear with us a moment as we try to explain why Ioka should consider Charlie Edwards. Throughout the history of boxing only one Japanese world champion has ever won a world title bout in Europe, and that was Naoya Inoue when he stopped Emanuel Rodriguez in Scotland. Notably Inoue’s WBA “regular” Bantamweight title wasn’t on the line for that bout, meaning no Japanese fighter has ever defended a world title in Europe. For Ioka there’s a great chance here to travel over to England and take on former WBC Flyweight champion Charlie Edwards, create another little bit of history and improve his global profile. With Edwards being promoted by Frank Warren the bout would get UK TV exposure on BT Sport and ESPN+ in the US would likely pick the bout up, building Ioka’s profile on both sides of the Atlantic. It would also open the door wider for the Ancajas fight, with Ancajas being promoted by Bor Arum and having his fights aired on ESPN+. Admittedly we suspect Ioka would prefer to fight in either Japan or the US, but he has been a man who has chased his place in history, and becoming the first Japanese fighter to successfully defend in Europe would be another big historical moment in his legacy. 4-John Riel Casimero (30-4, 21) As mentioned a moment ago Ioka has chased history. He won the first unification bout between Japanese world champions from two world title bodies, when he beat Akira Yaegashi, he was the first male Japanese 4 weight world champion and he was involved in the first world title fight between 2-Japanese multi-weight world champions. With that in mind a move up to Bantamweight wouldn’t be the biggest surprise for Ioka before his career is over. At Bantamweight there is a very logical option there for him, and that would be WBO champion John Riel Casimero. Physically the two men are about the same size, they are very similar in age and in terms of legacy they are both multiple weight world champions, with Casimero being a 3 weight champion himself. If Ioka wants to make a splash at 118lbs this is a very logical bout to make, and a relatively simple one to make. Now before we get into our fifth choice we really need to explain why we’ve ignored the proverbial elephant in the room at Bantamweight, the Ioka Vs Naoya Inoue bout. This is a fight we’ve seen mentioned for years though is one that might as well be forgotten about now as there is no way TBS would allow Ioka to fight on Fuji TV, and Fuji won’t allow Inoue to go the other way. The only way this bout could happen is if it was in the US, with WOWOW broadcasting it live whilst TBS and Fuji make do with some form of tape delay. It’s possible, but highly unlikely. 5-Khalid Yafai (26-1, 15) Former WBA Super Flyweight champion Khalid Yafai hasn’t fought since losing the WBA title to Roman Gonzalez in February 2020. Despite that loss Yafai could be a very interesting opponent for Ioka for a potential US bout, as he looks to establish himself as premier fighter in the division. The trio of Gonzalez, Estrada and Srisaket are all aligned with DAZN, and so too is Yafai, via Matchroom Sports, so for Ioka to try and make a super fight more appealing he may also need to affiliate himself with DAZN in the West. To do that a bout with Yafai on the service in mid 2020, potentially on the same card as Srisaket Vs the Gonzalez/Estrada winner, would really help build up the Super Flyweight super fight, and help showcase Ioka to a US audience, many of whom missed his bout with Tanaka. Yafai wouldn’t be the toughest test out there, and Gonzalez really did give him a beating, but it may well be the smartest move form Ioka and team if they are wanting to grow his profile in the US. A bout in the US looks to be a smart move for Ioka, especially given how US broadcasters turned their nose up at his bout with Tanaka, and Yafai gives him that option here. On New Year's Eve we were able to watch two notable bouts to close the year, with the first of those being the WBO Asia Pacific Bantamweight title bout between Daigo Higa (17-1-1, 17) and Yuki Strong Kobayashi. The bout saw Higa look the best he has in years as he dominated and then went on to stop Kobayashi in a performance that, for the first time, suggested Higa could, potentially, make it as a top Bantamweight
The former WBC Flyweight champion had looked less than spectacular since returning to the ring in early 2020, but against Kobayashi he looked sharp, accurate, heavy handed and incredibly crisp. With that in mind we’ve decided to begin 2020 by taking a look at 5 possible bouts for Higa as we enter 2021 and give him the “Five For” treatment. 1-Zolani Tete (28-4, 21) We generally feel that Higa, although powerful, is a small Bantamweight. He’s fast, heavy handed and strong, but still small at the weight. Despite that we feel his lack of stature may be an advantage against certain fighters in the division and one such fighter we would like to see him in with is former 2-weight world champion Zolani Tete. The elongated South African is a former IBF champion at 115lbs and a former WBO champion at 118lbs, though he’s not actually a big, strong, powerful fighter. Instead he’s a boxer-puncher, who can be lulled into rather dull bouts and against Higa the lack of aggression from Tete may be his downfall. Given that Tete hasn’t fought since losing the WBO Bantamweight title to John Riel Casimero we suspect he’d jump at the chance of a big bout in Japan, and this would, in theory be an easy one to make. Especially given that Tete has got history with Japan, having won his IBF Super Flyweight title there in 2014. 2-John Riel Casimero (30-4, 21) Higa’s bout with Kobayashi on December 31st was not only a bout for the WBO Asia Pacific title but was also sold, by the Japanese media, as a “WBO World Title outpost bout”, essentially a tune up for a WBO world title bout. If that is indeed the plan then Higa’s target will be WBO world champion John Riel Casimero, an explosive and exciting Filipino world champion who has been chasing big fights at Bantamweight. Casimero was lined up to fight Naoya Inoue in April 2020 before Covid19 derailed the bout and has been chasing Guillermo Rigondeaux in the last few months. If those bouts fail to materialise a bout between Casimero and Higa would have all the hallmarks of being something very exciting and genuinely explosive. It’s also worth noting that unlike many at Bantamweight Casimero wouldn’t have significant size advantages over Higa, with the two men being very similar in terms of height and reach. This would be a genuinely brilliant bout, and a great chance for Higa to make his international debut, or even serve as a part of a Kazuto Ioka lead double header. 3-Guillermo Rigondeaux (20-1-0-1, 13) Of course if Higa can’t get Casimero he may well fancy his chances with WBA regular champion Guillermo Rigondeaux, a man that Casimero himself has been strongly linked to since late last year. The 40 year old Cuban has rarely done what’s best for his career, though did famously travel over to Japan to face Hisashi Amagasa in a surprisingly entertaining bout way back in 2014. Now an older, slightly more hittable fighter, and fighting down at 118lbs, Rigondeaux may well be a target for a number of Bantamweights. We know Casimero is wanting him, but Higa may also feel the Cuban is one he’d like to have a shot at. Physically Rigondeaux is slightly taller and has got a longer reach than Higa, but their size difference isn’t as much as one would imagine when thinking about a former Flyweight champion taking on a former Super Bantamweight champion. Although much maligned for the lack of drama in a number of his bouts by Western fans, fans in Japan do hold Rigondeaux in high regard and this would do very, very good numbers on TBS. 4-Liborio Solis (30-6-1-1, 14) Another man who is known to Japanese audiences, and is himself a former Rigondeaux opponent, is Venezuelan veteran Liborio Solis. The 38 year old has fought in Japan three times, beating both Kohei Kono and Daiki Kameda and losing to Shinsuke Yamanaka, and is very much a fighter that Japanese fans will remember well for his aggression, style and excitement. Now a long way removed from the man who twice dropped Shinsuke Yamanaka Solis would make the perfect opponent for Higa from a style perspective. These two are both small Bantamweights, both like to fight on the inside, and with Solis being on the slide we suspect Higa may actually be able to stop the former WBA Super Flyweight champion. This would, in some ways, be a cynical match up against a former champion, but it would be a thrilling contest for as long as it lasts. Notably Solis isn’t likely to demand a huge purse making this a very viable bout. 5-Seiya Tsutsumi (5-0-2, 4) II In his second bout as a Bantamweight Higa fought to a draw with former amateur rival Seiya Tsutsumi, back in October 2020, in a bout that left many, including ourselves, feeling like Higa wouldn’t be able to cut it as a Bantamweight. His result against Yuki Strong Kobayashi made us eat our words though with that performance now fresh in our minds we would love to see him re-run his bout with Tsutsumi, with the WBO Asia Pacific title on the line. For Tsutsumi it would be a chance to claim a regional title, and a chance to take a third win over Higa, who he beat twice in the amateurs, and it would feel like a reward for a man who had a torrid 2020, with two highly debatable draws. For Higa it would be a chance to avenge his draw and get revenge for the amateur defeats. For fight fans this would just be a joy, and hopefully not one TBS would sit on for weeks before airing it, like they did with their first bout. |
Thinking Out East
With this site being pretty successful so far we've decided to open up about our own views and start what could be considered effectively an editorial style opinion column dubbed "Thinking Out East" (T.O.E). Archives
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