It's fair to saw the last few years haven't been great ones for Chinese boxing. The country was essentially shut down when Covid broke out, their main star Can Xu, was dethroned of the WBA Featherweight title and many of their emerging hopefuls such as Lei Wang, vanished from the pro-ranks. Prior to covid the Chinese scene definitely seemed to be building to something, with regular shows, and a lot of fighters all participating on the domestic scene. Some of their more notable fighters might have retired, but it was clear the country was going to unearth some diamonds in the rough, sooner or later. Sadly Covid pretty much put an end to their domestic scene and any talent discovery that was set to reap any rewards of their emerging domestic scene.
 
The one potential outlier for China right now appears to be 27 year old Minimumweight DianXing Zhu (13-1, 11), who has created some buzz in the last few years, climbed into the world rankings, and put together some thrilling performances. Although not a big name, he is must watch, has a notable local promoter, as he works with Cocky Buffalo, and has managed to carve out a small but notable fan base, and also show his ability across Asia, with fights in China, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Japan and South Korea. Given his willingness to travel he is the perfect fighter to look at when we think of potential match ups. He's not looking to stay at home, and with his world rankings he is likely lookint ot climb up the rankings and secure himself a world title shot.
 
With that in mind, lets take at look at 5 potential bouts for Zhu, as we look at Five For... DianXing Zhu!
 
1 - Yuni Takada (14-8-3, 6)
Our first choice would be a bout that sees Zhu return to Japan, where he stopped Tomoya Yamamoto in 2023, to take on current Japanese national champion Yuni Takada. The bout would suit what both men are actually wanting, give both want to climb up the world rankings to a world title fight, and would also be a hugely entertaining fight from a stylistic point of view, with both being aggressive and both happy to let their hands go. Takada has probably just about gone beyond the competition level on the Japanese domestic level, as seen by the fact he has now faced domestic nemesis Shunsuke Isa 4 times, and a bout with another world ranked contender would be a to move his career forward. As for Zhu a win, in Japan, against Takada could well open the door for a return to the country for a world title fight at the end of the year at either 105lbs or 108lbs. This would be great fun to watch, very makeable, and very much a bout that moves the winner towards where they want to be.
 
2 - Lito Dante (21-12-4, 12)
Whilst a bout with Takada would set Zhu up nicely for a world title fight, Zhu and his team may well feel that what they need is a tough, hard, 10 or 12 round bout, against an opponent who will really push him and will refuse to go away. In steps the criminally under-rated, freakishly tough, and horribly strong Lito Dante from the Philippines. Dante isn’t the most technical fighter, and has been out boxed numerous times during his long career, however the 34 year old has never been stopped and has proven something of a gate keeper at 105lbs. Although he has double digit losses they have come to the likes of Vic Saludar, Simpiwe Konkco, Yudai Shigeoka, and the fast rising Kyosuke Takami. He is no walk in the park, and he has notched notable upsets on the road before, beating Tsubasa Koura and Takeshi Ishii in Japan. He'd likely travel to Vietnam for the fight and would really test Zhu’s gas tank, chin, ability to change tactics, and do a great job to prepare him for a potential world title shot.
 
3 - Wilfredo Mendez (18-3-1, 6)
Ranked at #8 by the WBO it seems likely that Zhu will be chasing a shot at the WBO Minimumweight title. With that in mind he perhaps will be tempted to face a former WBO world champion, and potentially the most interesting of the options there is recent champion Wilfredo Mendez. Mendez lost the title in 2021, to Masataka Taniguchi, and is 2-1-1 since then, but is still ranked in the top 15 by the WBO and his name still has some value, especially when you consider that he’s a Puerto Rican and the current WBO champion is also a Puerto Rican in the form of Oscar Collazo, allowing an extra edge to a potential Zhu Vs Collazo clash. Mendez is a really talented fighter, but is certainly on the wane, and he didn’t like he had too much ambition left when he faced Yudai Shigeoka last year. It took Shigeoka 7 rounds to stop him, and if Zhu, even against an older more faded Mendez, can do the job quicker it would be a major statement of his potential and a really throwing down the gauntlet to not just Collazo, as a fellow Puerto Rican, but also Shigeoka, the current WBC champion.
 
4 - Masataka Taniguchi (17-4, 11)
Of course Zhu isn’t limited to fighting at just 105lbs and he has tested the water in the past at higher weight classes. If he can’t get a world title shot at 105lbs the next best option would likely be 108lbs and and another man looking to establish himself at Light Flyweight is former WBO Minimumweight champion Masataka Taniguchi, who dethroned the aforementioned Wilfredo Mendez. Taniguchi, who is now 30, is a fighter who seems to be coming to the end of his career, which promised a lot following a strong amateur career but has fallen a little short of expectations. Despite that he is a talented, aggressive, exciting fighter to watch and his style should gel really well with Zhu’s from a fan’s perspective, and the winner of the clash would move towards a world title fight, at either 105lbs or 108lbs, though it would seem more likely to be at Light Flyweight. From Zhu’s perspective a win over Taniguchi would really make his name in Japan, and open doors for plenty of fights there, whilst chasing a world title, whilst a win for Taniguchi could take him a step towards getting a shot at Kenshiro Teraji, who stopped his close friend and Watanabe gym stablemate Hiroto Kygoguchi just a few fights back
 
5 - Azael Villar (20-3-4, 15)
If Zhu is set to pursue a title at 108lbs, rather than 105lbs, he might want to make a mark against a fighter ranked there and one such fighter is Panama's Azael Villar, who has traveled for recent fights going to Japan and Nicaragua to fight in 3 of his last 5 bouts. He would be much bigger than Zhu, but in many ways that might play into Zhu's strength with Zhu having great work rate and pressure, and some brutal body punching, which given Villar's long torso would be an inviting target. Villar is no push over, despite going 1-2-1 in his last 4, and is very dangerous, as Ryo Miyazaki found out, but he can be out fought, he can be hurt, he can be out boxed. If Cocky Buffalo can lure Villar over to Asia for the fight this is a very winnable one, against a good name at 108lbs. It is however the bout that may carry the most risk of any of the bouts on here, and wouldn’t make much sense unless Zhu will be committing to 108lbs going forward.

Back on February 4th we saw Japanese sensation Junto Nakatani (27-0, 20) become a 3-weight world champion, with a sensational performance against Alexandro Santiago, who was stopped in 6 rounds, to claim the WBC Bantamweight title. The performance was a real eye opening, and showed that not only was Nakatani a brilliant boxer, something we’d known for years, but that he was getting better, and that his power had easily carried up from Flyweight, to Super Flyweight to Bantamweight. In fact if anything he was becoming a heavier puncher as matured and grew into his body. In fact it may well be fair to say he’s more suited to fighting at Bantamweight today, than he was at the lower weights when he was younger. 

With the win over Santiago talk immediately went on to what could be next for the 26 year old southpaw. The immediate talk was unification bouts with WBO champion Jason Moloney (27-2, 27), WBA champion Takuma Inoue (19-1, 5) or IBF champion Emmanuel Rodriguez (22-2-0-1, 13). Sadly that talk needs to be put on ice for now, with all 3 champions set to defend their titles in May against Japanese challengers, with Inoue facing Moloney facing Yoshiki Takei (8-0, 8), Inoue facing Sho Ishida (34-3, 17) and Rodriguez facing Ryosuke Nishida (8-0, 1). Not only do those bouts take all 3 champions out of the mix for now, but also 3 top Japanese contenders, leaving Nakatani looking for a new dance partner.

Despite 6 notable names in the division competing in title fights in May, there are still a lot of interesting potential options out there for Nakatani. Here we’ll take a look at 5 potential foes for the talented Japanese sensation.

1-Vincent Astrolabio (19-4, 14)
The obvious choice, for now, is Filipino fighter Vincent Astrolabio, who won a WBC eliminator last summer when he beat Navapon Khaikanha in Thailand and is the top available contender. The Filipino isn’t a big name, though did run Moloney razor thin in a WBO title bout last May, and has scored a number of notable wins in the last few years, stopping Navapon and Nikolai Potapov, and also beating Guillermo Rigondeaux. The bout would serve as a measuring stick of sorts against Moloney, who was taken to the wire by the Filipino, would deal with the WBC mandatory situation, give Nakatani a bout to fill the short term, and potentially also get him a bout in the States, where 2 of Astrolabio’s last 3 bouts have been. The bout is a dangerous one, with the Filipino being high-risk, low reward, but also being the sort of fighter that Nakatani should deal with, if he’s nearly as good as he seems.

2-Paul Butler (36-3, 17)
We mentioned Astrolabio being a chance for Nakatani to measure himself against Jason Moloney, but Nakatani is possibly wanting to compare himself against someone else, Naoya “Monster” Inoue. One way to do that is to face a former foe of Inoue’s and one such fighter is Britain’s Paul Butler, the former 2-time world champion who survived into round 11 with Inoue in 2022, when the men met in a bout for all the marbles. Butler’s performance that day was all about surviving, and he put up no real offensive effort, but it still took Inoue 11 rounds to stop him. If Nakatani faced him, he would be looking to take out Butler quicker than that and make a real statement. Butler, aged 35, would likely jump at the opportunity to return to Japan and have a chance to show what he can do when not facing someone as amazing Inoue, and is highly ranked by the WBC making this a potential bout that makes sense. The fight would also help improve Nakatani’s profile in the UK, and potentially help sell his future bouts to a British audience.

3-Seiya Tsutsumi (10-0-2, 7)
With Inoue, Takei, Ishida and Nishida all scheduled to fight in May, looking for a domestic opponent doesn’t give us many choices for a domestic showdown. One of the few exceptions to that is Japanese Bantamweight champion Seiya Tsutsumi, who has plenty of momentum of his own, and also created a lot of buzz last year, with his tragic win over Kazuki Anaguchi on December 26th. The unbeaten, heavy handed, determined and gutsy Tsutusmi won fans over with his win over Anaguchi, and proved what he was capable of whilst also generating a lot of buzz for himself, and he would certainly make for a fan friendly opponent for Nakatani. The bout would be regarded as something of a mismatch in favour of Nakatani, but it would be easy to make, it would be fun to watch, and give Nakatani a bout against someone who still has some buzz, not just in Japan but also in the West, with ESPN having shown both men’s most recent bout.

4-Roman Gonzalez (51-4, 41)
It’s well known that Nicaraguan legend Roman Gonzalez wants to become a 5 weight world champion and to do that he’ll be looking at Bantamweight for his 5th divisional title. With all the other champions fighting in May the only real option for him, unless he wants to wait until the end of the year, is Nakatani. It would be hard to see Gonzalez winning against someone as big, as sharp, as powerful and good as Nakatani, but it would pretty much be his only chance to get a shot at a title anytime soon. The Nicaraguan legend is well known, and even loved, in Japan where he fought much of his career, and ending his career against an emerging Japanese star would be a fitting way to end his career, win or lose. For Nakatani it would be a rare chance to share a ring with a living legend, and a win over Gonzalez, even this faded version of Gonzalez, would enhance his resume. Notably this bout could sell in either the US or Japan, with Gonzalez being well known on both sides of the Pacific, and would, in some ways, act as a potential passing of the torch from one legend of the sport, to someone some are suggesting will be a future legend.

5-Kazuto Ioka (31-2-1, 16)
Talking about Nakatani facing a legend, one other potential legend that he could face is Kazuto Ioka, who like Gonzalez would be looking to become a world champion in a 5th weight class something no Japanese man has ever done. The bout, like the Gonzalez one, would see Nakatani trying to rip the proverbial torch from an older, more established fighter and use the bout to further cement himself as one of the elite lower weight fighters, Ioka might not be the legend that Gonzalez is, but is still a very accomplished fighter, who has long been one of the main faces of Japanese boxing. At 34 years old time is ticking on his career and if he can claim a fifth divisional world title and end his career as a Bantamweight world champion it would be huge for his already incredibly legacy. Sadly this bout, despite being a really interesting one which would see Nakatani taking on one of the most rounded fighters in the lower weights, is one that could see broadcast contracts prevent the bout from taking place, and could be a very hard one to make from a contractual perspective. Despite that it’s certainly one we would love to see, and one that would give both men a big fight, something they both want, with a lot to gain from a victory.

Last week we saw the unexpected, and much maligned, announcement of Logan Paul Vs Mike Tyson. The bout has plenty of issues, and if we’re being honest it’s not a fight that we suspect many boxing fans want to watch, however it is likely to be the biggest watched fight of 2024, and one of the biggest of all time. That sounds hyperbolic, but the reality is that the fight genuinely could set some amazing viewing figures and could be the fight that kick starts a new era in boxing. An era that was always going to come, but an era that probably needed a “freak fight” or “circus event” to kick start, rather than a “boxing event” to get off the floor. Especially in a world where boxing is such a fractured mess of a sport, with too many people having their fingers in the pie.

The reason the fight will be so widely viewed, and why it will begin a new era of boxing comes completely down to the broadcaster of the event. Netflix. 

In recent years we have seen boxing move from being a mostly TV based sport to more and more online formats. It’s gone from Showtime and HBO in the US, and Fuji TV, NTV, Tokyo TV, G+ and TBS in Japan, and gone mostly online. There is still boxing on TV in some countries, but we’ve definitely seen a huge rise in online distribution of boxing. Services like DAZN, Amazon Prime, AmebaTV, Thriller and Boxing Raise, among others, have picked up the sport and taken it from TV to online. They’ve all found a niche, so far, but they’ve yet to really have that monster event that earns massive traction and clicks with the casual fan.

There will be some people suggestion DAZN or Amazon have managed it, but in reality neither have come close. In fact what Netflix could do, could be multiple times bigger than anything DAZN or Amazon have done with the sport.

DAZN has tried to penetrate the sports market globally, with boxing as one of it’s prongs. It’s been an unmitigated failure on it’s early promise and in many Netflix’s move into sports could show how toothless DAZN has been. When it began in certain territories DAZN was dubbed the “Netflix of sports”, the reality is that it was more an obscure service, appealing to a few million people world wide, and completely unable to move the needle. It struggled to make stars in the sport, and the stars that went there made money, but seemed to lose profile. A great example of that is Anthony Joshua, who seemed like a much bigger star in the UK when he was on Sky Sports, whilst Saul “Canelo” Alvarez was their tent peg signing, and has since left the service, with his next bout being on Amazon Prime PPV.

DAZN’s early promise for boxing explicitly was that it was the PPV killer, and essentially your subscription would get you all the content the service was going to create. Since then however prices have consistently been going up, PPV’s have been put on the service, and it has failed to kill PPV off, whilst also failing to become the Netflix of sport and failing to be more than a relatively niche service. DAZN claim to have “over 60 million registered premium users and 300 million monthly customers", which sounds great, but they are still making a loss of over $1Billion and it really doesn’t seem like it’s had the traction needed for them to fulfill their plans of being the “Netflix of sport”. They have failed to get things like the Premier League rights in the UK or NFL in the US. The two sports, in their relevant regions, that could have really changed their fortunes. Their coverage is varied, and there’s no doubting that they’ve picked up some obscure and interesting cards, but they’ve fallen a long way short of their early promise, and really struggled to turn their service into the online global home of sport.

Amazon Prime, so far, haven’t really done a lot with boxing. So far their biggest impact on the sport has been picking up some huge shows in Japan, including bouts feature Naoya Inoue, Junto Nakatani and the huge bout between Gennady Golovkin and Ryota Murata, which was aired on DAZN in some DAZN markets. Outside of Japan they’ve not really had much of an impact on the sport, with their big shows all being picked up by other services internationally and essentially only being significant in Japan and working with others, rather than leveraging their global position to market events. That’s set to change, and they’ve recently signed a deal with PBC and will broadcast PBC events, including Saul “Canelo” Alvarez’s upcoming bout with Jamie Munguia. Going forward, though it does seem the focus will be PPV events, rather than regular events for subscribers, as we’ll see with the upcoming clash between Tim Tszyu and Keith Thurman and the aforementioned Canelo bout.

Having mentioned how Amazon Prime shows, so far, have focused on Japan, with the broadcasts being picked up by partners in the West, such as ESPN+, it’s worth noting that even the big kick start to Amazon Prime’s boxing content in the West will be doing the same. As mentioned it will be on Amazon Prime PPV in the US, it will also be PPV in Australia, with Kayo and Main Event, and on WOWOW in Japan. The UK broadcaster hasn’t, at the time of writing, been confirmed.

With around 230,000,000 subscribers Amazon has the potential to change the face of boxing. For that to happen however they would need to make changes to the way they cover the sport, and leverage their full potential and weight behind what they do. Part of that will be to give free content, essentially adding value to the subscription they offer for sports fans, something that seems inevitable as the streaming wars take a huge step up. The second, and the more notable one, is that they will need to stop sharing their global rights to events. The events they do really should be global events, on Amazon Prime, with Amazon Prime Video being in control of the broadcast around the world, offering multiple language for commentary, and running the entire thing exclusively under their banner.

Enter Netflix.

The Paul Vs Tyson bout might not feature a current elite level boxer, or a world champion, or even someone near a world title. It does however feature two huge names, with crossover appeal, and international recognition. Tyson might be a retired old man more than 30 years removed from his prime, and you might absolutely despise what the Paul brothers do, but there is no denying the fact that both are huge names, who have massive profile and can easily generate buzz. Everyone over the age of 25 knows who Mike Tyson is, whether it’s from remember him in his prime, the controversy he had, the ear biting of Evander Holyfield, his place in history or seeing him on referenced in TV shows and general pop culture. As for Paul, he’s a modern day social media mega star, who has genuinely crossed over, and whilst his boxing career leaves a lot to be desired in the eyes of many, he has a huge following, especially among the under 25’s.

What the bout is, however, is a Netflix production. A Netflix event. An added value offering from Netflix, who are getting involved in live sports and live sports entertainment. And are putting this on their subscription service, globally, not behind a PPV, and not sharing the broadcast around different parts of the world. This isn’t like Amazon Prime Japan working with ESPN+ for the US broadcast, or Amazon Prime in the US hiding their fights behind a second paywall, instead this is Netflix, leveraging their position as a streaming giant, with 260,000,000 subscribers to showcase what they can do.

If Netflix play their cards right, they will not only have a huge audience for their first ever boxing event, but also open the door to future follow on events. If Paul and Netflix are smart, they will actually load this card with exciting, fun, easy to watch TV friendly fighters, and use it as a showcase not just for Netflix but also as a real window for emerging talent. It’s unlikely Netflix will want to be one and done in boxing after a circus main event, so being able to market their next event(s) based on who’s on the under-card will be a smart move, and giving someone like Amanda Serrano a major fight on the show, perhaps rescheduling her recently canceled bout with Nina Meinke could help really build the profile of future events.

Yes, we have seen a lot of false dawns in boxing, and yes major bouts will never be free to air again, at least not like they used to be, but with Netflix set to lay down a marker of sorts with the Paul Vs Tyson bout, capturing an incredible global audience, and showing what can happen when the streaming service takes global rights of an even, we could well be set to see a genuine change in how boxing is shown. We might well see Netflix become the Netflix of sport, doing what DAZN promised, and failed. Alternatively they might be one and done, though with WWE content coming to Netflix in the future, we suspect Netflix will want to out do Amazon Prime and DAZN, and prove themselves to be the daddy when it comes to online streaming services. Their foray into boxing comes, not with a whimper or an obscure bout that appeals only to boxing fans, but instead a global crossover event. They are putting down a marker from day 1. And the other services will need to find ways to match the global appeal of Paul Vs Tyson.

Whether you feel the bout is a joke, a dangerous event, an exhibition, something that shouldn’t be sanctioned, it’s hard to deny that Netflix, will almost certainly smash the viewing figures of any other fight this year, with their shrewd bit of business and their willingness to “give this away for free”. The real question isn’t about this event, but whether Netflix can capitalise on it, if so there is no doubting Netflix have the tools needed to really change this industry. They have the subscribers, the money, the connections and the technology to completely shake up boxing. If they want to. And, whether we like it or not, it could well be that Jake Paul is the spearhead for this potentially massive change. We’ll need to wait and see, but Paul along with Netflix, have certainly changed industries in the past, and we can’t put it past them doing it again here. The may have started showing sport after Amazon Prime and DAZN, but with just 1 event, they could well catch up, and quickly over take their two rivals.

Last weekend we saw former IBF Super Flyweight Champion Jerwin Ancajas suffer a hugely surprising TKO loss at the hands of light punching WBA Bantamweight champion Takuma Inoue. Going into the bout Inoue, the younger brother of Japanese sensation Naoya, was the big betting favourite, but odds of 7/1 on the stoppage seemed to suggest that no ne gave him a chance to stop the highly skilled Filipino. There is however a case to be made, that Ancajas's stoppage to Inoue may have had more to do, not with Inoue, but a former Ancajas foe, as well as Ancajas himself.
 
The 32 year old Filipino "Pretty Boy" had really made his name at Super Flyweight, holding the IBF title between September 2016, when he defeated McJoe Arroyo in an upset in Taguig City, though to February 2022 when he was dethroned by Argentinian monster Fernando Daniel Martinez. The Martinez bout in in early 2022 was a bludgeoning bout, with Martinez landing a staggering 427 punches according to Compubox (whilst Ancajas landed 192 himself), with 40+ punches a round landing from Martinez from round 8 to the final bell. Whilst Compubox isn't 100% accurate, the punch numbers, even if they are 75% right here, tell a tale, and it was the tale we saw in the ring. Ancajas got a beating through the fight, especially in the later rounds. It was as if Ancajas had ran out of steam, and had had to rely on his heart, determination and toughness to see the final bell. He had looked exhausted and like a beaten man.
 
Stood at 5'6" and with a rather big frame, it had long seemed like making 115lbs was a struggle for Ancajas, who has spoken about moving up in weight for quite a while. The loss to Martinez should have been his last at Super Flyweight.
 
Instead of leaving the division, and allowing his body to naturally fill out, Ancajas and his team faced Martinez in a rematch. A rematch that we predicted would end with Martinez doing what he failed to do in the first bout, and stop Ancajas, with our prediction being TKO10 Martinez [https://www.asianboxing.info/world-title-previews/repeat-or-revenge-as-martinez-and-ancajas-face-off-again]. We were wrong that night, with Ancajas gritting it out and surviving the distance again, but again losing a wide decision. Both were less active than in their first meeting, but much like their first bout, there was no argument on who had won, and who had taken the more punishment. If anything it almost seemed like Martinez was too comfortable at times, and not quite as willing to fight in top gear as he had been as the challenger.
 
With 24 punishing rounds against Martinez, likely fought with Ancajas struggling at the weight, the damage, in our eyes was done. He was still a talented fighter, but the miles on the clock were adding up. Those were 24 tough rounds with Martinez, that had also added to 12 tough rounds against Jonathan Rodriguez, in 2021, and 12 with Alexandro Santiago in 2018.
 
As Ancajas been boiling down his body a lot was made of his return following the second loss to Martinez, which was an easy win in June 2023 against journeyman Wilner Soto. For that bout Ancajas was just under the Super Bantamweight limit, maybe, for the first time in a long time, he was at the weight where his body was comfortable. The weight he should have continued his career at. The weight that was best for him. Instead he returned at Bantamweight, and took on Takuma. At times he looked sharp against Inoue, though at times it seemed the speed, movement and counters of Inoue were the difference maker. Especially after the first few rounds. Even when Inoue stood and traded with Ancajas, a risky gameplan given the difference in perceived power, Inoue held his own, and of course it was whilst up close that Inoue would land the body shot that closed the show.
 
Early in the bout it was easy to see Ancajas was the physically bigger man. Like a man who had boiled down to make the weight then added quite a bit of water weight. He looked thick set, and it was easy to ask, just how easily had he made Bantamweight. Was the 3lbs extra really all he needed? Or was he still struggling at the new weight? If we were to guess, we would assume he was still drained, and would have been much more comfortable at Super Bantamweight. He wouldn't have been able to get a title fight there, at least not for a while, but would almost certainly have been more comfortable.
 
Whilst the stoppage was surprising, maybe it shouldn't have been. Ancajas had taken a lot of punishment, especially in the Martinez bouts, he was still potentially cutting a lot of weight and at 32 maybe his body was simply wearing those miles, and Inoue was in the right place, at the right time, to take the wheels completely off a tough, brave, gutsy fighter.
 
We'll see if Ancajas returns, what he has left in the tank, but with 3 punishing losses in 4 bouts, we wouldn't be surprised at all, if the Pretty boy bows out now, rather than having his name added to the records of emerging hopefuls, prospects and those wanting the name of a faded world champion on their resumes.

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