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Over the last few weeks we've been quietly enjoying some of the great fights for the Japanese Light Middleweight title, and thought the belt deserved a bit more attention. In our eyes it made perfect sense to give the belt the "Did you know..." treatment and enjoy a chance to talk about the linage of a belt that few even mention.
The belt has been around since the mid 1960's and has had some notable fighters holding it over the years. Whilst it's not got the mega strong lines of the Japanese Super Flyweight title it's had a few world champions holding it, and is very much an over-looked belt which deserves more attention. It's also given us some absolute thrillers between the ropes. Rather than talking about the great bouts form the division, we'll save that for another day, we have brought you a bumper edition of the "Did you know..." series. -The first bout for the title saw Muneo Mizoguchi over-come Nakao Sasazaki for the belt in July 1966. -Mizoguchi's reign saw him defend the title 3 times until he lost the belt in 1968 to Noriyasu Yoshimura. Rather interestingly the first bout after Mizoguchi won the title saw him not defending it, but rather moving up in weight to challenged for the Japanese Middleweight title. -The third champion was Koichi Wajima, who also became the first 2-time champion and a future world champion, in fact he would go on to become a 3-time world champion. He was also the first fighter to vacate the title, doing so to end his second reign. -American born US based fighter George Carter was the first fighter to successfully win the title and then move up in weight to win the Japanese Middleweight title. He was the first of 3 American born fighters to win the title. -Rather interestingly Turtle Okabe was the first man to do the opposite of Carter winning the Japanese Middleweight then moving down to win the Light Middlweight title. -Raizo Kashima, who held the title for 5 months in 1973, finished his career with a 10-12-2 (2) record. -Prior to winning the title Hitoshi Nakagawa had lost his previous 3 bouts by T/KO. After winning the title he would lose his final 4 bouts. Similarly Hiroshi Hikichi never won a bout after he won the title in 1975, going 0-4-1 in his 5 subsequent bouts before retiring. -Talking about Hiroshi Hikichi he won the title on the under-card of Hisasmi Numata's WBC Bantamweight title fight with Rodolfo Martinez in OCtober 1975 -Interestingly Tadashi Mihara did the opposite of Koichi Wajima, winning a world title and then going on to win the Japanese title afterwards. In fact Mihara is one of the very few fighters to ever do things that way across any division. -Carlos Elliot was the second American born fighter to win this title, after George Carter. -The most defenses of the title is 20! That was set by Hitoshi Kamiyama, who held the belt from January 1989 to March 1995. He is also the longest reigning champion in terms of time as well. -Notably Hitsohi Kamiyama's reign was the first one of the Heisei era in Japanese history, with Kamiyama winning the belt just a day after the Heisei era began. -Satying with Hitoshi Kamiyama his reign was following by that of his stablemate Tatsufumi Ito, who won the belt on the same day as Kamiyama's retirement ceremony. -The second longest reign saw Akira Ohigashi record 10 defenses of the belt, only half that of Kamiyama's record setting reign. -One of, it not both, Joya Kawai and Crazy Kim featured in every bout for the title from February 1999 to December 2006. -It took almost a year between Nobuhiro Ishida's first and second defenses of the title -In 2009 Akio Shibata unified the Japanese and OPBF titles by beating Yuki Nonaka. This bout is the first of 8 bouts where the titles were fought for together, and it was the first to be fought over 12 rounds as a result. -From the 8 bouts where the OPBF and Japanese titles were together Charles Bellamy was involved in 7 of them. He was also the third American born fighter to hold the title. -Tadashi Yuba's title win in 2013 saw him become the first 5 division Japanese national champion in history. Prior to winning this belt he had won the Ligthweight, Light Welterweight, Welterweight and Middleweight titles. -In 2018 Akinori Watanabe became the first, and so far only, fighter to win an interim version of this title. -At the time of writing there has been 146 bouts for the belt, including a single interim title bout, crowing 39 regular champions, and an interim champion. -In 1987 Nobuyuki Tabata became the first man to win the belt with a KO1 result, since then only Tadashi Yuba, in 2013, has done that. Although Akinori Watanabe won the interim title with the same result. In total only 4 of the 145 bouts for the regular title have ended in the opening round. -There have been 8 draws in bouts for the title. Michihiro Horihata defended the belt twice with a draw, whilst both Kenji Shibata and Hiroshi Hikichi were involved in draws as both champion and challenger. This trio are the only men to have been involved in more than one draw for the belt.
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With no fights currently taking place we've had a bit of time on our hands, and with that in mind we've decided to look at the sport in terms of how divisions sit, and do something that had previously been requested. The Asian divisional top 10's. We'll be starting this at Minimumweight and working our way through the divisions over the coming days and weeks. We know there will be some debate about some rankings and there is certainly some area for discussion, and that is certainly not a bad thing at all!
The third division in this series is the rather weird looking Flyweight division. Historically it's been a rich division, full of excellent Asian talent, but right now it's a division that is very much transitional in Asia and there is no recognised #1, like their is in most other divisions. Despite that it's not actually a poor division, in fact it's a deep one, just one lacking in terms of star power. 1-Junto Nakatani (20-0, 15) Whilst we don't know who the true #1 is in the division it's probably fair to suggest that Junto Nakatani is one of the leading pack now that Kosei Tanaka has left the division. The 22 year old Japanese southpaw is regarded as one of the best youngsters in the sport and with wins over Dexter Alimentoo, Shun Kosaka, Naoki Mochizuki and Milan Melindo in recent bouts he's clearly among the very best in Asia, if not the best. Given his age, his style, his performances and his freakish size he's going to be a very, very hard man to beat. He was supposed to fight for the WBO Flyweight title earlier this year, but as of now, given everything going on, it's unclear when, and even if, that will end up happening. 2-Giemel Magramo (24-1, 20) The man that Nakatani was supposed to fight for the WBO title was Filipino fighter Giemel Magramo. The once beaten 25 year old is a real talent, who was unfortunate in his only loss more than 3 years ago. Since suffering his sole loss he has scored 7 wins, all by stoppage. They have included victories over Richard Clavers, Petchchorhae Kokietgym and Wenfeng Ge. It's really the win over Ge that has strengthened Magramo's claim as a top Flyweight. Whilst Magramo's record suggests he's a pure puncher he's not, instead he's actually a very heavy handed boxer-puncher. He's aggressive, exciting, talented and has solid pop on his shots. There are area's for him to improve, and he can look a bit raw, but there is no doubting his ability and how much of a danger man he is in the division. 3-Sho Kimura (19-3-2, 12) Despite being the only former world champion on this list it's hard to really know where to place Sho Kimura. In terms of achievement he's the number one, by some distance, but since losing the WBO Flyweight title to Kosei Tanaka he's not really shown much. Last year he made an ill fated move down in weight, where he was easily beaten by Carlos Canizales, and since then he has only beaten Merlito Sabillo, who suffered what looked like an horrific injury. If Kimura is still the same fighter he was against Zou Shiming, Toshiyuki Igarashi, Froilan Saludar and Kosei Tanaka he'd be the #1 in the division, but at the moment question marks do hangover him. Those questions are magnified by the fact he's also changed gyms, leaving the the Aoki gym that lead him to his success. 4-Muhammad Waseem (10-1, 7) The most successful amateur on this list Pakistani fight Muhammad Waseem looked like a star in the making early on, when he was impressing in Korea. In his first 5 bouts he had not only won the South Korean Bantamweight title but also beaten Jether Oliva and Giemel Magramo. Sadly financial backing failed to materialise and he would struggle to build on that early success. More than 3 years on he has managed to have only 2 more bouts of note, a close decision loss in an IBF title bout against Moruti Mthalane and a close win over Ganigan Lopez last year. Although clearly talented the 32 is no spring chicken and will likely be 33 by the time he returns to the ring. A real example of why a financially strong backer is needed, even at the lower weights. 5-Jayr Raquinel (12-1-1, 9) Filipino hopeful Jayr Raquinel is one of the hidden gems in the division. The 23 year old boxer-puncher has scored some very big wins over the last couple of years or so, stopping Keisuke Nakayama, Shun Kosaka and Takuya Kogawa in OPBF title bouts. Clearly a heavy handed fighter Raquinel still has work to do, and we saw him suffer a disappointing loss in China in 2018, when he seemed to be old manned by Wulan Tuolehazi. That loss hopefully serve as a turning point for Raquinel's training, and help him increase his activity in bouts, rather than sleep walking through portions of bouts. He's not yet ready for a world title fight, in our eyes, but is quickly moving towards one and could be ready in 2021 for a very big fight. 6-Wulan Tuolehazi (14-4-1, 7) With wins over 2 fighters in the top 10 there will be an argument that Wulan Tuolehazi should be higher up the rankings, but in reality he's a hard man to judge. He beat Jayr Raquinel in 2018 but then squeaked some questionable decisions against Ryota Yamauchi and Ardin Diale in 2019, before being decimated by Kosei Tanaka at the end of last year. Had his bouts with Yamauchi and Diale not been in China we would be looking at a very different career for Tuolehazi, and there's a good chance he wouldn't have got the Tanaka fight. Although not a world beater he's proven himself a solid fighter, just maybe not as good as his results suggest. It's going to be very, very interesting to see what he does in his next few fights, as they could make or break him. At 27 he's in his physical prime, but it really is unclear as to how much further he can develop. 7-Masayuki Kuroda (30-8-3, 16) Former 2-time world title challenger Masayuki Kuroda is one of the more well known names on this list and has certainly proven to be a legitimate fringe world level fight during his 41 fight career. He's been a professional since 2005 and whilst his career is definitely coming to an end, the 33 year old is looking for one more shot at the top. Last year he put on a brave effort against Moruti Mthalane en route to a clear decision loss. That defeat ended a 6 fight winning run for the Japanese veteran who had taken wins over Takuya Kogawa, Yuta Matsuo and Katsunori Nagamine. Given his age and wear and tear he'll not have long left in the sport, but could well have one more crack at the top before hanging them up. 8-Seigo Yuri Akui (14-2-1, 10) Fast starter Seigo Yuri Akui should be regarded as one of the division's true danger men, though also someone who perhaps struggles if bouts don't finish early on. His 17 fight career has seen him scoring 9 opening round wins, but being stopped every time he has gone beyond 5 rounds. Akui is currently the Japanese champion and holds wins against Ryuto Oho, Masamichi Yabuki, Yoshi Minato and Shun Kosaka, but needs a solid international win to back up his ranking. Interestingly Akui could certainly see beat some of the man ranked higher up this list than himself, but also lose to some of the un-ranked fighters. That makes him very tricky to rank but also very exciting to watch. 9-Tetsuya Hisada (34-10-2, 20) Another tricky man to rank is Japanese veteran Tetsuya Hisada, who announced that he was intending to compete as a Flyweight for the final few bouts of his career. The former Light Flyweight world title challenger had his best success at 108lbs, where his strength and physicality proved vital, and a move up could see him losing those assets. At 35 years old we can't begrudge Hisada's move up in weight, but he'll likely be 36 by the time he fights again and unless he can land a big fight at the weight we'll maybe never really know what he could do in the division. With 10 losses to his name he's unlikely to lure a big opponent in to the ring with him before calling a close on his career. 10-Ryota Yamauchi (6-1, 5) One of the divisional stars of the future 25 year old Ryota Yamauchi looks like he could be unleashed back on a fast track when the sport resumes in Japan. He looked red hot early on but a controversial loss to Wulan Tuolehazi in China, in a great bout that saw both being dropped, and he followed that up with a disappointingly messy bout against Alphoe Dagayloan. Whilst he defeated Dagayloan he suffered a cut that prevented him from fighting in a Japanese title eliminator, and miss out on a bout with Akui. He did manage to return to the ring in February but it's hard to know when he'll be back out there and who he'll be against. A talented boxer who can brawl and fight he's one of the division's most interesting hopefuls. On the bubble: Wenfeng Ge, Jayson Mama, Taku Kuwahara, Kento Hatanaka, Jaysever Abcede, Alphoe Dagayloan and Dave Apolinatio *Kosei Tanaka has signalled his intention is to move up and fight at Super Flyweight so isn't included here.  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 champions Muhammad Rachman and Gerry Penalosa. 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-Indonesian fighter Muhammad Rachman might not be one of the all time great names from the sport, but he is a legitimate legend of the little men. He is a 2-time Minimumweight world champion and holds the record for the oldest man to win a title in the division, winning the WBA belt in 2011 at the age of 39. We won't look at his second title win however, and instead we're going to focus on his IBF title win in 2004 when he beat Daniel Reyes. 2-Daniel Reyes, a Colombian puncher from Cartagena, was one of the more heavy handed Minmumweights, scoring 30 stoppages in his 40 wins. He started his career in 1996 and fought right through to 2009, when he lost to Cesar Seda in 2 rounds.  3-Puerto Rican fighter Cesar Seda never managed to win a world title, but did fight for one a in two different bouts. In 2013 he lost to Leo Santa Cruz, at Super Bantamweight, and prior to that he had lost to Omar Andres Narvaez, for the WBO Super Flyweight title in 2011.
4-Omar Andres Narvaez had run up over 10 defenses of the WBO Super Flyweight title by December 2014, when he travelled to face the then 7-0 (6) Naoya Inoue. Inoue completely decimated Narvaez, stopping him in 2 rounds to announcing himself as a major player at Super Flyweight, and become a 2-weight world champion. 5-Naoya Inoue is a fighter has been managed, since the start of his career, by the Ohashi Gym and Hideyuki Ohashi. That is the same gym that also lead Katsushigue Kawashima to the WBC Super Flyweight world title. 6-Whilst the WBC Super Flyweight title was the only world title that Katsuhige Kawashima would hold it was actually one of two world titles that Gerry Penalosa won! Penalosa would hold the title before Katsushige Kawashima, incidentally winning it from Hiroshi Kawashima, before later winning the WBO Bantamweight title! Another week is about to go by without fights so we again turn to our new "5 Midweek Facts" series to look at another fighter and find out 5 things about them that fans may not be aware of. Again this isn't the longer weekend series, where we look at 10 facts on a Sunday, but we also are looking at less well known fighters, as we try to shine a light on a regional or national level fighter.
Today's fighter for focus is former Japanese Light Flyweight champion Munetsugu Kayo (20-3-3, 10). 1-At the age of 2 Kayo suffered from Perthes disease, which resulted in him spending significant time away from his family. He did explain, in an interview in 2019, that at the time he was only able to stay at home for one night at weekends due to the disease. 2-Kayo was managed by the Shirai Gushiken Sports Gym, the gym that was set up by Light Flyweight great Yoko Gushiken. He was trained at the gym by George Nogi, who ended his career with a reported record of 3-0 (1), however boxrec has Nogi with an incomplete record of 1-0. 3-As an amateur Kayo was actually a decent fighter and ran up a solid 36-9 (16) amateur record. During that time he was trained by the legendary Shinkichi Kaneshiro, who also trained Puma Toguchi, Satoshi Shingaki and Tsuyoshi Hamada when they were amateurs. 4-In 2006 Kayo fought two Thai's, Fahkanong Singdongthai and Wandee Singwancha in title bouts. Strangely both Thai's failed to make weight for the bouts. Kayo would stop Fahkanong, to retain the OPBF Light Flyweight title, but lose to Wandee in a bout for the WBC "interim" Light Flyweight title. 5-Kayo's reign as the Japanese Lightweight champion was kind of odd. He managed 5 defenses, from his title win on March 15th 2007 to his title loss in 2009 to Ryo Miyazaki. On paper that doesn't sound too notable, but 3 of his defenses were technical draws and his title loss was also a technical decision. So, in his 7 Japanese title bouts, his title win, 5 defenses and title loss, he had 4 bouts ending in technical decisions. As it appears our current global situation isn't about to change over the next few days we've decided to bring you great folks volume 2 in our bouts to enjoy during isolation series. We again understand fans are desperate to see great fights and once again we feel like we've got a bunch of fantastic fights for you. Once again we're looking to mix the level of fights, but they are all great contests, and are worthy of the time, especially now people have plenty of it on their hands, to enjoy. So grab a beer, sit down and enjoy 5 more brilliant fights from the history of Asian Boxing! Unlike the other series we do regarding great fights do we won't talk about the fights. Instead feel free to go in blind, and just enjoy the action. Trust us, these are all fun fights to watch during the current time, and are all worth a watch! We start it off with a low key bout, then 3 title bouts, one at regional level and 2 Japanese title bouts, then we top it off with a world title bout. Yuki Yazawa (0-0) vs Kazuki Nakamura (0-0-1) [2019] Ji Hoon Kim (9-5, 7) vs Mark Sales (15-32-3, 4) [2006] Hikaru Nishida (15-8-1, 7) vs Tomohiro Ebisu (17-4, 17) [2017] Ryoichi Taguchi (18-1-1 8) Vs Naoya Inoue (3-0, 3) [2013] Young Kyun Park (20-1-1, 11) vs Seiji Asakawa (19-2-1, 14) [1992] With no fights currently taking place we've had a bit of time on our hands, and with that in mind we've decided to look at the sport in terms of how divisions sit, and do something that had previously been requested. The Asian divisional top 10's. We'll be starting this at Minimumweight and working our way through the divisions over the coming days and weeks. We know there will be some debate about some rankings and there is certainly some area for discussion, and that is certainly not a bad thing at all!
Today we take a look at the Light Flyweight division, which is a rather interesting weight class right now. The 108lb weight class is, potentially, the best in the sport on a global basis, and would make for a fantastic tournament with the top guys from around the bout. We see some of the best fighters in the division in Asia however the drop off in the division is start between the best, and the best of the rest. 1-Kenshiro Teraji (17-0, 10) There will be debate between the #1 and #2 in the division, however for us the pick is rather easy based on achievement and competition at the weight class. Kenshiro Teraji has been the WBC champion since May 2017 and has scored 7 defenses, some of which have come against fighters lower down this list. The talented boxer-mover has looked near untouchable at times and beaten the likes of Ganigan Lopez, Pedro Guevara, Milan Melindo and Jonathan Taconing. An excellent technical boxer Kenshiro has made so many improvements since winning the title that he hardly seems the same fighter that he was 3 years ago. A real revelation at the top of the division. 2-Hiroto Kyoguchi (14-0, 9) Whilst we have Kenshiro at #1 we know some would suggest fellow Japanese fighter Hiroto Kyoguchi, the Ring Magazine champion, should be top. Whilst he's the Linear champion his reign at 108lbs has yet to match that of his countryman. He won the WBA "Super" and Ring magazine titles in December 2018, when he stopped Hekkie Budler in a great win, but wins against Satanmuanglek CP Freshmart and Tetsuya Hisada were both tougher than expected for the Watanabe Gym fighter. Kyoguchi is certainly ahead of the rest of the field, but so far he's shown less versatility at Light Flyweight and doesn't look as dangerous as he did at Minimumweight. Still a top fighter however and he's going to be very hard to dethrone. 3-Reiya Konishi (17-2, 7) The drop off between the top 2 and the rest really is massive and even then the argument for #3 is a really close one. We've gone with 2-time world title challenger Reiya Konishi at number 3, though could see 3 or 4 fighters all having a fair claim to the position. Konishi has only lost at world level against ultra-dangerous fighters, Carlos Canizales and Felix Alvarado, and holds wins against decent fighters like Masataka Taniguchi, Shin Ono and Orlie Silvestre. A little warrior Konishi has a great work rate but lacks single punch power and makes life very difficult for himself time and time again. A legitimate top 15 globally, he's a man who had proven he's on the bubble of world class, but hasn't yet scored the big win. Saying that however he gave Carlos Canizales a very tough bout back in 2018. 4-Petchmanee Kokietgym (32-1, 21) Thailand's Petchmanee Kokietgym, also known as Panya Pradabsri among other names, is perhaps the divisions least well known contender. The 29 year old Thai was unlucky in his sole defeat, a loss in China to Xiong Zhao Zhong, and has bounced around between Light Flyweight and Flyweight since then. Despite having over 30 wins to his name his competition is rather mixed, and is certainly not the best out there. When he has stepped up to fringe regional level however he has impressed, stopping the likes of Jerry Tomogdan, Robert Onggocan and Dexter Alimento. Very much a fighter who is just a win or two away from making a mark, and at 29 he does have a bit of time to go out and make a statement before a world title bout. 5-Edward Heno (14-1-5, 5) Former OPBF champion Edward Heno has impressed multiple times, with wins against the likes of Seita Ogido, Merlito Sabillo, Jesse Espinas and Koji Itagaki. He also impressed last year in his loss to Elwin Soto, in what was a very competitive bout against the dangerous Mexican. Aged 27 the Filipino southpaw is pretty much in his physical prime and the loss to Soto do more good than harm, instilling a confidence in Heno that he belongs at world level. Before the current global situation he was supposed to fight in March against Francis Jay Diaz, and that would be a big test of his mentality after the Soto bout. Arguably the most skilled of the contenders he has a bright future, if he can get up for the lower level tick over fights until landing another big one. 6-Satanmuanglek CP Freshmart (11-1, 5) Another Thai with an under-rated standing in the sport is 27 year old Satanmuanglek CP Freshmart, aka Tanawat Nakoon. The talented Thai had done little in boxing before landing a fight with Hiroto Kyoguchi last year and giving the Japanese fighter some trouble over 12 rounds. The bout was a clear one for Kyoguchi on the cards but Satanmuanglek proved he was on the fringes of world class and that he was tough, skilled, smart and promising. Since that loss he has had some Muay Thai action, though hopefully we see him back boxing in 2020. He has the ability to be well and truly in the mix though needs to face more opponents like Marco John Rementizo and few like Crison Omayao, if he's to develop and progress the way he should. 7-Jonathan Taconing (28-4-1, 22) Just a year ago Johnathan Taconing would have come much higher up this list but the 33 year old Filipino southpaw is very much a fighter on the way out. The heavy handed puncher was always regarded as a dangerman in the division, and one of the most brutal punchers in the weight class. He matched that power with an iron jaw and will to win. Sadly though a KO loss last year to Kenshiro has seen the jaw now left with question marks and at 33 time is not on his side. He's likely to be too good for those at regional level but going 0-3 in world title bouts is a telling stat, and we don't imagine we'll see him picking up a world title before he hangs them up. 8-Thanongsak Simsri (14-0, 12) Exciting Thai teenage Thanongsak Simsri is one of the division's most promising and exciting hopefuls. He's only 19 but is a heavy handed boxer-puncher who is show real potential, and is getting international experience with bouts not just in Thailand but also Japan. Whilst his competition hasn't been the toughest so far he has impressed with wins against Ricardo Sueno, Lerdchai Chaiyawed and Christian Bacolod already. In 2019 he fought 8 times and the intention was to move him into regional title bouts this year. We might see that happen, but given how the year has been so far any plans for the youngster have been put on hold. For now. 9-Randy Petalcorin (31-4-1, 23) Another Filipino worthy of note in the division is former world title challenger Randy Petalcorin. He's a long way from the top fighters in the division, but is certainly on the fringes of world class. Last time out he fought Kenshiro Teraji, as a late replacement for Felix Alvarado, and was stopped in 4 rounds by the WBC champion. At 28 years old the talented southpaw has time to bounce back, but unfortunately for him there is a lot of young and emerging talent coming through the division. We mentioned Simsri a moment ago and there are others looking to over-take Petalcorin in regards to his standing in the division. 10-Tibo Monabesa (20-1-2, 8) Indonesian fighter Tibo Monabesa found that he wasn't ready for the top when he lost to Hiroto Kyoguchi, but the 29 year old has distinguished himself from those outside of the top 10 wins a number of notable victories. In his 23 fight career he has already defeated Rene Patilano, Lester Abutan, Lito Dante, Samartlek Kokietgym and Omari Kimweri. Before the world changed he was pencilled in to face Toto Landero in March, and a win there would have boosted his career to being a legitimate fringe contender. He's on a good run since being beaten by Kyoguchi and the hope is that he will get a world title fight in the coming future. On the bubble: Masamichi Yabuki, Daiki Tomita, Christian Bacolod, Kenichi Horikawa and Christian Araneta. Notes - Tetsuya Hisada has stated his intention is to move up to Flyweight in the future, so wasn't considered here. Yuto Takahashi has announced his retirement from the sport The sport of boxing is full of tragic fighters, one of the most tragic was Korean fighter Yo Sam Choi who's death in 2008 took away the last flame of Korean boxing. Choi was a hero of the sport in his homeland, and a genuinely popular figure who put the sport first when many in the country had left the sport. Today we look at 10 facts you probably didn't know about...Yo Sam Choi, and add a few extra facts for good measure for a Korean warrior who really was taken before his time. 1-Born on March 1st 1972 Choi was the 5th of 6 children in the family 2-On January 17th 1994 Choi won the South Korean Light Flyweight Rookie of the Year crown, thanks to his win over Sang-Chul Lee. Incredibly that was Choi's third bout in 7 days! 3-According to multiple Korean sources Choi's bout on October 22nd 1994, which is listed on boxrec as being against "unknown" at the time of writing, came against Filipino journeyman Lee Escobido. 4-Choi's world title win 1999 against Saman Sorjaturong saw the Korean suffer a broken jaw. 5-There was a plans for Choi to defend his WBC Light Flyweight in December 2000 and in Pyongyang, in what was supposed to be a rematch with Saman Sorjaturong. The venue had been selected, as the Pyongyang Indoor Gymnasium but the event fell through when the broadcaster pulled out, with some Korean sources also reporting that the promoter of the event, had passed away. 6-In a 2001 interview with Choi's then promoter Madam Yongja Shim, it was revealed that there had been an offer for $500,000 for Choi to face Ricardo Lopez from Don King. Madam Yongja Shim, stated that she turned it down, and asked for $1,000,000 7-Choi's 2002 bout with Shingo Yamaguchi was put together at short notice after financial issues lead to Choi needing to defend the title or be stripped. The sponsorship issues had lead to a planned June 2001 bout with Jorge Arce falling through, with that bout taking place more than a year after it had originally been planned. Interestingly Yamaguchi was promoted by Katsuo Tokashiki, who also promoted the fight in Chiba. This was an interesting aside as Tokashiki was himself known by Korean fans for his bouts in the 1980's against the likes of Sung Nam Kim, Hwan Jin Kim and Jung Koo Chang. 8-To prepare for his 2002 bout with Jorge Arce Choi trained in the Philippines and did over 140 rounds of sparring. Following his title loss to Arce in Choi began to be trained by Korean legend Jung Koo Chang, himself a former WBC Light Flyweight champion. 9-Choi would pass away after suffering a fatal injury in his win against Heri Amol in 2007. Although Choi was declared brain dead on January 2nd 2008 his ventilator wasn't switched off until the following day. This was at the request of Choi's mother. 10-The Leessang song "Champion" was dedicated to Choi, who was friends with the two members of the Korean hip-hop due. It was part of their 2009 album released just over a year after Choi's death. Extra fact 1 - According to the Korean press there was several times where Choi wasn't paid to fight, with Choi himself explaining that "money is not important". Extra fact 2 -Several reports in Korea suggest that the plan for 2008, was for Choi to challenge WBO Flyweight champion Omar Andres Narvaez. Of course due to Choi's untimely passing those plans never came to fruition. Extra fact 3 - Following his death Choi's organs were donated, the 6 recipients. In total his heart, liver, kidney's and corneas were removed for donation. Sadly organ donation is still incredibly low in South Korea, though reports suggest that people are more open to it now than they were when Choi's organs were donated. Extra fact 4 - In 2010 the hospital that treated Choi before his death lost a legal case to Choi's mother, due to their failure to provide proper first aid to Choi. Reports suggest that they were made to pay as much as ₩15,000,000 (South Korean Won). They weren't found responsible for his death, but were found to have failed in it's duty of care. His passing also saw changes to law in Korean medical law. We continue this series looking at little stories from the Eastern boxing scene by bringing you a really famous one which took place in Osaka between a former champion and a future world champion, which took place way back in 2000. At the time the future world champion was just a teenager, but would later go on to become on of the most controversial fighters in Japan. The other man involved was only 34, but he had retired following a loss in 1998, which made him decide his career had gone on long enough. Unlike most stories this one isn't shrouded in mystery or myth. In fact this was caught on camera, and it certainly seems like their was some more to it than a staged event, despite being part of a documentary. In fact it very much looked like a teenager getting the better of a former world champion and beating him up a bit, whilst making the most of an opportunity to make a name for himself. The youngster in question was Koki Kameda, who at the time was 14 or 15 when TBS's cameras were following him and his father, and Koki's brothers Daiki and Tomoki. The TBS cameras were recording a documentary and part of that saw Kameda having an exhibition with former WBC Minimumweight and WBA Light Flyweight world champion Hiroki Ioka. Although Ioka was only 34 at this point he had had a long career and had retired following a stoppage loss to Masamori Tokuyama, the 5th stoppage loss of Ioka's career. He had fought 42 times as a professional from 1986, when he was just 17, to 1998, and had fought in 13 world title bouts. Ioka had himself been a young prodigy, and still holds the record for the youngest Japanese world champion, a record that has stood for over 30 years! The exhibition, fought in front of a live crowd, saw Kameda starting aggressively and being all over Ioka, who looked very much like a man who had seen better days, and not someone who was expecting to have the youngster all over him. Early on Ioka looked tired and Kameda was going as far as to taunting the former champion. With a live crowd in attendance Kameda, who had spent the first round with headgear on, removed the headgear and continued to look too aggressive, too good and too quick for Ioka, who looked clumsy and old. Even when Ioka did have moments he seemed to struggle with the footwork of Kameda who showed a lot of defensive ability and a smart boxing brain. For those that haven't seen this before we have include the full documentary below, with the exhibition starting around 16 minutes into the video. Given what Kameda would go on to do, this was a great glimpse at his ability, and with it being shown on TBS this was a huge opportunity for the youngster to shine. He took that chance and made the very most of it! With no fights currently taking place we've had a bit of time on our hands, and with that in mind we've decided to look at the sport in terms of how divisions sit, and do something that had previously been requested. The Asian divisional top 10's. We'll be starting this at Minimumweight and working our way through the divisions over the coming days and weeks. We know there will be some debate about some rankings and there is certainly some area for discussion, and that is certainly not a bad thing at all!
We'll begin by looking at Minimumweight today and work our way through the weights in the future one by one. 1-Wanheng Menayothin (54-0, 18) There is, of course, some debate about the #1 and #2 in the division between two Thai's. Of the two we have Wanheng Menayothin, the WBC champion, as the #1 guy in the division. His 54-0 record might not be full of quality, but in terms of his overall record his resume is better than anyone else's in the division. Wins over Florante Condes, Oswaldo Novoa, Saul Juarez, Melvin Jerusalem, Tatsuya Fukuhara, Pedro Taduran and Simpiwe Konkco are do put him ahead of anyone else. At 34 years old his career hasn't got long left, but until he's dethroned it's hard to put anyone above him, especially given his resume to date. It's also worth noting that he has already ran up a very impressive 12 defenses of the title since winning it more than 5 years ago. 2-Knockout CP Freshmart (21-0, 7) The other Thai in the running for top spot is Knockout CP Freshmart, the WBA champion. The 29 year old Knockout has been inconsistent at times, in both his performances and his competition. At his best he looks fantastic, but unfortunately he has built a reputation as someone more than happy to stink out the joint, as he did against Byron Rojas in 2018. Wins over the likes of Carlos Buitrago, Byron Rojas, Muhammad Rachman, Rey Loreto and Xiong Zhao Zhong look good on paper but in reality he's not looked the most impressive in some of those and really has managed frustrate fans. He did look good earlier this year, when he beat Norihito Tanaka, but that came after a number of uninspired performances. 3-Pedro Taduran (14-2-1, 11) IBF Minimumweight champion Pedro Taduran is an interesting case here. On paper the 23 year old is some way behind the WBA and WBC champions, though he did give Wanheng one of his toughest bouts to date. He impressed in his title win last year, when he stopped Samuel Salva in a 4 round thriller, and was unfortunate to see his first defense to end in a technical draw in February. Unlike the men ranked #1 and #2 Taduran is a real fun fighter to watch, with an aggressive and exciting style, though it does seem likely that he will lose the title sooner rather than later. We suspect his next bout will be a rematch with Daniel Valladares, and given their bout earlier this year we will not be complaining about them re-running that, as it was a great fight. 4-Vic Saludar (20-4,11) Former WBO champion Vic Saludar is a hard man to place on this list. The 29 year old has looked great at times, such as in his loss to Kosei Tanaka and his wins over Ryuya Yamanaka and Masataka Taniguchi. At other times however he has looked questionable. His title loss last August, to Wilfredo Mendez, ended what had been a reign that started well but never really got going. He's talented, heavy handed, has an under-rated boxing brain but is a touch on the slow slide and can be out boxed. At his best he's a nightmare for anyone in the division, though we do wonder if his days at Minimumweight are numbered. 5-Ginjiro Shigeoka (5-0, 4) One of the most exciting and promising prospects in the sport, Ginjiro Shigeoka is a special fighter and the youngster has already claimed the WBO Asia Pacific title and put himself in the running for a world title fight. Aged just 20 years old he has already shown he can box or punch. His body shot KO of Clyde Azarcon was truly brutal and his stoppage of Rey Loreto, in just his 5th professional bout, legitimised him as a true contender. The rating here might be a little high however that is, in part, due to his potential, which we expect we will see a lot of when the sport returns to the ring.Don't be surprised at all if Shigeoka fights for a world title in his next fight or two. 6-Melvin Jerusalem (15-2, 9) Another Filipino youngster who needs to be mentioned is 26 year old contender Melvin Jerusalem. Jerusalem does have a couple of losses to his name, but one of them was a razor thin loss to Wanheng Menayothin and another was a close loss to the always tricky Joey Canoy. Since losing those fights, which were back to back in 2017, Jerusalem has won his last 4 including solid wins over Philip Luis Cuerdo and Toto Landero. He's yet to have a win at the world level, but our feeling is that will change sooner rather than later and he prove himself as a world class fighter in the next year or two. A really exciting, talented youngster with a lot of promise. 7-Lito Dante (17-11-4, 9) On paper Lito Dante doesn't belong on this list, with 11 losses in his 32 bout career. The reality however is that the records of fighters don't always reflect their ability, or how dangerous they are and that's the case with Dante. The 30 year old Filipino is the current OPBF champion and is one of the division's hidden danger men. He's got 11 losses but has never been stopped and most of his losses have come in 6 rounders. We mention that because Dante's big strength is not just his toughness, but also his insane stamina, making him a total nightmare to fight over the longer distances. Over 10 or 12 rounds he will be a handful for anyone and would give any of the champions fits. 8-Masataka Taniguchi (12-3, 7) Japan's Masataka Taniguchi is another of those hard men to place, like Vic Saludar who holds a win against him. Taniguchi is a very real talent, and we were looking forward to his proposed showdown with Lito Dante before boxing in Japan was put on hiatus. He's a solid puncher, had under-rated skills, an exciting style, but still has a lot of work to do. The 26 year old isn't a KO artist, he's not got the best stamina, and he does have areas to work on. But, he's also a very, very good fighter and has been unfortunate in 2 of his 3 losses, with the other coming to Saludar in a world title fight. Don't be surprised to see Taniguchi banging on the door of future world title fights down the line. He does however need to find that extra gear in the coming years if he's to win a top level belt. 9-Yudai Shigeoka (2-0, 1) The 23 year old Yudai Shigeoka is the older brother of Ginjiro Shigeoka and actually appears to bee the more polished fighter of the two, though he lacks the explosiveness and physical strength of his younger brother. Yudai made his debut just over a year ago and then really impressed as he beat Lito Dante, over 6 rounds, in his second professional bout. The talented southpaw looks to be an excellent, sharp boxer, with some brutal body punching, educated foot work and a very smart boxing brain. He certainly fights to his strengths, though we do wonder whether or not he can fight the way he does over 10 or 12 rounds. That's the one big question over Shigeoka and one we hope to see answered later this year. 10-Samuel Salva (18-1, 11) Former world title contender Samuel Salva is someone who came up short in his biggest bout to date, being stopped by Pedro Taduran, but at 23 years old has a lot of time to rebuild and learn from that loss. Against Taduran we saw a really talented young fighter, with good power, good technical ability and good speed, but a fighter who lacked the mental toughening he needed against Taduran. He had early success but didn't like it when he was on the receiving end of Taduran's pressure. There's a chance that Salva will never like being under intense pressure, as he was against Taduran, but we're going to give him the benefit of the doubt and go with the idea that that loss will actually make him a better fighter. He now knows what he needs to work on, he'll hopefully learn to bit down on his gum shield a bit more, and maybe even take a bit of a whooping in sparring to mentally preparing him for when the going gets tough again. He's got the skills, now he just needs maturing, and mentally toughening up. On the bubble: ArAr Andales, Jing Xiang, Marco John Rementizo, Tsubasa Koura and Hasanboy Dusmatov Note - Typically a fighter with a win against a ranked fighter would be above the ranked opponent. Here though we've decided that the 6 round limit neutralises Shigeoka's win over Dante a little bit, and have left Shigeoka behind Dante, however not a lot separates the two of them, or Taniguchi at this present moment in time. We know fans are itching to watch great fights and are looking forward to the current suspension of the sport being lifted. Of course we still have to wait, we have to be patient, and we have to realise how awful things are in the world. Despite having to wait, we don't need to forget the past. Boxing is, thankfully, one of the sports with the richest histories, and the archive of great fights really is incredibly deep, as those who follow our Closet Classic series will be aware of. With that in mind we've decided to share some of the bouts we've been watching recently as part of our time at home. So, for those looking to watch something amazing during their isolation, here are 5 great bouts that we'd suggest sitting and enjoying. For the basis of this article we've tried to pick a mix of bouts that could have made a 5 fight card. So we've picked a couple of low key opening style bouts (bouts scheduled for 4 or 6 rounds), then a few bigger bouts (domestic or regional title level) and finally a world title bout to close it off. Unlike the Closet Classic and Treasure Trove series, we're not going to talk about the fights. Just let you enjoy them! Ieyasu Yashiro (0-0) vs Ricardo Arredondo Jr (0-0) [1996] Kodai Honda (4-1, 3) vs Yasutaka Fujita (5-0, 5) [2019] Rex Tso (21-0, 13) Vs Kohei Kono (33-10-1, 14) [2017] Koji Arisawa (18-0, 15) vs Takanori Hatakeyama (20-0-1, 15) [1988] Takuya Muguruma (25-1-1, 19) vs Chan Young Park (24-3-2, 7) [1987] |
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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