After doing a few really interesting divisions in this series we then come to a jumbled mess at Super Featherweight. The division is almost entirely dominated by the mess of Japanese fighters, who have sort of proven themselves capable, and probably would make for a brilliant round robin. The top few guys stand out, but the rest sort of match each other out, a bit too well
1-Masayuki Ito (26-2-1, 14) Former WBO Super Featherweight world champion Masayuki Ito had a 2019 to forget, losing the WBO title in May, to Jamel Herring, and then taking a TKO over Ruben Manakane but suffering a nasty looking injury in the bout. His lack of fortune seemed o continue this year, when he had to pull out of a bout in China, before other issues saw the card he was supposed to be on being cancelled all together. Ito is a talented boxer who proved his ability in 2018, with wins over Christopher Diaz and Evgeny Chuprakov, but did look very limited against Herring. It's going to be interesting to see how he bounces back, and we suspect he'll be looking to face some southpaws in the near future, as he didn't appear to ever understand Herring's stance and movement when they fought. 2-Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov (15-0, 12) Russian based Tajik Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov is currently in the running for an IBF title fight, after beating Azinga Fuzile back in September 2019. That win was marred with some controversy, in regards to some drug issues, but stands. Although it'd be hard to see him beating Jo Jo Diaz that bout is an interesting one and would be a very, very exciting one if it took place. Aggressive, heavy handed, tough and with an impressive will to win Rakhimov is a nightmare to fight, despite some technical flaws. He's not the quickest or the smoothest, but he's probably the deadliest in this top 10, as wins over Fuzile, Robinson Castellanos and Malcolm Klassen have shown. Very much the under-rated dangerman of the division. 3-Kenichi Ogawa (24-1-1-1, 18) Former Japanese national champion Kenichi Ogawa is best known his controversial bout against Tevin Farmer in 2017. That bout ended with Ogawa being crowned the IBF Super Featherweight champion then being stripped for a failed drug test. Whilst there are still unanswered question about the test he served a year ban and was actually out of the ring for almost 14 months before finally returning last year. After two low key wins he had a technical draw with Joe Noynay, in a messy bout for the WBO Asia Pacific title. We expect to see Ogawa back in big bouts in the near future and the 32 year old from the Teiken gym certainly still has time left in his career, but will need to move fast when boxing returns later in the year. 4-Joe Noynay (18-2-2, 7) Filipino fighter Joe Noynay Had a fantastic few months in 2019, stopping both Kosuke Saka and Satoshi Shimizu, before ending the year with the aforementioned technical draw against Kenichi Ogawa, in what really was a messy, dirty accidental foul filled war. Although not a puncher, as such, he looked really destructive against Saka and Shimizu and has been impressive since losing to Reiya Abe more than 3 years ago. At 24 years old the talented southpaw is one to keep an eye on, and is only behind Ogawa on the basis the depth of the two men's records. We would favour Ogawa, marginally, in a rematch but given the mess of their first bout we're not in a rush to see them face off again. 5-Hironori Mishiro (9-0-1, 3) Rushing through the rankings has been 25 year old boxer Hiironori Mishiro, who has proven he can box and brawl, when he needs to. Mishiro won the OPBF title in his 6th professional bout and has since made 4 defenses of the title, including a draw against Masaru Sueyoshi and victories over Takuya Watanabe and Yoshimitsu Kimura. Although not the most powerful Mishiro is well schooled, a very smooth boxer with excellent movement and skills. He's proven he can turn things around and brawl, as he did against Sueyoshi. Sadly Mishiro does look like he lacks some real killer instinct, and that could be a major problem when he moves from regional level to world class. As well as his lack of killer instincts there is also question marks about his punching power, but so far his achievements have been impressive. 6-Kosuke Saka (20-5, 17) Few fighters had the rollercoaster year that Kosuke Saka had in 2019. He was stopped in 2 rounds in April, by Joe Noynay, in what was considered a real set back, scored a low key nothing win against Indonesian journeyman Isack Junior in September and then ended the year by smashing Masaru Sueyoshi to claim the Japanese Super Featherweight title with his best win to date. Saka, at his best, is a nightmare to face and he looked at his absolute best when he beat Sueyoshi. That was the sort of performance that put the division on notice and was his most impressive win since he stopped Shota Hayashi, back in April 2017. Saka is dangerous, but a flawed glass cannon. He'll be in some great fights, win or lose. 7-Takuya Watanabe (37-9-1, 21) With 9 losses in 47 bouts Takuya Watanabe doesn't look like a fantastic fighter, but boy is his record misleading. He's certainly not a world beater, but on the regional scene not many fighters will beat him without needing to answer serious questions. He's technically a very solid fighter, despite not being the quickest, most powerful or sharpest punching. What he is, is very physically strong and powerful, incredibly tough and has a solid gas tank. Despite his 9 losses he has never been stopped, and that was despite his blood bath in South Korea with Jaesung Lee which saw Watanabe give the Gwanakgu Hall in Seoul a serious donation of claret. Watanabe has lost to some men on this list, notably Masayuki Ito and Hironori Mishiro, but he made both men work for their wins. Most recently he was seen beating Taiki Minamoto to set up a mouth watering showdown with Kosuke Saka, though we may need to wait until 2021 for that bout given the current climate. 8-Yoshimitsu Kimura (12-2, 7) Having previously lost to Hironori Mishiro and Richard Pumicpic, who is in our Featherweight rankings, the case may be that Yoshimitsu Kimura is too highly ranked here, but in reality he pushed Mishiro all the way in December and is very much a fighter developing rapidly. Aged just 23 he had matured fantastically into a Super Featherweight, after winning the 2016 All Japan Rookie of the Year at Featherweight. In the coming year we expect to see Kimura really climb up these rankings, and he may well be among the best kept secrets in the division. Don't be fooled by his two losses, they were very competitive, and great learning experiences for the youngster who is going to be a key player in the next few years. 9-Masaru Sueyoshi (19-2-1, 11) Former Japanese national champion Maasaru Sueyoshi rounds out the Japanese fighters in these rankings, though the reality is that he could probably beat some of the ones above him, and did draw with Mishiro. Despite being, head to head, better than some of the guys above we really can't put him higher than Saka, due to Saka's victory over him, and Watanabe and Kimura both looked better than he did last time out. Sueyoshi is a very good technical fighter, he controls distance, tempo and timing well, but lacks real power and struggles with the physical side of the sport. Saka really bullied him, showing no respect to Sueyoshi's power, and we suspect many of those ranked higher up this list would now do the same with that tactic being shown to work against the 29 year old Teiken fighter. 10-Stanislav Kalitskiy (10-0, 3) As well as all the Japanese talent "clogging" up the division there are some interesting fighters emerging from Central Europe. Among those is the unbeaten 22 year old Stanislav Kalitskiy, who is based in Russia. The talented Kalitskiy lacks power, with only 3 stoppages in his 10 bouts, but has stepped up his competition well and a January win over Alan Isaias Luques Castillo is worthy of note. It'll be interesting to see what RCC have planned for him, but we suspect it's going to be a long, hard slog for him going forward. He is simply too early in his career, and lacks the power, to let him off the leash any time soon. On the bubble: Taiki Minamoto, Akzhol Sulaimanbek Uulu, Sultan Zaurbek, Nurtas Azhbenov and Xiang Li
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It now appears that we still have a fair few weeks to wait until boxing returns to the rings on a regular basis. With that in mind we continue our 5 Bouts to enjoy during Isolation series with more 5 bouts from the world of Asian boxing. These are, again, a mix of high level bouts, regional level bouts and some a lower level bout. There's some real explosive action here and you certainly won't feel disappointed with the time spent watching these fantastic action bouts! Ryugo Ushijima (2-0, 1) vs Shota Ogasawara (3-1, 2) [2019] Ji Hoon Kim (13-5, 10) Vs Koba Gogoladze (20-2, 8) [2008] Makoto Fuchigami (17-6, 8) vs Koji Sato (20-1, 18) [2011] Jung Oh Park (23-2-2, 16) vs Jintoku Sato (15-1, 15) [1993] Takuya Muguruma (26-2-1, 20) vs Wilfredo Vazquez (26-3-1, 22) [1988] 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 Guts Ishimatsu and Ben Villaflor 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-Japan's Guts Ishimatsu was one of the more notable Japanese fighters of the 1970's. He is a former WBC Lightweight champion, who reigned for a little over 2 years. He lost his world title in 1976, to Esteban De Jesus and then moved up in weight to challenge Thailand's Saensak Muangsurin. 2-A few years ago we saw Vasyl Lomachenko win his first world title in his third bout, with many declaring it a record. What he actually did was tie the long standing world record set way back in 1975 by Thailand's Saensak Muangsurin. As a professional boxer Muangsurin's career was one of the shortest of any multi-time world champion, fighting just 20 times in his career and going a less than stellar looking 14-6 (11). Despite his lack of fights he repeatedly fought at a very high level, fighting in 12 world title bouts. The first of those 12 world title bouts saw him win the WBC and WBA Light Welterweight titles, stopping Perico Fernandez. 3-Spain's Perico Fernandez fought between 1972 and 1987, fighting mostly in Europe. His loss to Muangsurin was one of two bouts he had in Asia, along with a 1978 bout to Katsuhiro Okubo, who he stopped in 8 rounds. 4-It's fair to say that Katsuhiro Okubo isn't a notable name, fighting just 19 times in a 4 year career that spanned from 1978 to 1982. Despite his short career he did fight in a couple of title fights, including a 1979 loss to Battlehawk Kazama, who defended the Japanese Lightweight title inside a round. 5-The Japanese Lightweight title was the only one that Battlehawk Kazama won, however he did also fight for the WBA Super Featherweight title in 1980, when he was stopped in the 13th round to Samuel Serrano. 6-Although not too well remembered in recent years Samuel Serrano was an excellent fighter in the 1970's and 80's. His first title world title fight had come in April 1976, when he challenged Ben Villaflor, in a bout that ended in a 15 round split decision draw. With their being no live fights at the moment we've spent some time recently exploring the lesser talked about pre-war boxing scene. In the US pre-war boxing was big news, with the rise of Joe Louis being particularly notable, and the hugely popular Jack Dempsey. Over in Asia there wasn't much worthy of major attention, and many of the top Asian fighters ended up in the US anyway. However that doesn't mean there weren't things happening in Asia, particularly in Japan which had a boxing scene that was very different to what it is today.
One of the early names of note was Nobuo Kobayashi (6-4-2, 2), who had a very short career, but one that was notable for a number of reasons, as we'll explore in this weeks "5 Midweek Facts" article. 1-When Kobayashi was born in 1910 the place he was born was under Japanese rule. Now Wonsan is part of what is North Korea, a country that didn't even exist until after Kobayashi passed away. 2-Kobayashi was twice crowned the Japanese National Lightweight champion. The first of those came at the 1929 Meiji Shrine Games, whilst the other reign began in 1930 , when he beat Eiji Takahashi. This would actually end up being his last in ring victory. He is regarded as the 5th and 6th Japanese Lightweight champion of the pre-war era. 3-Kobayashi was managed by Teiken. Yes Teiken is that old that it operated back in the 1930's, albeit in a very different form to how it operates now a days. 4-In June 1930 Kobayashi lost the Japanese title to a Filipino! He was beaten by Joe Sacramento, who dethroned Kobayashi in his first defense. Interestingly Sacramento had twice shared the ring with one of the big Filipino pre-ward fighters, Ceferino Garcia, who famously fought Henry Armstrong among others. 5-Sadly Kobayashi was the first boxer to die in Japan from injuries suffered in the ring. He passed away following a 1930 loss to Filipino Bobby Wills. This bout took place in a ring set up at the Koshien tennis court in Nishinomiya and saw Kobayashi passing away aged just 20 years old. One of the fighters we had several requests to cover in this series was hard hitting Russian Yuri Arbachakov. In the late 1980's he was one of the best amateurs on the planet and later become a dominant force in the professional as a long term WBC and Lineal Flyweight champion.
Although a lot is written and said about Arbachakov, who opened the door for a lot of Soviet fighters, there is a lot of interesting things hidden below the surface. Today we look at some of those things as we bring you 10 facts you probably didn't know about...Yuri Arbachakov 1-As an amateur Arbachakov was an absolute monster. His amateur record was 165-21 and he would completely dominate in 1989 winning the Soviet, European and World Championships. That career defining year had followed him being over looked for the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, where Timofey Skryabin, an eventual bronze medal winner, was sent instead. 2-Arbachakov was one of a number of fighters from the then USSR to sign with Kyoei, helped in part by professional wrestling icon Antonio Inoki, himself a friend of the then head of Kyoei and a man who play a part in helping Kyoei sign a number of fighters over the years. The only other former USSR fight to go on to have a world right from the group was Orzubek Nazarov. This was all done under the perestroika program and he was reportedly paid around $2,200 a month to join Kyoei and train with them. 3-As a professional Arbachakov fought as "Yuri Chakov", "Yuri Ebihara" and "Yuri Arbachakov. He was also dubbed the "Russian Hitman". The name Yuri Ebihara wasn't liked by the fighter, due to a number of reason including it sounding a lot like a naughty word in Russian, but was meant as an homage to former Kyoei world champion Hiroyuki Ebihara. The original Ebihara was a former Flyweight world champion himself, and he sadly died in 1991, the year after Arbachakov made his professional debut. This would be one of a number of issues between Kyoei and Arbachakov during his time with the Japanese promoter. 4-In just his 6th professional bout Arbachakov stopped former world champion Rolando Bohol, at the time this was only the second time Bohol had been stopped, with the first coming just over 2 years earlier to Duke McKenzie in an IBF world title fight. 5-In 1991 Arbachakov was supposed to have a Japanese Flyweight title fight with Puma Toguchi, as part of the Champion Carnival, but issues between Toguchi and his promoter lead to Toguchi being stripped of the title, and later take an extended break from the ring. In 1996 the two men would finally face off, with Arbachakov stopping Toguchi in 9 rounds to retain the WBC Flyweight title. Interestingly their 1991 bout had a date set, and posters made, and tickets sold, before the fight fell through. As a result Arbachakov would fight Takahiro Mizuno for the vacant title almost 4 months after the planned showdown with Toguchi. The poster for this originally planned bout can be seen below. 6-On the under-card of Arbachakov's WBC Flyweight title win against Muangchai Kittikasem at the at the Kokugikan, was Mickey Rourke! The American actor, who was 39 at the time, scored an opening round win over the very poor Darrell Miller. The win moved Rourke to 2-0-1 (1) and saw Miller fall to 11-40-5 (3) and it was the 23rd time Miller had been stopped. 7-Arbachakov would become the first Russian world champion in 1992 when he stopped Kittikasem, and stills holds the record for most defenses of a Flyweight world title by a Japanese managed fighter, with 9 defenses. 8-Arbachakov is pictured on the album cover of Sharan Q's debut album "Explosion! Hennachoko Punch". Those with eagle eyes will spot Yuri is wearing a WBA title in the image, that belt is borrowed from Katsuya Onizuka, as Yuri's own WBC title hadn't arrived by the time of the photo shoot. This album cover can be seen below. 9- After retirement Arbachakov that he didn't believe he could be a world champion. 10-Arbachakov married a Japanese woman in 1996 Extra Fact 1 - There is an amateur tournament held in Arbachakov's name, that's the "Yuriy Arbachakov Prizes National Tournament", which has been held in Kemerovo, Russia. Extra Fact 2 - Arbachakov regularly criticised Kyoei for the way they treat him, and the other international fighters. He told the press that they were forced to live in cheap apartments and were reportedly treat badly, even as world champions. Extra Fact 3 - Despite fighting his final bout in 1997 it was over a year later before Arbachakov would have his retirement ceremony, which took place in February 1999 at Korakuen Hall. His retirement came, in part, to chronic hand issues after breaking his hand in his bout with Puma Toguchi. Many division's out there are really interesting, and have a lot of brilliant match ups that could be made at any moment. One of the most interesting is the Featherweight division, which isn't the "deepest" but is among the most "interesting", not just in Asia but globally. Despite not being as deep as the Bantamweight and Super Bantamweight division's it's still a very, very good weight class.
Again we're only considering Asian fighters for these rankings. 1-Can Xu (18-2, 3) The stand out Asian fighter in the division is Chinese "Monster" Can Xu. Unlike another monster, who is known for his power and being a physical freak, Xu is a monster in terms of stamina, chin and output. The 26 year old is the current WBA "regular" Featherweight champion and really came along wonderfully in 2019, when he beat Jesus M Rojas, Shun Kubo and Manny Robles III. Although not a technically perfect boxer, or a big puncher Xu is a nightmare to fight with a swarming busy style and an ability to take a punch whilst letting his shots go. A total nightmare to take on. 2-Tugstsogt Nyambayar (11-1, 9) Earlier this year we saw Tugstsogt Nyambayar come up short in a competitive, but clear, loss against Gary Russell Jr. That may have ended Nyambayar's unbeaten record but with wins over Harmonito Dela Torre, Oscar Escandon and Claudio Marrero it's hard to question his #2 ranking. Yes he's not scored a world level win yet, but in reality he's done more than anyone on this list, other than Xu. The heavy handed boxer-puncher was a former amateur standout and is a quality professional, but needs to be much more active and he has fought only 4 times in the last 36 months, completely wasting some of his prime years. Incidentally enough that's the same accusation that has been sent Gary Russell Jr's way over the years as well. 3-Ryo Sagawa (9-1, 4) The Japanese domestic scene at Featherweight is legitimately crazy with 6 very good and interesting fighters in and around the top top. The best of those is, probably, Ryo Sagawa, who holds wins over 2 of the other top Japanese guys at the weight. Sagawa is the current Japanese national champion, an excellent boxer, who controls distance well and looks like a true natural in the ring with a really eye pleasing and smooth style. When he needs to brawl and fight he can, though at his best he is an excellent boxer. Despite being a genuine talent Sagawa also has some questions still hanging over him, and his chin is certainly still suspect, meaning that whilst he's talented, there is always a risk he'll be stopped, making his fights the type that will have you on the edge of your seat. 4-Reiya Abe (19-3-1, 9) The man Sagawa beat for the Japanese title was Reiya Abe, another of the excellent Japanese fighters at Featherweight. Abe is a brilliant technical boxer, an intelligent southpaw with a very good jab and he controls distance fantastically well. He was unfortunate in 2019 to fight to a draw with Taiki Minamoto and then lose a very close one against Ryo Sagawa. Abe is clearly below Sagawa in the rankings, but there was much that separated the men when they fought and in reality there's still not much between them. In fact whilst Sagawa does have the head to head win, Abe has solid wins himself over the likes of Daisuke Watanabe and Satoshi Hosono, among others. With a tough 2019 behind him we're really looking forward to seeing what the future brings for the skilled Abe. 5-Mark Magsayo (20-0, 14) As well as a bunch of fantastic Japanese fighters at Featherweight we also have a number of talented Filipino's. The best among the Pinoy's is Mark Magsayo, who has been banging on the door of a world title fight for a while now, but not managed to get the shot at the big time yet. Despite not getting a fight at world title level yet Magsayo already has wins over Chris Avalos, Shota Hayashi and Pungluang Sor Singyu. He made a smart move a few years ago, in leaving ALA Promotions but hasn't yet managed to secure a big fight with his new promoter. Magsayo is an excellent boxer puncher, and like many fighters we feel he will look better when he steps up faces tough competition. 6-Hinata Maruta (10-1-1, 8) Back to Japan for our #6 entry in the form of 23 year old Hinata Maruta. The talented Maruta has promised a lot since making his professional debut way back in 2015 and whilst he's yet to accomplish what was expected of him there is no doubting his ability. The one thing we need to see from Maruta is his chin being tested and his ability to move through the gears. It's often felt like he's only had 3 gears and that really did cost him against Hidenori Otake, in his sole loss. Thankfully since his defeat to Otake he has shown a lot to be excited about and wins over Tsuyoshi Tameda and Takenori Ohashi have been excellent. If Maruta can continue to improve as he has done recently he'll be finding himself with some big wins soon. Interestingly he is mandated to fight Abe in a Japanese title bout, though it now seems likely that that bout could slip to 2021 due to the ongoing situation. That may actually be a good thing for Maruta, give him extra time to grow into his man strength. 7-Jhack Tepora (23-1, 17) It's really hard to know what is going on with Jhack Tepora. At times he looks fantastic hi KO of Lusanda Komanisi in 2017 was brutal, and his win in Malaysia against Edivaldo Ortega should have helped launch him to some huge fights. They didn't and instead he fought a meaningless bout to Jose Luis Gallegos last June before being upset by Oscar Escandon in December 2019. That loss was among the bigger upsets of 2019, and completely killed what moment he had. Rumour from the Philippines circulated suggesting he had fallen out with his team, and that they had gotten fed up with some of his out of the ring habits. Whether their is truth to those rumours or not is unclear, but what is clear is a lack of activity has been a major issue for Tepora, who has fought just 3 times since the start of 20918. He needs to sort his career out before it's too late. 8-Musashi Mori (11-0, 6) Talented youngster Musashi Mori is the current WBO Asia Pacific champion and is very much "one of the future". At the time of writing he's just 20 years old but has already accomplished a hell of a lot, winning the 2017 Rookie of the Year and winning his regional title, taking it from Richard Pumicpic, which he has defended twice. Although still a work in progress two wins over Pumicpic and one over Takuya Mizuno pretty much show that he's already incredibly talented. For recent bout he has been training under the guidance of Ismael Salas so we're expecting to see significant improvements form the youngster in his next few fights. He's a talented southpaw, though does lack his man strength and power, and it will be interesting to see if he can develop that side of his game as he matures. 9-Richard Pumicpic (21-11-2, 6) With two close losses to Musashi Mori and a close loss to Ryosuke Iwasa it's easy to understand why Richard Pumicpic had double digit defeats. He has been matched hard, had to travel for bouts, and still run good fighters very close. He has now lost 3 in a row, but in reality he's deserved better from the judges. He's not the most powerful, or the quickest, or the biggest, but he's a nightmare. He's tough, rough, knows his way around the ring and really makes life difficult for anyone in the division. On his day he could beat men ranked well above him on this list, but has certainly lacked any form of luck and good fortune during his career. Fingers crossed we see the now 29 year old getting another opportunity to show what he can do in the near future. He's one of those fighters where you need to ignore his record, and just watch what he can do. 10-Ryo Matsumoto (23-3, 21) Arguably the most over-looked man in the division is former world title challenger Ryo Matsumoto, who moved up to Featherweight in 2018 following his loss to Daniel Roman. Matsumoto has all the things needed to be a star. He's good looking, powerful, quick, skilled, has great size for the division and is someone with an amazing story, fighting through a nasty illness. He also has a sense of vulnerability, with 2 stoppage losses against him. He has the things needed to be a feel good story in boxing, but needs to be given time to adapt to the division, which he has naturally grown into. A rematch with Ryo Sagawa would be interesting and is potentially something he and his team are viewing for the future. On the bubble: Satoshi Shimizu, Jhon Gemino, Genesis Servania, Shohei Omori and Shun Kubo If we're being honest the weigh in for a fight is rarely interesting. Whilst there are exceptions to this rule, usually when the fighters decide to throw punches at each other the day before their actual bout, those exceptions are few and far between. Today however we're going to discus one interesting weigh in from 2006. The weigh in didn't get much attention outside of Japan, but was certainly got the Japanese fans and media talking. In May 2006 Koki Kameda (then 10-0, 9) was taking on Nicaraguan Carlos Fajardo (then 15-6-1, 10). Fajardo had been reportedly struggling to make weight and rather than keeping his mouth shut about the situation Kameda used it as a chance to promote himself, and the fight. At the press conference a few days before the fight Kameda was eating and drinking, mocking Fajardo's weight issues. It was clear he was trying to get into Fajardo's head, and had no problems with making the weight himself. In fact the bout was at Flyweight, a weight that Kameda really did make very easily at the time and would later move down from, dropping to Light Flyweight. Fajardo on the other hand looked gaunt and like he really was taking a lot out of himself to make 112lbs. He had fought as low as Minimumweight but hadn't fought in almost a year coming into this bout, and had seemingly been coming to the end of his career. Having really mocked Fajardo at the press conference we then moved on to the weigh in and Kameda continued playing mind games. Rather than just getting on the scales and off, and putting weight back on for their bout Kameda had one more trick to play on May 4th, the day before the weigh in. Unbeknowst to most at the weigh in he had brought along a pan with an image of Fajardo's face on it. He then proceeded to bend the frying pan in front of the press, showing off his strength and making it clear he was going to crush the Nicaraguan. Both men made weight, with Kameda hitting the scales at 112lbs and Fajardo weighing in at 111¾lbs, but the weigh in was more about the frying pan incident than the men making weight. When the men got in the ring the bout proved to be a mismatch, with Kameda stopping Fajardo in 2 rounds. The Nicaraguan might have made weight but still looked drained and weak in the ring and was no competition for Kameda. Rather interestingly the whole frying pan story got an extra twist this year, with Shiro Kameda, Koki's father, appearing on TV in Kansai and revealed some details about Koki's pre-fight actions. Not just for this bout but others. For this he revealed that the that whilst the frying pan looked solid it was an incredibly cheap pan, that cost around 100yen, it was soft, and that anyone could have done it. That however didn't take away from the attention Kameda got for pulling the stunt way back in 2006. We've still no major fights taking place on however we still have a lot of archive videos we can share, and with that in mind we bring another volume of our "5 Bouts to enjoy during Isolation" series. This week we do probably the strongest 5 bouts so far. We have a future world in a thriller, a Japanese youth title bout, a pair of Japanese national title bouts and a criminally over-looked world title bout. We have explosive action, intense action and some fantastic rounds across these 5 bouts! Once again we want you to enjoy some boxing and these are very much bouts that are easy to enjoy so sit back, grab a beer and enjoy 5 fantastic fights from the world of Asian boxing! Myung Woo Yuh (17-0, 3) vs Oh Kong Son (19-1, 9) [1985] Toshiya Ishii (2-0, 1) Vs Haruki Ishikawa (8-1, 6) [2019] Takefumi Sakata (17-0-1, 7) vs Trash Nakanuma (20-2, 8) I [2002] Nobuyuki Shindo (20-4-1, 8) vs Akinori Watanabe (37-7, 31) Osamu Sato (24-1-1, 13) Vs Willie Jorrin (28-0, 12) [2002] One conversation we see a fair bit of online, though maybe not as much as we should, are the "What if..." fighters. Those are the fighters who appear to reach their potential for one reason or another. Those can be things like a top youngster dying at a tragically young age, a fighter falling out of love with the sport, suffering an injury, or a multitude of other things.
Some of the great global examples are Salvador Sanchez, who died tragically young, Muahmmad Ali and his several years of exile and Mike Tyson had Cus D'Amato not passed away when he did. We thought it was worth looking at the great examples from Asian boxing. Some of these are obvious, and potentially fighters who could have changed the sport at the top, whilst others are less well known, and likely wouldn't have had such a big impact globally but made a difference on a lower level Masao Oba (35-2-1, 16) It makes sense to start with the obvious one and get it out of the way. Japan's Masao Oba is one of the best fighters the country has ever developed. He was a master boxer who fought 38 times in his career, which lasted a little over 6 years. During his short time in the professional ranks he beat a genuine who's who of who from the Flyweight division in the 1970's. These included Bernabe Villacampo, Berkrerk Chartvanchai, Fritz Chervet, Betulio Gonzalez, Susumu Hanagata and Chartchai Chionoi. He not only beat a number of top fighters from his era but also won the WBA Flyweight title, which he defended 5 times. Despite having distinguished himself as an exceptional fighter Oba is Japan's most notable "What if..." as he passed away in January 1973, at the age of 23, in an auto mobile accident. What if he hadn't been involved in his fatal vehicular accident? The reality is that he struggling to make weight and was set to move up to Bantamweight. Given a move up would have seen Oba join a division that had the likes of Arnold Taylor, Romeo Anaya, Rafael Herrera, Venice Bokhorosor, Rodolfo Martinez, Soo Hwan Hong, Alfonso Zamora and Carlos Zarate in it. The potential for great bouts over the year that followed are amazing. For both him, the sport at large and the history of the Bantamweight division it is such a shame that Oba passed away when he did. Kiyoshi Tanabe (21-0-1, 5) Another relatively obvious choice here is another Japanese fighter, Kiyoshi Tanabe. The talented Japanese Flyweight had been an Olympic bronze medal winner in 1960, having run up a sensation 115-5 (30) amateur record and then turned pro in 1963. Less than 2 years after his debut he claimed the Japanese Flyweight title, which he defended twice. In early 1967 he battered WBA Flyweight champion Horacio Accavallo in 6 rounds, forcing the referee to stop the bout and save Accavallo. Sadly Tanabe's win over Accavallo came in a non-title bout, but they had planned a rematch on the back of Tanabe's victory, for the title. That plan got scrapped when Tanabe was forced to retire with a detached retina. Tanabe was 26 when he fought for the final time, he had linked up with the legendary Eddie Townsend, who was changing his style to be more aggressive, and that seemed to be on show against Accavallo, who had never previously been stopped. What if...Tanabe hadn't suffered a career ending injury just as he seemed on the verge of something big? Would he have beaten Accavallo the second time? Would the Argentinian veteran have adapted to him and got revenge for their first bout? Interestingly had Tanabe won the mooted rematch with Accavallo there's a chance Masao Oba would have faced him at some point around 1970. Poot Lorlek (8-0, 3) Whilst the two men we mentioned already had to end their careers due to issues that were totally out of their control that wasn't the case for Thailand's Poot Lorlek, who simply didn't stay in the sport very long. He's widely regarded as one of the greatest Muay Thai fighters in history, had a notable rivalry with Saensak Murangsurin, and transitioned to Western Style boxing for a very short career. It was short but it showed he could have had a real impact. In just 8 professional bouts Lorlek beat future Commonwealth champion Lawrence Austin and the then OPBF Lightweight champion Young Ho Oh, who later had 2 world title fights. What if...Poot Lorlek had stuck with Western boxing for a few years longer? How would he have coped with the likes of Wilfred Benitez, Antonio Cervantes and even old Muay Thai rival Saensak Muangsurin? Would he even have made it that far in boxing? He had shown in 8 bouts for us to get very excited, but that was all we got, and we really don't know how he would have coped had he continued in the sport. He's a great "what if..." that not many, other than the hardcore who follow Muay Thai, will know about, but really could have been something special in the sport. Especially given the success Muangsurin had. Chung Soo Suh (1-0) From what we understand boxrec have actually got a mistake in their records in regards to Chung Soo Suh, potentially merging two records together by mistake. The reason we say that us numerous Korean sources report that Chung Soo Suh made his debut on December 9th 1988 against Roger Vicera, but boxrec have got that bout added to some other fighter, potentially. With that said you may wonder why a 1-0 fighter is being mentioned on here, and that's because of what Suh did in the amateurs. He was a stellar amateur in a time where South Korea was developing standout amateurs almost on a conveyor belt of talent. Not only that but he was mixing very competitively with the best of the best, including Sung Kil Moon and Byung Il Jung. In fact he very nearly went to the 1988 Olympics but missed out to Jung, who was famously the protesting Korean boxer who sat in the ring after a loss. According to Korean sites Suh signed a professional contract in September 1988 with big hopes. His team had promised to secure him a world title fight within 5 bouts and had paid a hefty contract to turn profession. He seemed set for something bit, but only actually fought once, a decision over Filipino Roger Vicera. He then joined the military in 1990 before being discharged and struggling with finances, and then with alcohol. What if Suh had continued with his career? Would Kim Hyun-chi have managed to secure Suh a world title bout as he had promise? If he had remained an active fighter he'd have been looking at bouts against the likes of Raul Perez, Greg Richardson, Khaokor Galaxy and former amateur rival Sung Kil Moon. It's a real shame we never got to see what Suh could have done. Marvin Sonsona (21-1-1, 15) We end this with someone who had the potential to do something massive, and still technically does, but clearly won't. As we write this Marvin Sonsona is only 29, he's a former WBO Super Flyweight champion and one of the most naturally gifted fighters that we've seen. He was blessed with skills that should have lead him to a massive career, multi world championships, lengthy reigns at the top and a career as one of the faces of the lower weights. Instead of any of that Sonsona's career highlights are a 2 month reign as a world champion, avenging his sole defeat and a 2014 KO of the Year candidate. So, you may ask, why is Marvin Sonsona a "What if...", he wasn't injured, he didn't die young, and didn't have his career cut short. In fact he had an 11 year professional career and is still young enough to fight on. The "What if..." for Marvin Sonosona, is "What if he actually showed dedication to the sport?" He managed to win a world title at 19 years old, then lost if on the scales. So just for a start, had he been dedicated his reign would have been longer, he wouldn't have moved up 2 weight classes in the 5 months following his title win, and wouldn't have been knocked out by Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. Whether Sonsona would ever have reached the heady heights predicted for him or not is unclear, but he certainly would have done a lot more with his career. We recently looked at the incredibly packed Bantamweight division, and the top 10 there was genuinely amazing. It's not the only super stacked division for Asian fighters through and we also have some amazing depth at Super Bantamweight. In fact the division might be even deeper than the Bantamweight.
1-Murodjon Akhmadaliev (8-0, 6) The #1 in the and the division is unbeaten Uzbek Murodjon Akhmadaliev who showed his ability last time out when he defeated Daniel Roman to become the WBA "Super" and IBF champion in the division. The win over Roman alone, is the biggest of anyone in this list, and arguably bigger than anyone has right now in the division. For Akhmadaliev to have done that in just his 8th bout was truly exceptional. With a pair of titles around his waist and a completed 12 round under his belt the 25 year is only going to get better and better and will be the number in the division until he gets beat. A fantastic boxer puncher who brawl when he needs to. A truly fantastic fighter and one who proved us wrong in his win over Roman, a bout we felt was maybe too early at the time but "MJ" proved other wise. 2-Ryosuke Iwasa (27-3, 17) Former IBF champion Ryosuke Iwasa, who is actually the current IBF "interim" and the mandatory for Akhmadaliev, is a very hot and cold fighter. When he's at his best he's a special talent, a hard hitting boxer-puncher. Sadly though he's had a number of off nights during his career, can look very one paced and has historically struggled against fellow lefties. Although technically good Iwasa is more of a puncher than a boxer, and his power has impressed against the likes of Kentaro Masuda, Yukinori Oguni and Marlon Tapales. Sadly he really failed to get going against TJ Doheny in 2018 and was made to look awful against Lee Haskins in 2015. Those set backs are now in the rear view mirror and wins last year against Cesar Juarez and Marlon Tapales have really put him right back in the mix. 3-Hiroaki Teshigawara (21-2-2, 14) Current OPBF champion Hiroaki Teshigawara is a man who is very much knocking on the door of a world title fight, which he had been hoping to get this year. The 29 year old made his debut in 2011 and but it's really been the last few that he's managed to make a mark on the sport. It's fair to say that the main turning point in Teshigawara's career was his close loss to Ryo Akaho in 2016. Since that loss he has reeled off 9 straight wins including victories over Keita Kurihara, Jason Canoy, Teiru Kinoshita and Shohei Omori. Although on first glance Teshigawara can look a bit rough around the edges at times he's an incredibly smart boxer puncher who manages to dictate the pace and tempo off his very smart feints and educated lead hand. Teshigawara might be some way behind Akhamdaliev and Iwasa, but he's very much in the mix for a potential world title fight when international boxing resumes later in the year. 4-Jhunriel Ramonal (17-8-6, 10) If this list was based solely on "what have you done recently" Ramonal would be banging on the door for the #1 position. Despite sporting a journeyman-like record the dangerous 30 year old Pinoy puncher stopped both Shingo Wake and Yusuaku Kuga in 2019. He's the current WBO Asia Pacific champion and is riding a 5 fight unbeaten run, with his last loss coming way in November 2014. Although not the most talented, quickest or smartest fighter out there Ramonal is a dangerous fighter and not someone you can look past. With stone like hands and a great will to win he's #4 on merit, though there are question marks about how long his current run will last. 5-Shingo Wake (26-6-2, 18) Talented Japanese southpaw Shingo Wake is someone who is a very smart technical boxer, he uses his reach, his range and his jab fantastically, and has enough power on his shots to get respect, without being a puncher. We also cannot question Wake's heart, and his desire against Jonathan Guzman in 2016 was incredible, especially given how battered his face was. In 2019 he was stopped in 3 rounds by Ramonal, ending a 6 fight run of stoppages including wins over Panomroonglek Kaiyanghadaogym, Yusaku Kuga and Takafumi Nakajima. His comeback is pencilled in for July, though given the current situation it's currently unclear if that bout will take place or not. 6-Tomoki Kameda (36-3, 20) Former WBO Bantamweight champion Tomoki Kameda is the only one of the Kameda brothers still fighting, after brothers Koki and Daiki retired. The 28 year old is carrying on the Kameda name and seeking to become a 2-weight champion and he pursues a bout at 122lbs. High skilled, with quick hands and good movement Kameda has the ability to win a title, but unfortunately appears to have a lack of power at the weight, and his shots, whilst they look good, don't appear to get opponents respect, something that will be an issue against the best in the division. He was also comfortably beaten last time out, when Rey Vargas out boxed him at range. There is a feeling that Kameda's skills won't be enough to over-come the physical advantages of the top fighters in the division, but at he's certainly not going to be an easy man to beat. We suspect he'll be too good for regional level bouts but not quite good enough to take a world title here. 7-Yukinori Oguni (21-2-1, 8) Former IBF champion Yukinori Oguni is hard to place in these rankings. He has lost to Shingo Wake and Ryosuke Iwas, but holds a huge 2016 win over Jonathan Guzman. Another reason he's so hard to rank is due to what he's done since his 2017 loss to Iwasa. Originally he retired following that loss, but then came back in 2018 and has scored two wins. He's not looked his best in those victories but, it did seem like the 31 year old was more focused on shaking ring rust than trying to impress people. Fingers crossed we get a good chance to see what Oguni had next time left as he's a really talented, and often over looked fighter who could, and perhaps should, have achieved more than he has so far. Although not a puncher he does hit harder than his record suggests and is certainly a clean puncher, who is accurate, smart and has some very nice looking body shots. 8-Marlon Tapales (33-3, 16) Another former world champion here is 28 year old Filipino Marlon Tapales, a really under-rated southpaw. Tapales was a former WBO Bantamweight champion, who won the title in a brilliant comeback against Pungluang Sor Singyu, but lost the belt on the scales 9 months later. Despite only having 16T/KO's in his 33 wins the Filipino is a solid puncher, with a lot of his decision wins coming early in his career before he got his man strength. Despite being a talented fighter it is worth noting that he was made to look second last time out, by Ryosuke Iwasa, and was stopped in 11 rounds. That bout was very much a beating for the Filipino and it's going to be very interesting to see what he's like when he returns to the ring. Notably that loss was his first defeat in over 6 years and his first stoppage loss in over a decade. 9-Albert Pagara (32-1, 23) Once beaten Filipino Albert Pagara was supposed to be the next big Filipino star, and sadly he's not yet got there. The talented 26 year old obviously has time on his side but also has a lot of questions to answer about his mental and physical toughness. The "Prince" is a sharp boxer-puncher, who very quick and very heavy handed, but was stopped himself by Cesar Juarez in 2016 and he's yet to return to that fringe level. If we're being honest Pagara passes the eye test with ease, but we'll remain unsure about his potential until he get in another dog fight, then we expect that we'll see a lot of questions answered about him. Sadly his 32 wins so far really haven't done much to prove his ability, and he desperately needs a step up in class when boxing returns to the Philippines. 10-Yusaku Kuga (19-4-1, 13) 2-time Japanese champion Yusaku Kuga is a rough, tough, crude but exciting fighter, but one who is maybe feeling the effects of a hard career. At his best Kuga is an aggressive boxer-puncher, and he's score notable wins over the likes of Yusuke Suzuki, Yasutaka Ishimoto and Ryoichi Tamura however those wins have often come in very punishing bouts, and both of his bouts with Tamura were massively damaging wars, for both men. Notably Kuga has been stopped in 2 of his last 5, with those losses coming to Jhunriel Ramonal and Shingo Wake. Although he's "only" 29 we do wonder how much those tough, gruelling bouts with Tamura have taken from him. He's supposed to make a mandatory defense of his Japanese title against Gakuya Furuhashi later this year, and that will likely tell us what he has left in the tank. On the bubble: Mike Plania, Ye Joon Kim, Chainoi Worawut, Gakuya Furuhashi and Jeo Santisima |
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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