This past weekend was a busy one for fight fans who were looking to follow all the fights that took place. Among the ones that were somewhat over-looked was the contest between former world title challenger Shingo Wake (27-6-2, 19) and fellow Japanese fighter Shohei Kawashima (18-5-2, 4). This was certainly not a big fight, but it was an interesting one, even if it did lack in terms of drama and action.
With that bout watched, and now rewatched, we have decided to share our Take Aways from the bout. 1-Using cut outs for Social Distancing was a genius move To begin with lets talk about Korakuen Hall and how it was laid out. We have complained recently about the venue not enforcing social distance but this time there was social distancing, and it was done in a very clever way. The headline bout of the show was the Hajime No Ippo 30th Anniversary tournament final, and for the entire show there was cut outs of characters from the anime in the crowd. This made the venue look relatively full at first glance but did make people sit between a gap between each other. This was ingenious and something that we should see continue to be done! Also once again it's great to see that everyone is still wearing masks, even though or two people did take them down at times. 2-Shingo Wake is still a fantastic counter puncher Last year we saw Shingo Wake being upset by Jhunriel Ramonal, this was his first bout since that loss and he looked super sharp at times. His picked his shots well, made Shohei Kawashima pay when he missed and really made it very clear that he was the boss. Scoring 4 knockdowns is impressive against a solid domestic talent like Kawashima, but the way he scored them is worthy of attention. The first was a brilliant little right hook, the second was from a solid straight left hand, the third was a truly brilliant counter straight left hand. If you make a mistake against Wake you better be prepared to pay for it! 3-Can Wake put his foot on the gas? Although we were really impressed by Wake's counter punching, accuracy, power and timing on the back foot, we did feel like there was a lack of aggression from him at times. He seemed happy to go through the motions, happy to try to land the perfect shot. When he had to force the action it just look natural at all and he really struggled to force the issue. At times it seemed like he was playing with his food as a result and it did mean the bout went on a round or two longer than it had to. Whilst Kawashima is a good counter puncher himself he never looked like he had the power to hurt Wake, and it's a shame that Wake didn't manage to jump on his man and take him out in style. We do wonder if this was a change to a safety conscious style following his loss last time out, or if he really can't keep up an offensive charge now at the of 33. 4-Shohei Kawashima is coming to the end of his career We're maybe reading too much into this result, but we can't help thinking that Shohei Kawashima's career is coming to an end sooner rather than later. This is his third loss in 4 bouts and his his 5 losses in 9 bouts, his second successive stoppage loss and another very damaging one. We do have to wonder about his punch resistance and whether there is much reason for the 29 year old to continue. After winning Rookie of the Year there was real hope for him, but in recent years he has either been matched softly, or matched too hard. There was a lack of developmental fights from his team and that shows now a days. 5-Dangan do pre-fight videos right! Dangan are, easily, one of the best promoters in the sport. Watching their shows however we don't tend to see much hype in their things, instead focusing on the fights taking place. Here we got some training footage, interviews and comments before the men got in the ring. We'd love to see more of that type of thing on these Dangan cards. We hate how over the top some TV channels go with their pre-fight hype, and ESPN are terrible for it but a short, 3 or 4 minute build up does add something without getting tiring. Hopefully that sort of thing will becoming a normal thing and will extend to more bouts on a show, rather than just the top bout or two.
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When we talk about Japanese fighters who have managed to make a name for themselves internationally one name that certainly stands out due to their exciting bouts, rather than their out and out success, is Takashi Miura. The heavy handed southpaw went 1-2 in the US and 2-2 in fights outside of Japan but yet garnered a genuine cult following in the West due to his exciting power and thrilling battles.
Given how popular the slugger from Akita was, here are 10 facts you probably didn't know about...Takashi Miura 1-As an amateur Miura went 34-6 (22), and when he turned professional his style was regarded as being very professional by those at the Yokohama Hikari Gym. 2-Miura's uncle Masanao San was a former 2-time Japanese Featherweight champion back in the 1970's. 3-Miura's professional debut came on the under-card of a WBA Minimumweight world title fight between Noel Arambulet and Yutaka Niida, in what was their first of two bouts. According to reports Miura was dropped on his debut, but dropped his opponent in the same round. 4-Miura beat Yoshimitsu Yashiro for the Japanese Super Featherweight title in 2009, in their second bout. Rather oddly Yashiro had beaten another fighter named Takashi Miura back in 2006! 5-Miura used AC/DC's iconic "Back in Black" as his walk out music. 6-Despite being best known in the West for fights under the Teiken banner he didn't switch to Teiken until July 1st 2011. His first bout as a Teiken fighter was his 25th pro contest, and the first one following his loss to Takashi Uchiyama in January 2011. 7-Only one of Miura's opponents didn't come from Japan, Thailand, Mexico or the Philippines. That was Australian Billy Dib. In total he fought Japanese opponents 15 times, Thai opponents 10 times, Filipino foes thrice and Mexican rivals 8 times. Incidentally his first Mexican foe was Jorge Perez, in what was his first bout as a Teiken fighter. 8-Miura's 2013 win over Sergio Thompson was only the second time in history that a Japan man successfully defended a world title in Mexico. The first had come in 2009 when Toshiaki Nishioka stopped Jhonny Gonzalez. 9-Following his 2018 retirement Miura has been teaching boxing in Akita and is a technical advisor to the Akita Sports Association. 10-Interestingly Miura was the fifth Japanese fighter to hold the WBC Super Featherweight title, following Yoshiki Numata, Hiroshi Kobayashi, Kuniaki Shibata and Takahiro Ao. Incidentally he actually lost a close amateur bout to Ao and won the title from the man Ao had lost it to, Gamaliel Diaz. Extra Fact - Despite being popular internationally Muira was never really considered a big name in Japan. That's not to say he was disliked at home, but his star power never really grew at home in the way many would have a assumed given his style and power. This past weekend we saw talented Uzbek Israil Madrimov (6-0, 5) score his latest win, as he defeated tough American Eric Walker. The bout was a real eye opener and saw Madrimov go the distance for the first time, going 12 rounds. The bout was a dramatic one, with a huge botched call by the referee being the talking point. Despite the total mess caused by the referee even that didn't really cover over the cracks that Madrimov showed.
Plenty have now cooled the jets on Madrimov and we have all been left with more questions than answers. The reality is that before he gets a world title fight it'll be best for him to answer those questions, regarding his defense, his movement, his chin and his stamina. With that in mind we've given Madrimov the "Five for..." treatment this week, looking at 5 possible opponents that we would love to see the Uzbek in with next, before a potential world title fight in 2021. 1-Wale Omotoso (28-5, 22) The truth is Madrimov needs to face opponents who can either take a shot, or can hurt him, if not both. The reality is that veteran Wale Omotoso can potentially do both those things. He's a rugged, hard hitter who has seen better days but is certainly still a serviceable gatekeeper, who just last year faced the brilliant Brian Carlos Castano. At 35 years old Omotoso is on the slide but is still danger, as we saw against Curtis Stevens last year, and he's only a few fights removed from giving Jamal James all he could handle. On paper Omotoso is the smaller man, and that will give Madrimov some breathing space, but he's also a veteran and not someone Madrimov can take liberties with. This would be a rather fun bout and give Madrimov, and his team, a chance to compare against Castano, who is widely regarded as one of the top 10 in the division. 2-Takeshi Inoue (16-1-1, 10) We, like many fans, enjoy a war, with two tough aggressive fighters letting their shots go. With that in mind a bout between Madrimov and teak tough Japanese fighter Takeshi Inoue ticks all the boxes we could want to be ticked for a fan friendly fight. Coming in Inoue is ranked by 3 of the 4 world title bodies, with only the WBA currently not ranking him, and Madrimov is in line for a WBA world title fight. Ranking wise this would open up lateral options for the winner, and as a bout, god damn this would be amazing to watch, and wonderfully violent. More than anything this would serve as a gut check for Madrimov, who would have to dig deep against a fellow strong, aggressive and tough fighter. Inoue might not have the skills, but does have the stamina and toughness to ask new questions of Madrimov and the Uzbek's mental attitude, 3-Brandon Cook (22-2, 15) We'd like to see Madrimov in with someone who likes to fight a bit, and with that in mind we would love to see him fight Canadian veteran Brandon Cook. The 34 year old Canadian is unlikely to get a second world title fight, losing a stoppage loss to Jaime Mungia, in 2018, but he's still very much a live, exciting puncher in the division. With both of his losses coming by stoppage we know he's not the toughest and most durable fighter out there, but he comes to fight, has plenty of pop and is a former world title challenger, which is, on paper at least, the type of opponent that we want to see Madrimov in with. We don't imagine this will be the toughest bout for Madrimov, but Cook has the power to test his chin, as we saw when he stopped Steven Butler. We see this as a fan friendly bout and one that should help get people back on the Madrimov express after his recent struggle with Eric Walker. 4-Kell Brook (39-2, 27) It's really hard to know what exactly Englishman Kell Brook has left. If he's half the fighter he once was then he's a legitimate contender, but with just 2 fights in the last 24 months he may well be shot to bits. If he's still got ambition we'd like to see him in a live fight and a bout with Madrimov would certainly be a live bout for him. For Brook this would be a chance to prove he belongs in with the world champions at 154lbs. On the other hand Madrimov would get the chance to score a win over a notable name and a former world champion. This bout would be an easy one to make, in theory, as both are promoted by Matchroom, but Matchroom don't have a great record of matching their contenders, sadly. 5-Tony Harrison (28-3, 21) Whilst a bout between Madrimov and Brook should be easy to make it's fair to say that Brook is a faded force. A more interesting bout, but a much tougher one to make, would be a contest between Madrimov and recent world champion Tony Harrison. Harrison is technically very good, and Madrimov would need to have his head screwed on to cope with "Super Bad", but the power and aggression of the Uzbek may well be enough to break down the American, who has been stopped in all 3 of his losses. Sadly this is tricky one to make, but one we would love to see and think it would really show what both men have to offer the sport.. On Wednesday we got the chance to see talented Japanese Flyweight Ryota Yamauchi (7-1, 6) claim his most important win to date as he over-came Satoru Todaka (10-4-4, 4) to become the WBO Asia Pacific Flyweight champion. The bout was one that never seemed in double for the rising Yamauchi, who had Todaka down at the end of round 3 before the corner said enough was enough.
Whilst the bout wasn't shown live it was made available online hours after it took place, and with that in mind we felt it was another great fight to feature in our Take Away's series. 1-Yamauchi still has work to do We are massive fans of Ryota Yamauchi and have been since very early in his professional career. For a fighter in just his 8th bout he looked very advanced, and seemed to be calming his usual aggression somewhat, using his jab more and having a much tighter defense than we've seen at times. Saying that however there is still real work to do before he thinks about a world title fight. It's clear the intention of this bout was to get him in the WBO rankings and move him closer to a world title shot, which is the right move, but we suspect he is still a few fights away from that level. That's not to take anything at all away from his performance, but we suspect he's still not ready for any of the true top 10 in the division and a little more seasoning will seriously help him out. He was also caught, in round 2, by some big head shots, that he will will not want to take from the top fighters, he also left himself very open when trying to close the show in round 3. If we were at Kadoebi we would give him another year of before we let him loose at world level. We genuinely think he has the physical tools and the arsenal to reach the top. His jab is great, his body shots are wicked and his punches are crisp. He does however often end up too close, and doesn't always use his size well, which he probably needs to at world level. A good gate keeper type opponent next would do his career the world of good. 2-Todaka was too small for Flyweight Although it seems almost certain that Satoru Todaka will be hanging them up after this bout, something he alluded to at the weigh in, we can't help but think Flyweight is not, was not, and never will be, a weight suited to him. He wasn't massively dwarfed in terms of height by Yamauchi, though was clearly the shorter man, but his style was never going to work at the weight. He's not strong enough or powerful enough to make his head down pressure style count. We do wonder whether he could have made 105lbs earlier in his career, as his toughness and determination could have brought him genuine success at the weight. 3-Corner men in Japan aren't too brave Some thing we've seen recently in the UK and US are corner men that are "too brave" and watch their fighter take rounds of unnecessary punishment in a fight they have no chance of winning. Here we saw Todaka's corner make a swift decision to stop the bout when their man was beginning to fall apart. It was the right decision and a decision that saw them do right by their fighter. Whilst some fighters obviously want bouts to continue, and again Todaka had spoke about retirement before this bout, there is sometimes a need for a merciful corner and the folk from the Leopard Tamakuma gym did exactly the right thing. Not letting this go on too long and stopping their fighter from taking too much punishment. 4-Boxing Raise is amazing Whilst there has been a lack of boxing in recent months we are seeing the sport resume and gear up in recent weeks. One of the notable services that is often getting over-looked is the Boxing Raise service. The monthly subscription service delved into their archives when there was no fights taking place and are now picking up a lot of the shows in Japan. For them to have same day availability of this fight is brilliant a testament to the hard work they do. TV channels and bigger services need to take note of what Boxing Raise are doing and begin asking themselves why they can't do similar. This was available just hours after it took place, not days, like Fuji TV, or even weeks, like TBS. At ¥980 a month this is a bargain for fans of the Japanese scene, and we really recommend people wanting to follow Japanese boxing do give it a shot, especially now that boxing is back! 5-Fans at Korakuen Hall is still a worry Earlier this week, in our Take Away's article about Ryo Sagawa Vs Yuri Takemoto, we mentioned how fans were sat at Korakuen Hall, and suggested it was a potential issue given what is going on in the world. This show solidified those feelings with the benches again very crowded in the center, and the space not used well for social distancing. We really do wonder whether it's the angle or whether social distancing just isn't in effect. If it's not, it probably should be, even if it does look bad on camera. On the other hand it is great to see everyone wearing masks, with ringside officials wearing face shields as well. 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 current day Japanese star Naoya Inoue to former Kazakh fighter, turn boxing official, Serikzhan Yeshmagambetov. 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-Before winning his first world title Naoya Inoue had already won both the Japanese and OPBF Light Flyweight titles, as he raced through the domestic and regional ranks, and then onto world level. A prior Japanese and OPBF Light Flyweight champion is Takashi Shiohama, who won the Japanese title in 1995 and the OPBF title in 1996. He did challenger for a world title, but came up short against the then WBA champion Rosendo Alvarez. 2-To win the OPBF Light Flyweight title Takashi Shiohama stopped experienced Filipino Ric Magramo, who was fighting in his 51st professional bout. This would actually be the second OPBF title bout for Magramo, who had previously fought to a draw with Shiro Yashiro, just 5 months prior to losing a technical decision to Shiohama. 3-The Ric Magramo mentioned above, who faced Shiohama and Yashiro, was born Renato Magramo but fought as Ric Magramo. This sees him sharing a ring name with Endrikito Magramo, who used the Ric Magramo name in the 1960's and 1970's. Interestingly the first Ric Magramo also came up short in a number of OPBF title bouts, albeit at Flyweight. 4-The original Ric Magramo, the one from the 1960's, fought a mini who's who of the Flyweight scene of the era. This included bouts against the likes of Hiroyuki Ebihara, Bernabe Villacampo, Walter McGowan, Berkrerk Chartvanchai and Erbito Salavarria. In fact Magramo and Salavarria clashed 4 times, with the men splitting their series 2-2. 5-Despite twice losing to Ric Magramo the talented Erbito Salavarria would go on to have a very successful career, winning both the WBA and WBC Flyweight titles during his very notable career. Another Filipino who won the WBC Flyweight title was, of course, the iconic Manny Pacquiao. 6-In March 2003 Manny Pacquiao, the then IBF Super Bantamweight champion, fought in a non title bout as he took on little known Kazakh Serikzhan Yeshmagambetov. The bout, although not too well remembered, saw the Kazakh pull himself off the canvas in round 1, drop Pacquiao in round 4, but end up being stopped himself in the 5th round. We continue to look at some midweek facts this week, as we continue to wait for fights to take place. This week we look at the tragic Seiji Asakawa (23-4-1, 17), a man who really was taken before his time following a tragic accident whilst out fishing, at the age of 33. We don't intend to dwell on his death here, but instead look at some other little things about Asakawa and his career.
For those unaware of Asakawa he was a professional fighter from 1986 to 1994, fighting 28 bouts. During his career he was a multi-time Japanese Featherweight champion, an OPBF Featherweight champion and a 2-time world title challenger. During his career he was great fun to watch, with his loss to Young Kyun Park being a great war in 1992 and his 1989 thriller with Kengo Fukuda being a 2-round shoot out. With that introduction out there let us bring you 5 midweek facts against Seiji Asakawa. 1-We begin this with one for wrestling fans. Asakawa attended the Ikuei High School at the same time as Koji Kanemoto, aka the third wrestler to place the iconic Tiger Mask in New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) 2-Asakawa's brother, Takehiko, was the president of Kimuratan Co. The company is best known for selling baby clothes and clothes aimed at young children. 3-For a guy with 17 T/KO's to his name you'd have assumed Asakawa would have at least one opening round blow out. In fact he doesn't. His shortest bouts ended in the second round. In fact he had 4 bouts that ended in round 2, with 3 of those resulting in wins and the other ending in a loss to Kazuya Kano, which he later avenged. Just as an addition to the above fact 8 of Asakawa bouts ended in round 3, all of which were wins, and 6 ended in round 4, of which he won 5. This means a staggering 16 of his 23 wins came in rounds 2, 3 or 4! 4-The gym Asakawa ran was destroyed in 1995 by the Great Hanshin Earthquake 5-His nickname was "Shinkaichi no kikōshi", or "Prince of the New Frontier". A really brilliant nickname in our eyes! Last week fight fans at Korakuen Hall saw Japanese Featherweight Ryo Sagawa (10-1, 5) retain his title with a 6th round KO win against Yuri Takemoto (8-2-1, 4). We, however, had to wait until the weekend to watch the bout on tape delay on Fuji TV.
Following the contest we were left with something's we wanted to talk about, and thought it was a great bout to cover for our second Take Aways article 1-Ryo Sagawa is a joy to watch We all have natural biases in what we like and for us one of the most fun to watch styles are the aggressive technicians. The guys who are skilled but come forward and don't look to win bouts solely on the back foot. Ryo Sagawa fits that mould perfectly. He is very much a joy to watch, pressing forward, jabbing, poking, finding holes and letting shots go. One issue we often see with technical boxer is that they wait for something to happen but Sagawa makes things happen and that is a real fan friendly quality. He also does that without being reckless, but simply by being accurate and busy. Despite being offensively minded Sagawa also still has big question marks over his chin, which makes every exchange have a sense of tension to it. It's likely his chin will be an issue when he steps up a level, but at domestic level it's part of what is giving every opponent something to make them feel they have a chance. We don't think many international fans are aware of Sagawa, but they really should be, this kid is a joy to watch, he makes boxing look easy, has under-rated power and when he has an opponent hurt he goes for the kill. 2-Yuri Takemoto has a bright future Aged just 24 Takemoto jumped at the chance to take on Sagawa at Korakuen Hall. Although we don't often talk about the geographical situation in Japan Takemoto is based in Wakayama, over 300 miles from Tokyo, and was fighting in the capital for just the second time, with the last time coming in the All Japan Rookie of the Year in 2018. This was a huge step up in class, against a brilliant fighter and Takemoto acquitted himself really well. It was too much of a step up, too soon, but he showed enough here to prove that he shouldn't be written off, and we dare say he learned more in defeat than he had in his last 3 bouts combined. The youngster was ambitious, came to win, fought bravely and fought back despite taking some huge shots. That showed enough to earn him new fans, and prove he has a hell of a chin. Don't sleep on him despite this loss, he should come again in a few years time. 3-The Japanese title still has massive significance In recent weeks we've seen the WBA pump out "interim" titles like their business model depends on having 4 champions per weight class. In Japan titles are still kept to a relative minimum with the national title having huge prestige. Whilst a Japanese title doesn't match the value of a WBA "interim super duper" trouser keeper up we do need to make it clear that a national title that has top domestic fighters fighting for it helps grow an important national scene. We don't expect the US to follow suit but we can't help but think that a true national title or a regional title for some countries that don't have one would be a really important stepping stone, and help to eliminate the need for these pointless WBA belts. In Europe there is the EBU title and in Asia there is the OPBF title. In North America there is nothing similar at the moment in terms of prestige. The NABF, USBA and NABA titles were all supposed to serve that function, but they haven't done the job properly and have fallen by the way side, allowing prospects to win "interim" world titles instead. That's a real shame. National and regional titles are great things and it's a shame that so few countries have a scene like Japan and the UK in regards to their national titles. 4-Korakuen Hall looks better with fans but... The bout was held at the iconic Korakuen Hall and was actually the first headline bout at the venue to have fans. That was brilliant, and it's great to see fans back at the "hall". However it did leave us wondering about social distancing and a lot of people seemed to be sat in small clusters on the benches. We know why the venue was only partially filled, and we know why fans haven't been at bouts, but their close proximity to each other here had left us a little bit uneasy. Unlike some venues, such as the City Sogo Gym in Hirakata, where seating can be placed and spaced with plastic chairs Korakuen Hall has long benches for seats on one side of the ring, giving it a very unique and intimate look. Sadly the venue might be verging on "too intimate" for the current climate. Not only do the organisers, in this case Misako, need to look at at the number of people in the venue but also how concentrated they are in any region of the venue. Whilst it may well be a case of the camera making it look crowded, we suspect that changes will need to be made to how fans are allowed to sit in the venue. Also even a splattering of fans makes a big difference to the whole atmosphere and we suspect other promoters, will be desperate to get fans back in to venues, even if it is a limited number. 5-We wish it had been Hinata Maruta Whilst we were impressed by Yuri Takemoto's effort, and it was a very brave and credible one, we still wish that Ryo Sagawa had faced Hinata Maruta, as originally expected. We feel a bout between those two men would be something very special and would see both men raising their games to exceptional levels. We understand why we didn't get it, and really do think Takemoto exceeded all expectations, but it does feel a little bit underwhelming still, given what seemed like a done deal. A bout between Sagawa and Maruta was scheduled earlier in the year, but we all know what's happened in 2020, and sadly the bout has been put on hiatus, likely until 2021. We still hope we see those two in the ring together, but there is a real worry that the two men may go in different directions. That's because Sagawa is currently world ranked and will likely be looking for those bigger opportunities sooner rather than late. (Screen shot used to show how close together fans were) This past weekend we saw Uzbek hopeful Israil Madrimov (6-0, 5) take a decision win over Eric Walker (20-3, 9). The bout was a lot tougher than anyone expected it to be but left us with a number of take aways to think about and to talk about. With that in mind let us bring you the first in what will be another semi-regular feature, "The Take Aways", where we'll take a look at a recent bout and mention some things of interest relating to it.
1-Gary Ritter blew it! Lets start with the most obvious one, referee Gary Ritter really blew the call, and looked confused by what was going on in a situation he created. In round 9 a huge, leaping, off balance, left hand from Madrimov landed clean and dropped Walker. Following the puncher an over-balanced Madrimov fell into Walker in his follow through. The referee, who stated the shot was clean, had two clear options here. He should have either given Walker a count, following the knockdown, or taken the bout to the score-cards if he thought an accidental foul played a role, due to the fact that Walker had essentially been knocked out. Walker lasted the distance, when the bout resumed, but really shouldn't have been in that position. Whilst Ritter technically followed the WBA's rules here, which we've included below, the reality is that he got it wrong and that the rules need a look at. Walker took a huge head shot, and appeared to be concussed, there is no reason that bout should have gone on any longer, and we're very lucky that Eric Walker is fine. The rule here is: "The referee shall be the only authorized person to determine if a foul has produced an injury, and if it was accidental or intentional. The referee shall have the authority to stop a fight and make a decision if he considers that the bout has become dangerously one-sided, or if any of the boxers is in such condition that if the fight continues he is likely to suffer serious injury. " 2-The WBA's rules need changing As we can see from the above, the rules need changing. That should have been stopped by the local commission or the doctor if the referee wasn't willing to put Eric Walker's health first. Walker took a lot of head shots following the incident and we really are lucky that Walker didn't appear to suffer some serious damage, but there is no reason to have extra risk in an already risky sport. If the WBA don't want to give the commission and the physician that sort of power then they need to bring in an instant replay for these types of situations. That may have convinced the referee that the shot that was landed should have ended the bout, whether that was by KO or taking us to the cards early. 3-Eric Walker is a genuinely tough guy A more positive take away is that Eric Walker showed incredible toughness here. He not only saw out the round 9 incident but took a pounding to the body early on, a huge flurry of head shots in round 6, and then some monstrous leather late on. These weren't just shots from an average puncher but were from a legitimately heavy handed guy like Madrimov. These were shots that would take out most fighters and Walker took a lot them. It wasn't really until late in round 12 that he looked like they had taken the fight out of him. We're not sure what Eric Walker is made out of, but if you can bottle it and sell it to the military you've got yourself a very profitable business. 4-Israil Madrimov can dig deep, but has work to do It's fair to say that for the first time since making his professional debut Israil Madrimov was given a real test and wasn't able to have things all his own way. Some will say that's a sign Madrimov isn't as good as fans are saying, or isn't as good as the hype. For us however it's not as simple as that. Firstly Madrimov was forced to dig deep, he looked terrible in rounds 7 and 8, and seemed like a man who had blown his load. The fact he got through that, and dropped Walker in round 9, is something to take real positives from. He gutted out the first tough patch in his career, landed one of the best shots of the year, and showed he can tough it out. That is a major test for a fighter and a hurdle that many fighters don't cross until it's much later in their career. Secondly Madrimov is still a work in progress, and for us the biggest part of that isn't his talent or ability, but how he uses his skills and the mental side of things. We have often seen him and though he looked bored in bouts, and actually needs to face fighters who come to win to get the best out of him. We dare say that he expected to win very easily against Walker and fought a tactically reckless bout, where he believed the 37 year old Walker was going to break down. For us the bit he needs to improve is that mental aspect, and he needs to realise opponents from here on are actually going to be tough and come to win. If, or when, Madrimov gets his head in check and uses his skills properly we think we'll see a much, much better performance. We'll see him pace himself better, show off his footwork more and plough forward less. Fingers crossed this was a wake up call there. 5-Fitness during the current situation may be lacking Whilst the bout was fought at a great pace early on both men seemed gassed at various points. Walker looked exhausted in rounds 5, 6, 11 and 12 whilst Madrimov looked knackered in rounds 7 and 8. Whilst some of that was certainly down to the tempo, and some was down to the conditions they were fighting in, with the temperature in Tulsa not being the greatest to box in, it did seem like general conditioning was an issue. This was brought up by Madrimov in his post fight interview and we do wonder if the less than ideal situation to prepare for the bout affected both fighters. This was one of the most intense 12 round bouts since the sport restarted and we do wonder if fighters are maybe only 80%-90% of full fitness. We may be reading too much into this, but it is something that we do suggesting keep an eye on going forward. Especially given other things, like David Benavidez missing weight and poor performances in the UK by the likes of Archie Sharpe. This is one of those things that we expect will show its self as we begin to get more and more competitive bouts, and it could take a bout or two for fighters to adjust to "the new normal". During the history of the Super Flyweight division we've seen some legends holding world titles, like Jiro Watanabe, Khaosai Galaxy, Gilberto Roman and more recently Naoya Inoue and Roman Gonzalez. It's also had some lesser known fighters holding world titles there, including Japan's Tomonobu Shimizu.
Given how little we see people talk about Shimizu now a days we though why not look at 10 facts you probably didn't know about... Tomonobu Shimizu! 1-Shimizu's blood type is AB, the rarest in Japan. In Japanese blood type theory this means he is "eccentric", and has character traits like being talented, cool, composed, rational, but impatient, charming and diplomatic, but vulnerable, shy and self centered. 2-Shimizu went 68-10 (25) in the amateurs and was the captain of the same university that also had Toshiyuki Igarashi and Kazuto Ioka 3- Shimizu's ring walk music was usually the theme from the Rocky movies. 4-Despite being such a good amateur Shimizu actually lost, inside a round, in his second pro bout. In that bout, that came 4 months after his debut, he was taken out by unknown Thai Kaennakorn Klongpajol. This was Kaennakorn 's only win outside of Thailand. 5-Shimizu's in ring nickname was "Speed Star" 6-During his 24 bout professional career Shimizu fought fighters from just 3 countries. His opponents were all from Japan, Thailand or Mexico. In fact 23 of his 24 bouts came against opponents from Japan or Thailand, with his penultimate opponent, Hugo Fidel Cazares, being the only fighter from outside of the two Asian countries. 7-In 2011 he became the first world champion from the Kaneko gym, and now, more than 9 years later, he is still the only champion from the gym. 8-Despite beating Hugo Fidel Cazares for the WBA Super Flyweight title in 2011 Shimizu would need time away from the ring to heal from a fractured orbital bone. By the time he returned to the ring, just 8 months later, the WBA had created an absolute mess with the title situation. During his recovery time, which again was just 8 months, they had made Shimizu the Champion in Recess, Tepparith Kokietgym had won the regular title and Liborio Solis was the "interim" champion. On his return he faced Tepparith in a bout that, had they drawn, would have seen the men recognised as co-champions. Yes, the WBA were making a mess of things way back in 2011! 9-In June 2009 Shimizu got married to his wife at a hotel in Tokyo. The two had met 9 years earlier and among those who attended the wedding were Koichi Wajima. 10-Away from boxing Shimizu is good friends with Japanese professional wrestler Men's Teioh One funny thing about upsets is that we can, genuinely, forget they were even upsets when we look back on them years later. They were shocking at the time, but due to what happened afterwards their shock factor subsides as we realise what was supposed to be a mismatch for one fighter turned into a coming out party for another. Today we look at one such bout, as a former world title challenger took on a novice, in what was supposed to be a tune up bout, but instead opened the door and moved the novice instantly into a contender. Date August 7th 2004 Venue Prefectural Gymnasium, Osaka, Osaka, Japan Fighters Nobuo Nashiro (4-0, 3) vs Hidenobu Honda (26-3, 14) History books will show Nobuo Nashiro as a 2-time WBA Super Flyweight champion, having won the title in for the first time in just his 8th professional bout. What most don't realise is that he wasn't all that highly touted as a prospect when he started his career. As an amateur he had gone 38-19 (20) and despite being talented wasn't expected to be moved in the way he was. His big break out win actually came in a big Japanese upset when he was supposed to be the opponent for former 2-time world title challenger Hidenobu Honda. Although Nashiro was fairly talented, and had been matched harder than most novices, he was raw and didn't look like a special fighter in his first 4 bouts and was tested by Takashi Taketazu, who had lost his previous 2 bouts. Honda on the other hand was dubbed a "defensive master" having his 30th professional bout. Up to this point his only losses were a very early career set back against Keisuke Ono, in 1996, and losses to Pongsaklek Wonjongkam and Alexander Munoz, both of whom hard to work for their victories. What we've of course seen in Japan in recent years are a lot of prospects being moved super fast, like Naoya Inoue and Kosei Tanaka. Nashiro wasn't on their level of trajectory, but was regarded as a decent prospect all the same. Not an elite level prospect, but a solid hopeful. The type of fighter that Honda, who was still world ranked, should beat to prepare for another world title fight. What we ended up seeing was very different to what was expected. Instead of being a "bite dog", as some suggested Nashiro would be, he ended up being a fighter who saw his opportunity and took the fight to Honda from the opening round. He pressured and pressed, out working Honda who's defensive skills were tested time and time again. Given Honda was supposed to be using the bout as a tune up, no one seemed to tell Nashiro that his role was to lose. Instead Nashiro fought every round as if it was a big chance for his career. He looked crude at times, awkward at other times, but was strong, powerful, energetic and hungry. He fought with energy, letting his shots go, and more than willing to take one if he needed to. After 10 rounds Nashiro managed to take home the decision, a close but clear unanimous decision. The bout took Nashiro from an "unknown boxer" to being one of the next big hopes of Japanese boxing, and less than 2 years later he won the WBA Super Flyweight title for the first time. Despite the big upset loss this wasn't the end for Honda. It did kill his third shot at a world title, though he would later go on to fight for, and lose in bouts for, the Japanese Super Flyweight and OPBF Bantamweight titles. |
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