One of the truly brilliant things about this sport is how many amazing moments are completely obscure and unknown by the wider boxing world. The little moments that we want to share, the little moments that deserve to be watched time and time again. The moments that are, for all intents, buried deep in the history of this amazing sport we all follow. We might all find the sport annoying and irritating at times, but the reason we watch are for those magical moments that fill you with a sense of satisfaction. Today we have one such moment that is buried deep within boxing history, but is something we feel will given every fight fan that feeling they get when they see something special happen in the sport. And oh boy is this a lost moment from 1989. Yuichi Kasai (1-0, 1) v Osamu Nagaishi (0-0) We suspect hardcore fans may recognise Yuichi Kasai's name. The talented Japanese fighter would run up a 24-4-1 (15) record during his professional career that ran from 1989 to 1997. His career saw him fight in 3 world title bouts, lost to Wilfredo Vazquez in 1994 and Antonio Cermeno in 1996 and 1997, all in bouts for the WBA Super Bantamweight title. After finishing his in ring career he would go on to become a noted trainer in Japan and is still very highly regarded for his training work. After making his debut, against Unchain Kaji, Kasai's second opponent was Osamu Nagaishi. From what we understand Nagaishi was making his debut, though Japanese records on boxrec from this time are incomplete, and really little was known about him. Even now, more than 30 years on from this bout, we really don't know much about Nagaishi. The first round of the bout had been relatively undramatic with both men looking happy to box at range and use their jabs. It was relatively drama-less, until the final 30 seconds, but Kasai did look the better boxer and was the one pressing for the most part. It wasn't an exciting round, but that wasn't a surprise given it was two men with just a combined single professional bout between at the time. In round 2 Kasai moved through the gears, realising that Nagaishi had little to really threaten him with. The future world champion kept backing up his foe and was proving to be the much better fighter, with Nagaishi trying to fighting back and create space. Kasai managed to hurt his man mid way through the round and Nagaishi then took a solid combination. He backed up again, looking to recover but Kasai followed him and launched this monstrous right hand that sent Nagaishi's gumshield into the 10th row and flattened his man. This as a clean a KO shot you're likely to see, and with gumshield flying it really does make for one of those magic moments. This is a finish to relive and we get lucky as their was a slow motion replay as well showing the gumshield fly in brilliant fashion.
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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 Japanese world title challenger Nobuto Ikehara to one time Filipino world champion Rodel Mayol.
Just as ground rules, we're not doing the more basic "A beat B who beat C who beat D" type of thing, but instead we want to link fighters in different ways. As a result we will limit A fought B connections, and try to get more varied connections together, as you'll see here! We also know there are often shorter routes to connect fighters, but that's not always the most interesting way to connect them. 1-Although not the most well known name in Asian boxing Nobuto Ikehara had a pretty notable career, going 29-4 (19) in a career that ran from 1998 to 2009. He faced a number of notable opponents, including Volodymyr Sydorenko, Manabu Fukushima, Medgoen Singsurat and Thailand's Pone Saengmorakot. 2-The talented Pone Saengmorakot is best known for being on the receiving end of one of the iconic KO's from Korea, where he was taken clean out by In Joo Cho in a WBC Super Flyweight title fight. Another fighter to have lost by KO 8 in a WBC Super Flyweight title bout in Korea is the once very touted Koki Ishii, who was stopped by Chul Ho Kim. 3-When we said that Koki Ishii was highly touted we weren't joking. He is one of the very few Japanese fighters to debut in an 8 rounder, something that we really don't see done very often at all. Another fighter to debut in an 8 rounder, much more recently, was modern day Japanese super star Naoya Inoue. 4-Prior to turning professional Naoya Inoue had made his name in the amateurs, winning a number of national titles and competing in international competitions. One of the many people he beat in the amateurs was Ryomei Tanaka, who Inoue defeated in 2011 at a Interscholastic Tournament in Japan. 5-The talented Ryomei Tanaka isn't the only talented boxer in the family. Another is his brother Kosei Tanaka, who has become a star in the professional ranks and has been quickly fast tracked to the top, winning world titles in multiple weight classes, and doing so at break neck speed. 6-Prior to winning his first world title Kosei Tanaka won the OPBF Minimumweight belt, doing so in just his 4th professional bout. Another former OPBF Minimumweight champion is Rodel Mayol, who won the belt before he won the WBC Light Flyweight title in 2009. In the early 1990's and early 00's the Japanese Super Featherweight scene was red hot. One of the big stars of the time was Koji Arisawa (34-4-2, 24). Arisawa was a fun to watch fighter with boyish good looks and he knew how to fight, twice winning the Japanese Super Featherweight title.
Although Arisawa is best known for his loss to Takanori Hatakeyama in 1998, in what was dubbed "The ultimate Japanese title match", he managed to have a really solid career himself and was in some great bouts, and very much a popular fighter. Today, as part of our on going 5 midweek facts series we bring you 5 midweeks facts about Koji Arisawa. 1-Arisawa's twin brother was also a fighter. That was Kazu Arisawa, who would twice challenge for Japanese titles but sadly came up short both times. Interestingly the two men were both following in the footsteps of their father, Shigenori Arisawa, was also a professional boxer back in the 1960's. The boxing bug actually extends beyong the trio with Kazu and Koji's uncle being involved in boxing along with their grandfather. 2-From what we could find Arisawa had absolutely no amateur experience, that was despite the boxing roots in the family. 3-Arisawa's final bout, which took place on December 13th 2005, saw him defeat Pichitchai Kawponkanpim. Despite the win Arisawa was actually over-shadowed on the card by Masayuki Koguchi. That was due to Koguchi's wig falling off during the bout, and Arisawa jokingly suggested that whilst it was his retirement it was also the day that Koguchi became a star. 4-Following his retirement from boxing Arisawa took part in a number of exhibition bouts on cards promoted by Japanese MMA company DEEP. These included a 2008 exhibition with former WBA Super Flyweight champion Yokthai Sithoar. It seems like he was in at least 4 exhibitions with DEEP, with the first 2 bouts in 2007 and the second 2 in 2008. 5-In 2009 Arisawa performed on stage as an actor, taking part in in a place entitled "Kiraboshi no Magneto-It's too soon to give up!" Although not well known in the west Japanese fighter Hiroshi Kawashima is regarded by many in Japan as one of the countries most skilled fighters, ever. The former WBC Super Flyweight champion ran up 6 defenses of the world title, that he took from Jose Luis Bueno in 1994, and held it for close to 3 years, losing it in February 1997. He rebuilt from a faltering start, that saw him suffer 2 stoppage losses in his first 6 bouts and begin 4-2-1 (4) and become one of the faces of Japanese boxing in the 1990's.
Whether you're a fan of the Super Flyweight division, and know something about Kawashima, or not, we are going to try and bring you 10 facts you probably didn't know about... Hiroshi Kawashima 1-Kawashima's father ran a barber shop. 2-As a boxer Kawashima was a converted southpaw, meaning he was a right handed southpaw. 3-As an amateur Kawashima went 27-3 (15), he also beat both Puma Toguchi and Katsuya Onizuka in the amateurs. 4-In 1985 Kawashima's brother, Shinobu Kawashima, challenged for the IBF Flyweight title, losing to Soon Chun Kwon. Interestingly Shinobu also lost in a bout for an IBF Japan title in October 1985, losing to Satoshi Shingaki. 5-Kawashima was the fifth, and final, fighter to win a world title out of the Yonekura Gym, run by Kenji Yonekura. He followed Kuniaki Shibata, Guts Ishimatsu, Shigeo Nakajima and Hideyuki Ohashi. Interestingly he originally had a style similar to that of Hideyuki Ohashi, before developing to be more of a pure outside fighter due to his poor punch resistence. 6-Kawashima was a multi-time Japanese boxing award winner. He was the KO Award winner in 1993, a 2-time skill award winner, in 1994 and 1995, and the Best Fighter award winner in 1996. He was also a 2-time Hochi Professional Sports Award winner, in 1995 and 1996, for boxing. 7-Following his loss to Gerry Penalosa in 1997 Kawashima retired citing issues with his sight. 8-Penalosa regarded Kawashima the most skilled fighter he had faced and described him as a "complete fighter" in a piece where he spoke with Anson Wainwright for Ring, in a "Best I Faced" article. 9-Kawashima was dubbed "Untouchable" in Japan due to his defensive ability. That nickname continues with the shows he promotes, which are "Untouchable Fight". Interestingly Kawashima has also released a DVD, that can be purchased on Amazon.jp, called "Hiroshi Kawashima Boxing Defense Master ", showing off the defensive skills of the former world champion. 10-Earlier we mentioned that Kawashima had beaten Puma Toguchi in the amateurs but their careers crossed quite a few other times. They actually debuted on the same card, in August 1988 and fought each other in December that year, with Toguchi avenging his loss to Kawashima in the amateurs. Their bout in 1988 was the East Japan Rookie of the Year final, which Toguchi won in 6 rounds. The two also shared a card in July 1989, where Kawashima suffered his second professional loss. So, interestingly, both of Kawashima early losses came on cards shard with Toguchi! Extra Fact - Kawashima lost the WBC Super Flyweight title on February 2nd 1997 to Gerry Penalosa, in what would be Kawashima's final bout. On that same show was the unrelated Katsushige Kawashima, who was making his debut. Katsushige Kawashima would later go on to win the same title Hiroshi Kawashima lost to Penalosa! What makes this event stranger is that Katsushige Kawashima was managed by Hiroshi Kawahima's former gym mate Hideyuki Ohashi, becoming Ohashi's first world champion. Back on December 3rd we saw talented Japanese fighter Masataka Taniguchi (13-3, 8) claim the Japanese Minimumweight title, stopping the over-matched Hizuki Saso in the 10th round of their bout.
The win, although not a massive in terms of the division, was a major one for Taniguchi who's career had promised a lot when he turned professional but had been hit by several setbacks, including narrow losses to Reiya Konishi and Tsubasa Koura as well as a 2019 defeat to the then WBO champion Vic Saludar. Now however he has had back to back notable wins and his career appears to be heading in the right direction. With that win in mind we've decided to take a look at 5 potential bouts for Taniguchi in this week's Five For. 1-Melvin Jerusalem (15-2, 9) When we look at these match ups we tried to look at ones that make the most sense and promise the most action. With that in mind we'd love to see Taniguchi take on Filipino Melvin Jerusalem in a WBC world title eliminator. Both men are highly ranked, and it would make sense in 2021 if neither man could secure a world title fight. On paper it's a very even looking contest, and in terms of styles they should make for a thriller with their styles and in ring mentalities almost guaranteeing a fun, technical, high tempo battle. From a logistical point of view, given the world is the world right now, the bout might not be the easiest to make, but man what a fight this would be. 2-Kai Ishizawa (7-1, 7) II In 2019 we had a legitimately brilliant Japanese title eliminator between Taniguchi and Japanese youngster Kai Ishizawa, with Taniguchi taking a clear but hard fought decision over the hard hitting youngster. Since then Ishizawa has remained a top domestic contender and Taniguchi has gone on to win the title. Given their brilliant first bout, the way both have picked up wins since and the fact Ishizawa is set to be the top ranked Japanese contender by the end of the year this is the bout that makes the most sense domestically. We'd expect another tear up here, and despite Taniguchi winning their first bout we wouldn't be surprised at all if a more mature and experience Ishizawa proved to be too much for him in a rematch. Genuinely the best that can be made in Japan at 105lbs. 3-Lito Dante (17-11-4, 9) Before the global situation became what is it Taniguchi was originally supposed to face OPBF champion Lito Dante in a rather odd JBC/OPBF title unification bout, due to the way the local rules work. This would have been a brutally entertaining, tough and exciting bout. Taniguchi has all the technical advantages, the speed and the skills, however Dante is one of the toughest, must rugged fighters out there and his pressure over 10 or 12 rounds is a nightmare for anyone. This would have been great in the first half of 2020 and now makes just as much sense for 2021. As with the potential Jerusalem bout the key issue is the "on going global situation", but if they can work around that this is a bout we would love to see in the new year! 4-Norohito Tanaka (20-8, 10) Going back to Taniguchi's Japanese title it's fair to say Ishizawa won't be the only fighter with eyes for the belt, and former champion Norihito Tanaka is also likely to be in the conversation for a shot. Tanaka gave up the title at the start of 2020, as he began to prepare to face WBA champion Knockout CP Freshmart, and would likely see a bout with Taniguchi as the best fight out there for him in 2021. Tanaka, now in his mid 30's, is unlikely to get another really big fight with out taking risks and beating fellow contenders, such as Taniguchi, so this makes sense from him. For Taniguchi it would be a chance to beat a former world title challenger, and prove he's the best in Japan by beating the previous champion. This wouldn't be as good as a bout with Ishizawa, but it's not a bad second choice. 5-Wilfredo Mendez (16-1, 6) A bit of a wild card entry to finish with but a bout between Taniguchi and WBO world champion Wilfredo Mendez will be something on Taniguchi's mind. For this bout to be a reality two things need to be dealt with in a way that makes sense. Firstly the on going global situation needs to be dealt with in a way that would allow Mendez over to Japan in the new year, and secondly it's contingent on Mendez beating Alexis Diaz later this month. Of all the champions in the division Mendez is the one that would make the most sense to target if you were in Taniguchi's situation, with the Japanese fighter currently ranked #3, and is also stylistically the best for him. Maybe a long shot for his next bout but potentially a bout for late 2021, and a longer term target for Taniguchi and the Watanabe Gym. 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 talented Uzbek Israil Madrimov to former Japanese world title challenger Nobuto Ikehara.
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-Uzbek fighter Israil Madrimov is making a name for himself in the professional ranks as we write this. Prior to his days as a professional he was a stand out amateur, winning medals in numerous international tournaments. One of those medals that Madrimov won was a Silver medal at the 2014 Asian games in Incheon, South Korea. The games were plagued by controversy in boxing, but Madrimov still impressed before losing in the final to Daniyar Yeleussinov. Another man to win a Silver medal at the same games was Kazakh Light Flyweight Birzhan Zhakypov. 2-Prior to winning a Silver medal in the 2014 Asian Games Birzhan Zhakypov had been a well regarded amateur fighter for years. Way back in 2005 he had taken a Bronze medal at the World Championships in Mianyang, China. Another fighter who took Bronze at that very same championship was American Rau'shee Warren. In fact Warren won his Bronze medal in the weight class above Zhakypov. 3-Of course Rau'shee Warren would go on to have professional success, but before then he actually competed at 3 Olympics. In the 2004 Olympic Qualifying event he took on Argentinian fighter Nestor Daniel Narvaes. In fact Warren actually stopped Narvaes in 3 rounds, in the quarter finals, before going all the way and winning the qualifying event just 3 days later. 4-Although the names are spelled slightly different Nestor Daniel Narvaes has a more well known brother. That's the incredibly successful, and often massively over-looked Omar Andres Narvaez. 5-Whilst the success of Omar Andres Narvaez is really impressive, winning world titles at Flyweight and Super Flyweight and defending both more than 10 times, he was actually notable amateur. In the unpaid ranks he won a Bronze and a Silver in World championships, was a South American champion and a Pan Am games champion. He was also a 2-time Olympian. Sadly though he ran into Volodymyr Sydorenko in he 2000 Olympics and lost to the Ukrainian, who had also beaten Daniel Ponce De Leon in the competition. 6-After his amateur success Volodymyr Sydorenko turned professional and had real success of his own, winning the WBA Bantamweight title in 2005 and making 6 defenses before losing it to Anselmo Moreno in 2008. One of those 6 defenses for Sydorenko came in 2008 when he defeated Nobuto Ikehara via a clear 12 round decision win! When we started this site there was a lot of promising young fighters we had really high hopes for. Whilst many of those have managed to reach the top, or continue to head in the right direction, one of them really failed to do what we had hoped. And sadly it now appears, that his career is over. That is Ryuji Hara (23-2, 14), who hasn't fought since October 2017, and although he's not officially retired it does seem unlikely we'll see him again.
The talented, speedy and promising Hara had shown a lot to be excited about. Sadly losses to Kosei Tanaka, in an OPBF title bout, and Katsunari Takayama, in an IBF world title fight. He did fight after those bouts but never managed to reach the levels expected of him. Despite his career failing to meat the heady heights expected of him, Hara is still a really interesting fighter and today we bring 5 midweek facts about Ryuji Hara. 1-Hara is the youngest of 4 siblings. He has an older brother and two older sisters. 2-Sadly Hara's father passed away when he was a child, and he was brought up by his mother, who runs a Yakitori restaurant. His father's death came from cancer when Hara was just 10 years old. 3-As an amateur Hara went 38-6 (16) with both of his losses coming when he was in high school. He would win 2-Inter High School titles, and a national athletic title, among other amateur titles. 4-Despite being a very talented amateur boxer Hara was also interested in another sport, horse racing. Hara managed to enter a very prestigious horse racing school, with the hope of becoming a jockey. Boxing however took control of his life again and he dropped out of the horse racing school after 8 months, and joined Ohashi gym to become a professional boxer. 5-In April 2018 Hara was scheduled to face Angel Acosta but injury forced him out of the bout. Sadly Hara hasn't, at the time of writing, managed to shake the injuries that plagued him and although it's not been announced it does appear his career is essentially over due to them. A real shame given the promise he had as an amateur and the potential he had when he turned professional. One of the most requested fighters for this series has been Thai great Pongsaklek Wonjongkam. The Thai great is a legitimate modern day legend and his control of the WBC Flyweight title at the turn of the 21st century is something we doubt we'll see again any time soon.
Sadly away from boxing it's hard to find much about many Thai's, like Wonjongkam, though given the requests we have tried to come up with some interesting details about the Thai great as we bring you 10 facts you probably didn't know about...Pongsaklek Wonjongkam 1-Wonjongkam's parents owned a garage, and he actually worked there occasionally as a child. 2-Prior to turning his hand to boxing Wonjongkam had fought in Muay Thai. From his Muay Thai career he reportedly ran up a 28-13-1 record, though proved to be a better puncher and promoters noted his punching power, and recommended that he should try boxing. 3-Between December 1994 and July 2007 Wonjongkam lost only 2 of his first 67 fights, as he compiled an excellent 65-2 (33) record. Both of those losses came to Filipino Jerry Pahayahay, who became the first man to beat Wonjongkam, in 1995, and the first to stop him, in 1996. Interestingly a third meeting, in 1998, saw Wonjongkam finally notch a win over Pahayahay. 4-Wonjongkam was the 30th Thai to win a world a world title, doing so when he beat Malcolm Tunacao in 2001. 5- Wonjongkam still holds the record for the shortest world title bout in the division's history, a 34 second win over Daisuke Naito. Interestingly that was the first time the title had been defended inside a round, with the 3 previous opening round victories all seeing the title change hands....including Wonjongkam's own title win over Malcolm Tunacao. As an aside Interestingly Wonjongkam's technical draw with Hirofumi Mukai, at 47 seconds, was the second time the WBC Flyweight title had been defended in the opening round and is, at the time of writing, the only time a Japanese fighter has avoided a defeat in a world title bout in Thailand. 6--Wonjongkam's lengthy reign as the WBC Flyweight champion wasn't just notable for the length of reign, which was 17 defenses a divisional record, but also the men he beat. In his first reign defended the title against Luis Alberto Lazarte, Daisuke Naito, Gilberto Keb Baas and Tomobu Shimizu before reclaiming the title and beating Suriyan Sor Rungvisai, giving him wins over 5 men who would later win world titles! When we then then add in former or the reigning world champions, Malcolm Tunacao, Julio Cesar Miranda, Koki Kameda and Edgar Sosa we do spot just how impressive Wonjongkam's career was, going 10-2-1 (4) against men who held world titles. 7-Through his entire 98 pro fight career there was only 2 men Wonjongkam didn't manage to beat, and strangely he faced them in back to back fights. The first of those was Hirofumi Mukai, who he had a technical draw with in December 2011, and the second was Sonny Boy Jaro, who he lost to in March 2012. That means Jaro is the only man to hold a win over Wonjongkam and never suffer a loss to the Thai. 8-Wonjongkam's biggest purse came in 2010, when he faced Koki Kameda in Japan, The bout saw Wonjongkam, at the age of 32, roll back the clock and outpoint the 23 year old Kameda, who was 22-0 (14) at the time. He was paid around $300,000 for the fight. 9-Following his retirement Wonjongkam has worked as a trainer at Evolve MMA in Singapore, but is now back in Thailand and has helped train Knockout CP Freshmart, alongside Chatchai Sasakul. 10-In 2018 Wonjongkam returned for an exhibition-style bout with Koki Kameda at the Korakuen Hall. The bout was regarded as an unofficial 6 round Bantamweight clash by the JBC, and saw Kameda stopping Wonjongkam in the second round. Extra Fact 1 - As of 2015 Wonjongkam was living with his wife, and had no children Extra Fact 2 - Wonjongkam was regarded as the WBC Boxer of the Deace for the 00's Extra fact 3 - It was reported that Wonjongkam was paid almost ฿1000000 for his rematch bout with Koki Kameda When we first considered doing this "Remarkable Rounds" series there was a number of rounds we had in our minds as one we wanted to use. One of those was the 7th round from the 2016 war between Kenji Ono and Jun Takigawa. It was a round that thrilled us at the time and is one we will still go back to on a pretty regular basis when we question our love of the sport. It is one of those rounds that makes you realise that boxing, at it's core, is the best combination sport and entertainment and that even the fighters we never hear about can give us those moments that are still special, years later. Kenji Ono (9-1, 4) v Jun Takigawa (7-1-1, 4) On paper this was a brilliantly matched bout and yet it ended up over delivering, big time. In one corner was Teiken hopeful Kenji Ono, who had won the All Japan Rookie of the Year in 2014 and had slowly been making his way up the rankings. Aged 27 at the time of this bout it was assumed that 2016 was going to be a big year for him, and that he was going to rapidly progress towards a title fight of some kind. In the other corner was Jun Takigawa, who'se only loss had come to Reiya Konishi, a future multi-time world title challenger. He had proven to be a powerful and aggressive fighter though he was very much the "away" fighter here, travelling from Aichi to Tokyo for the fight, which took place at Korakuen Hall. With that away fighter mentality we dare say that Takigawa may have felt the needed to make sure that the judges couldn't possibly deny him. The bout had been dramatic early on, with both men taking punishment. Takigawa had almost been down early on, he had then been cut and dropped in round 6, but his determination to battle on continue showed, as we got to round 7. Just seconds into the round a tired Takigawa was dropped on to his backside from a straight left hand from Ono. He got back to his feet and then began to take the fight to Ono, as desperation crept in. This saw him rocking Ono who tried to create distance but struggled to keep Takigawa at range before being dropped himself. We still had more than half the round left and Takigawa was buoyed on by the knockdown that he scored as he went hunting for Ono. Ono, to his credit, held and spoiled before regrouping and dropping Takigawa, who was almost sent out of the ring. This could have been the end but not for Takigawa who got back to his feet, took the mandatory 8 count and again took the fight to Ono, giving everything he had. Sadly for Takigawa he would go on to be stopped the next round, in a bout that took a lot from both men, who never looked the same after this incredible war. Please note - The sound for this video isn't great and you may wish to watch the round with reduced sound or even muted. Unfortunately we were unable to find a better copy of the bout to take the round from. When researching for these articles we can quite often forget just how many upsets take place. Whilst some are huge shocks, that we talk about years later, others are more reminders of the unpredictable nature of professional boxing. Today we look at one of those notable, but often forgotten, upsets. This one is from 2012 and took place in Japan between a reigning champion, who looked like he was finding his groove in the sport, and a 31 year old who had suffered 9 losses, with 5 of those coming by stoppage. Date October 27th 2012 Venue Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo, Japan Takahiro Ao (23-2-1, 10) Vs Gamaliel Diaz (37-9-2, 17) Highly regarded when he turned professional Takahiro Ao was one of the big hopes for the Teiken Gym in the 00's and early 10's. He had been moved relatively well and in 2009 he had claimed the WBC Featherweight title, before losing in his first defense against Elio Rojas. He then moved up in weight and in 2010 he had taken the WBC Super Featherweight title, dethroning Vitali Tajbert. As a champion Ao had defended the belt 3 times, over-coming some good fighters, like Devis Boschiero and Terdsak Kokietgym. He looked like he was finally living up to the early promise that had excited Japanese fans and he looked like he was going to be one of the major players in the division. In his 4th defense Ao was up against Mexican veteran Gamaliel Diaz. Diaz had suffered 9 losses, he was 31, he had been stopped 5 times, including losses to Ao's friend and Teiken stablemate Jorge Linares as well as Humberto Soto, who had dominated Diaz in an interim title fight. Although a number of Diaz's losses had come early in his career, and he had scored 13 wins in a row, he had never notched a win of real note and relevance. In fact his run of 13 straight wins included 4 over fighters with double digit losses. On paper this was supposed to be an easy defense for Ao against a voluntary who was fairly limited but highly ranked by the WBC. It was supposed to be another defense for the Japanese fighter who was supposedly in his prime at 28 and was looking for bigger fights down the line. From the first round the cagey challenger was using his jab well, setting an odd rhythm and making Ao follow him around the ring. Diaz was using his vast experience smartly, making Ao work to close the distance and repeatedly forcing he champion to rest. Ao really had no success in the opening round until there was about 45 seconds left, and even that was minimal at best. Ao was missing, chasing, and working hard for no real success, whilst Diaz was picking his spots, landing clean and solid shots, something he continued to do in round 2. In round 3 Ao actually got something of a break as referee Ian John Lewis got involved for the first time, and punished Diaz for an accidental headclash, taking a point from the challenger. Despite Diaz losing a point he still won the round, causing a 9-9 round, and left Ao with some swelling around one of his eyes. With a good start behind him Diaz wasn't in a rush to let Ao back into the fight and rocked him with a straight right hand in round 4. It was a round that showed Diaz's confidence was building, it was as if it dawned on him that Ao had no answer for his skills, shots and movement. In round 5 Diaz was again deducted a point, this time for low blows, as Ian John Lewis tried to do what he could to help out the local champion. It seemed that if Diaz was going to win, he had to be cleaner than clean for the rest of the fight. He had had 2 point deducted in 5 rounds and it was clear the referee wasn't there to do him any favours at all. The fifth round also saw the open scoring being put into effect, with Diaz leading on two of the cards, 38-37 and 39-36, with the third card some how having Ao up 38-37. Despite being down Ao actually had a solid round 6, putting his foot on the gas more and although he didn't amaze anyone, he did stem the tide that had been going against him. He seemed to find a new gear, connect more and straighten up his shots. It was a much improved round from the champion, who did need it after his rather poor start. The good round 6 from the champion saw him trying to keep it up in round 7, which caused a response from Diaz, who tried to match him. During the round Ao was left with blood trickling from his left eye, which was starting to close. It seem just as Diaz was starting to get some momentum, he had had it stopped. Diaz also managed to show his ability to bully the champion dumping him on the seat of his pants with a push right at the end of the round. In round 8 Ao's started well again, before his facial damage saw him being taken over to the doctor. The bout was allowed to continue, but it was clear that he had once again had some momentum stopped. He was also now fighting with a severe damage around the left side of his face. Notably this was, at least partly, due to a nasty clash of heads. A worse clash than the one Diaz had been deducted for in round 3, with Ian John Lewis showing pretty clear inconsistencies. Another head clash early in round 9 further worsened the damage on Ao's face. By the end of the round Diaz was himself cut, from what appeared to be a straight left hand as Ao finally managed to damage the veteran. Once again we saw the open scoring in effect in round 9, with scored of 76-74 across the board, two of those cards favouring Diaz and one, some how, going with Ao. It was now all to play for, with 4 rounds left, and just 2 points separating the two men. Those cards, even with the deductions, seemed closer than the reality of the fight, and the card in favour of Ao seemed awful. It was hard to make a case for Ao having 2 rounds, never mind half of the completed 8. Ao seemed to feel like his title was slipping away, something his team would have relayed after the 9th round, and he began to press more in round 10. He was however continually struggling with the jab of Diaz, who used it to set up his straight right hand, and Diaz also smothered up close. It wasn't pretty from the Mexican, but was a smart tactic from a veteran who was landing shots and neutralising the champion. Ao's already swollen and bloodied face became an even bigger mess in round 11, as he looked to put his foot on the gas and the two men often came too close. Not only did the men clash up close, but Diaz also made Ao pay when they were getting close and when he was getting out. By now the bout was a mess and the coming together Ao's face was becoming more and more of a mess, requiring a second doctor inspection late in the round. Now he was forced to fight desperate, and fight through immense pain. Diaz seemingly feeling confident he had the rounds in the bag, made the final round an absolute mess, hitting and holding, wrestling, spoiling, leaning on, smothering and generally stopping Ao from having any success. Although the final few rounds were a mess, they were rounds the judges seem to feel Diaz deserved. His tactics were certainly not fan friendly, but they were effective, and after 12 rounds the judges all agreed that he deserved the win, scoring the bout 114-112, twice, and 115-111. In fairness, despite the deductions, they were probably as close scores as we could have had. Sadly for Diaz a return to Japan saw him being battered by Takashi Miura, who reclaimed the title for Japan, and began a downfall for the Mexican, who went 2-11-1 after this win. That included a loss in a rematch to Ao in 2018. Ao on the other hand went 5-0-0-1, including not only the rematch with Diaz but also a win over Juan Carlos Salgado. For those interested in their rematch, we would advise avoiding it. By then both men were shot to pieces and it showed. |
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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