Last Friday we saw Thailand's Panya Pradabsri (35-1, 22) score the most important win of his career, taking a unanimous decision over the previously unbeaten Wanheng Menayothin to take the WBC Minimumweight title. The win made Panya the 49th world champion from Thailand, and saw him emerge from the shadows of Wanheng and Knockout CP Freshmart, who had been the Thai faces atop the top at Minimumweight division over the last few years.
Following the win though we had to have a real think about what we wanted to see next for the new champion and who he could be lined up to face in 2021. The division isn't the best or biggest, but it is one where there are some very interesting options for the new champion, and we'll look at 5 of those in this week's Five For. 1-Wanheng Menayothin (54-1, 18) At the moment it's unclear what the future will hold for the 35 year old Wanheng. Our assumption is that he will walk off into the sunset, with the torch now passed to his younger compatriot. If that doesn't happen however, and if Wanheng does fancy one more bout then a rematch with Panya would be an ideal send off, win or lose. It would give the legendary Thai a chance to retire on top, and a chance to reclaim his crown, and it would give Panya a chance to prove that his first win wasn't a fluke. It could also give us, the fans, another barn burner if it's anything like their first bout. 2-Nkosinathi Joyi (29-5-1-1, 19) Typically a champion gets a relatively easy first defense and many look to do that against a faded name. With that in mind a bout between the 29 year old Panya and the 37 year old Nkosinathi Joyi would certainly be an interesting one to think about. Joyi, in his prime, was a tremendous fighter with speed, size and power and was one of the many under-rated fighters to come from South Africa. Now a days however he looks like a shadow of the fighter he was back in 2009-2011. For Panya a win over Joyi would still have value and would certainly be a solid name on his resume. A cynical match up, sure, but the sort of thing that the Panya likely needs during the early part of his reign. 3-Melvin Jerusalem (15-2, 9) Ranked #1 by the WBC Melvin Jerusalem is potentially going to be a mandatory challenger for Panya and would make for a relatively tough first defense. The 26 year old Filipino is a hell for leather type of fighter who gave Wanheng absolute fighters in 2017, in one of the toughest bouts for the former champion, and would have the energy and tenacity to be a nightmare for the new champion. If Panya was looking to get his mandatory out of the way in early 2021 this is the logical bout, and then begin to look at more marketable and financially rewarding bouts. However this is legitimately a tough bout for the new champion in what should be a real barn burner for 12 rounds. 4-Lito Dante (17-11-4, 9) A wild-card choice for Panya's first defense would be a bout against OPBF champion Lito Dante. The bout isn't one that screams an amazing bout on paper, but, as is typical, records don't tell half of the story of a fight. Dante might have numerous losses but he's as tough and strong as they come and over 12 rounds he will bring the fight, take the best Panya has to offer, and given him a real war right through the bout. Dante's record conceals a fantastic 12 round fighter and a total nightmare over the distance. Not only would this be a surprisingly good first defense, but due to Dante's style it would be a very fan friendly clash and the sort of bout that would have highlights aplenty to share. A fun and enjoyable tear up if it can be made! 5-Ginjiro Shigeoka (5-0, 4) As we write this it seems almost certain that Japanese 21 year old Ginjiro Shigeoka will not fight at all in 2020 due to the on going global situation. With that in mind we suspect he, and the Watanabe team, will want to plan something huge for 2021. Maybe that could include Shigeoka's first world title fight in Japan against Panya, with money thrown at the Thai to bring him over to Tokyo for a stacked card. It seems unlikely but of all the bouts that could be out there for Panya this is the one that interests us the most, and it would be a great chance to see if Shigeoka is as good as touted. Sadly though we suspect Panya's first defense will be a straight forward one at home, likely against a less dangerous opponent than Shigeoka. Note - We have never had an all-Thai world title unification and the reality is that Panya Vs Knockout CP Freshmart is also not likely to happen so hasn't been considered here. The bout isn't in there interest of the promoters and so it makes no real sense to discuss as an option. It would be a great bout, but not one worth wasting too much time considering.
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Last week we saw the WBC Minimumweight title change hands as long term champion Wanheng Menayothin (54-1, 18) was dethroned by countryman Panya Pradabsri (35-1, 22) in one of the more notable upsets in Asia this year. The bout ended what was the then longest active reign in male boxing, and saw Panya become the 49th male world champion from Thailand. Not only was the bout a passing of the torch but it was also a great bout, with a high intensity from both and really thrilling action.
Today we've decided to look back on the bout and share some of our takes aways from the contest in the latest article in this on going Five Take Aways series. 1-Panya's body body shots were great early on The challenger had a number of advantages, including a 6 year youth advantage, and advantages in terms of size and power. It was however his body shots, and not his inherent advantages, that really caught the eye. He hammered Wanheng with fantastic left hooks to the body early on, and tried to chip away at the veteran in the early rounds with rib bursting shots. They landed clean, they looked painful and they were really solid blows. Credit needs to go to Wanheng for taking them so well, but they were the key early on for Panya. It's a shame they vanished part way through the bout, as they were so effective early on. 2-Wanheng is no typical 35 year old Minimumweight We've mentioned Panya's body shots but there was something more impressive than those. That was Wanheng in general. The 35 year old did not look his age at all. He was razor sharp through much of the bout, let combinations go, showed incredible desire and hand speed. Even through he's ancient by Minimumweight standards, and still by typical boxing standards, he did not look his age. He also didn't look like a man who was talking about retirement in the summer. He looked very hungry and very much like a man desperate to move to 55-0 and keep his title. A fantastic effort by the old man, who seemed to set the tempo and have significantly higher output than the challenger. 3-This was a big fight! It's incredibly rare for us to be asked for streams of bouts from Thailand, we some times get them for big names in Japan but very rarely Thailand. We also rarely get asked for streams of Minimumweight bouts. This bout however had a lot of questions from people wanting to watch, and on social media it felt like a decent sized fight with much broader interest than we typically see. Sure this wasn't the interest of a Naoya Inoue bout or a Kazuto Ioka fight, but this was still much, much more than expected and it was great to see more fans actually being interested in the little men. 4-This was a great fight With so many fans being interested in watching the bout there was a worry. This could stink. Like really stink and become a dire fight with no talking points. Instead the bout delivered, massively, and gave us one of the best fights of the year. It was back and forth, high tempo action, with both men landing solid shots through out, exchanging leather regularly and giving us something to remember. It wasn't just a war however, but was a high tempo aggressive and technical bout which went well beyond just a typical fight. For fans who aren't used to watching the little guys we hope this bout has convinced you to give them a chance. The Minimumweights might not have the fire power of the heavy guys, but their can often over-deliver in terms of action and excitement. This isn't a one off great bout for the division, and there are copious other fantastic contests at 105lbs, including recent great bouts such as Katsunari Takayama Vs Francisco Rodriguez Jr and Akira Yaegashi Vs Pornsawan Porpramook. The division regularly delivers as it did here! 5-Thailand has continued to deliver in 2020 thanks to All-Thai bouts Typically Thailand serves us one or two great bouts a year, and a lot of garbage that simply isn't worth watching. Year after year the quality in Thailand has decreased as local hopefuls have beaten up smaller and less skilled international opponents. With international transport at close to a standstill we've seen promoters being forced to put on more and more all-Thai bouts, and this has seriously increased the level of fights we've been getting in the country. This was the latest in a long line of excellent all-Thai bouts in 2020. Fingers crossed that continues as there is something special about domestic rivalries and the the hunger to prove you're the best. We see it in Japan and the UK and now we're seeing it more in Thailand. Historically All-Thai world title bouts, dubbed "Bloodline Battles", have delivered amazing action fights, and this is was another great one. Fingers crossed this continues in 2021, and well beyond the current Covid19 epidemic. Bonus Take Away Thank you Wanheng If this turns out to be Wanheng's final career bout we genuinely owe him a thank you. Whilst he may not have faced the best in the division, and there are a lot of bouts we'd have loved to see him in, there is no doubting that he has helped put a spot light on the Minimumweight division and Thailand, at least over the last year or two. His career has been a genuinely impressive on and he has been on of the few men in recent memory to create a legacy whilst fighting at just his weight. He didn't feel the need to move through the weights to make his name, and that is a credit to his professionalism. He never missed weight, he never out grew the division and instead he committed himself to the 105lb weight class. Genuinely an impressive facet of his career, and one that will often go over-looked. Last Saturday from Thailand we were able to see 16 year old Thai sensation Phoobadin Yoohanngoh (10-0, 5) score his biggest victory to date, as he secured a 6th round TKO win over the previously unbeaten Atchariya Wirojanasunobol (13-1, 5), and retain his WBA Asia Light Welterweight title. The win was a stellar one for the youngster, who really added some legitimacy to his record and his standing as one of the most promising teenagers in the sport.
With the bout now watch, and rewatched, lets take a look at the bout as we discuss our Five Take Aways. 1-Phoobadin has amazing composure This was the thing that really impressed us at the start of the bout. Phoobadin's composure, timing and shot selection under pressure was incredible. He was under pressure early on from Atchariya but showed no fear of the older man, tucked up well, understood where he was, picked his shots well and countered excellently. Watching live we felt he was too patient, but in reality he was just showing his extreme composure, picking his man off and getting a full read on his opponent. It might be too soon to call him a boxing genius, but he's a very smart young fighter. 2-The crowd at the Suamlum Night Bazaar were great We're still not really seeing big crowds at boxing on any sort of a regular basis, and that sucks however here we had a very loud and vociferous crowd for the bout, cheering loudly when either man landed a solid shot. This was a small venue, the crowd was small, but they were loud, and they were excited. After months of not hearing the roar of the crowd on a regular basis this was great to hear. Fingers crossed that in 2021 we won't be talking about crowds as being something special, but here it felt special. 3-It's a real shame Atchariya lost 2 years of his career The previously unbeaten Atchariya is clearly a talented fighter, we had seen that in the past and we saw some of that here too. Sadly however at the age of 31 he is almost certainly on the back end of his career and is on the slide. The biggest shame however is that he last around 2 years of his career due to an arrest at a Thai airport on route to a fight in Japan. He was arrested on drug charges that later fell apart. This was only his second fight since being released and we really wonder if it was too much too soon after such a lengthy lay off. Fingers crossed this won't be the end for him, but the way he was stopped there may not be too much left in the tank for a man who was perhaps never quite going to be the same after his arrest. 4-Phoobadin has a real killer instinct Through the first few rounds Phoobadin fought within himself, waiting, counter punching, showing his composure and patience and not taking risks. In round 6 however he put his foot on the gas and hurt his man, then went all out for the finish, dropping Atchariya several times. This was a brilliant finish and shows that the youngster, even at the age of 16, gets it. He knows that when his man is hurt he needs to go for the kill, seek a finish and no let his opponent back into the bout. That's exactly what we saw here, and bot oh boy did he make sure there was no controversy about the finish. He beat the fight out of Atchariya, broke his heart, and forced his corner to jump in the ring. This was a great finish by the youngster who had gone the distance in his last 4 bouts. With a 10-0 (5) record he might not look like a puncher but he showed here that he has more than a little pop on his shots. 5-We want to see Phoobadin Vs Jin Sasaki! It's really rare that we get two teenagers worthy of attention in the same weight class, who could conceivably face off but right now we have that in Asia at 140lbs with Phoobadin, from Thailand, and Jin Sasaki, from Japan. We know this isn't likely to be a fight that we see get made, but if they clash before July next year, before Sasaki turns 20, this would be up there with the most anticipated all-teen bouts in the sports history. Come on boxing gods, give us this treat! And then let them rematch down the line...and rematch again further down the line! Two young, unbeaten, talented, heavy handed kids going at it...yes please! Extra Take Away - The advertising in the bottom right corner We know Thailand has some very unique customs when it comes to boxing, such as the lengthy delay between ring entrances and the bell for main events, and the often held up placards at the end of the fight by the winner. Here is seems they have changed one of those traditions and are now showing a rotating series of logo's from various sponsor in the bottom corner of the TV broadcast. It's jarring in some ways, but very a interesting way to get extra extra sponsors shown on screen, and for much longer than the typical post fight placards. We do wonder if this is going to be an idea that other Thai promoters follow up with in the future. This is similar to what we used to see on Filipino broadcasts, where they used the bottom part of the screen for adverts, but is much more constant and yet still less intrusive. November 2020 will not go down as one of the best months in the history of Boxing Raise, despite the service having a lot of shows on it during the month. It wasn't a bad month, by any stretch, but it was one where quantity very much out did quality. It was also one where several very promising bouts were derailed late on and we lost two of the more interesting bouts for the month on the week of the fights.
Despite the service lacking in terms of depth there was more than enough good fights to get your teeth into and for those who missed them we've got you covered in Best of Boxing Raise November 2020. As with our previous "Best of Boxing Raise" article all the fights featured here can be accessed by subscribers by logging into Boxing Raise and adding the "movie/####" to "https://boxingraise.com/". The Hidden Gem - Kenta Kamimura (0-0) vs Yuto Kagata (0-0) [/movie/8899/] The hidden gem of the month came from the Midori promoted GREEN Dream 12 and boy what an unexpected gem this was. It featured debutants Kenta Kamimura and Yuto Kagata who managed to get through a rather dramatic, exciting and thrilling 4 rounder. The quality of the action wasn't great, but the drama was, with both men touching the canvas, knockdowns in 3 different rounds and a nasty cut this is worth a watch. This isn't going to win a place on the Fight of the Year shortlist, not even ours, but it is a fun little tear up! The rising Contender - Masanori Rikiishi (8-1, 4) vs Soreike Taichi (7-3, 5) [/movie/8889/] The excellent Masanori Rikiishi dropped shows what he could do when he took on Soreike Taichi, also on the Midori show. This not a competitive bout, and is more a showcase of a real natural talent, but it is still worth watching and could be the last we see of Rikiishi for a while as he really banged up his hand during the fight and will need time to let it heal and recover. The West Rookie War - Taichi Sugimoto (4-0-1, 1) v Yudai Yoneda (3-1, 1) [/movie/8916/] So we've had a up and down tear up and a show case in the first two bouts and now we get a war as Taichi Sugimoto and Yudai Yoneda beat 7 bells out of each other in a West Japan Rookie of the Year Final bout. This started slowly but as the rounds went on got more and more hotly contested with rounds 3 and 4 being absolute brilliant as the two men fought more on the inside and let their shots fly. Again a long way from a Fight of the Year contender, but a damn good fight with skills, and heart on show from both. The Best of the Month - Yoshimitsu Kimura (12-2, 7) v Shuma Nakazato (10-1-2, 7) [/movie/9044/] Easily the best bout this month on Boxing Raise was the highly anticipated clash between Yoshimitsu Kimura and Shuma Nakazato, which was expected to be great but out did all expectations. This was high level stuff through out, with great boxing early on, drama after the first knockdown, a war taking place in the second half of the fight and a gritty fight back in the dying stages. There is no other bout on Boxing Raise this month that was as good as this and it really deserves your time to fully enjoy. This was seen as a 50/50 bout going in and it ended up living up to those expectations in what was, genuinely, a fantastic fight which deserves a place on any top 10 list of fights for the entire of November, not just this Boxing Raise list. Zombie takes on determined youngster - Ryoichi Tamura (13-5-1, 7) Vs Ryu Oba (5-4, 3) [movie/9041/] People who have followed us over the years we know we love the high tempo aggressive fighters who come forward and throw insane amounts of leather. With that in mind we are massive fans of Ryoichi Tamura and his all out aggressive mentality. That was on show here against Ryu Oba who impressed himself by gutting out some intense pressure, fighting back and playing his part in a thoroughly amazing 5 rounder. If you like your boxing to be violent, high tempo, big punches and exchanges this is the one for you. The skill level might not have been the highest but the effort and energy were off the charts. Brilliant fight. OPBF title bout - Rikki Naito (22-2, 7) vs Yusuke Konno (16-4, 9) [movie/9045/] The biggest single bout on Boxing Raise during November was it's only title bout, and that was an OPBF Light Welterweight clash between Rikki Naito and Yusuke Konno. This bout didn't live up to our expectations, and we had expected a longer, tougher bout with the final rounds being a real test, but was still a solid contest with rounds 2 and 6 being absolute joys to watch. This was a nice dynamic between the speed, skills and movement of Naito and the power, strength and size of Konno, which worked well to give an entertaining bout. For those who like the cat and mouse fights this was great, and we really did get skills, style and guts from both men. Novices collide in shoot out - Riku Yamashita (2-0-1, 1) vs Taiga Nagao (2-2-1, 1) [/movie/9059/] Despite all the recent complaints about the Jake Paul Vs Nate Robinson bout, and how it was disrespectful and dangerous, we're not totally sure how but whatever, we absolutely love novice bouts. We opened this with one and now we have another to close this off. This time it was Riku Yamashita and Taiga Nagao who put on a show of inside fighting. From the opening round these two traded shots at will, with big shots coming on the inside. The bout then went from action to drama in round 2 with both men going down in a brilliantly thrilling round. If you need something short, snappy and exciting this is the perfect little war to entertain you for a few minutes. Fantastic stuff! Some of the best looking stoppages a fighter will ever score can come very early in their career, in otherwise low profile, and sometimes even relatively meaningless bouts. Today we roll back the clock to 2005 for a tremendous stoppage win by a man who would later go on to become a favourite of all hardcore fans. The bout wasn't supposed to be a competitive one, but the finish was still something a bit sensational. Akira Yaegashi (0-0) vs Tomoyoshi Nakayama (8-8-1, 1) In one corner was a then debuting 22 year old Akira Yaegashi, who had turned professional following a solid amateur career. He had signed with the Ohashi Gym and was expected to go on to notable success guided by former world champion Hideyuki Ohashi. As we all know Yaegashi's career did indeed go the way those in Japan expected, in fact Yaegashi probably had a better career than many anticipated, as he claimed world titles in 3 weight classes and became an international favourite of the dedicated fight fans. In the opposite corner was Tomoyoshi Nakayama, who had amassed an 8-8-1 (1) record but had never been stopped and had given the likes of Takashi Kunishge a tough test. He was supposed to lose to Yaegashi, of course he was, but what few would have expected was for him to be blown away. After all he had never been stopped and Yaegashi, the debutant, was going to get some rounds under his belt and get some professional experience. Right? What ended up happening was what few, except maybe those in Yaegashi's camp, had expected. Yaegashi going through Nakayama like a knife through warm butter. He didn't just make it look easy but also stylish. With a little over a minute of the round gone Yaegashi landed a great right hand to the body and immediately followed up with a left hook up top. Originally it seemed like Nakayama was going to stay standing but a few moments later he dropped, in what was a perfect example of a slightly delayed reaction. Luckily for Nakayama he went down when he did as it seemed very clear that Yaegashi knew he had his man hurt. Although Yaegashi went on to do great things, and become a legitimate fan favourite, he didn't score many better stoppages than this one. A perfect way to finish his debut. Whilst not a clean KO the combination to close the show here was truly wonderful. Following this bout Nakayama would suffer two more stoppages, but neither were blow outs as he lasted 6 rounds with Keita Omi, 7 months later, and then lost in 7 rounds to Flyweight Takuya Yamada, before hanging them up with a 10-12-1 (2) record. 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 title challenger Daiki Kaneko to Uzbek sensation Israil Madrimov.
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 Daiki Kaneko never managed to win a world title, though did at one point look a good bet to go all the way. Sadly his only world title fight was a loss to Takashi Uchiyama in one of the TV Tokyo end of year shows. The only title he did win was the Japanese Super Featherweight title which he defended 4 times, just like Takashi Miura. 2-Known as "Bomber Left" Takashi Miura was a hard hitting southpaw who was known for his toughness and his power, two things that made him a must watch attraction. His career saw him win the Japanese title and the WBC title, and become a bit of a cult favourite among international fans. Interestingly he debuted on a card that saw Noel Arambulet score a huge win over Yutaka Niida. 3-Venezuelan fighter Noel Arambulet was a pretty well travelled fighter in his prime, fighting around the globe. Although a good majority of his fights were at home he get passport stamps for Panama, Haiti, France, Colombia and Japan, which hosted 6 of his bouts. The final of those Japanese bouts saw him suffer his first stoppage loss, losing to Koki Kameda. 4-The controversial Koki Kameda, the oldest of the 3 Kameda fighter brothers, debuted back on December 21st 2003. On the same show were Takayuki Hosokawa, multi-time WBC world champion Nobuo Nashiro and multi-time world champion Katsunari Takayama. 5-During his very successful career Katsunari Takayama won numerous world titles, including the WBO Minmumweight title, twice. Interestingly his two reigns with that title sandwich a reign of fellow Japanese fighter Kosei Tanaka. 6-During a long and success amateur career Kosei Tanaka not only had success on the domestic scene but also competed on the international level. Among the competitions he won a medal at was the 2013 Asian Youth Championships in the Philippines, where he took home a Silver medal. Another man taking home silver from that competition was Uzbek fighter Israil Madrimov. A lot of fighters at the International gym adopted a fighter moniker, rather than fighting under their birth names. One such fighter was Toshimi Miura (15-5-1, 10), who went by the fighting name of "Crusher Miura".
The heavy handed Miura fought between 1982 and 1990 and although he wasn't the biggest success in the sport he did win the KSD Cup competition A-class tournament bantamweight championship and the Japanese national Bantamweight title during his career. Today we're going to shine a small light on Miura as we feature him in the latest of our 5 Midweek facts series, and bring you 5 midweek facts about Crusher Miura! 1-As an amateur Miura ran up a very impressive record, going 43-5, and was #3 in a national high school tournament. 2-Miura is good friends with Leopard Tamakuma, who suggested that Miura should turn professional. It was also Tamakuma who suggested that Miura gave the sport a second go after Miura came close to quitting, following a loss to Tadashi Kuramochi. After the loss he was out of the ring for almost 2 years before Tamakuma's convinced him to return. 3-Miura's 1987 win over Mitsunobu Goda came just a day after Miura's 24th birthday! Strangely that win would also be the final KO win of Miura's career, with Miura's final 6 career bouts all going the distance, and saw him go 3-2-1 during that final stretch of his career. 4-Miura won the Eddie Townsend award in 2001 for the work he had done with Celes Kobayashi and Trash Nakanuma. For those unaware of the Eddie Townsend award is essentially Japan's answer to the Trainer of the Year award. That was when he was working at the International gym. 5-In 2002 Miura became the first chairman of the DREAM boxing gym in Oji. Although certainly not a big gym DREAM has become a notable gym, having created several Japanese ranked fighters and a Japanese national champion. For such a new gym it's certainly had it's successes. |
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