Back on December 10th we saw Japanese Light Welterweight champion Daishi Nagata (15-2-2, 6) make his first defense of the title he won back in July, when he upset Koki Inoue. In that defense Nagata fought to a 7th round technical draw against Akihiro Kondo (32-9-2, 18) in a bout that is seriously worth watching for those that missed it. It wasn’t a fight of the year contender, but was a compelling bout, and one to enjoy during the upcoming barren stretch from boxing.
Having watched the bout when it aired in December, and now going back over to rewatch it we thought we’d discuss what we took from the bout, and what we saw from the two men that was worth talking about 1-This started at a hot pace With Nagata having secured a career best win over Koki Inoue just a few months before this fight it was clear that he was going to be flying high with confidence coming into this one. He tried to show that straight from the off and put a lot into round 1 as confidence and excitement seemed to be driving him on. Given that Nagata is a really good boxer and Kondo is a really tough guy we’re not too sure why Nagata didn’t try to control the bout at a slower pace and use his speed to control the action. Whatever the reason it didn’t matter, this started hot and was really fun from the opening bell due to Nagata’s decision to take the fight to Kondo, and Kondo’s willingness to respond and counter. Sadly for Nagata we suspect this hot pace he looked to set will turn into a learning experience for future bouts. 2-Kondo isn’t shot... but he is old In 2019 Akihiro Kondo suffered losses to Downua Ruawaiking, via 5th round KO, and Andy Hiraoki, by UD10, and heading into 2020 we had assumed he was pretty much shot. In reality however he’s not shot, in fact the 35 year old is still a very, very capable fighter. He is however an old fighter, and his speed has dropped just a touch along with his reactions and movement. His timing is still there, his toughness is still there and he’s full of experience. If a fighter wants to beat Kondo the best tactics are not to treat him like a shot fighter and blast him out, that’s not going to happen. To beat Kondo you really should be looking to avoid a fight, boxing smartly and staying on the move, don’t let him time his counters and certainly don’t stand still in front of him. Even as early as the opening round Kondo was landing solid right hands on Nagata, and chin checking the champion. Nagata may have been winning the early rounds but he was certainly not getting things all his own way. With this in mind we would certainly not suggest Jin Sasaki’s team look at Kondo for a bout in 2021, he’s too tough, too rugged and too experienced for the teenage sensation. 3-The bout had great atmosphere at Korakuen Hall Given that the Japanese Boxing Commission has really limited what fans are allowed to do at fights, in terms of preventing cheering, chanting, yelling and the like, it was great to hear a raucous atmosphere here for this bout. It was a rough, tough war, with a lot of shots being landed by both and it deserved the atmosphere it got, with plenty of nose being made by fans who were clearly picked up on the camera. Whilst it did seem like some of the noise was probably prohibited noise, there was also plenty of applause from excited fans who knew they were getting a really, really good bout. It’s a shame the bout ended the way it did, following Nagata being badly cut from head clashes, but it was a good one and it got a worthy reception from the crowd… ...or at least we think it did. Sadly the camera at Korakuen Hall was focused on the far side of the ring and the fans there didn’t seem to be showing much in terms of excitement or emotion, so this take away does come with the caveat that the noise may have been added afterwards. If that was the case it was well done, and did actually add to the fight, rather than distract from it. 4-Nagata was lucky when the bout was stopped It can seem silly at times to talk about a fighter being lucky but we really do feel that Nagata was very, very lucky for the early conclusion here. He seemed to be getting tagged repeatedly and Kondo seemed to be coming on strong, and had been for several rounds. Had this bout gone on much longer Nagata would almost certainly have ended up taking the loss on the scorecards. It’s never great to defend a title by technical draw, but it’s better than losing it by technical decision and had this bout gone midway into round 8 we genuinely feel the title would have changed hands. Sadly for Kondo he does have himself to blame, he admitted his gameplan was about coming on strong in the middle rounds and had he started to get more offensive just 1 round earlier he would have had rounds in the bag needed to take home the decision and the Japanese title. 5-Michiaki Someya did a great job We feel this goes without saying now but Michiaki Someya continued to do a great job as the referee. He was clear with his instructions to the fighters, who fell into a number of ugly clinches as the bout went on, he was clear when he ruled out a knockdown in round 2 and felt comfortable correcting himself when he realised it was a slip, he was always aware of what was going on and when they could work in a clinch he let them. He seemed to quickly realise that due to the orthodox Vs southpaw dynamic that clinches could get messy and head clashes could occur and did his best to limit them. He couldn’t prevent them all, but he did a good job in a fight that could easily have gotten very ugly at times.
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The excellent Boxing Raise service is one of those that we suggest every fight fan wanting to follow Japanese boxing at least considers subscribing to, at least on and off, and the service has regularly delivered some of the best fights we’ve seen every month. In December the one absolute stand out bout was the Super Flyweight clash between Ryoji Fukunaga (13-4, 13) and Kenta Nakagawa (19-4-1, 12).
The bout saw Fukunaga unify the WBO Asia Pacific Super Flyweight title, which he held going into the bout, with the Japanese title, that Nakagawa held, and the previously vacant OPBF title, to see him end the year a triple crown winner. It wasn’t however just a big fight in terms of the silverware on the line, but also the in ring action with the bout being a truly brilliant fight, one of the legitimate Japanese Fight of the Year contenders. In the end Fukunaga, the bigger puncher, came out on top, thanks to a 10th round TKO but before we got there we had everything we could ask for, and the two men really delivered something special. 1-Kadoebi’s pre-fight presentation added something Before the ring entrances Kadoebi played something of hype package before hand showing highlights of the two men along with interviews of the two fighters and a voice over of someone building up anticipation for the bout. Whilst the fight really didn’t need anything to build it up, it was still great to see Kadoebi going the extra few steps and delivering a really nice build up video. If we’re going to have to wait a few moments for a fight then using something like this is fantastic, and something we really should start seeing in the west, rather than going to a studio team who end up chatting garbage for far too long. This was short, it was sharp, it made the bout feel a little bit more important and let us see, and hear, from the men we were about to see fight. It was only a minute or two but it served its purpose really well and added a little bit of extra gloss to the fight. 2-Fukunaga can really take a shot! Whilst we already know Ryoji Fukunaga was a big puncher, what this bout showed is that he can really take a shot too. This wasn’t shown too much early on, but as the bout progressed, and as both men grew tired, both landed with alarming regularity and both seemed to buzz the other with clean shots, that were followed up on. Amazingly whilst Fukunaga was buzzed a few times he never really looked close to going down. He has been down in the past, and was down in his previous fight against Froilan Saludar, but here he looked like a man possessed with staying on his feet no matter what. It was a testament to grit, determination and toughness for him to stay up right in rounds 8 and 9 in particular. More about those rounds a little later. When a man is fighting and has that “you’ll never stop me” mentality, he’s a very, very hard man to beat, and we saw that so much here. He physically and mentally beat Nakagawa here. 3-The all-southpaw dynamic wasn’t an issue Often when we get all-southpaw bouts the dynamic of the fight is off, with many all-southpaw bouts feeling awkward and failing to catch fire. This was not one of those bouts. The two men shared respect for each other early on, but when they began to find their groove, and get comfortable this became a bout that got better and better as it went on. Early on both men took their time looking to find their range, used their jabs and began to lay the groundwork for what was to come later in the bout. Nakagawa was dropped in round 4, and from there on fireworks were seen regularly between the two men, who had no issues at all with their opponents stance. This was perhaps the best all-southpaw bout of 2020, and it is one that seriously deserves a watch as the drama unfolds in amazing fashion. 4-Rounds 8, 9 and 10...what the hell! We had some amazing fights in 2020, and some fantastic rounds, though rarely have we had back to back round of the year contenders. This fight however gave us just that with rounds 8 and 9, and what we had of round 10, being insane. The action started quickly in both rounds, and saw the two men both landing bombs, both looked out on their feet several times, before responding with a huge burst of shots of their own. It seemed like both men had not just fought themselves to a standstill but also fought the other into waking up, and digging deeper and deeper into their energy reserves. Going beyond the point of fighting on fumes, and beyond the tank being empty. This was almost 8 and a half minutes of pure brutality and beautiful violence. If you haven’t got boxing raise these rounds alone are worth the price of a month subscription and are absolutely sensational. Action, drama, determination, desire, brutality, heart and jaw dropping back and forth. These rounds were simply awesome. 5-Yuji Fukuchi did an amazing job It seems like we’re always praising Japanese referees in this series but they often deserve, as Yuji Fukuchi did here. A less referee would have jumped in multiple times during this bout. Ian John Lewis for example would have denied us much of the fight. Fukuchi however allowed this to go on, even when both men were rocked, tired, and looking close to spent. He gave the fighters the chance to fight back, he let them show their heart and their fighting spirit and made it clear that they were allowed to fight. He did an amazing job by letting the fight flow, by letting the bout come to a natural conclusion and made a perfect stoppage when he finally stepped in and saved Nakagawa. His patience and understanding of the fighters, the understanding of the bout he was officiating, and what the fight meant allowed him to do the perfect job and few would have done as good a job as Fukuchi did. We’ve praised Michiaki Someya and Nobuto Ikehara multiple times during this series but Fukuchi did just as good here. Genuinely fantastic from the referee. In the days following Christmas Boxing Raise were in Osaka where they recorded the latest Green Tsuda show, from the EDION Arena Osaka. Among the bouts on that card was the highly anticipated return of Katsunari Takayama (32-8-0-1, 12), who faced Reiya Konishi (17-3, 7) in a bout that was originally scheduled for November. The bout, Takayama's first in more than 4 years, saw the former multi-time world champion look fantastic as he out sped, out pointed, out landed, out boxed and out thought the naturally bigger and naturally stronger Konishi, who looked second best throughout.
Having recently re-watched the bout we've decided to share what we took away from the bout, and what the bout really tells us about the two men. 1-Takayama looked so sharp Little fighters age quicker, and fighters who fight at 105lbs or 108lbs tend to not have very long careers. In fact by their mid 30's they are usually done at the top tier and never really recapture any form. Aged 37 however Takayama looked fantastic, and didn't look like a man who's last professional bout came back in 2016. Whilst he had fought a few amateur bouts since his last professional contest it was still a real surprise to see him looking this good. He was just as fleet as he had ever been, he seemed to have improved his head movement since his 2016 bout with Riku Kano, he looked full of energy, and set a high output, to go along with his non-stop movement. Unsurprisingly he never looked close to stopping Konishi, someone who has gone the distance with Carlos Canizalez and Felix Alvarado, but he dominated pretty much every minute of the fight. A brilliant performance. 2-Stylistically this was a bad bout for Konishi Through his now 20 fight career Reiya Konishi has been involved in some great scraps, and this one had the potential to be another nail biter, at least on paper. In the end however wasn’t as exciting as we expected and that was because of the styles the two men employed. Konishi has great work rate and a fun physical style, but he’s got relatively slow feet and due to the movement of Takayama he could never force his will, despite being the naturally bigger man. He whiffed at the air time and time again, missing, whilst eating leather. He pressed forward, only to taste more and more of Takayama’s shots. Against the right opponent, one who is willing to stand and trade rather than box on the move, Konishi does have success, but Takayama’s movement, and sharp clean really made him look incredibly limited here. 3-There was real respect for the fighters by the crowd One of the things that has been a negative in recent months for Japanese boxing is the deathly silent crowd, something that is essentially a requirement from the JBC who aren’t allowing cheering due to Covid19. Despite that this bout did receive plenty of noise from fans in the venue with regular applause, but at the end of the round and during rounds. It was nice to hear noise in a venue, something that has been missing from Japanese bouts, even some really good competitive bouts. Yes this wasn’t anywhere near the noise that would have been made had the bout took place in 2019, but it was still a very nice addition to a really solid fight and we’d love to hear more applause at future fights. Alternatively maybe fans should be allowed to bring something musical to fights, like a drum, to try and boost the atmosphere. 4-This should have been an 8 rounder...if not 10 The only real complaint we have about this fight was that it was only a 6 rounder. This really should have been over 8 rounds, minimum. Both of these fighters are proven at a high level, both have gone 12 multiple times in world title fights, and a 8 rounder, or even a 10 rounder, would have told us so much more about Takayama’s stamina and fitness. He never looked like he struggled, at all, here but it would still have been much more interesting to see how he looked in a longer fight to know whether or not he’d be able to keep this up if he was to get a world title fight in 2021, something that is very possible. A longer distance in this bout would have favoured Konishi, and it would have made the bout a lot more interesting down the stretch. Sadly for Takayama we suspect he’ll need another fight before a world title bout, and hopefully that will be over a longer distance than this one. 5-Nobuto Ikehara really had little to do Referee Nobuto Ikehara, himself a former fighter, didn’t have too many appointments as the third man in the ring in 2020 but this would have been among the very easiest he’ll have had. He had to call a couple of obvious slips early on, but other than there was literally nothing for him to do other than enjoy the best view in the house. There was pretty much no clinching, wrestling was kept to a minimum and when he was needed he was decisive, though he was happy to let them fight out of the clinch when they did occur, something Japanese referees tend to allow. For a 6 rounder to have as few breaks as this had was great to watch and enjoy and really easy work for a very good, and very underrated official. According to boxrec this was the first show he had worked since getting the job for the Junto Nakatani Vs Giemel Magramo fight, which he officiated excellently. Despite having an easy bout here he never let his concentration slip and was very rarely out of position. One of the most dramatic, exciting and captivating fighters from 2020 was the brilliant Lightweight bout between Japan’s Masayoshi Nakatani (19-1, 13) and Felix Verdejo (27-2, 17). The bout, fought in The Bubble, at the MGM Grand had everything we could ever wish to see in a fighter. It had skills, heart, power, multiple knockdowns, momentum shifts and one of the biggest comebacks of the year. The bout really was something truly amazing and those who missed it really did miss out one something truly special.
1-Nakatani’s will to win is incredible Few will ever describe Masayoshi Nakatani as a truly skilled fighter, but he has a number of traits that make him incredibly tough to beat. Whilst the most obvious of those, visibly, is his physical size and stature, the other is his will to win. He, like many top Japanese fighters, has incredible determination and his will to fight through adversity cannot be questioned. He did it against Izuki Tomioka, who took an early lead against Nakatani in an OPBF title fight, and against Yoshitaka Kato, who pushed him all the way very early in his career and clearly hurt him with a body shot. He had answered those questions about how much he wanted to win, and what he’d go through to win. Being dropped in rounds 1 and 4 weren’t enough to finish off that will, neither was taking a number of huge right hands in the first few rounds. Sometimes that will to win, despite being tagged repeatedly, is a trait that will be too much for an opponent and in many ways this was somewhat comparable to the first Antonio Margarito Vs Miguel Cotto fight, though admittedly not as good as that sensational 2008 battle. Nakatani, like Magarito, was being out sped, out boxed, and tagged at will, but refused to quit, pressed forward and slowly broke down his man, who was left questioning what exactly he had to do to stop the terminator like figure in front of him 2-Verdejo’s questionable heart is his biggest issue Felix Verdejo is an incredibly talented fighter, and he has a lot of things going for him, including blistering speed and fantastic power. Sadly however he still has a number of real issues, and issues that have been clear issues in both of his losses. One of those is his stamina. Due to his style he puts a lot in every shot he throws, and when those shots don’t take opponents out he uses a lot of energy. That’s great if you blow opponents out, which he likely expected to do here, but by the end of round 5 he had clearly slowed and in round 6 he was becoming negative. This was very, very similar to how he suffered his previous loss, with his negativity kicking in, and Verdejo using a lot of energy to try and stay from a taller man. Another issues he has is his heart. He’s rarely come under any real pressure during his career, but the two notable times where he has had questions being asked of him he has come undone. Sadly for Verdejo whilst a fighter can learn to pace themselves better they can’t suddenly develop the heart and guts to dig themselves out of a hole. With Verdejo having now twice been broken down in the later stages of fights, whilst tiring and crumbling mentally, we suspect he will never become the star he was groomed to be. 3-Nakatani’s jab was vital to his victory Standing at close to 6’ Masayoshi Nakatani has one of the tallest bodies in the Lightweight division and one of the longest reaches in the division. With that in mind it will come as no surprise to learn he has a solid jab, and that jab really was his key to victory here. Not only did it help him create space when he needed it but it also helped get Verdejo’s respect, broke his man down, created situations to land his right hand and forced the stoppage late on. It also, more notably than anything, helped him extend this fight, and allowed him to slowly break Verdejo mentally and get to a tired Verdejo late on. The lanky Japanese fighter might not be the quickest fighter, or even the smoothest fighter out there, but that long jab is a brilliant weapon and something that he has shown in both of his US bouts as well as his Japanese bouts. Notably however when fighters have taken the jab away from him, as Izuki Tomioka did in 2018, he does struggle to work his way into bouts. 4-ESPN’s commentary was poor Through much of the early rounds the commentary was more focused on Verdejo’s preparation for the fight rather than calling what was going on in the ring. This meant they ignored a lot of work, with far too much time spent talking about Ismael Salas, who seemed to be the focus of the commentary work for much of round 2. They were very much overlooking everything Nakatani did and over-egging what Verdejo was doing, other than Timothy Bradley who actually did add some genuine insight here about Verdejo’s lack of body shots, rather than repeat “Nakatani can’t take all these shots”, something he did. The pro-Verdejo commentary ended up missing out on some very important things, and also ended up not mentioning Verdejo’s loss, which came to a physically similar fighter to Nakatani, something that would have actually been very insightful for this bout. One of the most annoying things about modern day commentary is that it’s very cheerleading of a fighter, and that was shown here. It wasn’t until round 5 that they even seemed to question Verdejo, who had been having success but was still being caught himself in the earlier rounds. Even in the later stages, when Nakatani was coming on strong, the focus still seemed to be about Verdejo, and what he had to do to win and his past, rather than what was actually happening. This even saw the commentary talking about Tyson Fury Vs Anthony Joshua at the start of round 9, when Nakatani rocked Verdejo. Andre Ward even said it was difficult to see Verdejo go out like he did, continuing the narrative that Verdejo was their man. Whilst he might be the Top Rank fighter they need to separate promotional bias from their commentary. For us commentary should be adding to the fight and telling us what is happening to the fight. It shouldn’t be about trying to sell out of the ring narratives and sacrifices or other fights. Tell us about the fight that is going on, and even give the fight a chance to breathe. This was an incredible fight, and it deserved so much better than it got. 5-Celestino Ruiz did a great job here In 2013 Celestino Ruiz was the third man in the ring for a controversial bout between Mike Mollo and Artur Szpilka, and he made it very clear which side he was on. He was widely condemned for his performance that night, and deservedly so. Since then however he has slowly been building a solid body of work, and this bout was another example of it. Lesser referees would have panicked after the first knockdown and robbed us of what was a great fight, but Ruiz took his time. Ruiz was also timely with his breaks when the fighters were tangled, even when those the clinches favoured the tiring Verdejo. He also gave Verdejo every chance to continue after the first knockdown. Where he didn’t need to be involved he didn’t involve himself, and like a good referee he let the action flow as much as possible. We think it’s probably time where we accept Ruiz is actually a very, very good referee, and the Mollo Vs Szpilka fight was a very bad night at the office for him, rather than a sign of anything else. One of the more overlooked prospects in Japan is Jinki Maeda (6-0, 4) who recorded his 6th win on December 27th at the EDION Arena Osaka, as he stopped Kaito Okubo (5-2, 2). With Maeda being one of the prospects that deserves more attention we’ve decided to take a look back on this bout and share our take aways from it.
With Maeda expected to climb up the Japanese rankings in 2021, and potentially even move into a title fight in 2022 or 2023 his career is going to be a good one to follow. On paper this was a really, really good test against a fighter who had won his last 2 bouts, and was looking to really give his career a boost. It was an overlooked bout, but one worthy of a watch for those who use the Boxing Raise service. 1-Okubo is a physical freak...but doesn’t use his size all that well The first thing that really caught our eye here wasn’t the action in the ring but the size of Okubo. The 23 year old from Neyagawa was fighting at Featherweight here and yet stood just shy of 6’. Maeda is a good sized Featherweight, at 5’8”, but was made to look small by Okubo. Not only is Okubo tall but he’s wiry, with long limbs. Oddly though he really didn’t use his long leavers to great effect. He should have been pumping out the jab but was out jabbed by the short man and all too often looked super apprehensive. For a man with his size and frame he has the potential to be a nightmare opponent, and will almost always be bigger than his opponents at 126lbs, and even going up to 140lbs not many will have his dimensions. We do maybe wonder if his future lies a weight class or two higher than he fought here, especially given that he’s a growing and maturing young man. 2-Maeda figured out Okubo within a round One of the things that has impressed us with Maeda is his boxing brain, countering punching, footwork and control of distance. These were all on show here, and within a round he had figured out Okubo and what Okubo had to offer. He had a really good read on Okubo’s reach, his speed, and his shot placement. With that in mind he was then much more willing to take risks. He was caught once or twice in round two, but there was little on the shots from Okubo, certainly not enough to trouble the rising youngster. This resulted in him landing several decent left hands before the eventual KO. 3-The KO was nasty! The bout was ended by a single left hand part way through round 2, with Maeda landing a brutal counter shot. This was a nasty KO blow, and credit to Okubo’s corner for quickly aiding their man, rather than allowing him to try beating the count. If you have a Boxing Raise subscription we suspect you’ll be going back to watch this finish a fair few times as it was a beauty. Interestingly it was the second successive time Maeda has scored a 2nd KO and his 4th T/KO in the first 2 rounds. Despite the early stoppages we wouldn’t describe him as a heavy puncher, but he is a very, very clean puncher, and when he lands he lands right on the point. 4-This fight was a very quiet until the KO Although both men looked to fight at range, behind their straight punches the styles really didn’t gel at all. Okubo was inactivity, had shots falling short, and only really connected with a couple of worthwhile shots during the 5 minutes that the fight lasted. Maeda did land a few more, and did land the huge KO blow, but in reality this was a very un-Japanese fight. It was rather dull and we suspect Green Tsuda will be looking to put Maeda in with more aggressive fighters in 2021. There are a lot of interesting Japanese Featherweights out there, and Maeda taking on someone like Ryugo Ushijima would be much, much more interesting. If they want to get him rounds, a bout with Hyuma Fujioka may also be worth considering, especially if he's intending to move into 8 round bouts sooner rather than later. 5-Jun Kawakami had an easy day at the office The third man in the ring here was Jun Kawakami, who actually did 3 bouts on the same show totalling 11 rounds. This was the second of his bouts and was a very, very easy bout where he was rarely, if ever needed. We would have liked to have seen him encourage the fighters to give a little more effort, though in fairness they were trying they just didn’t gel, but other than that his performance was flawless in a bout that really didn’t see him being needed other than to break a single clinch in round 2, counting to 5 and spotting Okubo’s team waving the towel. A very easy bout for him. Back on December 19th we saw 24 year old youngster Ryosuke Nishida (3-0, 1) take a huge step up in class and over-come former world title challenger Shohei Omori (21-4, 16), in what was a massive win for Nishida. The talented fighter from the Mutoh Gym really showed what he could do here as he took a very clear decision over Omori and it left people wondering what the future may bring for both men.
Rather than guessing on the future, we’re going to take a look back over that bout and share our take aways from the contest. 1-Boxing Real streams are brilliant The service showing this bout was Boxing Real, the YouTube which is essentially connected to the Shinsei Gym. The stream for this was genuinely brilliant with a crystal clear image throughout, multiple-camera angles, clear on screen graphics, good replays, and a good solid layout. The service does have a few minor areas to improve on, but if we’re being honest the quality of this is on par with, if not better than, some of the TV cards we get. We’re not huge fans of one of the camera angles used, and one of the commentary team sounded like they were talking through a muffled phone or something, but other than that this was fantastic throughout and we really hope the Boxing Real team continue to deliver streams in 2021. 2-Nishida fought like a man with a point to prove In the opening seconds Nishida came out like a bundle of energy, and to begin with we assumed it could have been nervous energy in what was a massive step up fight. Instead however it seemed like he was trying to make an instant impression, get his foot in front and make Omori chase the bout. This worked brilliantly as a tactic from the youngster who took the early initiative and had his nose well in front before Omori could settle. It wasn’t really until round 3 that Omori had any sustained success. Even then it wasn’t long before Nishida resumed control and late on he came close to stopping Omori, who was hurt in each of the final 3 rounds. This was a performance by a young man who didn’t just want to win, but wanted to leave an impression on fans, and we’d love to see more fighters follow through with that mentality. 3-Omori looks to be on the slide...big time At his best Shohei Omori looked like a star. He was a good looking fighter, with an exciting style, solid power and speed and he seemed to tick a lot of boxes. His 2015 win over Kentaro Masuda, when Omori was just 22 years old, seemed set to be a launchpad for a future champion. Sadly however losses to Marlon Tapales in 2015 and 2017 both seemed to take a lot out of Omori. He did score good wins in 2018, against Brian Lobetania and Takahiro Yamamoto, but now looks about spent. A loss in 2019 to Hiroaki Teshigawara arguably took the best out of him and he looked really under-whelming in December 2020 when he beat Danny Tampipi. He looked even worse against Nishida. Whilst there were certainly some issues in camp, and the bout did need re-arranging after Nishida started suffering dehydration, he still looked really poor here. We do wonder if he’s perhaps heading towards retirement, at the age of 27, or maybe needs some massive shake up in camp. He didn’t look himself at all here, and he knew it, hinting that he may retire. Given how he looked a few years ago, this would be a really sad way for him to end his career. 4-Nishida looks very experienced Despite this being only his third professional bout Nishida looked like an experienced fighter in there, controlling the pace when he wanted. He fought smartly on the inside, controlled the range for the most part, and even showed some old man tactics, walking around the ring and making Omori come to him. Despite only being 24 he fought really intelligently and obviously used a lot of the experience he had from the amateurs to neutralise Omori and dictate the action. Yes Omori didn’t look great, but we can’t overlook Nishida’s work whilst was really intelligent. When he was caught clean he knew to hold, and mess things up, knew what to throw and when, and he smartly reserved some energy for a big finish. This is a young fighter, who has old man tricks up sleeve, and who will only get better. Do not be surprised at all if he fights for a title before the end of 2021 following this excellent win. 5-The venue was seemed awkward It’s unfair to criticise the venue and how it’s set up for fights during this current era of boxing, with fans in masks and everything, though it does need to be said that everything looked a little bit awkward. Sadly the Second Stadium at the EDION Arena Osaka, where this was held, doesn’t really have some of the features that other venues have. It’s got a large flat flood with seats that need bringing in, unlike the benches at the Korakuen Hall, and everything is done on one layer. It also doesn’t really have the ability to use the lighting to black out the crowd like some of the other venues. As a result it was a little bit of an awkward view with the crowd being just a touch distracting to watch, especially with the main camera that was used focusing on the side of the ring where there was a lot of the crowd. It’s one of those things that can’t be helped, and if cheering and chanting was allowed we wouldn’t be mentioning the venue. But sadly we are in the non-cheering era of Japanese boxing, and it did feel just a touch weird to watch this one, especially during the exciting moments which deserved a road from the crowd, but only got mild applause. The final major bout of 2020 saw WBO Super Flyweight champion Kazuto Ioka (26-2, 15) successfully defending his title with an 8th round TKO win over 3-weight world champion Kosei Tanaka (15-1, 9). The bout was a brilliant ending to the year and saw fans around the world tune in to see an all Japanese world title bout that delivered action, excitement, skills and thrills. After a 2020 that had given us heartache, disappointment, frustration and setbacks the bout was the perfect way to put 2020 behind and move into 2021.
With the bout now viewed by almost all the hardcore boxing fans we’ve decided to re-watch it and give our feed back on the bout as we again give a bout the Five Take Away treatment. 1-Japan can deliver the big fight feel We usually associate the big fight feeling to big bouts in the US and the UK but this bout proved that Japan can deliver that same feeling as well. From the pre-fight build up and the buzz among hardcore boxing fans to the walk in and the in ring action this really was a big fight. It may not have matched the biggest all-Japanese fighters ever, but it was still a bout that had all the hallmarks of a big, super fight event. Sadly it’s a huge shame, still, that no US broadcaster picked up the rights, though it’s fantastic that broadcasters around the world did, giving fans a chance to see it without needing to resort to Japanese streams. It was a shame that the bout came in 2020 with a partially empty arena, and with fans needing to wearing masks, rather than being allowed to roar and cheer their support for the fighters. Despite the minor complaints this was still a special event, and credit to all involved in putting it on. 2-Ioka is incredibly adaptable Kazuto Ioka is one of the most overlooked and under-rated fighters in the sport, and has been for years. The talented 4-weight world champion hasn’t had success by fluke or by chance, instead he’s had due to an excellent boxing brain and fantastic skills. Those skills have been honed amazingly well in recent years, and since linking up with Ismael Salas we have seen Ioka become more adaptable and smarter than ever. In recent fights Ioka has mixed up his gameplans and tactics, he’s adapted to his opponents, and hasn’t just relied on fighting his style. Instead he seems more apt at neutralising his opponents. A year ago we saw him up against the taller, longer and faster Jeyvier Cintron, and it was Ioka who took center ring and tried to rip Cinton’s body apart and neutralise his movement. This time around Ioka played the role of counter puncher, neutralising the speed of Tanaka, and again cracking the body. A few fights back he neutralised the power of Aston Palicte. To beat Ioka you need to be able to out think him, and very, very few fighters are able to do that. In many ways that’s why a potential dream fight between Ioka and Juan Francisco Estrada is so high on the wish list for boxing fans around the world. 3-Tanaka would have wanted an interim fight When Kosei Tanaka vacated the WBO Flyweight title in early 2020 it seemed like his intention was to have a bout at Super Flyweight to adapt to the weight, and then to take on Ioka at the end of the year. Sadly 2020 didn’t allow him to have that bout and to test himself at the weight or to get used to fighting against the power of Super Flyweight. A bout against a top 25 type guy at the weight would have helped prepare him for Ioka. We suspect that 2021 will see him bouncing back and getting a bout or two to adapt to the weight, get used to things at 115lbs and in 2022 we wouldn’t be surprised at all by him getting a second world title fight. He looked good at the weight, he looked sharp, and he seemed very strong, but a little ill prepared for what would happen when a fighter, like Ioka, could take his power. Thankfully for Tanaka he’s the young gun at 115lbs, and the likes of Ioka, Estrada, Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and Roman Gonzalez are all the other side of 30. The general shift he was speaking of before this bout will happen, but it might be a year or two away from happening. 4-Commentary can really add to a fight One of our biggest complaints through 2020, in general, has been the appalling quality of commentary in boxing, with the likes of DAZN, Sky Sports, BT Sports and ESPN having some awful commentary. For this bout the contest the English language commentary, done by the excellent Corey Erdman, and the Japanese commentary, let action speak for itself. The Japanese commentary, as always, intensifies when the action picks up, they don’t feel the need to speak for every moment of every round. Pauses add to action, they allow the fighters to take center stage and simply compliment what is going on in the ring. It’s an art form. As for the English commentary that was fantastic, it added to the occasion, was well researched, by someone who seems to actually care about the fight they are watching, caring about the men, and realising that fans watching might not be massively familiar with the fighters. It takes an excellent commentator to educate fans without talking down to them, and to add to the event and that’s exactly what we got here. Compare the commentary done here, by a single person, to the commentary done by other channels when there’s a team and the quality is massively different. This added to and improved the fight, which was already fantastic. 5-Michiaki Someya continues to shine Through this series we’ve been praising referees a lot more than we expected, and Michiaki Someya has received praise several times during this series for being an excellent referee. He has consistently impressed with his ring positioning, his awareness and his ability to know when to step in and when to let the action flow. Time and time again he has been showing exactly what he’s capable of on the domestic stage. This time around he was given a chance to show what he could do to a wider audience and once again he was flawless. The way he stopped the bout was given widespread praise, especially with the way Tanaka essentially went limp for a moment in his arms, proving the stoppage wasn’t an early one, but that certainly wasn’t the only outstanding bit of refereeing here. Little things like making sure Ioka was in the neutral corner after the knockdowns before seeing to Tanaka were also very clear. His instructions throughout the bout were clean and he only involved himself when he had to. Through the entire of 2020 Someya has been fantastic and we really hope he gets more big bouts like this. It’s fair to say that 2020 was the year where Jin Sasaki (10-0, 9) became a name on the lips of everyone who follows Japanese boxing. The hard hitting 19 year old went 3-0 (3) for the year and ended 2020 with a sensational 3rd round TKO win over the tough Aso Ishiwaki (8-3-1, 6), claiming the Japanese Youth title at 140lbs in the process. It was a win that gave Sasaki a lot of momentum heading into the new year.
Before the bout dies from the memory however we’ve decided to look back on it and share our 5 take aways from the explosive bout. 1-Sasaki carries himself like a star We’ve covered two other Jin Sasaki bouts in this series and it needs repeating, again, that Sasaki carries himself with the aura of a star. He might only be fighting at the Youth title level, but from the way he enters the ring to the way he fights he gives off an aura of a special, super confident star. He seems to realise fans are looking at him, paying him attention, and he wants to bask in that attention, and get more of it. For a 19 year old to be generating the buzz he has in 2020 is incredible, and he seems to be ticking a lot of boxes that will continue to generate a fan base, both domestically and internationally. He really does stand out in a way that few others in Japan do, and his calm, confident, demeanour is attention grabbing. He adds that natural charisma to sensational performance and stoppages like the one he got here will seriously help him make a mark on people. He and his team have done a great job in 2020, and he is quickly becoming a must watch fighter in Japan. Also bonus points here for having One OK Rock as his walk out music! 2-This isn’t the end for Ishiwaki For Aso Ishiwaki this was a painful loss. He wasn’t just beaten, but was absolutely battered. Down twice in round 1, on the verge of being stopped during the first 3 minutes, and then taken out all together in round 3. It was the type of loss that can be very hard to bounce back from, especially at the age of 21. Thankfully however it is not the end for him, and with Nobuhiro Ishida behind him we suspect the youngster will be given the time and fights to rebuild. He had had a solid 2019 before his career was put on pause during 2020 due to Covid19 sweeping across Japan and limiting events. It was unfortunate he didn’t have a tune of some sort before this bout. The youngster seems to be the type who is still hungry to impress and with that in mind he should bounce back fine in 2021. 3-The Japanese Youth Title scene is brilliant Whilst most who follow Japanese boxing will be aware of the Rookie of the Year, the long standing novice tournament which is held annually and has been for decades, most probably aren’t too aware of the Japanese Youth title. These are a relatively new concept and have only been around for a few years, but are quickly proving to be a brilliant asset for Japanese boxing and helping entice youngsters to take risks with their careers. This is something that really does see Japan stand out. We don’t see top Japanese youngsters waiting until they have double digit wins to take on a real test. We also don’t see Japanese boxers chasing Inter-continental and International titles, neither of which are recognised by the JBC, which means we get exciting match ups like this instead. Other countries perhaps need to start considering something similar! 4-Sasaki answered some questions but has more to answer There is no denying that this was a step up in class for Jin Sasaki, and that Aso Ishiwaki is a very solid fighter. That allowed Sasaki to prove a lot about himself. We now know that Sasaki’s power is legit, few in Japan will manage to dominate Ishiwaki like Sasaki did. We also saw Sasaki take one or two flush bombs himself, without any issues at all. In round 3 we also saw slight changes in his tactics, as he began to use more of a high guard and pressure Ishiwaki into making mistakes. We know he’s legit, he has a lot to like and can go a long, long way. However the bout also showed that at times he is in love with his power, and can end up looking for the home run punch a bit too much, he also leaves himself very open when throwing his hooks, as we saw a lot in round 2. Ishiwaki couldn’t capitalise, and even trying to do so would be a risk, but we suspect future opponents will be scouting the way he throws hooks and look to catch his exposed chin. 5-Akihiko Katsuragi did his job perfectly We seem to celebrate Japanese referees in these articles consistently, and this was another example of the referee doing his job as he should. The experienced Akihiko Katsuragi stayed out of the action when he could, maintained a good view of the fighters, gave Ishiwaki every chance that he could, showed good patience and understanding of the fight and only intervened in the rare occasions that he had to. He also made the right decision in not even allowing Ishiwaki to try and beat the count from the third knockdown. There was no point. Credit to Ishiwaki on getting to his feet, but Katsuragi made it clear this was over. Very clear, decisive and well placed throughout. Bigger name referees around the world may want to what the job Katsuragi did during the fight. Back on December 18th we saw IBF and IBO Middleweight champion Gennadiy Golovkin (41-1-1, 36) retain his titles with a dominant win over the over-matched Kamil Szeremeta (21-1, 5), a Polish challenger who looked completely out of his depth. The bout was a mismatch from the off, but one that served as a mandatory for Golovkin, and easy outing following some injuries and a lengthy break from the ring, in fact it was the longest break of his career and was well over a year.
1-The idea of Golovkin being feared now needs to end Prior to his ring walk Golovkin had a video package played on the big screen at the venue, and several times during that package it was suggested that Golovkin was feared and avoided. Whilst this was certainly the case in his prime, and he did struggle to get notable names, such as Felix Sturm and Sergio Martinez, in the ring with him it no longer seems to be the case. In fact if anything it’s now a case that a lot of the division are sniffing around him, and want to fight him. He was avoided, when he was high risk and low reward, but now a days the reward for facing Golovkin has increased and fighters are looking at him as a potential opponent. It’s time to drop the “most feared man in boxing” and sell him for what he is, a hard hitting Middleweight destroyer with a fun style and hell of a lot of power. 2-Golovkin looked better than he has in a real long time In recent years Golovkin has looked like he has been slowing, aging and like father time was slowly starting to get to him. Here however he looked the best he’s looked in years. He looked more defensively responsible than he has in a long, despite the very limited opponent he had in front of him, he moved his head and showed some nice little wrinkles that we rarely see from him. Despite the bout being a massive mismatch in favour he fought as if he respected Szeremeta and as if Szeremeta was a danger, the complete opposite to his performance against Steve Rolls 18 months ago, where he let Rolls hit him. Woking with Jonathan Banks, and the change in training environment has certainly helped extend his career, and he showed some real smartness here. 3-Szeremeta is one tough guy Whilst much of the impressive stuff during the bout came from Golovkin, who really did look very, very good, a lot of respect needs to go to Szeremeta for what he showed. He was dropped in the first 2 rounds and could easily have just sat out the 10 count and collected his purse. Instead however he gritted his teeth and toughed it out until the referee stopped the bout at the end of round 7, by which time he had been dropped twice more. He was out matched, beaten, battered, but gritted it out well and needed saving from himself. We don’t think he’ll get another world title fight, but with his toughness and heart we do, genuinely, want to see him again in a bout more at his level. If Szeremeta was in there with a Mark Heffron or Brandon Adams we could actually get a solid fight. 4-Szeremeta’s ranking made no sense Entering the bout as the top ranked IBF contender Szeremeta really had nothing on his record to suggest he should be in the top 15, never mind the top 5. We understand that the different bodies each have their own committees and criteria for their rankings, but there is no criteria we can think of to explain why Szeremeta was the top ranked contender. The 31 year old from Bialystok had never beaten anyone above European level, he had never scored a B tier win, yet some how the IBF ranked him above every other Middleweight. We understand the Middleweight division is, sadly, very weak at the moment, and outside of the champions there's only really a handful of stand out contenders, but the IBF rankings are absolutely pathetic. There was no clear reason for why Szeremeta was ranked, and it was clear he had absolutely no reason for him to get the shot at the title. 5-Telis Assimenios should get more big fights When we talk about American referees we don’t recall seeing much of Telis Assimenios, but he served his role here rather well. He gave Szeremeta every chance he could. He didn’t want to end this until he really needed to and when he did wave the bout off it made sense. Other than the stoppage he did the other things well. He was always in the right position, made sure Golovkin was in a neutral corner, split them quickly, showed good patience and good composure. He was also always in good position. Given some of the other referee who get so many big fights in the US we’d like to see more of Assimenios, though sadly it seems he only does shows in Florida, a bit of a shame given how few big bouts are held in Florida. On New Year's ever we had the chance to see former WBC Flyweight champion Daigo Higa (17-1-1, 17) claim the WBO Asia Pacific Bantamweight title, as he destroyed Yuki Strong Kobayashi (16-9, 9) at the Ota-City General Gymnasium. The performance was Higa's third since having his suspension lifted by the JBC, and his first since drawing with close friend Seiya Tsutsumi this past October. Kobayashi on the other hand was looking to make his second defense of the regional title.
With the bout having been watched, rewatched and now dissected we've taken the opportunity to share some of our reflections from the bout. 1-Higa was razor sharp From the very first seconds it was clear that this was a different Daigo Higa to the one who had fought Tsutsumi. This was a hungry, driven Higa and he looked a million times better. He was razor sharp from the off, with quick shots from both hands, fantastic movement, timing, combinations and shot selection. This was probably the best we've seen Higa look since he won the WBC Flyweight title and stopped Juan Hernandez Navarrete over 3 years ago. It was as close to a punch perfect performance as we could have had from him and he really did look red hot from the very start. This was the Higa we fell in love with and the one once dubbed the "Romagon of Okinawa", with brutal uppercuts and devastating hooks to the body. 2-Kobayashi neglected his jab Yuki Strong Kobayashi has always had a decent jab, he was the naturally man here, and that jab should have been on of his key weapons. Stupdily however he rarely used it, which made his entire game plan fall apart. Instead of jabbing his way regularly, which could have had him building some success and slowing down Higa, he generally just trudged in, walking to Higa, who pounded him as a result. There were times where Kobayashi used the jab, with mixed success, in the opening round, but he needed to stick with it to have any chance here. His footwork was too slow and his hands too slow to try to just walk down a fighter like Higa here, especially this version of Higa. 3-Higa could struggle at world level Although Higa looked brilliant here and was as a sharp as a tack offensively we would have two reservations about him getting a world title fight any time soon. Firstly he is very small for a Bantamweight, and will struggle against the bigger, stronger fighters at the weight. A bout with, for example, Nonito Donaire, would see him being completely dwarfed and likely over-powered. Seconds there are a lot of holes in his defense, still. He was too quick for Kobayashi to do much against him here, but a top fighter in the division would punish him at mid range. We did see Kobayashi have some success at times, albeit nothing sustained, but a better fighter than Kobayashi would have sustained success. It is worth noting that Higa does have a solid chin, but he certainly won't want to take big bombs from world class guys, especially at a weight that he is small at. 4-This should have shown live! This bout was shown worldwide thanks to various TV outlets showing the bout all over the globe. Sadly however not one broadcaster managed to show it live, with even TBS in Japan showing it on delay. This seemed like a missed opportunity if we're being honest and with the result floating about online before the broadcast it did diminish the experience of watching the bout a little bit. We understand that there are reasons for these decisions, and the delay wasn't a massive one, but it's still a shame, especially as Higa's last bout was also shown on a lengthy delay as well. If TBS want to back Higa, they should consider doing it properly and giving him live exposure where possible. On the same note, it was also disappointing that MBS in Kansai didn't air the bout at all, a real surprise given that Kobayashi is from Osaka and Higa is a name known across Japan. Fingers crossed Higa will get nationwide TV coverage in the near future, and his bouts aren't left to things like Paravi. 5-We really want Higa Vs Casimero! The Bantamweight division right now is in a really interesting situation where there is so much talent at the top and so many interesting match ups that could be made. Obviously the triple title unification bout between Naoya Inoue and John Riel Casimero is the bout we all want, but Casimero is in an interesting position where he has several other good looking options. The most likely of those seems to be a bout with Cuban veteran Guillermo Rigondeaux, but we would absolutely love to see Casimero take on Higa. Higa's win over Kobayashi certainly opened the door there, and the WBO Asia Pacific title will help Higa's WBO ranking. Entering this one Kobayashi was ranked #13 by the WBO and we'd expect Higa to not just climb into those rankings but into the top 10. As for the fight, Casimero isn't a big Bantamweight and won't have some of the advantages the natural Bantamweights will have on Higa, but he is a destructive one and the styles should gel really well. |
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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