This past Tuesday we saw WBA "super" and Ring Magazine Light Flyweight champion Hiroto Kyoguchi (14-0, 9) [京口 紘人] retain his titles with a thrilling 12 round decision win over Tetsuya Hisada. Following the win Kyoguchi stated that he would be taking the rest of the year away from the ring to rest, whilst visibly sporting a swollen shut left eye. The bout was supposed to be an easy one for the champion, but it was certainly not a walk in the park for the Watanabe gym fighter.
 
With a rest now booked, it's clear we won't see Kyoguchi rushing back to the ring any day soon, however when he does return there are a lot of options out there for him, with the Light Flyweight division being one of the very best in the sport. Here we're going to look at 5 potential bouts we could see Kyoguchi in when he returns in 2020.
 
1-Carlos Canizales (22-0-1, 17)
On paper the most logical match up we could hope for would see the WBA"super" title being unified with the "regular" title. To do that Kyoguchi would need to take on unbeaten Venezuelan Carlos Canizales, in a real divisional dream bout. The Canizales has shown a willingness to travel, twice fighting in Japan and also fighting in China, and seems to put in his best performances whilst in Asia. Stylistically these two should should gel perfectly, and they would beat really hammer each other with hard shots through 12 rounds. From a fans perspective this could be a contender for Fight of the Year, from a logical point of view it makes sense and from the fighter's view it clears up the WBA mess. The only issue is that neither man would likely walk out of this the same fighter they were previous. This could be a career shortening bout for both.
 
2-Kenshiro (16-0, 9)
Whilst a bout with Canizales makes a lot of sense, there is a good argument that it's not actually the best we could make at the weight involving Kyoguchi. Instead that is an all-Japanese showdown with WBC champion Kenshiro. This bout had been mooted for the end of 2019, though now clearly will have to be pushed back. Two Japanese fighters are good friends, were rivals in the amateurs and are widely regarded as the #1 and #2 in the division, with a bout between them giving clarity over who is the best at Light Flyweight. It would also be a super rare all-Japanese unification bout. The main stumbling block for this one is the fact the two men are linked to different TV networks, with Kenshiro being one of the faces of Fuji TV and Kyoguchi being a TBS fighter.
 
3-Felix Alvarado (35-2, 30)
Another unification bout that would be highly anticipated would be a clash with IBF champion Felix Alvarado, arguably the most dangerous man in the division. Alvarado is a Nicaraguan puncher who although being crude is incredibly dangerous. He's heavy handed, has an incredible gas tank, is physically terrifying and teak tough. Although Alvarado can be out boxed, out thought, out sped and out manoeuvred he's never going to be an easy out for anyone with his incessant aggression. One type of fighter no one likes to face is the high risk, low reward fighter, but that is exactly what Alvarado is. Yes he has the IBF title, but the risk still out weighs the reward, that's how dangerous he is. From a fans perspective however a Kyoguchi Vs Alvarado fight would be tremendous. 
 
4-Angel Acosta (20-2, 20)
Another of the division's many danger men is Angel Acosta, who has also been willing to travel for fights as seen in his losses, which have both come on the road. Acosta is heavy handed, aggressive, but also skilled and isn't a brawler like many fighters with power, instead he's a really good boxer-puncher with genuine power and he's also durable. He lost the WBO title earlier this year, with a very suspect stoppage loss, and his only other loss came in Japan to Kosei Tanaka. A return to Japan could see him pick up a win in the "Land of the Rising Sun" and would give him a chance to become a 2-time champion. Likewise having Acosta's name on Kyoguchi's resume would do his standing the world of good. A really interesting fight and one that would deserve a lot of attention on both sides of the Pacific.
 
5-Reiya Konishi (17-2, 7)
Whilst it's easy to think that unifying with the WBO champion would be a priority we suspect that the WBO title scene will be out of reach for a while. If that's the case then there's no reason why Kyoguchi can't take part in a fan friendly bout against a fighter who should make for a fun, low level, action bout. Ideal for that is compatriot Reiya Konishi, who is aggressive, exciting, throws a lot and will engage in an inside war of attrition, and will do so without having big 1-punch power. On paper this isn't one of the "big bouts" that Kyoguchi would be wanting on his return, but would be a very fun to watch bout, against a rugged, though limited, challenger. A win here would be expected, but would give him an instant comparison to Alvarado and Canizales, both of whom took a decision over Konishi.

​(Image courtesy of boxmob.jp)

Over the last few years Japan has gained a reputation for ending the boxing year in style, with major shows in the final few days of the year. Typically those bouts get announced through November, as promoters officially announce the bouts and put their shows together along with major domestic television companies.

As we enter November we thought it would be fun to look at some of those rumours for the month, and some of the confirmed bouts, as well as those that have been mentioned as possible, and those on the verge of being officially announced.

We'll start by looking at what we know, with the confirmed notable bouts from the month.

December 1st is set to be a crazy day with several major shows.
In Tokyo we'll get a card televised by G+ which will be headlined by Valentine Hosokawa (23-6-3, 10) defending his Japanese Light Welterweight title against Takashi Inagaki (20-17-2, 9). The card will also feature a brilliant match up between Seiya Tsutsumi (4-0, 3) and Matcha Nakagawa (13-1-1, 5) as well as the ring return of former IBF Super Bantamweight champion Yukinori Oguni (19-2-1, 7)

On the same day in Osaka we get two Shinsei Gym cards, featuring a combined 6 title bouts. The shows will be Real Spirits vol 60 and Real Spirits vol 61, with the first card featuring 4 female title bouts, including a WBO female Minimumweight title bout between Kayoko Ebata (12-7, 6) and Etsuko Tada (17-3-2, 5) and an OPBF Atomweight title bout between Eri Matsuda (1-0) and Minayo Kei (6-3, 1).

The second card will see former world title challenger Reiya Konishi (16-1, 6) defending the WBO Asia Pacific Light Flyweight title against Richard Rosales (13-7-2, 7) and a potentially thrilling contest between Masao Nakamura (24-3, 23) and Carlo Magali (23-10-3, 12) for the WBO Asia Pacific Super Featherweight title.

December 3rd will give us a single big show, headlined by OPBF Featherweight champion Satoshi Shimizu (7-0, 7) and Takuya Uehara (16-0, 10), with a brilliant supporting bout between Hinata Maruta (7-1-1, 6) and Tsuyoshi Tameda (18-3-2, 16), which is one of the bouts we're most looking forward to!

On December 9th things get a bit crazy again. We will get a Japanese Welterweight title fight, as Ryota Yada (17-4, 14) defends his belt against Shusaku Fujinaka (16-9-2, 10), and a Japanese Super Flyweight title bout, with Takayuki Okumoto (21-8-3, 10) making his first defense against Masayoshi Hashizume (16-0-1, 10). These bouts have been officially announced and confirmed.

The same day we're set to see to see Shohei Omori (19-2, 14) taking on Takahiro Yamamoto (21-5, 17) and Sho Ishida (26-1, 15) taking on Warlito Parrenas (26-8-1, 23). These bouts haven't been formally announced, though teams from both have confirmed they are taking place, and will be at the EDION Arena Osaka. It's unclear if they will share the same card as the other bouts or if the EDION will host another double dose of boxing with two shows. There is also some speculation that if this is a second show there will be one more big bout to add to the card.

On December 13th we'll see Japanese Lightweight champion Shuichiro Yoshino (8-0, 6) defending his belt against Kazumasa Kobayashi (10-7-1, 6) at the Korakuen Hall and a week later we'll see Nobuyuki Shindo (20-4-1, 8) and Akinori Watanabe (37-7, 31) fight to unify the Japanese Light Middleweight title.

The only other show of real significant that has been confirmed is the Japanese Rookie of the Year final on December 23rd. Nothing after Christmas, but before the start of 2019, has really been announced. But we have had a lot of rumours, speculation for December!

One bout that is supposed to be, finally, made is the long awaited IBF Light Middleweight world title eliminator between Takeshi Inoue (13-0-1, 7) and Julian Williams (25-1-1-1, 15), a bout that has seemingly been delayed, rescheduled and redelayed several times already this year. Fingers crossed this is actually made before the year is over, as it seems both fighters have wasted a lot of this year waiting for this bout to take place. Interestingly this could be the only bout to actually take place outside of Japan.

Another IBF eliminator which is rumoured to take place in December is a Super Bantamweight title eliminator between Ryosuke Iwasa (25-3, 16) and Cesar Juarez (23-6, 17). This bout is supposedly set to take place in Tokyo, though no date has been made public. If this is confirmed then we are in for a treat as these two, together, should be an amazing contest, with both being heavy handed and flawed. Fingers crossed we get this one announced shortly!

Staying on the subject of IBF title fights there has been speculation in Japan that Masayuki Kuroda (30-7-3, 16) may get an unexpected shot at Flyweight champion Moruti Mthalane (36-2, 24). This rumour has come about after a scheduled eliminator with Kuroda and Eaktwan BTU Ruaviking fell through after the Thai suffered an injury. Kuroda's seemed to suggest this would be a long shot, but they are chasing the bout and it could, potentially, be on.

The first of the rumoured big cards to end the year is expected to be on December 30th and is expected to be the Fuji TV card. The strongest rumour for this show is a WBO Super Featherweight title defense for Masayuki Ito (24-1-1, 12), with the named linked to him being Evgeny Chuprakov (20-0, 10). This bout is expected to be confirmed in the coming days, or at the very least Ito's part of it is, with Chuprakov perhaps not being the opponent. The same date is also pencilled in as a potential date for Kenshiro (14-0, 8) to make his next defense of the WBC Light Flyweight title, though no opponent has been linked to him.

The December 30th Fuji card has also been set as the potential date for a WBC Bantamweight title bout between Petch Sor Chitpattana (48-0, 33) and Takuma Inoue (12-0, 3). This bout depends on another bout not taking place, as per an order at the WBC convention in early October, so we should see this bout being either confirmed or not very quickly. There is also a rumour that Takuma's stable mate at the Ohashi gym, Akira Yaegashi (27-6, 15) may also be involved on the same show.

If the rumours for December 30th are a bit of an exciting mess things get even crazier for New Year's Eve. For weeks we've been hearing that WBC Minimumweight champion Wanheng Menayothin (51-0, 18) would be defending his title against Shin Ono (23-9-3, 6). This was rumoured to be part of a triple header, which has changed a few times but new seems most likely to feature a rematch between Ryoichi Taguchi (27-3-2, 12) and Hekkie Budler (32-3, 10), with Taguchi looking to reclaim the WBA Light Flyweight title from the South African. Along with that rematch is rumoured WBO Light Flyweight title bout between Angel Acosta (19-1, 19) and Hiroto Kyoguchi (11-0, 8). If this triple header is done, then TBS would be expected to show at least 2 bouts live on their Kyoguken show.

Things get more complicated when we consider the other rumours, which include a potential WBO Flyweight world title defense by Kosei Tanaka (12-0, 7). His could be squeezed on TBS as an early bout, or could be used to stack the show to a quadruple header or could end up being only CBC live, with TBS showing it on tape delay. It's really unclear how he fits in, but he will almost certainly be wanting to fight on a year ending show, after missing out on the chance last year due to injury.

Last, but certainly not least, is the rumoured WBO Super Flyweight title bout between Kazuto Ioka (23-1, 13) and Donnie Nietes (41-1-5, 23), a bout so big that TBS have seemingly given Ioka the option to take the date and broadcast if he wants it. This was rumoured strongly in September, and Japanese sources were suggesting that it could take place in the Philippines with TBS still airing it live, however the rumours did quieten quickly. It should be noted that Ioka's not been one for leaking news in the past, this could be well in the works. Given how silent things have gone however we may well see this bout being delayed into 2019, potentially as part of the next Superfly card.

(Bottom image courtesy of boxmob.jp)