What's to come in November? (Part 2)

11/5/2016

The middle of November is hectic with fights involving Asians at domestic, regional and even world level. The huge names might not be in action lots of solid fighters are.

November 11th-
On November 11th Japanese fans get a real treat with an OPBF title Quadruple header.

Merlito Sabillo (25-3-1, 12) v Ryuya Yamanaka (12-2, 3)
The lowest weight title being competed for on the OPBF quadruple header show is the Minimumweight title and will see former world champion Merlito Sabillo take on Japanese youngster Ryuya Yamanaka for the vacant title. Sabillo. In recent years Sabillo has struggled, and has gone 2-3-1 in his last 6 bouts, suggesting his career is hanging by a thread. Yamanaka is much less well known, but has been suggested as a possible future WBO title challenger and will have to win here if he's to get a shot in 2017. It should be noted however that this is a huge step up for the 21 year old Japanese fighter who is being thrown in with a proverbial shark here.

Takahiro Yamamoto (18-4, 15) v Mark John Yap (24-12, 10)
A much more interesting bout comes at Bantamweight where we'll see heavy handed champion Takahiro Yamamoto defending his title against Japanese based Filipino veteran Mark John Yap. On paper this doesn't look hugely interesting given that Yap has double digit losses, however his record, like that of many Filipino's, is misleading and in recent years he has been stringing together good wins, including two over Hiroyuki Hisataka and one over Tatsuya Ikemizu. Saying that however Yamamoto is a talented fighter, with heavy hands and an ultra aggressive style which makes him look like a fighter who is going to be very hard to beat at this level.

Shun Kubo (10-0, 7) v Jin Wook Lim (8-4-5, 2)
At Super Bantamweight we'll see the unbeaten, and world ranked, Shun Kubo attempting to defend his title against Korean visitor Jin Wook Lim. Kubo is talented and is seen as the future of the Shinsei gym however it does seem like his team are wanting to develop him at OPBF level before having him follow in the footsteps of stablemate Hozumi Hasegawa, and this will be his second defense of the OPBF title. Lim will be making his international debut here and comes in to the bout as a former Korean Bantamweight champion, and one who holds a win over Sa Myung Noh and a draw with Ye Joon Kim, this is however a huge step up for Kim and one that he's making on the road. A very tough assignment for him against a very talented hopeful.

Masayoshi Nakatani (12-0, 7) v Allan Tanada (14-5-3, 6)
At Lightweight we have OPBF champion Masayoshi Nakatani looking to extend his reign, and take it into a third year, as he takes on former OPBF Super Featherweight champion Allan Tanada. The under-rated Nakatani holds notable wins over the likes of Yoshitaka Kato, Ricky Sismundo and Shuhei Tsuchiya and will likely be adding another notable win to his record here. Tanada holds goof wins himself over the likes of Jose Ocampo, Rikiya Fukuhara and Roy Mukhlis but has lost 3 of his last 4 and few would back him here against the much taller Nakatani, however he is upset minded and won't fear Nakatani's reputation.

Momo Koseki (22-2-1, 8) v Chie Higano (6-4, 2)
On a separate Japanese card fight fans will be able to see Japan's longest reigning active world champion. That's WBC Atomweight champion Momo Koseki who has held her title for more than 8 years and looks to extend that reign with her 17th defence! The frightening Koseki will be up against domestic foe Chie Higano in what should be a straight forward win for Koseki who looks to extend various Japanese records here. For Higano the bout is a huge step up from facing domestic class foes to facing a nightmarish world champion in what really should be a mismatch.

November 14th-
Toshio Arikawa (13-4, 11) v Yasuhiro Okawa (14-12-3, 5) II
On November 14th we go back to Japanese title action here as Japanese Welterweight champion Toshio Arikawa attempts to make the first defense of his title. On paper this looks like a mismatch, and Arikawa is in great form winning his last 4 bouts with stoppages against Akinori Watanabe and Nobuyuki Shindo in his last 2 bouts. Saying that however Okawa holds a relatively recent win over Arikawa, and has lost only once in the last 5 years. This looks like a mismatch but should turn out to be a very interesting bout.

November 18th-
Iwan Zoda (11-1, 10) v Jeronil Borres (7-1-1, 5)
Our favourite Indonesian prospect returns to the ring on November 18th to defend his IBF Youth Flyweight title, and move towards a potential world title fight. The exciting Iwan Zoda will be up against fellow youngster Jeronil Borress, a once beaten Filipino who has has never been stopped and recent took on former world title challenger Richard Claveras. This is far from an easy defense for Zoda and instead it's a chance for him to prove himself, and his power, and the bout could end up telling us a lot about both fighters.

November 19th-
Ryosuke Iwasa (22-2, 14) v Luis Rosa (22-0-0-2, 10)
One of the most notable non-title bouts of the month for Asian fight fans sees former world title challenger Ryosuke Iwasa take on the unbeaten Luis Rosa in an IBF world title eliminator at Super Bantamweight. On paper this is a must win for Iwasa, who is best known for losing to Lee Haskins and Shinsuke Yamanaka, For Rosa the bout is a step up following a string of bouts against relatively limited opponents, like German Merez and Luis Hinojosa, but he's touted as a potential world champion and will be wanting to show his ability here. Interestingly the winner of this could find themselves up against the winner of the upcoming Jonathan Guzman/Yukinori bout.

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The Asian Fighters to watch in 2016 (Part 1 of 6)

1/2/2016

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Over the next 12 months we're expecting to see a lot of changes in the world of professional boxing. As a result we have put together a list of 30 Asian fighters to keep an eye out for 2016. These range from champions to novices but all are expected to make a mark on the sport over the next 12 months.

Riku Kano
The second youngest man on the 30 fighter list is 18 year old Japanese fighter Riku Kano (8-1-1, 4) who is a Japanese Minimumweight expected to race through the rankings to a world title fight. The teenage debuted as a 16 year old, in the Philippines, and fought his first 7 bouts overseas, whilst too young to even qualify for a Japanese license. Since then however he has began to make a mark in his homeland and last time out he dominated the experienced Pigmy Kokietgym. The target for his team is the Japanese national record for youngest world champion so we suspect that 2016 will be a very significant year for the youngster who will have to be matched aggressively over the coming 12 months.

To date his best opponent is Pigmy though it's thought that in early 2016 he face another world ranked opponent en route to breaking into the rankings, which he will use to get himself a title fight. There is also some suspicion that he will travel for that title fight, possibly returning to Thailand or the Philippines, to get around the JBC's rules on needing to win a domestic or OPBF title before "graduating" to a world title bout.

Tugstsogt Nyambayar
The only Mongolian on this list is American based fighter Tugstsogt Nyambayar (4-0, 4) who really does look like one of the sports most promising prospects. The heavy handed Mongolian was a former amateur star, and won a silver medal at the 2012 Olympics, and turned professional last year winning 4 bouts in a combined 7 rounds. Aged 23 and fighting in California he has a real chance to break out in 2016, if given TV time. His style is aggressive, his hands are heavy and he's part of the rising crop of fighters looking to make a serious mark on the Super Bantamweight division. To date his opponents haven't been outstanding, but he has been stopping tough guys quickly and really should be stepped up in his first bout of the new year.

At the moment we've yet to see him face an opponent who was likely to beat him, but we also haven't seen him face an opponent that he was supposed to blow away as easily as he has done so far. If he has the Mongolian grit, the grit that made the less skilled Lakva Sim a world champion, then there is no doubting that Nyambayar has the potential to become the most successful professional Mongolian fighter in boxing history. (Video is of Nyambayar Vs Arturo Badillo)

Muhammad Waseem
Pakistan isn't a notable boxing country but we are really excited about the talented Muhammad Waseem (2-0, 2). The 28 year old, who debuted back in October 2015, is based in Korea and claimed the Korean Bantamweight title on his debut, though has since dropped down and it seems he may be looking to make a mark at Super Flyweight. Waseem has a long amateur background and is a very complete fighter who has also proven his stamina, having gone in to round 9 on his debut. Backed by Korean promoter Andy Kim there is some real excitement that Waseem could bring top quality action back to Korea and become the first Pakistan national to really make a mark on professional boxing. Given his age we do suspect he'll be moved quickly through the international ranks and could well climb into the world rankings by the end of 2016.

Although unlikely to ever make professional boxing "big" in Pakistan it is great to see Waseem making a name for himself in the professional ranks and hopefully AK Promotions will help him get the fights his talents deserve. With some luck that will include going for an OPBF title before the year is out.

Dmitry Bivol
The rather small country of Kyrgyzstan may well be the birth place of one of boxing's truly elite prospects in the form of the unbeaten Light Heavyweight Dmitry Bivol (5-0, 5). The 25 year old debuted in November 2014 and has already been making a real impact in the sport. So far he's just missing out on the world rankings, with the WBC ranking him at #19, but one more win should see him break in to the top 15's. Blessed with hurtful power, good stamina, a nasty mentality and every punch in the book Bivol does look like one of the most complete prospects in the sport, and has been matched hard from the off. Despite being matched hard there is a feeling that we've only seen a tiny bit of what Bivol is capable of and it's worrying to know just how much potential this young may have.

Although not yet a threat for the likes of Sergey Kovalev, Adonis Stevenson, Andre Ward, Arthur Beterbiev or Jean Pascal it is far to say that Bivol will be finding himself in that company in the near future, if he keep up his high level of performances. Perhaps we will need to wait until 2017 to those types of bouts, but it'll be great fun to see him progress through the next 12 months.

Iwan Zoda
Indonesian fight fans might not have had a lot to be excited about since the retirement of Chris John but one of their shining hopes is teenager Iwan Zoda (8-1, 7) who has stopped everyone he's faced, avenged his sole defeat and began to look like a man with real star potential. The youngster is a natural athlete who has had to fight for everything and that desire shows when he's in the ring. Not only is he hungry but he's also confident, tough and surprisingly heavy handed for someone so young. With a good team behind him there is a lot to be excited about by Zoda, though the chances are he will need to move outside of Indonesia for the big fights his ability deserves.

At just 19 years old Zoda is a really young fighter yet he has already proven that he can fight hard for 12 rounds on the road, in fact he's done so in the horrific conditions of Thailand. Any fighter who can win as a visitor to Thailand is worth making a mental note of, when considering he did so as a teenager against an unbeaten and touted opponent in Petchchorhae Kokietgym, then it really does put into perspective just how good Zoda already is, and how good he could be become in the near future.

We hope to have part of this up in the coming days, and it will feature more notable names, though we feel the 5 men listed here are all fighters who will become bigger in 2016, despite being relatively unknown by those other than the hardcore fans.

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The top 5 Asian prospects...that we've over-looked

9/7/2015

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We have often been accused of being focused on several countries, particularly Japan. As a result we've decided to try and bring your attention to the 5 best Asian prospects, from countries we tend not to focus on. That means no fighters from Japan, Thailand or the Philippines.

Tugstsogt Nyambayar (3-0, 3)
Mongolian boxing hasn't had a great deal of attention in the professional ranks. There was, of course, Lakva Sim but other than that the success stories are few and far between with the popular Choi Tseveenpurev being possible the second most notable Mongolian pro. Notably however the country has had success in the amateurs with a number of Olympic medal winners. One of those is 23 year old hopeful Tugstsogt Nyambayar, a Super Bantamweight prospect who really could be the real deal.

Nyambayar is based in America and has links with Joe Goosen, who trains him, and Al Haymon, who acts as his advisor. With those connections he has a real foot up the proverbial ladder and the ability to be moved quickly and matched hard.

Not only does he have great connections but he also has a sensational background. That background is highlighted by Silver medals at both the 2012 Olympics and the 2009 World Amateur Championships. His amateur background has obviously come from his great skills and they have already been on show since he turned professional earlier this year. To date his competition hasn't been the best but his 98 second blow

out of Manuel Rubalcava was incredibly impressive given that the Mexican had never previously been stopped.

In regards to footage of the Mongolian the best we have is of his most recent bout, a victory over Arturo Badillo, which is listed incorrectly on boxrec.com. In the footage you can see a lot of promise in Nyambayar, but still improvements will be made before he's moved into 10 round bouts, never mind the all important 12 round title bouts.

Roman Zhailauov (15-0, 9)
It's fair to say that everyone has heard the name Gennady Golovkin, the Middleweight destroyer is widely regarded as one of the most exciting and destructive fighters in the sport. Whilst he is the Kazakh star he's not the only fighter of note from the trans-continental giant. Of course there is also the well known 2-weight “world champion” Beibut Shumenov. For us however the most interesting is 21 year old prospect Roman Zhaulauov, who some are tipping as the hidden of Western Asia and as one of the once to watch in the 140lb and 147lbs weigh classes.

The youngster turned professional very young, in fact it was less than 3 months after his 18th birthday that he made his professional debut. Originally he was fighting at home, with his first 6 bouts taking place in his birthplace of Shymkent. Since then however he's fought in Ukraine and South Africa, where he has began to work with rising promoter Golden Gloves.

Youthful, talented, promising and developing as a man there really is a lot to be excited by when it comes to Zhailauov. It's fair to say his competition still hasn't been great but he's still a boy and is not yet a man. He is, slowly but surely, growing

and last time out he scored a KO of the year contender against Luyanda Jako suggesting that he is beginning to find his man strength. Sadly though his best win is still a 2013 victory over compatriot Kanat Kartenbayev and since then he has gone backwards in terms of competition.

Dmitry Bivol (4-0, 4)
The rising Russian boxing scene is really exciting though of course not all the “Russian” fighters are actually Russian fighters. One such case is the sensationally talented Light Heavyweight prospect Dmitry Bivol, who is originally from Tokmak in Kyrgyzstan.

He is now fighting out of Russia though for many, including ourselves, he is regarded as one of the few real hopes of Kyrgyzstan.

Bivol has been matched hard from the off and began his career by fighting in 6 round bouts, showing his teams confidence in him. Each of his opponents so far have had winning records, each has had double figure wins and in total his combined oppositions record was 79-34-3. Despite his stiff competition he has genuinely looked like a star in the making and at just 24 years old he has a long time to reach the top at Light Heavyweight.

Blessed with heavy hands, in-ring confidence, a good boxing brain and the will to entertain, rather than just pick up a decision win, it's fair to say that Bivol combines boxing with excitement and his ceiling really is insanely high. There are some minor issues, such as the fact he sometimes moves up the gears a bit slowly, though we expect they'll be sorted with more experience which of course he's getting by going rounds. It's hard to say how far he'll go, but if he fails to become a world champion he'll be hugely disappointed.

Iwan Zoda (7-1, 6)
Indonesian boxing has been rather flat since the retirement of the legendary Chris John. The “Emerald of the Equator” may not be a huge boxing country but it has given us the occasional fighter of note, such as John and the thunderously hard hitting Elly Pical.The next one appears to be 18 year old puncher Iwan Zoda who may have a loss on his record but appears to be the best thing in Indonesian boxing since Chris John.

Zoda first came to the attention of fans in his homeland last yea, as a 17 year old, when he was featured in a bout shown on TVRI. His second bout saw him travel to Thailand and suffer a decision loss to the then 8-0 Petchchorhae Kokietgym. It was the loss that made him and since then he has rattled off 6 straight stoppages, including a stoppage in a return bout with Petchchorhae in Thailand in a bout that really helped him catch the attention of hardcore fans world wide.

Although still a relative unknown to many Zoda has shown a solid chin, a real desire to win and serious power. His arsenal of punches is wonderful with his uppercuts especially spiteful and although there is still a long way to go before he becomes a

feature on the world stage we'd certainly advise keeping an eye on him. He may fall short, but we're excited about a new Indonesian star and really hope that it will be Zoda who has the style to excite fans in a major way.

Kyoo Hwan Hwang (2-0, 2)
We've always loved South Korean boxing. The country was, historically, one of the Asian boxing powerhouses like Japan, the Philippines and Thailand, however in recent years the country's boxing scene has all but vanished. The disappearance of Korean boxing has many causes but it right now it really needs a star. Their best hope appears to be exciting 18 year old Kyoo Hwan Hwang who looks like a charismatic and exciting youngster.

Hwang debuted earlier this year, beating Jung Ho Jang in 4 rounds, and quickly claimed the South Korean Light Middleweight title I just his second bout, a 6th round KO of Chan Hee Park. In both of those bouts he showed some world class glimpses though also showed some massive flaws, giving away his technical ability, size and speed to engage in a shoot out. At 18 it's understandable that he lacks maturity but this will hopefully change with experience and growing up.

If Hwang can focus on what he's good at, ignore the “Korean mentality”, and really move on with his boxing he could well be the best thing in Korean boxing since the emergence in In Jin Chi back in the 1990's. If he can't control his warrior mentality

he may well be the next bust but we really hpe his handlers and team can keep him on the straight and narrow and help him work his way through the ranks and help put Korea back on the boxing map. The jury is out on what he'll do, but there is certainly real potential there.

Others that we would like to make a note of-
Muhammad Waseem (0-0)
Boxing has a number of untapped markets, one of those is Pakistan which really only has British-Pakistani fighter Amir Khan to look up to. That's despite the fact the country has a population of around 192,000,000. With so many people there it seems clear that there will be boxing talent, it just needs to be given a chance. The first Pakistani born fighter who really seems to have some potential is Muhammad Waseem.

Waseem is a little older than some of the others on this list, at 27/28, but his potential to open up a new market is incredibly exciting. That of course isn't the only reason to be excited about him, another reason is his amateur pedigree which includes medals at the Asian Games, the Commonwealth Games, the World Combat Games and the South Asian Games.

The talented and speedy Pakistani fighter isn't going to begin professional life in his native country but instead in South Korea where he will develop under the guidance of AK Promotions, who have lined him up for a South Korean title fight on his debut. A win there will likely lead to bigger fights down the line, so our fingers are crossed for that. Having not yet made his debut however the jury is, rightfully, out on the Pakistan speedster.

Uktamjon Rahmonov (4-0, 1)
Uzbekistan are missing a boxing star. They have WBA Heavyweight “regular” champion Ruslan Chagaev but they don't have an actual “star” as of yet. One man hoping to change that is 23 year old Uktamjon Rahmonov, a former Olympian who is slowly making strides in Russia and his homeland. It's fair to say that he's not yet broken through as a star but he is starting to make a name for himself and he has already competed in 23 rounds since turning professional in November 2013.

At the 2012 Olympics Rahmonov reached the quarter final before coming up short against eventual Gold medal winner Roniel Iglesias, one of the real stars of the games. Whilst he did fail to medal he did show some real ability. That ability has taken him to 4 straight wins in the professional ranks, including a genuinely solid 8 round decision win against Ukrainian Oleg Korobko.

So far it's hard to get a real understanding of his ability. He's looked like a man with a lot of skill in footage, but also some really irritating flaws including a willingness to run, a jokers attitude in the ring and a frustrating laziness. At times however he looks magical with a wonderful variety of shots, a natural calmness and good movement.

Vijender Singh (0-0)
Above we mentioned Waseem Muhammad, the man tasked with developing Pakistani boxing. It's also fair to say that Vijender Singh could be described as the man with an even bigger task, kick starting Indian boxing. Unfortunately he's not regarded as one of our “ones to watch” as he's now closing in on his 30th birthday and has various issues ahead of his professional debut.

The talented Indian recently signed professional papers with British promoter Frank Warren and is likely to make his debut later this year. Sadly though given his age it's unlikely he'll become the star that many hope. That's not to say that he's not going to have success in the professional ranks but it's unlikely to be enough to kick start an Indian boxing revolution.

Whilst we're not hugely excited by Singh's debut his amateur background is brilliant and he has claimed a trio of medal at the Commonwealth games, an Olympic games medal, a World amateur Champion medal and a couple of Asian games medals. It's a real shame however that he didn't turn professional after the 2008 Olympics.

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What's to come in November? (Part 2)

The Asian Fighters to watch in 2016 (Part 1 of 6)

The top 5 Asian prospects...that we've over-looked

Thinking Out East

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