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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. Here is part 2 which looks at 5 young novices who have impressed in 2015 and look likely to do the same over the next year. For those who missed them the previous parts are available below- Part 1 is here Part 2 is here Part 3 is here Part 4 is here Part 5 is here
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 Whilst Christmas is fast approaching the action doesn't really end for Asian fight fans with Japanese and Filipino fighters being in a number of notable before the year is out. Here we look at those big upcoming bouts. December 26th- Shun Kubo Vs Lloyd Jardeliza The first of the “post Christmas” bouts comes just a day after the festivities and sees one of Japan's most promising prospects, Shun Kubo (8-0, 6), battle against a Filipino puncher, Lloyd Jardeliza (7-2-3, 6), for the OPBF Super Bantamweight title. The bout looks to be, on paper, a late Christmas present, and one that could well be a cracker. Kubo is seen as the next fighter of note from the Shinsei Gym, the gym that has managed Hozumi Hasegawa, and Kubo is supposed to the fighter who follows in Hasegawa's footsteps. Jardeliza has lost 2 of his last 4 but is regarded as a serious puncher and could well follow in the footsteps of Marlon Tapalese, who recently upset Shohei Omori in Japan. This could be a shoot out, an exposure or a break out win. December 27th- Kenichi Horikawa Vs Ken Shiro Just a day after the Kubo/Jardeliza fight we get two Japanese title fights. In our eyes the more interesting of the two comes down at 108lbs where veteran Kenichi Horikawa (30-13-1, 7) defends his title, for the first time, against the fast rising Ken Shiro (5-0, 3). The men have a good friendship but have a local rivalry, with both being Kyoto fighters, and are likely to have that rivalry over-rule their friendship in what could be a real coming out party for the talented Ken Shiro, or a statement win for Horikawa, who looked better than ever last time out when he stopped Shin Ono. Yuki Nonaka Vs Koshinmaru Saito The other Japanese title fight on December 27th sees Light Middleweight champion Yuki Nonaka (27-8-3, 9) defending his title against Koshinmaru Saito (22-7-1, 12). Nonaka, now in his second reign as champion, will be hoping to secure his third successive defense of the title whilst also making his ring return for the first time since his controversial draw against Takayuki Hosokawa back in April. Saito is an experienced title level fighter though has gone 0-4 in title bouts so far, and isn't really being given much of a chance to end that run. Riku Kano Vs Pigmy Kokiegym Whilst the two title bouts on December 27th are worthy or attention there is another bout which perhaps deserves to be more than just a foot note. That bout will see teenage hopeful Riku Kano (7-1-1, 4) go up against former world title challenger Pigmy Kokietgym (58-8-2, 23). For Kano, 18, this is a monstrous step up in class however it's one his team will believe he's capable of making, especially considering they are talking about Kano challenging the record for the youngest Japanese world champion. Notably Pigmy is just 4 months removed from his upset loss to Jaysever Abcede.  December 29th- Naoya Inoue Vs Warlito Parrenas Whilst December 26th and 27th are notable days it's fair to say that December 29th over-shadows the earlier action. That is mostly due to the ring return of wunderkind Naoya Inoue (8-0, 7) who defends his WBO Super Flyweight title against Filipino slugger Warlito Parrenas (24-6-1, 21). On paper this shouwl be a win for Inoue, especially if he's as good as we believe, however Parrenas is a huge puncher and Inoue's inactivity and injuries could well take their toll and he might not be the fighter he once was, or become he fighter we all wish he would become. Akira Yaegashi Vs Javier Mendoza The Inoue/Parrenas bout isn't the only world title fight on December 29th as Inoue's stablemate and close friend Akira Yaegashi (22-5, 12) attempts to become a 3-weight world champion. The popular Yaegashi will be up against aggressive Mexican fighter Javier Mendoza (24-2-1, 19), who will be defending his IBF Light Flyweight title. Yaegashi, a former champion at 105lbs and 112lbs, lost twice last year and will likely know that a loss here will be the end of his career at the top level. He has however got the experience and skills to give Mendoza a tough one, if his body can hold up at 108lbs. Takuma Inoue Vs Rene Dacquel Takuma Inoue (5-0, 1), Naoya's younger brother, is also on the card defending a title as he risks his OPBF Super Flyweight title against talented, yet under-rated, Filipino Rene Dacquel (15-5-1, 5). This will be the first defense by Inoue of a title he won earlier this year, when he out pointed Mark Anthony Geraldo, and an impressive showing could see his team push him towards a world title fight in 2016. For Dacquel, a former GAB champion, this is a chnce to really make a name for himself, and add another belt to his collection, as well as improving his 1-1-1 record in Japan. This really could be a tough ask for Inoue. Satoshi Hosono Vs Akifumi Shimoda One other title bout here sees a former world champion take on a former world title challenger in a bout that could, very easily have, have headlined a lesser show. That bout will see former 3-time world title challenger Satoshi Hosono (29-2-1, 20) defending his Japanese Featherweight title against former WBA Super Bantamweight champion Akifumi Shimoda (30-4-2, 12).. The loser of this really can kiss their dreams of another top level fight good bye, however the winner will be regarded as a genuine world title challenger for 2016. This bout will be over-shadowed but is incredibly significant.  December 31st-
Takashi Uchiyama Vs Oliver Flores We get a host of title bouts on New Years Eve, in fact there are 5 world title bouts on the day. Of the bouts in action the biggest mismatch is in Tokyo where long term WBA Super Featherweight champion Takashi Uchiyama (23-0-1, 19) defends his belt against limited Nicaraguan challenger Oliver Flores (21-1-2, 17). On paper this looks like an interesting match up for the unbeaten 36 year old champion though footage of Flores really doesn't impress and we suspect Uchiyama finishes off the challenger quickly before moving towards a major bout in early 2016. Ryoichi Taguchi Vs Luis De la Rose Staying in Tokyo fans get the chance to see Uchiyama's stablemate Ryoichi Taguchi (22-2-1, 9) defending his WBA Light Flyweight title against the horribly limited Luis de la Rosa (24-5-1, 14). The talented champion is looking for his second defense and shouldn't have to look too hard given the Colombian challenger has lost every time he has faced a notable opponent, and is 3-4 in his last 7. Sadly for Taguchi's fans this is a farce and they will know it, especially given the talent that is in the division and hopefully Taguchi will be facing a much better opponent in early 2016. Kazuto Ioka Vs Juan Carlos Reveco II Although both the title bouts in Tokyo are poor we have to admit that Osaka has got a great title fight to end the year as Kazuto Ioka (18-1, 10) defends the WBA Flyweight title against Juan Carlos Reveco (36-2, 19). Ioka beat Reveco, by majority decision, to win the title earlier this year in a really good bout. This rematch was ordered by the WBA but it really is almost certainly going to be one of the most exciting bout to end the year. Both men have a lot on the line here and both will bring the action in what should be something very special. Katsunari Takayama Vs Jose Argumedo Staying in Osaka it's also the venue for an IBF Minimumweight world title bout between defending champion Katsunari Takayama (30-7-0-1, 12) and little known challenger Jose Argumedo (15-3-1, 9). This will be Takayama's 3rd defense of the year but seems like a significant step backwards following a win last time out against Ryuji Hara. For Argumedo this is his first bout in 13 months and he enters the bout 1-1 in the last 2 years, leading to real questions as to why he's managed to get a world title fight. Kosei Tanaka Vs Vic Saludar Takayama isn't the only Minimumweight champion defending his title as WBO champion Kosei Tanaka (5-0, 2) makes the first defense of his title, in Aichi. The talented 20 year old will be up against Filipino puncher Vic Saludar (11-1, 9) in what looks like a solid first defense on paper. The talented Tanaka has been frustratingly inactive since winning his title in May but is likely to get a chin check here against a man who has serious power and will be looking to continue a 9 fight unbeaten run. Takahiro Yamamoto Vs Yuki Strong Kobayashi Going back to the Osaka card, the same show also has two lower level title fights on it, with an OPBF and a JBC title up for grabs. In the OPBF title fight we see Bantamweight kingpin Takahiro Yamamoto (16-4, 13) defending his crown against Yuki Strong Kobayashi (9-4, 5). For Yamamoto this will be his first defense since winning the title, with a TKO victory against Yu Kawaguchi, sadly however it is a bit of a “gimme” against a man we don't see posing any threat to the champion. Sho Ishida Vs Ryuta Otsuka As for the Japanese title fight, that comes at Super Flyweight where unbeaten champion Sho Ishida (20-0, 10) defends his belt against Ryuta Otsuka (15-8-2, 5). The talented Ishida will be looking for his 4th title defense whilst Otsuka will be hoping to claim a title in his shot. It's hard to see what Otsuka really offers, given he has lost 3 of his last 5, though it's clear that Ishida still needs a little bit more experience and seasoning before he moves onto the next level.  So, May has finally ended and we're now in June. What a perfect time to look back on the fights we've had over the past 31 days.
The action kicked off almost immediately with an intriguing Japanese show on May 1st. The headline bout saw Ryota Murata (7-0, 5) score an impressive TKO against Brazilian fighter Douglas Damiao Ataide (13-2-1, 6) and in fairness to Murata it was the sort of finish that he needed after going the distance in back-to-back fights. There is still a lot of questions regarding how far Murata will go but at times he looked world class, especially with the way he finished of Ataide, who had never previously been stopped. Although Murata's bout was, technically, top of the bill there was also a world title fight on the card as Takashi Miura (29-2-2, 22) took care of Australian Billy Dib (39-4-0-1, 23) with a very destructive stoppage. This was Miura's 4th defence of the WBC Super Featherweight title and he's now looking to break out his passport and fight in the US or Mexico in the hope of building his international fan base. The day wasn't all good for Japanese fighters however as Takahiro Ao (27-4-1, 12) got stopped in a WBO Lightweight title bout by Raymundo Beltran (30-7-1, 18). Beltran, who had failed to make weight for the bout, looked significantly bigger than Ao and made light work of the under-sized Japanese fighter. Interestingly a story has since broke that Beltran has failed a drugs test and if that story is confirmed this bout will be changed to a No Contest. Just a day later we saw the richest fight in history as Manny Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38) and Floyd Mayweather Jr (48-0, 26) finally got it on. Sadly the bout failed to live up to the expectations of many and although the bout made an insane amount of money it really did little to advertise our great sport. Pacquiao, who lost the bout by unanimous decision, did himself no favours following the bout by citing an arm injury for his performance and numerous people have since filed court cases against the hugely popular Filipino. On May 6th we had more title action with a Watanabe promoted triple header. The most impressive performance here saw WBA Super Featherweight “super” champion Takashi Uchiyama (23-0-1, 19) blast away Thai challenger Jomthong Chuwatana (9-1, 4) in just 2 rounds. Uchiyama looked sensational at times in one of his most impressive performances since winning the title more than 5 years ago. Although the Japanese fighter looked amazing he did later require surgery on his left elbow. On the same show Uchiyama's stablemate Ryoichi Taguchi (22-2-1, 9) retained his WBA Light Flyweight title with an 8th round TKO of Thai veteran Kwanthai Sithmorseng (49-4-1, 26). Kwanthai brought the fight for the most part but was dropped numerous times by the champion who certainly his harder than his record indicates. The third champion to defend their title on this show was WBO female Minimumweight champion Kumiko Seeser Ikehara (7-1-2, 3) who managed to take a very close technical decision over Kayoko Ebata (8-6, 4). Sadly for Ebata this was her 4th loss in world title bouts and it now seems unlikely for her to get another. We saw more Japanese world title action on May 9th as WBC female Minimumweight champion Yuko Kuroki (13-4-1, 6) retained her title with a wide points win against Masae Akitaya (9-6-2, 3). For Kuroki this was the second defense of her title and it seems likely that the 24 year old is only going to get better and better. Sadly for Akitaya this was her 4th set back in world title bouts and the 37 year old, who actually fought on her birthday, is clearly coming to the end of her career. Also in action on May 9th was the iconic Hozumi Hasegawa (34-5, 15) who put on a stellar performance to clearly defeat the heavy handed Mexican Horacio Garcia (29-1, 21). The bout was Hasegawa's first for more than a year and he looked like a fighter who had more fight in him than we had expected. On the other hand Garcia was disappointing and never looked like really testing the talented Japanese southpaw. Sadly May 9th wasn't all good for Japanese fighters as it ended with Tomoki Kameda (31-1, 19) suffering his first professional defeat. Kameda, who vacated the WBO Bantamweight title, took on WBA “regular” champion Jamie McDonnell (26-2-1, 12) and despite dropping McDonnell in round 3 Kameda came up short on the cards. The Japanese fighter suffered his first loss though there has since been a lot of talk regarding a rematch later in the year. On May 12th we saw the ring return of former world champion Kompayak Porpramook (51-5, 36). The Thai had been out of the ring for 21 months following his October 2013 loss to Koki Eto in a FOTY contender. His return was a very low key affair against the debuting Fahpratan Kwanjaisrikot (0-1) and it was no surprise when Kompayak stopped his foe in the 2nd round. We had one of the biggest upsets of the year, so far, on May 16th when unheralded Filipino Eden Sonsona (34-6-2, 12) shocked previously unbeaten Mexican fighter Adrian Estrella (22-1, 20). Estrella had been touted as a future world title contender though was stopped in the 2nd round by Sonsona who may well find himself capable of getting a sizeable payday next time out. On the same night we saw Kazakh puncher Gennady Golovkin (33-0, 30) continue his reign of terror in the Middleweight division. Golovkin, defending his WBC “interim” and WBA “super” titles saw off Willie Monroe Jr (19-2, 6) in the 6th round. Monroe had given a spirited effort, especially given that he was down twice in round 2, though it did often seem like Golovkin was toying with his American foe. May 23rd saw our attention turning to South Korea where Hyun Mi Choi (10-0-1, 3) retained her WBA female Super Featherweight title with a wide decision win over Japanese veteran Chika Mizutani (14-5, 7). Choi was in control through out the bout and looked very talented whilst Mizutani generally looked out classed but brave. On May 28th we saw Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (34-4-1, 31) score one of his best wins to date as he mowed down Mexican Jose Salgado (34-3-2, 27) in 4 rounds. This bout was for the WBC “silver” Super Flyweight title and with the win Srisaket is now the mandatory challenger for WBC world champion Carlos Cuadras, the man that actually took the title from Srisaket last year. The final highlight of the month came on May 30th when Japanese teenager Kosei Tanaka (5-0, 2) claimed the WBO Minimumweight title in just his 5th professional bout. The youngster over-came Mexican Julian Yedras (24-2, 13) in a compelling 12 round affair which saw Tanaka show off everything he was capable off in the ring, including a few defensive issues that will hopefully be worked on when he gets back in to the ring. The youngster became the “quickest” Japanese world champion beating the previous record of Naoya Inoue by a single fight. (Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)  May 2015 will be one of the most significant in boxing history. We all know that professional boxing will get the attention of the world on May 2nd however that's not the only date of note this coming month. May 1st- To begin the month we get 4 notable bouts as the month kicks off in style. The first of those will see former 2-weight world champion Akira Yaegashi (20-5, 10) begin his career as a Super Flyweight following back to back losses in late 2014. The popular Yaegashi has been matched with an easy opponent though it's still going to be a joy to see him in action. On the same card as Yaegashi's bout we will see Japanese Olympic gold medal winner Ryota Murata (6-0, 4) battle against WBO world ranked foe Douglas Damiao Ataide (13-1-1, 6). This is a step up for Murata and a win here will move him towards a possible WBO world title fight though it also promises to be his toughest bout so far. Also on this card is a WBC Super Featherweight world title fight which will see the hard hitting Takashi Miura (28-2-2, 21) defending his title against former Featherweight title holder Billy Dib (39-3-0-1, 23). This is a high profile opportunity for Miura who has yet to become the star despite having a very fun to watch style. The remaining bout of note takes place in the US where Japan's Takahiro Ao (27-3-1, 12) looks to claim the WBO Lightweight title and over-come the tough Raymundo Beltran (29-7-1, 17). This bout will give Ao an opportunity to become a 3-weight world champion though it's not an easy contest for the popular Japanese fighter. May 2nd- It goes with out saying that the biggest bout of the month takes place in a little venue in the US on May 2nd as Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38) battles against the unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr (47-0, 26) in a bout to unify the WBO, WBC and WBA “super” titles at Welterweight. This bout is set to break all sorts of records and is, with out a doubt, the most significant bout in recent memory. The winner of this long anticipated fight will be viewed as the fighter of their generation and it's fair to say the fans of the loser will be left wondering “what if” had the bout taken place several years ago when both were still in their pomp. May 6th- The action returns on May 6th world title triple header. The most exciting match up here will see WBA Super Featherweight “super” champion Takashi Uchiyama (22-0-1, 18) defending his title against unbeaten Thai Jomthong Chuwatana (9-0, 4) in what looks to be an amazing contest. This is not going to be easy for either man and a win for Uchiyama will hopefully lead to a unification whilst a win for Jomthong would instantly make him a boxing star. In a Light Flyweight title bout Ryoichi Taguchi (21-2-1, 8) will be defending his WBA title against Thai veteran Kwanthai Sithmorseng (49-3-1, 26). This will be Taguchi's first defense following his victory against Alberto Rossel in December and whilst it looks like a good bout on paper it really isn't very good with Sithmorseng having come up short against almost every notable foe that he's faced. The third world title fight will see WBO female Minimumweight champion Kumiko Seeser Ikehara (6-1-2, 3) defending her belt against Kayoko Ebata (8-5, 4). This will be Ebata's 4th shot at a world title having come up in 3 previous title fights whilst Ikehara will be defending her title for the second time following a disappointing technical draw with Jessebelle Pagaduan in February.  May 9th- One of the busiest days of the year comes on May 9th when we get a host of notable bouts taking place around the world. The most notable bout takes place in the US where Tomoki Kameda (31-0, 19) will battle against Jamie McDonnell (25-2-1, 12) in a WBA Bantamweight title bout. Originally this bout was announced a WBA/WBO unification contest but the WBO refused to sanction the bout and as a result Tomoki vacated the belt so that the bout could go on. It's a really good bout and one that we are genuinely excited about. One of the most notable bouts takes place in Kobe as former 2-weight world champion Hozumi Hasegawa (33-5, 15) battles against the unbeaten and heavy handed Horacia Garcia (29-0, 21). This will be Hasegawa's comeback bout following his loss to the then IBF Super Bantamweight champion Kiko Martinez last year, sadly however he's up against a very, very good opponent. Also in Japan we get a female world title fight as Yuko Kuroki (12-4-1, 6) defends her WBC female Minimumweight title against former world title challenger Masae Akitaya (9-5-2, 3). This isn't a great bout but it will likely give a lot of action for the fans at the Aqua Bunka Hall and will see Kuroki being forced to answer serious questions about her talent. A notable bout in the UK will see the heavy handed Rey Megrino (21-20-3, 18) attempt to upset the very highly regarded Khalid Yafai (14-0, 9). Yafai is talented but this is a step up for the youngster and although it looks like a mismatch Megrino does have that power which can be a problem for anyone in the lower weight classes. [Note-This bout now appears to be in doubt] May 16th- A third successive Saturday of note comes on May 16th when we get two stateside bouts of note. One of those bouts will see unbeaten Kazakh destroyed Gennady Golovkin (32-0, 29) defending his collection of titles against the once beaten boxer-mover Willie Monroe Jr (19-1, 6). This will be Golovkin's 7th bout in the US as he looks to continue to continue his destructive run through the contenders of the Middleweight division. For Monroe this is a huge opportunity but one we certainly can't see him winning. On the same show we will also see the Teiken promoted Roman Gonzalez (42-0, 36) defending his WBC Flyweight title and making his long over-due HBO debut. The exciting Nicaraguan will be facing off against Mexican veteran Edgar Sosa (51-8, 30) in what should a very exciting bout and a great introduction for the US who haven't seen much of Gonzalez despite his sensational career.  May 30th-
On May 30th we get a couple of bouts that have us excited. To us the most notable of those is in Aichi as the unbeaten teenager Kosei Tanaka (4-0, 2) attempts to set the Japanese record for few fewest fight to win a world title when he battles the much more experienced Julian Yedras (24-1, 13) for the vacant WBO Minimumweight title. The bout isn't the best the division could have given us but it is a brilliant chance to see if Tanaka is as good as he looks and a stoppage against Yedras would be very impressive. In the UK fans will see the Teiken promoted Jorge Linares (38-3, 25) defending his WBC Lightweight title against Britain's popular Kevin Mitchell (39-2, 25). This will be Linares's first defense of the title after winning the belt on December 30th last year, stopping Javier Preito, and will also be his UK debut. This bout really is exciting with men being able to hurt and be hurt and we'd be very surprised to see it go the distance. Another world title bout takes place in Mexico as the once beaten Milan Melindo (32-1, 12) battles against Javier Mendoza (23-2-1, 19) in a bout for the IBF Light Flyweight title. This is a very tough bout for Melindo, as he takes on a very hard hitting, aggressive and exciting champion, however the Filipino has got the ability to bring back the title if he performs at his very best. [Note-This bout was originally scheduled for May 9th though was rescheduled due to TV] May 31st- The final bout of note will come on the final day of the month as former Japanese and OPBF Minimumweight champion Ryuji Hara (18-1, 10) battles against Petchnamchai Sor Sakulwong (1-2, 1). This will be Hara's comeback bout following his sole loss, a 10th round TKO defeat by Kosei Tanaka, and we're expecting to see a very impressive performance by Hara here who will be wanting to make up for lost time and begin fighting for titles sooner rather than later.  A number of fighters have had frustrating 2013's. One of those was WBC Super Featherweight champion Takashi Miura (28-2-2, 21) who's only fight all year was a mandatory defense against the undeserving Edgar Puerta in November. Prior to that bout Miura had had his name linked to almost everyone in the Super Featherweight division yet no one seemed willing to step up and actually fight him.
Those who were mentioned as possible opponents included fellow champion Takashi Uchiyama, the Mexican pair of Abner Mares and Orlando Salido, British fighter Stephen Smith and Cuban sensation Yuriorkis Gamboa. Going into 2015 many of those names are already being linked to the Japanese puncher who will be hoping for a much busier 2015. The most obvious bout is still the contest with Takashi Uchiyama. The bout would allow Miura a chance to avenge his stoppage defeat to Uchiyama and would make the winner a unified WBC-WBA champion. For both men it's something they have spoke about though, for various reasons, not managed to actually get sorted. It's still the bout fans are wanting and the fighters appear to want but if that can't be made there are other options. One of the most exciting is a rumoured bout with Gamboa. The rumour for this one is that Miura would be fighting Gamboa in Mexico, possibly in a bull ring. The bout would see Miura returning to Mexico, the country where he beat Sergio Thompson in a 2013 FOTY candidate, for the first time since the Thompson bout and would also see him fighting someone known to American and European fans. It's a bout that would guarantee serious fireworks and has the potential to be over at any time. Although exciting it's not one we suspect either will be a rush to make. Another option that would take Miura to Mexico would be a bout against unbeaten and heavy handed local Adrian Estrella. The 22 year old Estrella has had his name linked to Miura in recent weeks and his impressive record, which reads 20-0 (18), boats a 90% KO rate. This would be two of the hardest hitters in the division colliding in a bout very unlikely to go the distance. Not only is this interesting on paper but it's even more so when one considers that Estrella has beaten both Dante Jardon, a former Miura foe, and Celestino Caballero in recent bouts. A third possible contest involving a Mexican is talk of Miura facing the exciting and unbeaten Francisco Vargas who has really shone this year. The bout is unlikely, at least in 2015, though has all the ingredients of a really exciting contest between aggressive and exciting fighters who can both be involved in some thrillers down the line. At the moment Vargas is highly ranked by the WBC and we all know that the WBC will be willing to help Vargas an opportunity however we suspect he knows it'd be too soon for him Outside of Mexico we've seen the name of Stephen Smith again mentioned as a possible foe for Miura. Smith is the current “silver” champion and has had his name linked to Miura on British TV more than once. The most interesting thing relating to this bout is that Smith's promoter Eddie Hearn has shown a willingness to match his fighters with Japanese foes recently and we've seen Scott Quigg fight Daiki Kaneko whilst Jamie McDonnell is set to fight Tomoki Kameda. Although this certainly a possible contest we're doubtful that this one is likely to come to more than just talk as Miura is, stylistically, all wrong for Smith. A really interesting option, and one that would certainly end up in Japan, would be a contest between Miura and the winner of the upcoming OPBF title bout between Daiki Kaneko and Jomthong Chuwatana. The winner of that will be a clear top 10 opponent with the WBC, will be happy to fight in Japan and will certainly not be written off as just another challenger. More importantly however the winner of that would stylistically be a fun to watch contest. Whilst we'll admit we would love to see Miura Vs Uchiyama II the fact there are other options out there really does leave us looking forward to an exciting year for Takashi Miura, a man we want to see a lot of in 2015. (Image courtesy of Teiken) It's fair to say that 2013 has been a great year for both ourselves and for boxing. Sure for us it's been our first year as a site, for boxing though it's been an excellent year with a number of brilliant fights almost on a weekly basis, plenty of controversies, a handful of upsets and some great KO's. In all honesty it's been on of the best years that we can remember with everything a boxing fan could dream about. With that in mind we've decided to celebrate 2014 with our first ever “Annual Awards”. This award system will be our way of recognising the key fights, fighters and performances of the year. Of course, with this site being “Asian Boxing” we have tried to keep things to fights in Asia for the most part.  Courtesy of boxrec Fighter of the Year Gennady Golovkin Kazakhstan's Middleweight sensation Gennady Golovkin has possibly been the stand out fighter this year despite stiff competition from a number of fighters. Any year where a world champion defends his world title 4 times is impressive, even more when he stops all 4 men and never looks in any trouble. Not only did Golovkin defeat Gabriel Rosado, Nobuhiro Ishida, Matthew Macklin and Curtis Stevens but he also did it without losing more than a round or 2 between those 4 fights. Sure the opponents weren't great for Golovkin but the WBA Middleweight champion is quickly proving to be an avoided fighter and with good reason. He's taking out the B grade Middleweights whilst the top guys seem happy to avoid a clash with him. If he continues to take out all willing challengers in 2014 he may well be forced to go to Super Middleweight just to look for willing dance partners. Notable mention (1) Takashi Miura One man who has arguably impressed everyone this year has been Takashi Miura who has had a career defining year no matter what happens in 2014. He began the year by becoming the WBC Super Featherweight champion courtesy of a demanding victory over Gamaliel Diaz and since then has gone from strength to strength. In his first defense he went to Mexico and won a thriller with Sergio Thompson then ended the year by dominating Dante Jardon in what we expected to be a tough bout. Not only has Miura had a year to remember but he's also become the new Mexecutioner. Notable mention (2) Akira Yaegashi After losing to Kazuto Ioka in a Minimumweight title unification bout in 2012 some may have expected to see Akira Yaegashi slowly fade away. Instead Yaegashi has had a 2013 to remembered and a year to genuinely celebrate. He jumped from Minimumweight to Flyweight and despite struggling with Thailand's Saenmuangloei Kokietgym in his first fight at the weight Yaegashi would end the year as the WBC and Linear champion. Yaegashi's year saw him scoring 4 wins including really notable ones over Toshiyuki Igarashi and Edgar Sosa and a very credible one over Oscar Blanquet.  Courtesy of Ohashi Gym Prospect of the Year Naoya Inoue There was little doubt who'd be getting this award this year because Naoya Inoue was the one stand out candidate. The 20 year old from Kanagawa scored 4 wins this year and showed everything a fighter had to show. He destroyed Thailand's Ngaoprajan Chuwatana, boxed the socks off Yuki Sano, beat up the brave Ryoichi Taguchi and then dismantled Jerson Mancio. In the process of those 4 victories Inoue became the Japanese and OPBF champion whilst also becoming world ranked and viewed as one of the worlds fastest rising stars. Notable mention Kosei Tanaka Although the 18 year old Kosei Tanaka only made his debut this year he's already looking like a fighter heading to the top. Tanaka took on the well regarded Oscar Raknafa on debut and made a statement dropping Raknafa en route to a comfortable 6 round decision. His year wasn't as impressive as Inoue's but his performance showed the hall marks of a young fighter going a very way in the sport. Don't be shocked if this youngster is mentioned as the stand out prospect at the end of 2014.  Courtesy of http://suljosblog.com Female Fighter of the Year Naoko Fujioka This was one the easier categories with Japanese Super Flyweight Naoko Fujioka having a year to really remember. She may have only fought twice this year but her win over Naoko Yamaguchi for the WBC female Super Flyweight title was the stand out performance of any Asian female this year. The former Minimumweight champion appears to be like a fine wine and despite being 38 years old she is still improving as shown as she defeated Yamaguchi and proved to be our female fighter of the year. Notable mention Su-Yun Hong Korean boxing might not be riding a crest of a wave but they do have a shining light in the form of WBO Minimumweight champion Su-Yun Hong who defended her title twice this year. He first defense, over Buangern OnesongchaiGym, may not have been anything great but the fact that she then followed that up with a victory over Mari Ando left us with no doubt that Hong deserved a mention on here. What made her victory over Ando so impressive is that Ando herself went up and finished the year a world champion herself.  Courtesy of Nakornloung Boxing Promotion Performance of the Year Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (v Yota Sato) Back at the start of May we expected Yota Sato, the then WBC Super Flyweight champion, to travel over to Thailand and defeat Thailand's Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, a man who we admittedly knew little about at the time. Instead of Sato defending his belt and creating history we instead saw Srisaket have the break out performance of the year and stamp his name on the sport with one of the most notable and outstanding performances of the year. Notable mention (1) Koki Eto (v Pornsawan Porpramook) Japan's Koki Eto may be little known outside of Japan and Thailand and might never again make a statement on the world stage but his memorable battle with Pornsawan Porpramook was one of those great performances and the type of thing that will live on. Eto went in to the bout with everything against him. No Japanese national had won a world title bout in Thailand, he was facing an experienced and well known world level fighter and the crowd were certainly behind Porpramook. Despite the deck being stacked against him Eto managed to upset Porpramook with a stirring performance. Notable mention (2) Takashi Miura (v Sergio Thompson) Japan's Takashi Miura travelled around the planet to make the first defense of his WBC Super Featherweight title and take on mandatory challenger Sergio Thompson. Miura was the under-dog and the partisan crowd were clearly behind Thompson though they didn't prevent Miura from putting on a performance to remember as he and Thompson traded leather with reckless abandon. The fight wasn't Miura's first world title fight but was the fight that put him on the map as a real champion and a fighter who wasn't to be taken lighting.  Courtesy of Boxrec.com Revelation of the Year (The fighter than came out of nowhere to become a top tier fighter in 2013) Srisaket Sor Rungvisai To start 2013 Srisaket Sor Rungvisai was an unknown fighter with a record of 16-3-1 (15). The only notable things about him were his early career losses to Akira Yaegashi and Kenji Oba. In 2013 however Srisaket went 7-0 (6) won the WBC Super Flyweight title dominating Yota Sato and made a defense of that title stopping Hirofumi Mukai. Notable mention Ruslan Provodnikov The American based “Siberian Rocky” Ruslan Provodnikov was viewed by many as a second tier fighter, an “ESPN fighter” if you will. This year though we saw Provodnikov proving that he was a world level warrior as he put on 2 fight of the year candidates. Although he came up short, narrowly, against Timothy Bradley his performance against Mike Alvarado solidified him as one of the revelations of 2013.  Courtesy of http://www.ffboxe.com KO of the Year Takashi Uchiyama (v Jaider Parra) We all know that Takashi Uchiyama is one of the hardest punchers pound-for-pound on the planet though earlier this year we saw just how hard he hits as be destroyed the mid-section of Venezuelan challenger Jaider Parra with a single thunderous body shot. The shot may be forgotten by many but for us it was one of the best body shots in recent memory, destructive. Notable mention (1) Gennady Golovkin (v Nobuhiro Ishida) Like Uchiyama we all know that Gennady Golovkin is a major puncher and he showed it with 4 stoppages this year including 2 KO of the Year candidates. Of those 2 KO's we've gone with his single right hand KO of Japan's Nobuhiro Ishida, a shot that was vicious, concussive and spiteful. We're not sure what was more striking, the shot or the way Ishida went down with half of his body lying out of the ring. It was devastation of the highest order. Notable mention (2) Ryo Miyazaki (v Carlos Velarde) Although Ryo Miyazaki may have ended the year with an unexpected loss to Fahlan Sakkreerin Jr one thing that no one can take away from him was his KO of the year contender against Carlos Velarde. This KO, which came way back in May, was probably the best 2-punch combination Miyazaki has ever landed and was simply a perfect combination that sent Velarde crumbling instantly to the canvas. It genuinely was a beautiful highlight to Miyazaki's first world title defense.  Courtesy of http://www.profiboksz.hu Fight of the Year Takashi Miura v Sergio Thompson This was by far the hardest category out there though we've gone with Miura v Thompson as the winner. This war, fought in Mexico was nothing short of breath taking with both men being sent down, both men being hurt, both men unloading and both men needing to dig deep. Neither man looked likely to survive the distance and neither man looked likely to be the same fighter ever again. This was one of those wars that will live on with all those that saw it and will grow and grow as the men themselves become more famous. Notable mention (1) Ruslan Provodnikov v Timothy Bradley When we talk about Fight of the Year we think of bouts with momentum shifts, styles that contrast well and a mix of the action. That's exactly what we got when Provodnikov put his name on the boxing map with his performance against Timothy Bradley. Of course Bradley played his part as had to battle through a serious shellacking and showed off the classy boxing we know he has in his arsenal. The bout had it all and best of all seemed to cause the birth of a new boxing star in Provodnikov. Notable mention (2) Koki Eto v Pornsawan Porpramook Japanese youngster Koki Eto was a relative unknown to the world stage until he travelled to Thailand and put on a real show with Thai tank Pornsawan Porpramook. The both saw both men going to war in a real battle of attrition that eventually saw Pornsawan dropped to the canvas in round 12. It turned out that it was the knockdown that sealed the deal for Eto and won him the WBA “interim” Flyweight title. Unfortunately Eto would lose the title in his first defense showing that the bout had taken it's toll on him. Notable mention (3) Kohei Kono v Liborio Solis We said it was a tough category and the fact that Kohei Kono's war with Liborio Solis is all the way down in the 3rd notable position says it all. This fight could well have been our fight of the year in previous years as both men went to war, both men gave it their all and both men got knocked down in a bout that saw Solis unifying the WBA and WBA “interim” Super Flyweight titles.  Courtesy of http://blog.livedoor.jp/lkid/ Comeback of the Year
Katsunari Takayama When a fighter goes 1-3-0-1 in their previous fights you tend to feel their career is on the wane and that it's time to think about retirement. For Katsunari Takayama however 2013 has been his year as he's scored 2 wins and put himself back on the map. Not only did he claim a world title, the IBF Minimumweight belt, with a memorable performance against Mario Rodriguez in Mexico but he then returned to Japan to win his first fight in the country since 2009. Takayama, aged 30, looks to be a man who has turned his career around this year and now looks like a very difficult man to beat. Before we close out our awards we want to say thank you to all the fighters, promoters, organisations and everyone else that has made our sport so great over the last 12 months. It's been an honour to watch these warriors in action. One more thing before we end this, we'd also like to say, from the entire team, thank you to...you. Thank you for reading, thank you for supporting the site and thank you for supporting boxing, the greatest sport in the world. Hopefully 2014 will be an even better year with more great fights, more amazing KO's and more of the action that has made us all love this fantastic sport. |
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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