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This past weekend we saw Chinese Heavyweight giant Zhang Zhilei (22-0-1, 17) have his most interesting bout to date, as he narrowly squeaked a draw with Jerry Forrest (26-4-1, 20), despite scoring 3 knockdowns in the first 3 rounds of the fight. By the end of the bout Zhilei was looking like he was out on his feet, running on fumes and was lucky the bout was a 10 rounder, and not a 12 rounder as it seems a given he would have been stopped.
Despite narrowly escaping with the draw, and his unbeaten record, Zhang is now in an awkward position. He has been hyped for years as a potential Anthony Joshua opponent, for a contest at the "Birdsnest" in China, a bout that never seemed to make any sense, and the draw has seemingly killed that hype. At the age of 37 he can ill afford to take a backwards step, but he also can't be rushed and suffer a career ending loss. Despite the hype being burst is still a world ranked Heavyweight and the type of fighter that some emerging names may fancy their chances against. Whilst he will be looking to bounce back from the recent draw. With that in mind we've decided to take a look at 5 potential bouts for Zhang. These are all bouts that are, at least partially, high risk bouts, but are also high reward bouts for "Big Bang" and would keep him in the title mix if he can win them. 1-Trevor Bryan (21-0, 15) Working with Don King is never in anyone's plans, but if Zhang wants to leave the door open to a world title fight he and his team might need to "work with the devil" and secure a bout between Zhang and Trevor Bryan, the WBA's "Regular" champion. Bryan isn't an amazing fighter and this is quite possibly the only way Zhang can win a Heavyweight world title. Bryan certainly isn't terrible, and he wouldn't be a blow out for Zhang by any means, but he is essentially Zhang's only chance at a world title. Sadly it's hard to imagine Don King risking Bryan against anyone even half decent, or for King and Eddie Hearn to work together on making this one. 2-Bogdan Dinu (20-2, 16) A potentially easier to make bout than a clash with Bryan for Zhang and his team would be a bout with Romanian fighter Bogdan Dinu. The 34 year old Dinu needs a big win of his own to be relevant after 2 stoppage losses in his last 4 bouts, and a win over Zhang would be huge for his career, the sort of win he needs to get himself in the mix. Likewise Zhang would feel he would be too much, too strong and too powerful for the Romanian giant. This would be one that could end early, either way, or could end up getting very messy the longer it goes on. Interestingly a win for Zhang here would see him being ranked very highly by the WBA, given that Dinu is inexplicably ranked #3 by the World Boxing Association, meaning that the Chinese giant would be on the verge of a world title fight if he could over-come Dinu. 3-Martin Bakole (16-1, 12) When we think of real possibilities for Zhang we perhaps need to think of Eddie Hearn looking to match him within the Matchroom stable. Hearn isn't too known for doing this, which strikes us as being stupid and frustrating, but it is something he can do without too many issues. With that in mind a bout between Zhang and British based Congolese fighter Martin Bakole would make a lot of sense. This would be a 50-50 style match up and would pit two big, but flawed, fighters against each other and the loser would be in an awful position, whilst the winner would be legitimately on the verge of something huge. From Hearn's perspective this could be a great chance to clear out one of his many Heavyweights, with the loser likely to have little value to the promoter afterwards. 4-David Price (25-7, 20) One thing Zhang's draw with Forrest showed was that his stamina was poor, his power was good, and that the longer the bout went the more he struggled. With that in mind we can't help wanting to match him with someone similar, and the first person who jumps to mind is English giant David Price. Interestingly both men are the wrong side of 35, both men are limited puncher, both are physical giants and both men won medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, with both actually losing to Italian legend Roberto Cammarelle. It would be an easy(ish) one for Matchroom to put together and promote and could be a lot of fun, as long as it doesn't last the distance. 5-Hughie Fury (25-3, 14) Staying with the idea of Zhang facing a "big British lad" another alternative would be a bout with Hughie Fury. As a viewing spectacle this wouldn't be fun, not in the slightest. Fury is well known for putting on dull performances and Zhang has terrible stamina, but as with the Bakole fight it would be a fight where the loser would, essentially, be put on the chopping block for Eddie Hearn, who would see little value in keeping the two of them. In terms of strengths Zhang has the clear edge in power, and for all his flaws he can certainly punch, but Fury has youth and speed on his side, and the younger man would be the favourite. Whilst we would hate to watch this, at least if it goes beyond 3 or 4 rounds, it would be a compelling case of a "must win" for both men, and should be a very, very easy bout to make.
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Recently Matchroom announced that they had signed a promotional deal with Chinese Heavyweight hopeful Zhang Zhilei (21-0, 16), and the response by was somewhat mixed. Even the usually loyal Matchroom fans seemed unsure on the decision with some asking who, others saying it wasn't big news and others questioning why Matrchoom would sign him. In all honesty it's a strange signing. Zhilei is a talented, well sized, southpaw with surprising speed, solid power and a good boxing brain. He ticks some boxes that are worthy of note. Sadly though it's also a signing of a 37 year old who's career has never got going, and he's 38 early next year, so he's an ancient Heavyweight who has achieved little of note in the professional ranks. Today we are going to look over some things regarding Zhang and how we see him fitting into the Matchroom fold. "He was a Great Amateur" There is no argument here, Zhilei was a fantastic amateur and, along with Zou Shiming, one of the standout Chinese amateurs of the 00's and 2010's. He won an Olympic Silver medal in 2008, World Amateur Bronze medals in 2007, and 2009, and Asian Games gold in 2010 and a gold, silver and 2-bronzes at the Asian Championships, from 2004 to 2011. He was a great amateur, but that was a long time ago, and he's now heading towards 40. Added to that is the fact that he sadly didn't turn professional until he was 31, that's older than Anthony Joshua is now. Although he was a great amateur, he left turning professional way, way too late. Despite his amateur success he was never the out and out #1 in the world and often clashed with more talented fighters, as we can see below in his 2011 World Amateur Championship bout with Ivan Dychko. "He's world Ranked": Matchroom's announcement proudly told us that Zhilei "sits at #11 with the WBO and #12 with the IBF" and if we're being honest that's about as nice as a world title body could possible rank him based on his competition and achievements. BoxRec rank him at #40 whilst the independent PBO rank him at #33 and they both seem a lot more accurate than a top 15 position. In terms of pure talent we can understand a potential top 20 position. Zhang is talented, and we are living in a rather poor era for Heavyweights. But on achievement he's only won the very lightly regarded WBO Oriental title and his best win is over Andriy Rudenko, who took the fight at short notice. There is no defense to rank him as highly as the IBF and WBO do. "I’m the best Heavyweight coming out of China": In the press release regarding the signing Zhang is quoted as saying "I’m the best Heavyweight coming out of China." Technically that is true, and it can't really be disputed, but it is a strange claim. In total there's only about 10 Chinese Heavyweights out there and most of the others have a single bout to their name. It would be similar to Sheldon Purdy describing himself as the best Minimumweight in the UK. Technically it's true, but it's a rather empty and meaningless claim. Added to that is the fact that Zhang isn't really fighting in China anyway. From his 21 professional bouts only 4 have taken place in the country with 16 in the USA. To answer whether he's the best in Asia we need to consider what we mean by "best". He's certainly the most proven Asian Heavyweight in the professional ranks. But that doesn't mean he's the best, and we're not sure we would favour him over the likes of Bakhodir Jalolov, Ivan Dychko, Zhan Kossobutskiy, Mahammadrasul Majidov or even Ruslan Myrsatayev. The reality is that Central Asia is developing a lot of interesting Heavyweight hopefuls, and they are all younger than Zhang. For those who have missed Jalolov, we've included some footage of him below, and he's significantly younger than Zhang. He's a big star in China and his fights are huge!: As mentioned Zhang has fought just 4 times in China as a professional, and has had 16 bouts in the US and 1 in Monaco. Firstly. If he was big in China why wouldn't he have fought more there? Why has he has only fought 1 of his last 7 bouts the country? And most notably why was the venue only half filled for his last bout at home? Don't believe us? See the video below and look at those empty seats! The reality is that Zhang isn't big news in China. The talk of him headlining at the Bird's Nest in Beijing was always laughable and something that has always seemed frankly ridiculous. The venue can hold up to 91,000, and from a population of 1.3billion that's not a lot, but the reality is that Zhang isn't not a draw in China. Not only is he unable to sell tickets but there is also a limit to the other financial things to do with boxing. There is no massive PPV market for boxing in China, piracy is rife, and whilst there is money in the sport most of it will come from sponsors, not ticket sales or broadcasters. In a few fights he'll be ready for a world title:
Whilst this is, potentially, true, it's also not an option that looks viable right now. As we write this in September 2020 there are a number of issues with the statement. Firstly Zhang is 37. If he has 3 more fights, fighting every 6 months, he will be just weeks away from is 39th birthday before getting a world title fight. Time is not on his side. Time is running down on a talented man who never got the chance to show what a younger version of himself could do. Secondly the titles are tied up. We essentially have the WBC title, held by Tyson Fury, held up for a year. We have Fury set to face Deontay Wilder for a third time, then a bout with the winner of Dillian Whyte Vs Alexander Povetkin II. That could mean that he's busy right through 2021. The WBA "Super", IBF and WBO titles are all held by Anthony Joshua. Joshua has a mandatory against Kubrat Pulev set, likely for later this year, and is then expected to have a mandatory against Oleksandr Usyk, which will likely keep Joshua tied up for a year. We are also being promised a deal has been agreed for Joshua and Fury to fight, by Eddie Hearn who promotes Joshua, Whyte, and Usyk. Matchroom can match him in house!: This is what we suspect will happen, but that doesn't mean it's a great thing. Matchroom have been acquiring a lot of Heayweights in recent years. According to their own website they currently promote: Anthony Joshua Dave Allen Dillian Whyte Fabio Wardley Filip Hrgovic Hughie Fury Joseph Parker Mahammadrasul Majidov Martin Bakole Oleksandr Usyk Zhang Zhilei That should be great to get Zhang bouts! Should be the key word however as Hearn failed to get Michael Hunter bouts against the same stable of Heavyweights, and has struggled to get his top Middleweights and Super Middleweights to fight. What we tend to see instead is that Matchroom get a lot of talent in a division then keep it apart. For Zhilei it could actually see him being unable to fight guys in his own stable. What we expect is that Zhilei will be kept away from fellow Matchroom fighters, will pick up a few C tier wins, climb into the top 10 of at least one title body, then be cashed out, at the age of 38 or 39, against Hrgovic or Bakole. He'll be paid decently for it, sure, but it will very much feel like he's been another pawn in a bigger game of chess. The truth of it all: Zhang could, potentially, have been a star. But that's a huge "could". Firstly he needed to turn professional earlier. If he'd turned over after the 2012 Olympics, the Olympics he fought Joshua in, he could have been 29 when he launched his professional career. That would have given him a little bit of extra time to make a mark. Even better would have been him turning professional after the 2008 Olympics. He would have also needed a big promoter behind him early on who was willing to invest in the Chinese market. That would have been Top Rank, they were the only ones buying into the Chinese scene, and even then they were doing it around Zou Shiming primarily. Most importantly he would have needed to be pushed in China, and not the US. Again 16 of his professional bouts have been in the US, that did nothing to build him in China. That did more harm to him being a Chinese star than anything. Had he been more active in China, faced the likes of Kyotaro Fujimoto, Zhiyu Wu, Kotatsu Takehara, Ryu Ueda and Zhang Junlong, he'd have had a chance to be star in China. Instead however they matched him against meaningless opponents in China and killed any hope of him being a star there. We finally finish off our look at current Asian rankings this week with a look at the Heavyweight division, which surprisingly a lot, lot deeper than both the Light Heavyweight and Cruiserweight divisions. The reality is that the division still isn't amazing, and it actually a truly frustrating one, but is a lot deeper than the two division's we've just mentioned.
1-Zhang Zhilei (21-0, 16) The leading Asian Heavyweight right now is Chinese veteran Zhang Zhilei, who has proven himself more in the professional ranks than anyone else from the area. He's 37 years old now, and has likely missed the boat of a major fight. Despite that he's very talented, looks very natural in the ring and is a very skilled, surprisingly quick boxer-puncher. Sadly his best win so far is his 2019 victory over Andriy Rudenko and given his age it's unlikely we'll see him really taking on anyone big before his body begins to break down and retirement calls. Interestingly there had been talk of him fighting Anthony Joshua but that talk now looks to be completely dead. 2-Bakhodir Jalolov (6-0, 6) We stick with giants as we go to US based Uzbek giant Bakhodir Jalolov. At the moment Jalolov hasn't fully committed to the professional ranks, hence why he has only fought 6 times in the professionals since his debut in May 2018. He has, however, been busy in the amateurs and in 2019 he won the World Amateur Championships and clearly has been staying busy. He is a big hope for the 2020, or should that be 2021, Olympics. At the age of 25, he turns 26 later this month, Jalolov has time on his side, he's huge, very skilled, a big puncher and has surprising fluidity for such a big man. We'd love to see him fully commit to the professional ranks, and when he does he's going to be a big star. 3-Ivan Dychko (9-0, 9) Another giant, and former amateur standout, is Ivan Dychko, a Kazakh with so much potential that many tipped him as a major star when he turned professional in 2017. Sadly his amateur credentials are now looking like a part of history and in the 3 years that Dychko has been a professional he has really just has frustration after frustration. He's a proper giant, at around 6'9", a smooth operator with power, speed and skills, and like Jalolov is very fluid for such a big man. Sadly inactivity, bouts falling through, poor competition and nothing really going his way has left him really feeling like a man with lost potential. His biggest win to date was his 2019 victory over Ray Austin and it feels like his career should be a long, long way further than it is. A talent, but a talent that is being badly wasted. 4-Mahammadrasul Majidov (2-0, 2) Another Asian former amateur stand out is Azeri banger Mahammadrasul Majidov. The 33 year old looks like to be fast tracked, given his age and links to Matchroom, and has got the strong amateur background to be moved rapidly through the ranks. Sadly Majidov turned professional too late to see what he can really do and really build a professional standing, though he is blessed with brutal power, under-rated skills and frightening physical strength. Given that Majidov was never the quickest we don't think he'll age quickly, but we do feel he's turned pro too young to get the experience he needs to reach the top of the sport. Fingers crossed, however, that Majidov's professional career will light a fire under the backsides of top Azeri amateur to turn professional when they still have time to make a mark on the pros. 5-Zhan Kossobutskiy (13-0, 12) Technically Zhan Kossobutskiy has done more than most in this list, and is more proven as a professional than almost everyone in this top 10. Despite that he's not looking like the natural talent that a Dychko or Jalolov has. Instead he's looked a bit raw, and has been taking on fighters generally on short notice. Despite the complaints about his competition 31 year old has been busy, with 4 fights in 2019, including a career best win over the then 15-0 Agron Smakici for a minor IBF title. Given his age, and now experience, we expect to see him step up this year, especially he's now backed be a rather strong promotional team. We expect to see Kossobutskiy fighting at a higher level, but it's hard to see him getting a world title fight any time soon. 6-Ruslan Myrsatayev (7-0, 6) Another Kazakh making his way into our top 10 is Ruslan Myrsatayev, who is 35 years old and has likely missed the bout to make an impact at a higher level. His best win to date is a KO win over British veteran Danny Williams last year, and since then he has seen his KO run come to an end, being taken 8 rounds by Yury Bykhautsou. Although not the most talented Myrsatayev is a fight with heavy hands, and a decent work rate, but nothing exceptional and we could easily see him losing to fighters below him who make the most of his slowness. From here on we expect him to slow further and really only expect him to slide down the rankings, and not do much of note. Again a shame he turned pro so late as he could have been in some interesting fights just a few years ago. 7-Kyotaro Fujimoto (21-2, 13) Former unified Japanese, OPBF and WBO Asia Pacific champion Kyotaro Fujimoto is one of the more well known names on this list. He was a K1 fighter, the first Japanese national champion in a general and a man splattered by Daniel Dubois last year in the UK. Sadly he's also a man who was looking like a big fish in a little pond. Technically he's actually not a bad fighter, but he's also not a particularly impressive one. He's often negative in the ring, relying on his speed and movement, sadly when he's facing a quicker fighter that big advantage is neutralised and he lacks the power to get respect of opponents. It's great to see a Japanese Heavyweight try and do something on a bigger stage, but the reality is that Fujimoto hasn't got the toughness, chin, size or power to make a mark against the better fighters, even the better Asian fighters. 8-Ryu Ueda (9-1-1, 5) It's hard to know how good Ryu Ueda can become, but at the moment his ceiling looks low. He's the current Japanese Heavyweight champion, claiming the title last year when he beat Kotatsu Takehara in their second bout. He looks the part physically, and is a big, athletic looking guy, but sadly he's relatively uncoordinated and when he gets in the ring the natural athletic ability one would assume he has is lacking. He doesn't look comfortable in the ring. At the age of 28 there is room for improvement, but it's hard to see him improving much and he really is lucky the Japanese scene is very weak at the division. 9-Eric Pen (6-0, 5) American born Cambodian Eric Pen is a very interesting fighter in some ways, but like many Asian Heavyweights his potential to make a mark at the higher levels is very, very limited. Pen is the current WBA Asia champion but his competition so far has been dire and his last win, over Alexander Bajawa came against a very out of shape fighter. It's impossible to know how good Pen is given how easily matched he's been. Saying that however we would love to see him fight Ueda in what would, on paper, be a big step up in class for Pen. 10-Yunlong Shi (1-0, 1) Chinese Heavyweight Yunlong Shi might not have been a success in WSB but he impressed in his professional boxing debut last year, stopping Pawel Sowik in 2 rounds in Poland. Unlike many fighters on this list he's actually based in European, with a Polish team behind him. It's hard to know just how good Shi is, but we were impressed by his debut, and wouldn't be betting against him against Pen or Ueda. It's still very early in his career and he looks like someone to actually be quite excited about. Again very, very early days, but he has size and skills, and on his debut he showed decent power, albeit against a very limited opponent.  Recently the new broke that Japanese Heavyweight Kyotaro Fujimoto (19-1, 11) [藤本京太郎] would be defending his unified WBO Asia Pacific and OPBF Heavyweight titles against Thai foe Suthat Kalalek (12-9, 11). The bout, inspired little excitement, and if we're being honest it was actually a huge disappointment given that Kyotaro is a triple crown winner, having unified the Japanese title along with the two regional belts, and is a world ranked fighter. He should have been looking to move towards a big Heavyweight clash, not face someone best known for challenging for an OPBF Super Middleweight several years ago. Yes you read that right, Kyotaro's next opponent is a blown up Super Middleweight, who faced off with Yuzo Kiyota in 2015 for the OPBF title at 168lbs, suffering a third straight loss with Kiyota stopped him in the 10th round. It would be easy to defend Kyotaro's position if he was fighting in a 10 round stay busy fight, but this will be his first bout since May, when he took on chinny Australian Aaron Russel. For a man who has unified two regional titles his competition has been terrible, and it's actually hard to excuse given the ranked contenders for the OPBF and WBO Asia Pacific title. It's not like when Kyotaro was defending the Japanese Heavyweight title in a very shallow talent pool, with no interesting competitors, bar Nobuhiro Ishida who shocked us all and gave Kyotaro two tough bouts well above his natural weight class. Rather than criticise who Kyotaro is facing we've decided to look at some of the alternative contenders that he could have faced, or could face in the future. These are fighters that would have given him a more serious test and really interest fans in a way that the Thai can't and have competed for the unified belts that Kyotaro holds.  1-Zhang Zhilei (19-0, 15) [张志磊] One of the most obvious contenders is former Chinese amateur star Zhang Zhilei, who like Kyotaro is world ranked by the WBO and would make for an exceptionally interesting dance partner for the Japanese fighter. Not only is Zhilei higher ranked than Kyotaro with the WBO, holding a #6 ranking to Kyotaro's #7, but he is also a leading contender for both of Kyotaro's titles, with a the OPBF #1 ranking and a WBO Asia Pacific #2 rankings. The Chinese fighter has an imposing record, and looks to be a puncher, but the bout would be as much of a step up for him as it would for Kyotaro. Like Kyotaro there has been a lot of criticism about Zhilei's competition, with his last 6 opponents all being stopped inside a round. The Chinese fighter would have not only the titles to win but also some respect, just like Kyotaro would. Also at the age of 35 Zhilei may see a win over Kyotaro as a chance to boost his WBO ranking and move towards a potential rematch with Anthony Joshua, who beat him in the 2012 Olympic games. Sadly it appears that the 2009 Asian Boxing Championships gold medal winner has as little interest in Kyotaro as Kyotaro has in him, but the reality is that, from a fans perspective, the bout makes more sense than any other bout for the two men.  2-Junlong Zhang (19-0, 19) [张君龙] A second Chinese fighter who would make a lot of sense for Kyotaro to face is Junlong Zhang, a 36 year old dubbed the “Dragon King”. Unlike his countryman Zhang doesn't currently hold a world ranking, though has been in and out of the WBA rankings over the last year or two. He now needs a ring return, having not fought since December 2017, but would immediately be able to make up for lost time with a win against Kyotaro. Like both Zhile and Kyotaro there has been criticism of Zhang's competition but with wins over the likes of Jason Gavern, George Arias, Saul Farah and Victor Emilio Ramirez he does actually have a number of wins that are pretty solid. He would also enter as the #9 ranked WBO Asia Pacific contender, though is conspicuously absent from the OPBF's rankings. Although western fans may anticipated a Zhilei Vs Zhang bout it does seem like a Zhang Vs Kyotaro bout does have more interest in China, with Kyotaro having been mentioned by the “Dragon King” as someone he wants to fight. There is however no clear reason why the two haven't fought, and sadly we suspect the bout will continue to be one of those “what if” contests, despite how much sense it makes.  3-Junior Fa (15-0, 8) Outside of the two Chinese fighters we have a number of fighters from Oceania who would almost certainly love to share the ring with Kyotaro, one of which is 28 year old Kiwi Junior Fa , who is currently ranked #12 by the WBO in their world rankings, #1 in the WBO Asia Pacific rankings and #15 with the OPBF. The unbeaten Far hasn't looked untouchable as a professional, with a few close bouts, but would make for a very suitable opponent for Kyotaro, who has also not looked lawless. Fa is a former amateur standout, and he holds a very notable amateur win over Joseph Parker, but has yet to set the professional scene on fire. A win over Kyotaro would boost his WBO rankings, set up a potential rematch as a professional with Parker and see him claim the biggest win of his career. So there is real reason for Fa to take the bout. For Kyotaro it would see him defeat a top contender for one of his titles and legitimise his regional champion claim. Sadly hopes of this bout are a bit strained. Of Fa's last 6 bouts 3 have been in the US and it's almost certain that the long term plan isn't for him to stay in the regional scene for long. Added to that is his recent struggles and it could be that his unbeaten record, and as a result some of the allure of a Kyotaro showdown, could end sooner rather than later.  4-Lucas Browne (25-1-0-1, 22) Just days after Kyotaro's bout with Suthat fans will be able to see Lucas Browne take on Julius Long in Australia. Given how both Kyotaro and Browne and in need of a win to get give their career a kick start a match up between the two seems ideal, even if we will need to wait until December to get it. And by that time we should see Browne pick up a comeback win following his brutal 6th round KO loss to Dillian Whyte in March Browne, 39, is a a heavy handed and popular slugger who can't afford any more set backs if he's to land another big fight, and a win over the world ranked Kyotaro would fast track him to a big fight. For Kyotaro it'd be a chance to claim a big win over a fighter who has name value in Europe, specifically the UK, and put himself in the mix for potential UK fights against some of the Heavyweight that Britain has to offer, and the pay days that come with those fights. Although not the most attractive match up on paper, given Browne's age and recent KO loss, it's a fight that has a lot of reward for Kyotaro if he wins. Of course that reward comes with a high risk and if he gets caught by a Browne howitzer there is a chance his career will be in tatters. A brilliant high risk high reward bout and one that would certainly be interesting, even if it'd wouldn't be action packed.  5-Joseph Parker (24-2, 18)
Talking about high risk and high reward we come to former WBO world champion Joseph Parker, who had been linked to a fight with Kyotaro for a while before winning the WBO world title in later 2016. So the bout has history behind it and given the fact Parker has lost his last 2 bouts there is also a case of perhaps getting him at the perfect time, with the Kiwi having low confidence and needing a win to re-enter the mix following a loss to Dillian Whyte in July. For Parker, who is only ranked by the WBC, a win would put him straight into the WBO title mix and potentially help him set up rematches with Whyte or Anthony Joshua, who defeated Parker to take the WBO title form him. For Kyotaro the bout could reward him with a huge win over a former world champion, a WBC ranking and a chance to shut up his critics, who suggested he was scared of a then unbeaten Parker. Sadly this bout has been organised and fallen through a few times with various reasons given for the bout falling through. It would be a shame if we don't see it at some point, given the two are the most notable Heavyweight's in the region, but we wouldn't be surprised to see Parker ignore Kyotaro now, given that he's been facing much bigger fish. It's a shame that Kyotaro, who once promised so much as a professional boxer, has spent the last few years facing such limited competition given the quality of regional rivals out there. We hope, sooner rather than later, that the Japanese fighter does take on a notable foe from the Asia Pacific region, but given current form we suspect he'll continue to take the path of least resistance whilst hoping for an undeserved pay day against a world champion. (Images courtesy of Boxmob. Sina, Loop Tonga, Hatton Boxing and stuff.co.nz) |
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