Last weekend we had the chance to see 40 year old Japanese veteran Kenichi Horikawa (41-16-1, 14) turn back the clock and win the OPBF Light Flyweight title with an excellent and controlled display against the much younger Daiki Tomita. The win proved that Horikawa, even at his advanced age, still had the tools to compete with some of the best in and around the regional title scene and saw him take a huge step towards a much bigger bout.
 
With that win in mind we put on out match making caps, for the latest in out "Five For" series, where we look at 5 potential match ups for for the fighter in mind, this week Horikawa.
 
1-Masamichi Yabuki (11-3, 11)
The obvious match up in mind for Horikawa would be a show down with newly crowned Japanese national champion Masamichi Yabuki, who won the Japanese title just a day after Horikawa claimed the OPBF belt. After his win Yabuki stated that Horikawa was the man he wanted to face and on paper this is probably the bout that makes the most sense, and is the one to determining the leading Japanese contender for a world title bout. Stylistically it's be interesting to see Horikawa's pressure and experience up against Yabuki's power and movement, and this is certainly a bout we want before the year is over!
 
2-Reiya Konishi (17-2, 7)
I we can't have Yabuki opposite to Horikawa then maybe the next best choice from Japan would be 2-time world title challenger Reiya Konishi. On paper this bout the appeal of having a unified title champion, but is potentially a better bout from a style point of view. Both men like letting their hands go, both are strong and tough guys and we would expect some really thrilling exchanges between these two. Konishi would typically be the favourite, but he's not been in the ring since May 2019, when he lost to Felix Alvarado, and we're not sure what he'd be like after such a lengthy lay off. There's not better time for Horikawa than now to get this one sorted.
 
3-Toto Landero (11-4-2, 2)
A left of center choice here, but one we like would be a match up between Horikawa and Filipino contender Toto Landero. As first defense of the OPBF title this would make for an interesting match up, and one that is certainly not a foregone conclusion. Horikawa, at home in Japan, would be favoured, but Landero is no push over, despite losing 3 of his last 4. The Filipino has mixed at world level, and showed what he could do in being competitive with Knockout CP Freshmart, Simipiwe Konkco and Melvin Jerusalem. Given his style of aggressive technical fighting Landero would make for a fan friendly contender, and would likely be willing to fight up close more than some opponents. For Horikawa the aim will be cover his lack of speed, and with Landero willing to fight, rather than box, that weakness of the veteran is unlikely to be an issue here.
 
4-Siridech Deebook (21-6-1, 13)
The first of two possible opponents from Thailand is Siridech Deebook, also known as Pongsaklek Sithdabnij. The 27 year old Deebook is certainly no world beater, in fact he suffered 2 losses in 2018 and should have had another in 2019 when he escaped with a very controversial win against Romshane Sarguilla. He is however the perfect foil for Horikawa. Although he's only in his 20's Deebook is damaged good, but also stylistically the type of fighter Horikawa should be licking his lips to face. The Thai comes to fight, doesn't do well on the back foot and would engage in a war with Horikawa. That'd be a war that would see the Thai likely being broken down in the second half and eventually stopped in a thriller. If we can't have a high stakes bout, for example the one with Yabuki, this could be as fan friendly as we can get!
 
5-Thanongsak Simsri (14-0, 12)
Whilst maybe not the logical choice a bout between Horikawa and 20 year Thai prodigy Thanongsak Simsri could be perfect if none of the other 4 bouts listed can be sorted. The Thai youngster is fighting in Japan regularly anyway, due to a deal with Green Tsuda, and his team has spoke about fighting for regional honours sooner rather than later. It would be a big step up from his recent competition but given how most of this year has been a wash for him we could see his team look to make up for lost time. For Horikawa this would be high risk, low reward, but as a fan this would be one of the rising punchers in against a rugged veteran. Simsri is less dangerous than Yabuki, but is certainly heavy handed and should be a very interesting match up for Horikawa if, he gets the call.

In August we're going to see Ryota Yamauchi and Satoru Todaka battle for the WBO Asia Pacific Flyweight title. Whilst the belt doesn't have a long, established history, being less than 20 years old, it does still have some noteworthy champions over it's short, but notable history. With that in mind, and with the upcoming bout just a few weeks away, we though this week's "Did You Know" should be about the WBO Asia Pacific title!
 
-The first champion was Nonito Donaire, who won the belt in September 2002, with a KO win against Kaichon Sor Vorapin.
 
-Donaire's reign ended when he vacated and the second champion was in November 2002. Incidentally that second champion was Nonito's brother Glenn Donaire, making this a rather rare case of two brothers holding a regional title in the space of just a few months.
 
-The first champion to successfully defend the belt was Rexon Flores, who was the third man to hold the belt. Flores made 2 defenses of the belt, including one against Terdsak Kokietgym.
 
-Another champion who managed to make a successful defense was future fringe world title contender Drian Francisco. He only made a single defense of the belt.
 
-The first non-Filipino to win the title was Korean Jin Man Jeon, who beat future world champion Suriyan Sor Rungvisai for the title.
 
-The first Thai to hold the title was former WBC Minmumweight champion Wandee Singwancha.
 
-In 2010 Tepparith Kokietgym held the title, defending it once. He would go on to become the second holder of the belt to win a world title, following Nonito Donaire.
 
-The July 2014 bout between Jing Xiang and Ben Mananquil was the first, and so far only, draw in a bout for the belt.
 
-The rematch between Jing Xiang and Ben Mananquil, in December 2014, holds a distinction as the only time two men have fought each other twice for the title.
 
-Iwan Zoda became the first, and so far only, Indonesian to hold the belt when he stopped Petchchorhae Kokietgym in their sensational 2015 12 round war.
 
-The first Japanese fighter to win the belt was Sho Kimura, he did so in the first all-Japanese bout for the belt, which saw him defeat Masahiro Sakamoto.
 
-Despite losing to Kimura we did see Sakamoto bounce back to win the belt belt himself the following year, becoming the first man to win win the belt following a loss in a bout for the belt.

​-With Masahiro Sakamoto losing in 2019 to Yusuke Sakashita he bacame the first fighter to losing in a bout for the belt after previously holding it, though he was fighring for the vacant title here. 

-So far we've had 23 bouts for the title, with a single draw.
 
-From the 23 bouts 10 have gone the distance
 
-To date the title has never been lost by a fighter, with all reigns coming when a champion has vacated the title.
 
-So far the title has been fought for in Guam, where both Donaire's won the title, the Philippines, South Korea, Thailand, China and Japan.

Last week Rentaro Kimura (1-0, 1) [木村蓮太朗] made his professional debut with a lot of hype and expectation on his shoulders. His bout was, sadly, behind closed doors, but in front Fuji TV cameras and there was a clear intention from Fuji TV to make sure that they were show casing the 23 year old Kimura.
 
Before we discuss the bout lets just speak about Kimura. As an amateur he went he had gone 72-16 (26), he was the 2016 All Japan Bantamweight champion, before moving through the weights to claim the Lightweight crown at the 72nd and 74th National Athletic. He had also been the captain of the boxing team at the Toyo University.
 
His success as an amateur had lead to a lot of interest from professional boxing gyms for his signature, with some comparing him to other recent Japanese wunderkind. Despite a number of gyms wanting him to sign with them he eventually decided to sign with the relatively small Suruga Boys, a small and relatively new outfit in Shizuoka, where he was originally from. The hope, when he announced that he was turning professional, was that he could be the first Japanese world champion from a Shizuoka based gym.
 
Suruga Boys don't have experience and sparring depth needed for a fighter like Kimura to become a star. They are an emerging gym, and he needed to have a more established gym helping him. That came in the form of the Misako Gym, a gym that  is very much an established on in Japan and is going through a rich vein of form with a host of Japanese national champions among their ranks. One those, Japanese Featherweight champion Ryo Sagawa, was the man that Kimura shared the ring with for his pro-test earlier this year.
 
The original plan had been for him to debut in Shizuoka but the on going global situation, something that essentially shut down Japanese boxing for more than 4 months, forced those plans to change. Instead it was last weekend he debuted as he took on Yuya Azuma (5-4-1, 1) [東祐也].
 
On paper the bout looked like a mismatch. Though after scratching behind the numbers Azuma had never been stopped in his 9 previous fights, he had been a professional for over 3 years and had run the likes of Tom Mizokoshi and Kensuke Fujita very close in two of his loses. He had also entered this bout riding a 3 fight winning run, including a solid upset over Ryo Tanimoto. Beneath the service Azuma was a solid opponent to debut against, and someone who wanted to win.
 
Prior to the broadcast Fuji TV gave Kimura something of a big build up. They showed some of his amateur footage, explained he had won national title in 2016, 2017 and 2019, and then showed some training footage, as well as footage from his pro-test with Sagawa. Whilst they knew the result, given the bout was aired several days after it took place, it was clear they were still looking to promote him and build up the hype on the youngster.
 
Although an empty Korakuen Hall always looks weird and strange, given that even under-card bouts usually have a solid attendance, it didn't seem to phase the debutant in the slightest.
 
Azuma had come to win, that was obvious from very early on. He hadn't come to make up the numbers, but a straight left from Kimura about 30 seconds in showed how sharp he was. Azuma did get some revenge for the shot, tripping Kimura over soon afterwards, and continued to try and box with the debutant. Sadly for Azuma he was regularly countered, tied up up close and forced onto the retreat. Kimura wouldd go on to land several other gorgeous shots later in the opening round, and did so with both hands. He looked offensively sharp, aggressive and despite showing some defensive holes Kimura couldn't ever make him pay, with Kimura's reflexes bailing him out when needed.
 
After a good first round we seemed to see a rather controlled effort from Kimura through the first minute of round 2. Azuma came out aggressive, and although he had had success he did get caught by a solid body shot and a nasty low blow, as Kimura began to try going to the body.
 
Then about 80 seconds into the second round we saw Kimura instantly go through the gears. He threw a couple of feints before drilling Azuma with a huge left hand, that began a series of clean shots up top from Kimura. The left hand was followed up almost instantly by a right uppercut, a glancing left hand, a clean left hand, and a huge second right uppercut. The combination took around 2 seconds, and sent Azuma crashing to the canvas.
 
In the blink of an eye Kimura had hurt his man, and by the time Azuma knew he was hurt was flat out on his back. In an instant we had learned exactly what Kimura was about. In just a few seconds we had seen the youngster make a statement and announce himself on to the professional boxing scene with a brutal finish.
 
Whilst there were flaws with his debut, and there were certainly areas for him to improve on, this was as good a debut performance as we've seen in a Japanese ring in the last year or two. This was a performance that showed a young fighter's skills, killer instinct and power.
 
Whilst some will state Azuma wasn't very good the reality is that he gave it a go, more than we typically see in the west from opponents of debutants. He genuinely believed he could win, he fought on after being cracked with a huge left hand in the opening round and a nasty body shot earlier in round 2. Sadly for Azuma he wasn't ever close to the level of Kimura. Even when Azuma did have his moments he was never able to really phase Kimura.
 
Next time out we'd like to see Kimura show something more on the inside. He did seem happy to tie up but we didn't see much of him fighting up close. That's a bit of a shame, as he did show some really nice touches up close, especially with his uppercuts, when he was willing to fight inside. We'd also like to see a little more patience, with the left hand he missed badly with almost midway through the opening round being a bit too reckless for us, just a tighter defense than he showed here. That is however us picking faults with a 23 year old who showed a lot to like in his debut and impressed us with his killer instinct.
 
For those that missed his debut we've included it below. Of course we were impressed by it, though it's fair to say we suspect others will be more critical than we are.
 
Given how quickly Japanese prospects get fast tracked we would expect to see Kimura moving towards title bouts in his next 4 or 5 contests, and he has already spoken about wanting to fight for a world title in in the next 3 years. For that to be viable he will need to improve defensively, but in fairness with Misako and Suruga boys seeing what he looked like on his debut they'll know where they need to focus his training. With Fuji TV in on the ground floor with his career, he has a massive ally who can help link him on to major cards, or keep him as an attraction on Diamond Glove shows. They will help him become a star, and he really does appear to already tick a lot of boxes.
 
Over the coming years we expect to see Kimura's KO of Azuma played over and over and to have a highlight reel KO on his debut will do a lot of favours for him in terms of marketing.
 
In regards to marketing it's worth noting that Kimura is a good looking kid, and with an exciting style, a willingness to hunt for a KO and a desire to be fast tracked, this young Super Featherweight appears to have everything needed to be a major name in the sport.

This past week the super highly touted Japanese prospect Rentaro Kimura (1-0, 1) began his professional career, doing so behind closed where he stopped Yuya Azuma in 2 rounds. Prior to the bout the talk was that the hugely promising southpaw was going to be looking for a world title within 3 years, or around 10 fights. With that in mind we thought we'd try and look for 5 potential opponents for the 23 year star in the making as we do our latest "Five For".
 
Although his debut was above the Super Featherweight limit we are going to assume Kimura will be looking to make his mark at 130lbs going forward, and his next bout will either be a 6 or 8 rounder.
 
1-Attanon Kunlawong (15-6, 11)
A realtively easy bout to make for Kimura, and one he would be strongly favoured in, would be a contest with Thailand' s Attanon Kunlawong, a once touted fighter himself. Attanon, also known as Konthara KKP, looked like a man going places when he began his career 13-0 (10) but since then has gone 2-6 (1). Although not the most mouth watering opponent the 24 old Thai is a decent fighter on his day and he could certainly be a good step up form Kimura's debut, despite his current form. We would expect Kimura to be too good and too sharp, but we this could be a good chance for him to see a new style and go in with someone who, in their day, is very fluid and has some solid sting on their shots.
 
2-Al Toyogon (10-6-1, 6)
Whilst Kunlawong would be an easy win we would love to see Kimura take on someone a big more testing and tougher. In step Al Toyogon, someone who would serve as a perfect test for Kimura. With Kimura stating he wants to stop everyone he faces Toyogon would serve as a perfect dance partner, being tough enough to force Kimura to use all the tools in his locker. Toyogon is known as a durable opponent, and last year he went the distance with Ryo Sagawa, Shuya Masaki, Jorge Linares and Carlo Magali, so a stoppage over him would be huge. Toyogon is no push over, but we see him being more of a stamina and check than a skills test for Kimura.
 
3-Dai Iwai (23-6-1, 7)
With the world the way it is it may make more sense to look closer to home for an opponent for Kimura and who better than the experienced Dai Iwai. On paper this is a massive step up for Kimura, and the sort of opponent that proves Kimura is dreaming of greatness. Iwai is no better than a domestic level contender, but that's a great level to be fighting at in just fight #2 and leaves Kimura potentially in the Japanese rankings ahead of his third fight. That would have him on a similar trajectory to Naoya Inoue and Kosei Tanaka. Given the talk that seems to be around Kimura that's the type of fighter he wants to be compared to, so Iwai is the perfect domestic opponent.
 
4-Seiichi Oakada (22-7-1, 13)
Another potential Japanese opponent, and probably an easier one to beat, would be former national champion Seiichi Okada. The 38 year old Okada has been stopped 4 times in his 7 losses and was beaten last time out by the distinctly average Kanehiro Nakagawa. He's there for the taking and is a long way removed from his days as a national champion. Despite that he's still a decent domestic name, and this could be a passing of the torch. Sadly it would come more than 8 years after Okada lost the Japanese title to Daiki Kaneko, but would still be an impressive step up in class from Kimura's debut.
 
5-Ulysses Lagos (12-2, 6)
It's unclear what route to titles Kimura is looking to go, with Japanese, OPBF an WBO Asia Pacific titles all out there. If he is looking at the WBO regional title then a smart match up would be for him to take on Filipino Ulysses Lagos. When the rankings were last done for the WBO Asia Pacific title Lagos was ranked at #15, and he would be a rather easy looking entry into those rankings. Although is ranked his record is uninspiring and only 4 fights ago he was stopped by Mark John Yap, a natural Bantamweight. If Kimura and his team want to fast track their way to a regional title this may be the smart way to go, with champion Joe Noynay unlikely to want to remain at this level for too much longer, given he is ranked 3 of the 4 world title bodies.

On July 25th we're expecting to see a new  OPBF Light Flyweight champion being crowned as veteran Kenichi Horikawa clashes with Daiki Tomita for the currently vacant title. With that bout coming up we thought it was a great time to look at the belt as part of our latest "Did You Know" series.
 
So with that said, here is did you know... the OPBF Light Flyweight title!
 
-The first champion was Thailand's Montsayarm Haw Mahachai. He defeated Filipino fighter Phil Tagupa to win the title in 1975.
 
-Sadly for Montsayarm Haw Mahachai his reign was a short one, consisting of just a single successful defense before losing the belt to Sang Il Jung in Korea in 1976.
 
-Sang Il Jung's first defense saw him fighting to a draw with future world champion Netrnoi Sor Vorasingh.
 
-Interestingly the first two champions, Montsayarm Haw Mahachai and Sung Il Jung, both lost in world title challenges against Yoko Gushiken.
 
-In 1977 Sang Il Jung's reign came to an end when he lost to future world champion Sung Jung Kim. Kim was the first man to win the OPBF Light Flyweight title and go on to win a world title.
 
-Like many early reigns of the title Sung Jung Kim's reign was a short one, losing the title in a rematch to Sang Il Jung, who became the first man to reclaim the title.
 
-Incidentally Sung Jun Kim's world title win came less than 3 months after he lost the OPBF title and saw him defeating the aforementioned Netrnoi Sor Vorasingh.
 
-Sang Il Jung's second reign came to an end at the hands of fellow Korean Yong Hyun Kim, who who managed a then record 3 defenses of the title, though lost the belt less than 2 years after winning it.
 
-The first Filipino to hold the title was Siony Carupo, who won the title from Yong Hyun Kim in 1981. Sadly for Carupo his reign is among the shortest, lasting less than 3 months.
 
-The man who beat Siony Carupo for the title was Sung Nam Kim, who held the belt from December 13th 1981 to March 18th 1983, though didn't make a successful defense of the title. Instead Kim lost the belt in his first defense, to Dodie Penalosa.
 
-The bout between Sun Nam Kim and Dodie Boy Penalosa was the first bout for the belt outside of South Korea and Thailand, which had staged the first 15 title bouts between them.
 
-Interestingly Dodie Boy Penalosa was the first man to vacate the title, after having recorded a single defense. That vacancy was filled by future divisional legend Myung Woo Yuh, who also vacated the title.
 
-After Myung Woo Yuh vacated we saw Cho Woon Park and Little Baguio fight to crown a new champion in 1986. Their first bout ended in a draw leaving the title vacant, with Park winning the rematch. Strangely a similar situation happened in 2017 when Edward Heno and Seita Ogido fought to a draw for the vacant title, with Heno winning the rematch to claim the previously vacant title.
 
-In 1989, more than 13 years after Montsayarm Haw Mahachai lost the title, Den Chuwatana won the belt, becoming only the second Thai to win it. Sadly his reign was a short one and he lost the title in his first defense
 
-The belt wasn't fought for in 1999, the only other year that happened was 1982
 
-Between December 1984 and October 1995 every bout for the belt was held in South Korea
 
-The most defenses of the title has been Nam-Hoon Cha, who made 6 defenses of the belt, between 1990 and 1993. Cha is also the only man to have held the title for more than 3 years.
 
-Katsuhiko Iezumi is the only man to have ever been crowned the interim champion, though he would go on to unify the interim and regular titles just 5 months later.
 
-The fighters who have won the title and gone on to win a world title are Sung Jung Kim, Dodie Boy Penalosa, Myung Woo Yuh, Yong Kang Kim, Yo Sam Choi, Sonny Boy Jaro, Ryo Miyazaki, Naoya Inoue and Kenshiro Teraji.
 
-There have been 5 draws for the title from a combined 92 bouts, with 91 of them being regular bouts and 1 being an interim title bout.
 
-The title has twice had bouts finish in the opening round. One of those saw Sung Yong Chung defend the belt against Azadin Anhar, in 1988, and the other saw  Yong Soon Jang defend the belt against Roger Gamayot in 1994.
 
-There has only ever been 1 bout for the belt that has ended in the 9th round. That was Sung Yong Chung's title win against Sonny Vidal
 
-On a similar note there has never been a 12th round TKO/KO win for the belt. Every bout that has got into the final round has gone the distance
 
-To date 14 champions have come from South Korea, combining for 15 of the 36 reigns.  The next highest is Japan, with 13, whilst 6 of the champions are from the Philippines and  the remaining 2 are from Thailand