We've all heard of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, and we've decided to put our spin on things with "Six degrees of separation" looking to connect Asian fighters you may never have assumed were connected! Today we connect former Japanese world champion Akinobu Hiranaka to former Mongolian 2-weight world champion Lakva Sim.
1-The heavy handed Akinobu Hiranaka made his professional debut on March 24th 1985 at the Konan High School in Naha. Hiranaka successfully debuted with an opening round KO win over Kazumi Yokoi. On the very same show Yasuo Yogi also made his debut, and like Hiranaka he scored a KO1 win, as he stopped Mituso Nakamura. 2-The talented Yasuo Yogi is best known for his Japanese Minimumweight title win in February 1988, when he beat Norikazu Kawana in a fire-fight that saw both men hitting the canvas, multiple times, in a thrilling second round. Sadly though Yogi's reign was a short one and he lost in his first defense, to Missile Kudo just 4 months later. Later in his career Yogi would go on to lose to a number of international fighters, including Kwang Sun Kim. 3-Sadly the talented Kwang Sun Kim had a super short career, going 6-2 (4) in his professional career. Despite failing to make a major mark on the professional ranks, losing in two world title fights, he had been an excellent amateur and had won a Gold medal in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. On route to that gold medal he beat American fighter Arthur Johnson. 4-The talented Arthur Johnson, much like Kwang Sun Kim, was a very good amateur who didn't have the success in the professional ranks that many had expected from him. That was despite getting 4 world title fights. The first of those world title fights came in 1994 when he challenged the then IBF Flyweight champion Pichit Sithbanprachan, over in Thailand, with Pichit taking a decision over Johnson. 5-Although Pichit Sithbanprachan retired several times during his career, his very final bout came in 2000, when he beat Oscar Vargas. On the very same card Yodsanan Sor Nanthachai scored a 6th round KO win over Jose Luis Tula, to retain the PABA Super Featherweight title. 6-The exciting Yodsanan Sor Nanthachai is best known for his reign as the WBA Super Featherweight champion. It was a short reign, lasting just over 3 years but was an interesting one, with wins over Lamong Pearson, Ryuhei Sugita and Steve Forbes. For those wondering he won the title in 2002 when he over-came Mongolian warrior Lakva Sim!
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One country that often gets over-looked when it comes to boxing in Asia is Indonesia. The country obviously has the ability to create great boxers, and it's undeniable that Chris John was a genuine talent. Sadly Indonesia hasn't developed anything close to the amount of top fighters that they probably should have. And in fact they tend to be better known for two things. Horribly padded records, and padding records of fighters in Thailand, the Philippines and Japan.
Sadly one man who fit both "the padded record" and "padding the records of others" was Vicky Tahumil (33-5-2, 12)* who fought between 1998 and 2011. He was a Light Flyweight who, at one point, was knocking on the door world a world title fight but ended his career in disappointing fashion as thing really fell apart. Strangely it felt like Tahumil had spent years crafting an impressive before cashing out later in his career, when he and his team felt he could make money as a loser. Of course Tahumil isn't a big name, and he's not a well known, he is a man with some interesting facts about him. With that in mind, let us bring you 5 Midweek Facts about Vicky Tahumil. 1-In 2005 Tahumil was lined up to fight Sonny Boy Jaro, though was pulled out of the bout just days before the contest and replaced by Angky Angkotta. Amazingly Angkotta, who took the bout very short notice upset Jaro. Reportedly the reason for the late change was that Tahumil was ranked #3 by the WBA and had been hoping to land a world title fight with his team likely angling for a shot at Roberto Vasquez 2-Tahumil had the nickname "Viking", a rather unique nickname for someone from Asia! 3- The record of Tahumil isn't as clear as it seems. He was reportedly 30-0-5 going into into the bout with Daiki Kameda, not 33-0-2 as Boxrec list him as being. It could well be that Boxrec have recorded 3 wins of his wins as draws, or that the Japanese sources were given the wrong details. Given how incomplete records of Indonesian fighters are, however, it's very possible that there may be bouts missing from his record all together. 4-Rather staggeringly Tahumil lost his final 5 bouts, after going unbeaten in his first 35 bouts, with 4 of those 5 losses coming to fighters who either had, or would, win world titles. These were Daki Kameda, Zolani Tete, Veeraphol Sahaprom and Poonsawat Krataingdeanggym. For those wondering, the only man to beat him and never win a world title was Sukkasem Kietyongyuth. 5-In 2018 Tahumil was serving as a boxing coach in Indonesia, taking his in ring experience and trying to pass it to the next generation of fighters. We've all heard of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, and we've decided to put our spin on things with "Six degrees of separation" looking to connect Asian fighters you may never have assumed were connected! Today we connect Nobuo Nashiro to Akinobu Hiranaka.
Just as ground rules, we're not doing the more basic "A beat B who beat C who beat D" type of thing, but instead we want to link fighters in different ways. As a result we will limit A fought B connections, and try to get more varied connections together, as you'll see here! We also know there are often shorter routes to connect fighters, but that's not always the most interesting way to connect them. 1-The teak tough Nobuo Nashiro was a 2-time WBA Super Flyweight champion, winning the title in 2006 and then gain in 2008. Of course he wasn't the first Japanese fighter to win this particular title, in fact that honour belongs to the legendary, and hugely controversial, Jiro Watanabe, who won the belt in 1982. 2-In his first world title fight, for the WBC Super Flyweight title, Jiro Watanabe lost a decision in South Korea to Chul Ho Kim, who actually made his first defense with his win against Watanabe, in what was a razor close bout. 3-Sadly the talented Chul Ho Kim rarely comes up in the conversation about Korean greats, but he is regarded in Korea very highly, and was sadly one of the many fighters who burned out. He won the WBC super Flyweight title when he was just 19, before making 5 defenses in 18 months and the losing the title, a few months later. His career was essentially over in 1983, before he had even his his physical prime. His final career bout was a loss to Prayurasak Muangsurin on a show that also featured Ju Do Chun defending the South Korean Super Flyweight title. 4-Following his reign as the Korean national champion Ju Do Chun go on to become the first ever IBF Super Flyweight champion, winning the vacant title in 1983 and recording 5 defenses before he was beaten by Indonesian puncher Elly Pical in 1985. The only other Korean fighter to win the IBF Super Flyweight title was Tae Il Chang. 5- During his career Tae Il Chang fought a number of notable fighters, including Elly Pical, Khaosai Galaxy and Soon Chun Kwon in a career that saw him win the Korean, OPBF and IBF titles. Interestingly he debuted on the same show that also featured the final bout of Royal Kobayashi's career, in 1981. 6-Royal Kobayashi was the first Japanese Olympian to also go on to win a professional world title, something that very few have managed to do. The next Japanese fighter to do that was the heavy handed Akinobu Hiranaka! One of the first men to get us really excited about the "new wave" of Japanese prospects was Yohei Tobe (13-3-1, 9), who made his professional debut in 2011 and really impressed us almost from the off. Even in his debut he looked like a special talent, even if it only 70 seconds, and through his first 4 bouts he was genuinely impressing every time he stepped in the ring.
Sadly Tobe's career never ended up panning out quite like we'd hoped. He suffered early career set backs to Ryo Akaho and Richard Pumicpic and struggled really find his groove. He did manage to put together some glimpses of brilliance, stopping Taiki Eto to win the Japanese title, and blasting out Luzuko Siyo to claim the WBA International title, but the once touted Super Flyweight could never quite put together the performances he needed to become a star. There was always talent, but Tobe was plagued by injuries and inactivity and his career, which promised so much, failed to deliver, with him fighting for the final time in 2018. Today we're not here to talk about what could have been, and maybe what should have been, instead look to shine a light on Tobe as we bring you 5 Mid Week Facts about Yohei Tobe. 1-Tobe went to the Kamogawa Reitoku High School, a private high school in Komogawa City. Among others who have gone to the school are manga artist Shizue Takanashi and actor Sousuke Takaoka. The school has also been used for a number of Japanese music videos, including one from the hugely popular AKB48. 2-As an amateur Tobe ran up a very solid record scoring more than 40 wins and suffering just 10 losses. In the unpaid ranks he won a number of tournaments, including being a 2-time champion at the National Athletic Meet. He also came third in the All Japan Amateur Championships and when he turned professional there was real expectation on his shoulders. 3-For his 2014 defenses against Sho Ishida, Tobe had to wait around an hour for the weigh in as Ishida was stuck in traffic. The traffic was unexpected and had been caused due to the issues of Typhoon Halong, which was causing all sorts of issues at the time. 4-Early on in his career Tobe was dubbed the "Golden Rookie", due to how much of an advanced talent he was and how highly regarded he as a professional prospect. It's worth noting that due to his potential he was moved incredibly quickly as a result he debuted against the Korean champion, Jin Ki Jung, and took on former world title challengers in his second and third bout, with the third of those being Koehi Kono who would later become a 2-time world champion. 5-After retiring from boxing, which Tobe did at the end of 2018, he became a civil servant working at the Kamogawa City Hall. Usually when we look at upsets in this series we focus on upsets where the Asian fighter walked away with the win. Today however we are going to look at a bout where the Asian fighter was on the wrong end of a notable, and often forgotten, upset. The bout is a brutal and one sided one, that saw history being set, and deserves to be more than just a footnote in boxing annals, though is sadly very much a forgotten bout. Hideki Todaka (17-2-1, 8) Vs Leo Gamez (32-7-1, 24) I In one corner was WBA Super Flyweight champion Hideki Todaka. Aged 27 he was supposed in his prime and was in great form. Despite having 2 losses against his name he had avoided defeat in his last 14 bouts, going unbeaten for more than 5 years, after a 4-2 start to his pro career. During his unbeaten run he had claimed the Japanese Light Flyweight title, in 1996, and gone on to fill out his frame and take the WBA Super Flyweight title in 1999. Although not amazingly well remembered now a days Todaka was regarded as one of the faces of Japanese boxing at this time and a notable star in Nagoya, where he was based. After winning the WBA Super Flyweight title, beating Jesus Rojas in their second bout, following a technical draw, he had made successful defenses against Akihiko Nago and Yokthai Sithoar whilst proving his ability and building his profile. At the start of the year 2000 Todaka was ranked #3 by Ring Magazine and just months into the year he solidified his ranking with a win over Yokthai, who had began the year ranked #6. He was legitimately regarded as one of the very best in the division behind only In Joo Cho and Mark Johnson. In October 2000 he returned to the ring for his third defense. In the opposite corner to Todaka was 37 year old Venezuelan veteran Leo Gamez. Although Gamez was a solid name at this point he was seen as being well past his best and it seemed like he had been brought over to Japan to be an easy defense for Todaka. "Torito", as he was known, hadn't fought in over a year, with his previous bout being a KO loss to Sornpichai Kratingdaenggym 13 months earlier. Not only had he been inactive but he had lost 3 of his previous 6 and had gone 5-4 since 1995. Despite being regarded as a faded force Gamez had been a major player in his prime. He had been very closely associated with the WBA and had won the WBA Minimumweight title in 1988, before adding the WBA Light Flyweight and Flyweight titles to his collection. Despite his haul of world titles Gamez had been quite smart in how he had gone about his title bouts. He had been the first WBA Minimumweight champion, he had won the vacant WBA Light Flyweight title and had won the WBA Flyweight title from the rather limited Hugo Rafael Soto, who was making his first defense. Notably none of his reigns had lasted long, and he had never really been the best in any division. Given his age, inactivity and form few gave Gamez any chance against Todaka in Nagoya. In the early moments Todaka looked bigger, younger, stronger and more powerful than Gamez. The challenger was forced backwards pretty much every time Todaka landed and it looked like the pre-fight perceptions were right, Gamez was over-matched. Despite that Gamez was finding some very clean, accurate shots, boxing well off his jab and using the ring well whilst making Todaka land on the arms and fall short. Sadly for Todaka his successes in round 1 were quickly forgotten, with round 2 being a nightmare for him as he struggled to defend against anything Gamez threw his way. Time and time again Gamez would land clean shots and make Todaka miss. It was a testament to Todaka's spirit that he shrugged off some of the shots that Games was starting to landing, such as the big right hands Gamez began landing at will mid way through the round. Todaka was trying to come forward but was eating a lot of leather. The punishment from Gamez intensified in round 3, as he continued hammering Todaka with huge shots, likely realising that Todaka was having some sort of problems, which we'll get on to a little later. The punishment added up by the end of round 4 Todaka was bleeding from the mouth, a tell tale sign of a broken jaw. Given the shots he was taking it was little wonder, and Games could certainly smell blood. Todaka came out for round 5 busy, active, throwing a lot of jabs and trying to turn the bout around. He was hungry and brave, and putting in a great effort, despite being clearly a damaged fighter. This was his best round since the opening stanza, and he gave everything, likely knowing his title was slipping away. Gamez took it, defended himself well when he needed to and continued to target Todaka's head with hooks and uppercuts on the inside and big right hands at range. Towards the end of the round it seemed clear that Gamez had seen out the worst of the storm from Todaka. Gamez resumed control in round 6, landing big shots with both hands. Todaka continued to grit his teeth and fight hard, but repeatedly missed, and walked into huge shots. Round after round he was taking massive uppercuts, being countered and having his already damaged jaw tagged clear, over and over. Every time Todaka built some momentum Gamez took the play away with head shots and punished Todaka, with interest. In round 7 Gamez put his foot on the gas and hurt Todaka who stumbled. Todaka responded by yelling at Gamez, who followed up by hammering Todaka with sustained head shots until Todaka hit the canvas. Todaka was done and he knew it, staying down a broken, beaten man. With the win Gamez became the first fighter to win world titles at 105, 108, 112 and 115lbs. That's a feat that even now, more than 20 years on, has only been done by 3 other fighters. It was a massive shock, not just that Gamez had won but how bad Todaka had looked. The rising star of Japan had looked like a brave but out classed fighter by someone most assumed was on the slide, big time. It was later revealed that Todaka had gone into the bout suffering from Ophthalmoplegia, an issue that caused him to see 2, or even 3, Gamez's. It was why he struggled to defend against Gamez's shots and why he struggled to land his own. Sadly for Gamez his reign was a short one, losing in his first defense to Celes Kobayashi. He would then lose 4 of his 6 subsequent bouts, including a rematch with Todaka in 2003 for the WBA "interim" Bantamweight title. He would retire after a 2005 loss to Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym, whilst the wrong side of 40. After this loss Todaka took close to 17 months away from the ring. That gave him time to heal his jaw and rest his body, which was in desperate need of a break. He picked up 3 low level wins in 2002 before beating Gamez in a rematch, then losing to Julio Zarate in 2004 and retired at the age of 30. For this series one thing we don't want to do is stick to the well known KO's that are in high profile bouts. We'll put them in, of course, but we also want to shine a light on less well known KO's. That's certainly this week in "Reliving the Finish" as we bring you a KO scored by a Japanese Light Heavyweight-come Cruiserweight in the US. This is a truly brilliant KO and came in a very obscure bout that took place almost 30 years ago! Despite it's age it is still a brutal finish and a great way to leave an impression! Yosuke Nishijima (3-0, 3) vs Derrick Edwards (2-4, 1) We genuinely don't think many will recognise the name Yosuke Nishijima. That's despite the fact he spent most of his career in the US. His first 3 bouts were in Japan before he made his US debut, incidentally this bout, and would only fight in Japan 8 more times in his career. The rest of his career was spent fighting entirely in the US, where he fought 16 of his 27 career bouts. The reason Nishijima spend so much time in the US was that there wasn't anything for him in the Orient. His 3 early Japanese opponents were all making their debuts, none of which every fought again and two of which were Americans. The only notable opponents, of any real note, that Nishijima ever fought back in Japan was Jerry "Wimpy" Halstead, who was having his 101st professional bout, and Pakistani legend Hussain Shah, who had been a successful amateur but failed to make a mark on the professional scene. Both of those bouts didn't come until 1996. Way earlier than those bouts Nishijima had fought Derrick Edwards a US novice in Las Vegas, way back in 1993. Entering the bout no one really knew much at all about Nishijima, his style or what he was about. Whilst little was known about Nishijima not not much more was known about about Edwards. He had fought 6 times and had lost 4 of those bouts. He had been born in Jamiaca but had fought entirely in the US and was known to be a limited fighter. He had began his career in 1988, with a win, before suffering two KO losses in 1989 and hanging them up for 3 years before returning to the ring in 1992. Interestingly Edwards had ended a 4 fight losing streak just over a week before facing Nishijima. Through the first round Edwards had looked the much better boxer. He looked to have all the edges in skill, but Nishijima had the edge in power and rocked Edwards in the first round whilst pressuring throughout, and landed a number of solid, clubbing blows through the round. Round two had been somewhat similar to the first. Edwards looked to have the edge in skill, thought couldn't get Nishijima's respect, whilst Nishijima walked forward looking for bombs, almost dropping himself at one point. The warning signs were there. Nishijima was only throwing bombs. Sadly for Edwards his stamina was already being an issue, and he was slowing down, and getting caught clean by some thunderous left hooks from the Japanese fighter. Early in round 3 Nishijima twice gave Edwards a chin check, but Edwards stayed up right. That was until around 2 and a half minutes into the bout when Nishijima landed a a gorgeous left hook dropping Edwards hard. Although Edwards had withstood some other heavy shots through the early portion of the bout none had landed quite as clean as this. What helped here for Nishijima had been the fact he had caught Edwards as the American was looking to throw his own left hook, essentially catching Edwards turning into the shot. Edwards was out on contact, though thankfully was aware of where he was relatively quickly. After this bout Nishijima did go on to claim a few minor titles, and the OPBF Cruisrweight title, but failed to make a mark at the highest levels. He would end his career in 2003 with a 24-2-1 (15) record, before competing in MMA and Kick Boxing. Edwards on the other hand was pretty much a career loser. He would win just 1 bout after this loss en route to recording a 3-13 (1) record.
We've all heard of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, and we've decided to put our spin on things with "Six degrees of separation" looking to connect Asian fighters you may never have assumed were connected! Today we connect former Filipino world champion Marlon Tapales to former Japanese world champion Nobuo Nashiro.
Just as ground rules, we're not doing the more basic "A beat B who beat C who beat D" type of thing, but instead we want to link fighters in different ways. As a result we will limit A fought B connections, and try to get more varied connections together, as you'll see here! We also know there are often shorter routes to connect fighters, but that's not always the most interesting way to connect them. 1-In 2015 Marlon Tapales won the WBO Bantamweight title, with a brilliant win against Pungluang Sor Singyu in Thailand. Tapales was the third Filipino fighter to win the WBO Bantamweight title, following Gerry Penalosa and Nonito Donaire. He was then followed, a few years later, by Johnriel Casimero. 2-The explosive, heavy handed and enigmatic Johnriel Casimero has had a rather interesting career, with some huge wins, and some very under-whelming performances. When he's on song however he is brilliant, explosive and incredibly heavy handed. He made his debut on June 3rd 2007, the same day that Kyotaro Fujimoto won a kick boxing bout against Ryo Takigawa. 3-After a successful career as a kick boxer Kyotaro Fujimoto turned his hand to professional boxing and had a successful career, unifying the Japanese, OPBF and WBO Asia Pacific titles. One of his most notable rivalries in the professional was with Nobuhiro Ishida, with the two men fighting twice, in very competitive bouts. 4-During a professional career that ran from 2000 to 2015 Nobuhiro Ishida scored several wins of note. There is however one of those that stands out more than any other, and that it is his opening round blow out win over James Kirkland, in what was the 2011 Upset of the Year. A year later the Upset of the Year was Sonny Boy Jaro's upset shock win against Pongsaklek Wonjongkam to become the WBC Flyweight champion. 5-Despite his huge 2012 win, for the WBC Flyweight title, Sonny Boy Jaro was essentially a career journeyman who suffered notable losses through his entire career. The fifth of his defeats came in 2006 to Thailand's Pornsawan Porpramook, who stopped Jaro in 5 rounds. 6-In 2012, years after beating Jaro, we saw Pornsawan Porpramook win the WBA Minimumweight title scoring a 12th round majority decision over Indonesian fighter Muhammad Rachman in Jakarta on July 30th 2011. On the very same day Nobuo Nashiro took the unbeaten record of Filipino fighter Rey Perez, taking a decision win over Perez. Many of boxing's most interesting characters are not the stars or those that reach the top of the sport, and one great example of that is the enigmatic Roilo Golez (17-20-1, 7), who will never be regarded as a great fighter but was certainly a colourful, entertaining and fan friendly fighter. He was someone who managed to connect with fans and was a unique fighter, despite his record suggesting he was just another "professional loser".
As a professional fighter Golez fought between 2006 and 2018 and shared the ring with some more notable fighters. They include the likes of Yodmongkol Vor Saengthep, Edgar Sosa, Wanheng Menayothin, Xiong Zhao Zhong and Gimel Magramo. He fought internationally, with bouts in Thailand Mexico and China, and won the WBC Asian Boxing Council Minimumweight title, but what else is there to know about Golez? 1-Golez has had numerous nicknames during his career, including "The Phoenix", the "Filipino Mexican" and "The Beautiful Boxer", a name used a few years ago when ESPN5 did a documentary on him. Lets find out as we bring you 5 Midweek Facts and Roilo Golez! 2- In 2019 Golez almost died following a bad bout with pneumonia. He would spend 3 weeks on Oxygen due to the infection, but thankfully has made a recovery. 3-Golez was one of the first openly gay professional boxers, and was almost certainly the first openly gay Filipino fighter. As a fighter he didn't try and hide his sexuality, and was well known for his flamboyant and playful nature in the ring, famously seen against Lolito Sonsona, who he playfully tried to kiss when playing up to the fans. Rather notably he has stated that none of his opponents ever discriminated against him for his sexuality. GMANetwork also did a special on Golez titled "Magpakailanman: The gay boxing champion" 4-After ending his own career Golez went on to become a trainer and is passing on some of the boxing know how he developed. Whilst not the best of fighters, he did have some really under-rated skills, though seemed fully aware his role in the sport wasn't to be a champion, but to entertain and make sure fans weren't bored. 5-Golez shared his name with a former Filipino politician, José Roilo Solis Gólez who was better known as Rolio Golez. The politician was a genuinely notable one, serving 6 terms in the Philipines House of Representatives, winning elections in 1992, 1995, 1998, 2004, 2007 and 2010! Sadly the Filipino political giant passed away in 2018 following a heart attack, at the age of 71. Interestingly in his early life, before becoming a political figure, this Golez was also a fighter and would later become the president of of Abap (which is now the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines) Bonus fact - Golez was in attendance for the Reymart Gaballo Vs Julias Thomas Kisarawe fight on ESPN5, where he worse a fetching green dress, in a photo shared by the broadcaster on social media. We've all heard of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, and we've decided to put our spin on things with "Six degrees of separation" looking to connect Asian fighters you may never have assumed were connected! Today we connect Ryol Li Lee to Marlon Tapales.
Just as ground rules, we're not doing the more basic "A beat B who beat C who beat D" type of thing, but instead we want to link fighters in different ways. As a result we will limit A fought B connections, and try to get more varied connections together, as you'll see here! We also know there are often shorter routes to connect fighters, but that's not always the most interesting way to connect them. 1-When he was much younger Ryol Li Lee went to the Osaka Korean High School in Osaka. Another fighter who went to the same high school was Teiru Kinoshita. 2-During his 30 fight professional career Teiru Kinoshita managed to achieve a significant amount. He went unbeaten in his first 20 bouts, won the Japanese Super Flyweight title and recorded 5 defenses of that title and later fought for the IBF Super Flyweight title. Twice. The first of those world title bouts came against Zolani Tete in 2014, for the vacant title. 3-Sadly for Kinoshita he came up very short against talented South African fighter Zolani Tete, who dominated from the opening round. Tete would go on to record just a single defense of that title before moving up in weight and begin to campaign at Bantamweight. Tete's title win saw him become the second South African to win the IBF Super Flyweight title, following in the footsteps of Simphiwe Nongqayi. 4-Sadly Simphiwe Nongqayi is often an over-looked fighter, despite the fact he won the belt in Mexico against Jorge Arce and defended it on the road, in France, against Malik Bouziane. Unfortunately Nongqayi's reign ended in his second defense, when he was stopped by Juan Alberto Rosas. 5-Mexican fighter Juan Alberto Rosas had a solid career between 2001 and 2016, fighting more than 50 times and scoring more than 40 wins. Given the length of his career, and the fact he had double digit losses, it's surprising that he was stopped only once, with that stoppage loss coming late in his career to David Sanchez. 6-Less than 18 months after David Sanchez beat Juan Albert Rosas he scored another win of note, defeating Filipino fighter Marlon Tapales, who would later go on to become the WBO Bantamweight champion! This was, notably for Tapales, only his second career defeat. One thing we don't think about when we talk about Japanese boxing is Japanese Heavyweights, In fact the history of the sport gives us very, very few Japanese Heavyweights and you could say they are as rare hens teeth. One of the very few to make any sort of a mark on the division was Kotatsu Takehara (15-13-3, 8) who had one of the most interesting boxing careers of any Japanese Heavyweight.
Takehara fought between 2001 and 2019 and was a bit of a road warrior, fighting in Japan, Australia, USA and China before ending his career. He also took on some really notable names, such as Alex Leapai, Magomed Abdusalamov, Johann Duhaupas, Lucas Browne, Kyotaro Fujimoto and Nobuhiro Ishida. Sure now sensational fighters, but for a Japanese Heavyweight that's much better than we'd have expected. Whilst Takehara failed to become a big name himself, he was certainly someone who is worth knowing more about. With that in mind here we bring you 5 Midweek Facts about Kotatsu Takehara! 1-Before turning to boxing Takehara played Rugby and was regarded as a good Rugby player at a young age, playing sport into his days at University. Sadly though an accident whilst at University ended his days as a Rugby player. 2-Takehara's blood type is A type, this is actually the most common blood type in Japan. Under Japanese blood theory this would make Takehara a "Well Organised" person. Typically these people are sensitive, patient, wary, polite and attentive. 3-Although he is best known as Kotatsu Takehara, the fighter was born Masataka Takehara, and only changed his ring name in 2013. Incidentally Masataka Taniguchi is also the name of a Japanese businessman, known for his work with Japan Electronic Materials Corporation and Marumitsu Co., Ltd. 4-A sad fact, that we hope changes in the future, is that Takehara has had the most attempts at winning the Japanese Heavyweight title without winning it. In fact at the time of writing, in April 2021, Takehara has been involved in half of the 6 Japanese Heavyweight title bouts so far, and has lost in all 3. The only man to have been in more bouts for the title is Kyotaro Fujimoto, who has been in 4 of the 6 title bouts. 5-Taking this full circle and heading back to Rugby, Takehara is friend with Tsuyoshi Yamamoto the former Japanese professional Rugby player, who played at international level. The two men were class mates at University. |
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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