 Kanaoka Gymnasium, Sakai, Osaka, Japan
This coming Sunday the Kanaoka Gymnasium in Sakai City plays a major role, and does double duty. The first of the two shows at the venue will begin in the morning and is, arguably the card of the day with a solid main event, that also acts as a Japanese title eliminator, a very intriguing supporting bout and a notable debut. The main event of the show is a Japanese eliminator as Kyohei Tonomoto (16-4-1, 8) clashed with Yuya Oku (8-0-1, 5) at Featherweight. The 29 year old Tonomoto has been one of the fighters whose career has quietly boiled in the last few years. He debuted in 2013, reached the 2014 All Japan Rookie of the year final, losing to Reiya Abe, then went on a 5 fight unbeaten streak before losing to Satoshi Shimizu, in a really gutsy performance that saw him being stopped in 7 rounds, then reeling off 5 wins before losing to Jong Seong Kang in a war in South Korea least year. He’s not a world beater but he’s gritty, he’s tough, he’s reliable and he makes for good, entertaining, fights. Oku on the other hand made his pro debut in 2021 and quickly raced through the ranks, with decent domestic wins, over the likes of Kazunori Hirano, Daiki Imanari, Ryukyu Oho and Morihisa Iju. He’s more polished than Tonomoto, but is less battle hardened and it’s going to be interesting how he copes with the determination of Tonomoto, who has home advantage with this bout being in Osaka. The winner of this will be expecting to face Keisuke Matsumoto during the Champion Carnival in the new year. In an excellent supporting bout the unbeaten Sora Fukunaga (14-0, 7) will face the once beaten Kenshin Hosokawa (7-1-1, 5), with both men bringing Japanese Super Bantamweight rankings into the bout. The 27 year old Fukunaga is a solid all rounder, with good technical skills, solid power and a regional ranking, along with his Japanese one. Although he doesn’t look like he has the tools to develop into a world beater he definitely could be a long term contender on and around the Japanese title, especially given his willingness to be involved in fan friendly wars, most notably his 2022 war with Kenya Yamashita. As for Hosokawa the 22 year old won his first 4 before back to back disappointments in 2022 and 2023, however he has bounced back with 3 wins in the Philippines and has plenty of momentum on the back of those bouts. He is a very fun to watch and exciting fighter and we suspect the styles of these two will gel excellently to give us a thrilling war. Buried in the middle of the card is the debut of 20 year old hopeful Kazusa Kawabuchi (0-0), who faces off with veteran Hideo Mikan (9-15-2, 2). Kawabuchi earned his pro-license earlier to some local fanfare, doing his B license test aged 19 following an amateur career that saw him going 23-5 in the unpaid ranks and winning the Inter High School title in 2022. It wouldn’t have been a surprise to see him debut against a poor foreign fighter, so to see him in with Mikan is a somewhat welcome surprise. Mikan is no world beater, and at 39 is very much coming to the end of his career, but has shared the ring with a who's who of domestic fighters over his career facing the likes of Hikaru Nishida, Yosuke Kirima, Takeshi Inoue, Makoto Fuchigami, Riku Nagahama, Shinobu Charlie Hosokawa and Junpei Tsujimoto. He has often given them some questions, even if he’s ultimately always come up short, and is a very good opponent for a debut. Kanaoka Gymnasium, Sakai, Osaka, Japan Staying at the same venue, we also get an afternoon show. This is a much smaller event, promoted by Sakai Haruki Promotions, and featuring two bouts of interest between local hopefuls and Thai’s in what should be exciting clashes. The main event will see Mioto Noguchi (6-2, 6) look to continue his great run of form against visitors, as he takes on Phatiphan Krungklang (20-8-1-1, 12). The 25 year old Noguchi, who's a freakishly tall 6' and fights at 140lbs, has won his last 4 bouts in a combined 7 rounds, and his last 3 in just 3 rounds, including a very notable win over Filipino Jessie Cris Rosales. He has rebuilt excellently since a 2022 loss to Scorpion Kintaro and will be looking to win here and move towards bigger and better things. As for Krungklang the 27 year old dubbed "Tiger" has been stopped in 7 of his 8 losses, including all 5 bouts outside of Thailand. He returns to Japan for the first time in 2 years, with his last visit seeing him stopped in 3 rounds by Jin Sasaki. Although the Thai has 20 wins they have come at a very low level, and the expectation here is that he will put up an effort before finding himself out of his depth and being stopped, it’s just a case of how long he lasts until then. Another bout of some note will see JBC ranked Flyweight Hinata Takakura (1-0, 1) look to build on her debut win, as she takes on Natthanan Sangiamchit (4-1, 4). Takakura looked really good in her debut, stopping Suphattra Aunruean inside a round, with crisp, clean punches, good combinations and the 20 year old seems to have the potential to go a very long way, but will need some genuine developmental fights. Sangiamchit has a good looking record, but her 4 wins have come against opponents with a combined 0-15 record and the only time she faced a fighter with a win she was soundly beaten, back in July. On paper this looks like a tough second bout, but Takakura should have way too much for her Thai foe. Dome Tachikawa Tachihi, Tachikawa, Tokyo, Japan Another Japanese show, this time over in Tokyo, looks to be a solid card, with several notable domestic fighters on it, including a number of 8 rounders. Sadly whilst these bouts do feature some solid domestic names, a number of the fighters involved have been struggling in recent bouts. One fighter who has been struggling is Thai visitor Sakda Langkabam (9-4, 7), who has been stopped in 2 of his last 3 and will be a clear under-dog against the WBO Asia Pacific ranked Shun Sekine (11-1-1, 9). The 26 year old Langkabam has been padding his record at home, often against novices and win-less fighters, but struggled when he has faced fighters with ambition, as seen last time he was in Japan when Kosei Nogami stopped him. Sekine has won his last 6 by stoppage, 5 against Thai's, and this bout feels like "much the same" for someone who should be facing stiff tests at this point in his career. This really should be little more than an easy win for Sekine, who hopefully faces stiff tests in 2025. More fighters who are struggling at the moment are Shinnosuke Saito (12-6, 3) and Atsuyuki Sato (9-5-2, 6) who face off at Lightweight. Both of these men have been stopped twice in recent bouts and both will know that they can ill afford another loss. Saito, who still has a JBC ranking, was smashed earlier this year by Yoji Saito and whilst he has beaten Anuson Thonglueang and Ryuji Ikeda it is clear he's not close to domestic title level and with 4 stoppage losses his chin ia a real issue. He's skilled but fragile. As for Sato he's heavy handed but also lacks durability, which he likely feels won't be an issue here. For Sato the bout is a great chance for him to get a JBC ranking, but he will have to find a solution to the size and skills of Saito. Another fighter currently struggling for results to go his way is Kensuke Suzuki (5-3-2, 2), who returns to Korakuen Hall for the first time in over 2 years. After winning his first 4 professional bouts he has gone 1-3-2, being stopped in all 3 losses, and desperately needs to get his career back to winning ways. He’s up against it here as he takes on JBC ranked fighter Masateru Hatagami (9-4-1, 4) who has won his last 3 and will be looking to not just build on that momentum, but also impress in what is his Korakuen Hall debut. Hatagami will know that putting on a show in the Holy Land can open doors for his career, and will want to do more than just score a win here. In the main event Hayato Ono (12-5-3, 11) will clash with Hiroto Hoshi (6-3-4, 3) and once again we see two fighters who have struggled in recent bouts going 1-1-1 in their last 3. Notably however the draw they both have came in June when the two men fought each other. In their first bout there was really little to split them after 8 rounds, with all 3 judges having the but 76-76, as Ono’s power failed to create the cracks in Hoshi, whilst Hoshi showed off his counter boxing skills. Coming into this both are highly ranked by the JBC and both have top 15 WBO Asia Pacific rankings, so both will know a win here could set them up for a title fight. Notably both have come up short in title fights, with Ono losing in a Japanese title fight in summer 2023 against Homura Fujita, suffering his 5th career loss and his 4th by stoppage, whilst Hoshi came up short against Jin Sasaki in a WBO Asia Pacific title fight, also in the summer of 2023.
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 L-Theatre, Osaka, Osaka, Japan
This coming Sunday is a busy one for Japanese fight fans with 3 shows in the country. Sadly none of the shows are major or have huge bouts, but there is some interesting action all the same. The most notable single bout takes place at the L-Theatre in Osaka, on a show being promoted by Taiho promotions. The bout in question will see JBC number 2 ranked Super Featherweight Ken Osato (17-4-1, 5) take on Yuna Hara (11-2-1, 6) in a very good 8 rounder match up. The talented comes into the bout 2-2 in his last 4, but they did include a razor thin loss in a Japanese title bout against Masaru Sueyoshi in 2019. As for Hara he comes into this with momentum, having won his last 5, with 4 stoppages. Osato should be the favourite, but Hara is very much a live under-dog here. Sadly that bout aside this is a weak card, with 4 supporting bouts, all of which are 4 rounders. L-Theatre, Osaka, Osaka, Japan After the Taiho card fans at the L-Theatre will also get the chance to see a West Japan Rookie of the Year show, with a scheduled 6 bouts set for it. The show will serve as the semi-finals for the West Japan Rookie of the Year tournament. One of the bouts on this card will see Taito Nakamura (1-0) take on Gakuto Yamaguchi (6-0, 4) in a Featherweight bout. On paper this is a bit of a mismatch, given the clear experience edge for Yamaguchi, though it is worth noting he's only 20 years old and has had a very stop start career since debuting in Thailand in 2017, aged 15 and only made his Japanese debut last July, going 3-0 (1) in his homeland. As for Nakamura, who's 19 himself, he made his debut this past April and will come into this with plenty of belief himself. The only debutant on this card is Super Flyweight hopeful Kohei Konishi (0-0), who takes on Ken Watanabe (2-0). The 23 year old Konishi is, like many debutants at this level, a total unknown whilst Watanabe debuted late last year and has struggled in both of his bouts so far, only narrowly defeating Genki Kakiuchi in April. At Super Bantamweight Kirei Yasumura (1-0, 1) takes on 19 year old southpaw Seia Oshiro (3-0, 1). Yasumura, who's 22, debuted in November with an opening round KO win over Shinya Saito but sadly with that bout lasting just over 2 minutes it's hard to read much into it. As for Oshiro he debuted in August and has looked better with every fight so far, making this one a great match up to see what both men may have in the locker. Arena Tachikawa Tachihi , Tachikawa, Tokyo, Japan Outside of Osaka there is also a show in Tokyo which will feature a couple of good 8 rounders. One of those 8 rounders will see the hard hitting Hayato Ono (8-4-2, 8) take on under-rated 34 year old Fumisuke Kimura (9-9-1, 6), in a rematch of a clash the men had in early 2019. Ono is heavy handed, but looks to be a bit of a faded force, having gone 0-2-2 in his last 4, with the first result from that win-less run being an opening round loss to Kimura. As for Kimura the veteran isn't a future title contender, but he is an upset minded fighter, who beat Ono and Giraffe Kirin Kanda in back to back fights, but is now win-less in his last 6, going 0-5-1. This really is a bout where both men will feel they need a win to keep their relevant career's alive. The other 8 rounder is the main event of the show and will see JBC ranked Lightweight Shinnosuke Saito (9-4, 2) take on Ikemen Atsushi (7-8-2, 2). The talented Saito won the All Japan Rookie of the Year in 2019 and has gone 3-1 since then, with his most recent win coming in December against Mirai Naito. Although not yet ready for a title fight he is slowly edging his way there and we suspect the 26 year old is maybe 4 or 5 fights from a domestic title fight. At for Atsushi he's lost his last 4 and really hasn't been competitive. This focus here seems to be on getting Saito some ring time after a few months out, with bigger and better fights coming for him later in the year. Holywings Club, Gatot Subroto, Jakarta, Indonesia As well as all the action in Japan, we also get a small but very notable, card in Indonesia. The card features one of the brightest hopes in Indonesian boxing, a once touted Indonesian hopeful and a Croatian-Australian Heavyweight. The rising star of Indonesian boxing, Andika D'Golden Boy (18-0, 8), will be seeking his 19th win as he takes on professional novice Wandi Priman Hulu (1-0). Andika was once linked to a fight with Hiroto Kyoguchi, before the pandemic ended those hopes, and in many ways the 26 year old hopefully has probably been saved from a loss, and given time to match, develop and prepare better for a high level bout like that. Sadly though we're not sure what he'll get from beating a Hulu, who struggled in his only recorded bout, last October. In a more even looking bout we'll see the once touted Defry Palulu (24-2-1, 14) takes on Indian visitor Asad Asif Khan (11-2-1-1, 3). At one point Palulu was tipped as the big hope for Indonesia, but now aged 31 his career looks like it will never reach the heights once expected of him. Despite that he is still one of the countries best fighters and should be too good for the 28 year old Khan, who will be facing his most notable opponent to date. Khan has gone unbeaten since losing his first 2, but he has been matched very softly so far and this is a legitimate step up in class for him. The most bizarre bout on the show will see former David Haye opponent Mark De Mori (39-2-2, 35) face off with Indonesian fighter Satria Antasena (5-19, 3) in a real "WTF?" bout. The 40 year old De Mori is no world beater, as we saw when Haye stopped him in just over 2 minutes, but he is riding a 9 fight winning streak, all by KO, and will likely extend that here. Antasena is a well travelled Indonesian fighter, but also someone who tends to pick up very early losses and has been stopped 15 times in his 19 losses, with 6 losses in the opening round. We expect another early blow out for him here  Korakuen Hall
This coming Thursday we'll see the next show from Misako, and although it's not a big show, it's an interesting one, with two ranked fighters, a several fights which could be exciting and explosive. The first notable bout will be fought at a contracted 61KG's, around 156.5lbs, and will see Kentaro Miyamoto (4-2, 2) take on Eiki Kani (4-1-2, 1) in an interesting contest between two men at very different points in their careers. In one corner is a 35 year old southpaw, Miyamoto, who began his career back in 2009, and took a 10 year sabbatical, from 2011 to 2021, before starting something of a comeback late last year. The 20 year old Kani on the other hand debuted in 2019 and reached the All Japan Rookie of the Year final last year, losing to Katsuhiro Nakata in February. In his performances so far Kani has looked exciting, promising and fun to watch. As with most Japanese fights around the Middleweight division this should be low level, but fun, exciting and a bit of a brawl, and we suspect the youth of Kani will be the difference maker. Talking about potential brawls, we could end up with an explosive one as the hard hitting Hayato Ono (8-4-1, 8) takes on JBC ranked Lightweight Kei Iwahara (10-7, 5). The heavy handed Ono has failed to win any of his last 3, though is hard hitting and will feel he has the power to take out the naturally smaller Iwahara. As for Iwahara he has lost his last two, and will know that if he comes up short here he will likely lose his Japanese ranking. Notably Iwahara has shown questionable durability and that could be a major issue here, though he is the more talented fighter. Another Japanese ranked fighter on this card is Hokuto Matsumoto (7-4-1, 1), who takes on Shun Akaiwa (6-3-1, 4) in the main event of the card, at 140lbs. Matsumoto has struggled in recent fights, gong 2-3-1 in his last 6, but has shown his ability with a good win over Shinnosuke Saito last year and a good draw with Ryuji Ikeda, also last year. Sadly for him he lacks power and will find it hard against the top domestic fighters at 140lbs. As for Akaiwa he is upset minded, as we saw in 2020 against Kenta Endo, but he hasn't looked great in recent bouts and has lost 2 of his last 3. This one is is an interesting one, that could go either way, and is rightfully the main event of a decent lower level domestic card.  This coming Monday is a really great day for fight fans wanting to watch some Japanese action with two free shows being made available through the promoters YouTube channel.
Amagasaki Cultural Center, Amagasaki, Hyogo, Japan The more notable the shows will be streamed on the Boxing Real YouTube channel, and it's a pretty interesting show overall, even if it lacks major names. The main event will see once touted prospect Rikito Shiba (4-1, 2) return to the ring for the first time since being stopped in a Japanese Light Flyweight title fight by Masamichi Yabuki, back in December 2019. The talented 25 year old will be dipping his toes at Flyweight as he takes on the experienced Hideyuki Watanabe (8-13-3, 6). On paper this is a clear mismatch, but given Shiba's confidence destroying loss to Yabuki, the 18 month lay off and the move up in weight it might not be the foregone conclusion that it looks. Watanabe, although no world beater, is a 36 year old veteran who has ran some solid domestic fighters very close in a number of his losses, including Takuya Kogawa, Naoki Mochizuki, Ryuto Oho and Yusuke Sakashita, giving him one of the most misleading records in the sport. Watanabe is expected to lose, but we expect him to give Chiba a genuine test. The brilliantly named Condor Inaba (7-5-1, 3) looks to make a successful return to the ring himself, following a lengthy lay off, as he takes on light punching Yuga Inoue (10-2-1, 1). Inaba hasn't fought since October 2019, and although not a star in the making the 26 year old will be desperate to pick up his next win and get back on track. In the opposite corner is Inoue, no relation to Naoya and Takuma, who won the All Japan Rookie of the Year in 2017 but came undone against Kai Ishizawa and has moved through the weights ever since. Inoue is the more talented fighter, but we do worry for him here as he will be giving away quite a bit of size to Inaba. Potentially the hidden gem on this show will see Hibiki Jogo (10-3, 5) take on Wataru Ikegami (8-5-1, 5). It's fair to say that international fans will not be too aware of these two men, but both are fan friendly fighters, who are happy to let their shots go, and their styles should gel really well. Jogo is a 27 year old who was last seen losing in a competitive bout to Tatsuya Takahashi and although not the biggest or strongest fighter he does have the desire to be involved in exciting contests. Ikegami on the other hand is one of the most under-rated fighters in the sport, with an eye pleasing aggressive style. He seemed to find his groove last time out, against Shion Tamada, and he'll want to build on that performance, which was genuinely very impressive. This one really could be a show stealer. One other bout worthy of some attention will see Hyogo Kimura (6-2-1, 1), who lost in the All Japan final of the Rookie of the Year back in February, taking on the debuting Goki Kobayashi (0-0). Kimura was unfortunate in the Rookie of the Year, and his bout with Ryota Karimata was one of the best bouts on the show. He proved himself to be tough, skilled, and at 20 years old incredibly promising. Kobayashi on the other hand is a 22 year old debutant who fought more than 30 bouts as an amateur and picked up more than 20 wins. Hard to know much about how good Kobayashi is, but in all honest we're glad to see more of Kimura. Arena Tachikawa Tachihi , Tachikawa, Tokyo, Japan The other Japanese show will come from Tachikawa, and is also expected to be live streamed on the promoters YouTube channel. This is a much smaller show, but is a good example of a Japanese style "small hall" show. None of the bouts are high profile, or feature anyone with exceptionally high ceilings, but the contests should be well matched competitive bouts. The main event will be a rematch between Shinnosuke Saito (8-3, 2) and Hokuto Matsumoto (6-4, 1), who battled late last year in a very competitive 8 rounder. Last time around Saito took a razor thin split decision and we expect a super close bout again here. Coming in to this Saito is riding a 5 fight winning run and certainly has some momentum on his side, whilst Matsumoto is struggling for form with just a single win in his last 4, however given how competitive their first bout Matsumoto will come into this believing he can pick up the win. In the chief support bout the light punching Yoshiki Yamashita (7-3) will be up against the JBC ranked Hizuki Saso (12-7-2, 4). Coming in to this Yamashita does have some momentum, having won 3 of his last 4, and the 23 year old will know that a win here would put him on the domestic map and help him secure a JBC ranking. As for Saso this will be his first fight since being stopped by Masataka Taniguchi, in what was a Japanese title fight last year. Whilst this is not a huge bout, we do expect it to be a very competitive one. Another former Japanese title challenger on this show is Ryuji Ikeda (14-7-3, 9), who is in dire need of a win having gone 1-3-1 in his last 5. Whilst Ikeda is a former Japanese title challenger he will probably be the under-dog here, as he takes on the heavy handed Hayato Ono (8-4, 8). Kato is a stop or be stopped fighter, and he will be looking to bomb out Ikeda and get his own career back on track. We are not expecting high level boxing here and we're also not expecting the judges to be needed. One final bout worthy of note for those tuning in is a match up between Dominique Kenshin (5-2, 2) and Shogo Sakai (7-6-3, 5). Kenshin reached the East Japan Rookie of the Year final last year, and whilst not a great fighter the 20 year old has got ambitions to compete at the domestic title scene. He is a crude heavy handed, and chinny fighter so his fights are always worth tuning in to. Sakai is also heavy handed, but hasn't been seen in the ring since 2017, and now aged 32 he can ill afford any more set backs with his career. The One Boxing Stadium, Seoul, South Korea As well as the action in Japan we're also set to get a small show in South Korea. The main event here will see Kook Min Moon (7-1-1, 5) battle against Tae Sun Kim (5-1-1, 2) for the KBM Super Featherweight title. For both men this is a huge opportunity to win their first title, though it feels like it's a bigger chance for the 21 year old Moon who is more active than Kim and appears to be the man with more ambition in the sport. Saying that however a win for Kim would see him being given a massive boost and potentially begin his move towards bigger and better international fights.  Tokyo, Japan
Action returns to the Korakuen Hall this coming Satuday for the next Dynamic Glove card, though sadly it won't be aired live on G+ as we typically see, instead being delayed for broadcast on Monday. The main event of the card will see Japanese Middleweight champion Kazuto Takesako (10-0, 10) defending his belt for the second time, and taking on mandatory challenger Shuji Kato (10-1-1, 6), a former Rookie of the Year winner. Takesako has looked brutal so far through his career, but has struggled to get suitable opponents on the domestic scene, and likely needs to look beyond domestic title challengers, if he gets past Kato. For the challenger this is a huge step up in class, a very, very tough match up, but a huge chance for him to make a big name for himself. Our preview for this bout is available here Japanese king Takesako faces mandatory challenger! The main event is mouth watering and it's strange that the under-card appears to be focused on showcasing a trio of notable Japanese prospects. One of those is Celes Kobayashi protege Jin Minamide (2-0, 2). The unbeaten Minamide, a former standout amateur, has taken out good looking opponents very easily so far, but will be taking a huge step up in class here, as he goes up against Filipino Marjun Pantilgan (18-7, 14), in what could be a very tough outing for the unbeaten hopeful. On paper Takuma Takahashi (2-0, 2) is also taking a step up as he goes up against 21 year Filipino Jonel Dapidran (10-3, 6). On paper this is a credible step in the right direction for Takahashi, though we wouldn't be surprised to see him score another early win. Dapidran fought in Japan late last year and was stopped by Rikuto Adachi, retiring after 3 rounds, and that will almost certainly be a marker for Takahashi to try and beat. Interestingly Masahiro Suzuki (1-0, 1) is the only prospect on the card not taking a clear step forward, and in fact is taking a slight step backwards. His debut came against the big punching Antonio Siesmundo, and he was forced to dig deep to win, so it seems sensible to ease things a bit, as he takes on Kelvin Tenorio (4-4, 2). It's hard to imagine anything but a win for Suzuki, who is one of the best prospects in Japan, but here we'll be looking to read more from the performance, rather than the result. There is one really competitive looking bout on this card, as Japanese ranked Kenji Ono (11-2-2, 6) takes on the returning Hayato Yamaguchi (14-7-1, 2). Both of these guys can be in entertaining scraps, and despite their records they are really well matched. Ono is more active in recent years, but is winless in 3, whilst Yamaguchi hasn't fought since October 2016, when he lost to Tetsuya Hisada. Don't be surprised if this one steals the show.  Tokyo, Japan
In Tokyo on February 17th we'll get a low key card in the Tokyo area, taking place in the Arena Tachikawa Tachihi. In the main event fans will see hard hitting Japanese ranked Light Welterweight Hayato Ono (8-2, 8) take on the little known Fumisuke Kimura (7-4, 4) in an 8 round contest. Coming into this Ono has been in a rich vein of form, stopping his last 3 opponents, and put a loss in the 2016 Rookie of the Year final well behind him. Ono's not the toughest fighter, but wins over Noriaki Sato and Ryusei Nakajima have put the 22 year old on a good course to a title fight. Kimura, 31, has never been stopped but has been beaten in 3 of his last 4, and was shut out by Andy Hiraoka a year ago. Although tough we do expect this to be a real test of Kimura's chin, grit and determination. Also on this card is a fantastically competitive looking match up between Shunsuke Isa (6-1-1, 1) and Yuni Takada (6-3-1, 3), in a 6 round contest. The 20 year old Isa has gone unbeaten in 3 fights following an opening round loss to Retsu Akabane during the East Japan Rookie of the Year in 2017, and is a talent even if he is a very light puncher. Takada, who is also 20, has lost to the likes of Tatsuro Nakashima and Tomoki Shibanuma. He's a slightly harder puncher than Isa, but was beaten last time out ending a 5 fight winning run. Also on this card is Taichi Ueno (6-3, 3), who will be facing Thai visitor Chinathip Thawiphun (1-3-1). The 21 year old Ueno, who looks to bounce back from a stoppage loss to Gakuya Furuhashi, is unlikely to really be tested here as he takes on Chinathip, who is 0-2 outside of Thailand and was stopped last time out.  Tokyo, Japan
For a second day running we get a show dedicated to the Japanese Youth Tournament, with 3 finals and two semi finals taking place on a show that really looks brilliant on paper in regards to even match ups, even if the card lacks bit name appeal. On paper the best of the bouts is the Flyweight final, which pits two unbeaten punchers against each other in a real humdinger. In one corner is 2016 Flyweight Rookie of the year Junto Nakatani (12-0, 9), who had to answer real questions last time out against Yuma Kudo in his semi-final bout. In the opposite corner is 2015 Light Flyweight Rookie of the year Seigo Yuri Akui (11-0-1, 7), who enters on the back of 5 stoppage wins including a huge one over Kenji Ono and a solid showing in his semi final against Ryuto Oho. This has the potential to be the best bout of the whole Youth Tournament and is a really tough one to call. At Super Bantamweight we're expecting a full on shoot out as 21 year old Ryota Ishida (8-1, 6) takes on 22 year old Takuya Mizuno (11-1-1,11). Ishida has stopped his last 3, and hasn't seen the final bell since he was fighting in 4 rounders, more than 2 years ago. Mizuno has stopped his last 4 foes, and has shown power through out fights with stoppages in rounds every round from 1 to 6. This promises to be be a hard hitting bout, and although we favour Mizuno, it could go either way, and should be a real treat. On paper the worst of the finals is at Bantamweight, where the recently beaten pairing of Wataru Takeda (10-1-1, 4) and Yuto Nakamura (7-3, 6) face off. Takeda was beaten last October, just 2 fights back, by Ryohei Takakhashi after claiming the 2015 Rookie of the year, and although he has shown some signs of being a real prospect there are still a lot of questions left for him to answer. Although beaten 3 times Nakamura has never been outclassed, with all 3 losses being razor thin ones and he will be in there looking to make a statement. This looks like the worst of the finals for the day, but should still deliver a great contest. At Light Welterweight we get two semi-final bouts. One of those will see the once beaten Ukyo Yoshigai (5-1, 4) take on Andy Hiraoka (9-0, 6) in a really interesting contest. Yoshigai, who won the 2016 Rookie of the year, was beaten back in April by Giraffe Kirin Kanda, but that loss will have helped his development. Hiraoka on the other hand has looked great in recent bouts, but has only fought 10 rounds since the end of 2014, and it's hard to know how good he really is, even if he does pass the eye test with ease. The other bout looks like a potential fire fight as Hayato Ono (5-1, 5) battles Takahiko Kobayashi (6-2, 5). Between the two men they have heard the final bell just once, in what was Kobayashi's most recent bout. Ono will see this as a potential chance to set up a rematch with Yoshigai, the only man to have beaten him, whilst Kobayashi will be looking to avenge a 2016 loss to Ono, in which he was stopped in the 5th round. There's history here, two punchers, and two men who have questionable durability. With this one the best advice is don't blink!  This coming Friday Japanese fans get two different shows, one of which is a major domestic event, whilst the other is just a low profile card.
Tokyo, Japan The key event of the day comes from the Korakuen Hall and is the final of the 2017 Rookie of the Year, with the winners of the bouts being crowned the All-Japanese champion. In total their will be 12 bouts, taking place from Minimumweight to Middleweight and will likely set the scene for several notable prospects going into 2017. We won't go through all 12 bouts, but we have picked some of the most interesting on paper. At 140lbs we'll see unbeaten punchers collide as 20 year old Hayato Ono (5-0, 5) risks his perfect KO record against 19 year old Ukyo Yoshigai (4-0, 3). The bout is almost certainly going to see both guys letting bombs go from the off. Ono has stopped his 5 opponents in a combined 10 rounds, with 3 opening round victories, Yoshigai has also fought just 10 rounds, though has scored a trio of 2nd round wins. This is going to be explosive! Another potentially explosive bout between unbeaten fighters will see 18 year old Junto Nakatani (8-0, 7) battle with Masamichi Yabuki (3-0, 3) in a Flyweight contest. Nakatani has scored 5 stoppages this year, in a combined 9 rounds, and looks to be a natural born puncher. Yabuki has amazingly fought less than 6 minutes as a professional and has stopped his first 3 opponents in the opening round. This could be another enthralling and explosive contest. Whilst not all the bouts promise the same explosive action as the two about the bouts are all significant and not a single fighter involved has a losing record! Hyogo, Japan The low profile card comes from Hyogo and is promoted by Amagasaki Promotions. In the main event of this card we'll see the once beaten Yuki Iriguchi (6-1-1, 3) facing off with an unknown Thai foe, in what is expected to be little more than a confidence builder for the Japanese fighter. Iriguchi has gone 1-1-1 in his last 3, with that loss being an opening round blow out to the really exciting Hibiki Jogo. With so little known about the Thai we can't say much, but it's clear that Iriguchi's team are wanting him to end the year with a second successive win. In the chief support bout we get a competitive looking contest between Tomoya Itosu (6-2, 3) and Shoji Nakamura (4-2-1, 2). Itosu has won his last 3 but those 3 bouts have come over the last 3 years and his career has really lacked activity and consistency, Nakamura has won his last 2, and is unbeaten in more than a year. This could be a genuinely enjoyable bout. |
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