May 27th-Interesting domestic action at Korakuen Hall

5/23/2024

Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
This coming Monday fight fans at Korakuen Hall are in for a low key domestic card, that might not be a sensational show, but should be one that features some interesting action, with some well matched bouts and some returns after lengthy layoffs, of some very solid fighters.

The main event of the card will see the unbeaten Takara Kawaguchi (7-0-1, 4) take on hard hitting veteran Ryuji Ikeda (15-9-5, 10). The 26 year old Kawaguchi looked impressive before suffering a surprise draw in 2023 against Yusuke Konishi, that draw however seems to have changed him, and since that draw he has scored two stoppages, including one in a rematch with Konishi. He doesn’t look like a future regional contender, at this point, but could very easily be a contender on the domestic scene in the near future. As for Ikeda, who is still somehow only 28, he’s looking to get his career back on track and score a second successive win, after a 0-4-3 slump. Ikeda is heavy handed, experienced, has fought at a good level including a Japanese title fight, but is very much a man who appears to have taken a lot of punishment in recent years and is on the slide, despite only being 28.

The chief support bout sees the in ring return of Hideyuki Watanabe (8-15-3, 6), who has been out of the ring for more than 2 years. The popular Watanabe, who always comes to fight but has lost 9 in a row dating back to 2015, will be up against Yuta Nakayama (8-6-2, 5). Although never regarded as a huge prospect Watanabe does make for fun fights, and became something of a regular feature at Korakuen Hall before his break, due to his fights being fun, win or lose. Sadly though with the long lay off and now aged 39 it’s hard to know what he has left to offer the sport. As for Nakayama the 28 year old has gone 0-3-1 in his last 4, and is without a win since 2019, and will know he needs a win here, which is likely why he’s been matched with Watanabe.

The JBC ranked Lightweight contender Ryugo Yanagibori (10-3, 1) will be looking to bounce back from a recent loss to Shu Utsuki as he takes on professional glass cannon Kazuaki Miyamoto (9-8, 8). The light punching Yanagibori was riding a 6 fight winning streak before being stopped by the heavy handed Utsuki in December, including a win over the aforementioned Ryuji Ikeda, and will be expected to come out on top here, though we suspect his team are wanting to see how he reacts when Miyamoto catched him. In his 17 fight career Miyamoto has only seen the final bell once, way back in 2017 when he went 6 rounds with Monkey Shuhei, and since then he has had 13 bouts, obviously none have gone the distance and only 7 haven gone beyond round 2.

Another popular fighter making a ring return on this card is the ever popular, but light punching, Joe Tanooka (15-9-5, 1), who faces off with Koya Sato (12-6-1, 2). Tanooka, who has long been a favourite fighter at Korakuen Hall, has been out of the ring since a loss in late 2021. Sadly he's gone 0-5-1 in his last 6 and it’s hard to know what he still has to offer. He’s a high tempo fighter, who is somewhat feather fisted, but makes up for it with a high output and fan friendly southpaw style. As for Sato the 34 year old was last seen in August last year, losing to Ryuto Oho in what was his only bout since 2019. Hard to know what he has to offer, but it should be enough to get a read on whether Tanooka is back for a new chapter of his career, or whether it’s part of a farewell for the popular southpaw.

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