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Rangsit International Stadium, Rangsit, Thailand
This coming Wednesday attention turns to Thailand for a card in Rangsit featuring 2 pretty notable bouts, though neither is likely to have major implications at the top of the sport. One of the bouts sees former Takuma Inoue foe Tasana Salapat (67-1, 58), aka Petch CP Freshmart, taking on Filipino journeyman Cris Alfante (18-10-1, 10) in bout for the WBC Asian Boxing Council Bantamweight title. The Thai has a very good looking record, though in fairness it is ridiculously padded and Inoue aside, who beat him, he hasn't faced a genuinely notable fighter. Despite that he is a talented fighter, with a good engine, good power and an impressive will to win. He should have far, far too much for Alfante, however the Filipino has proven his worth as a journeyman in the past. Although Alfante has lost 3 of his last 4, he has shared the ring with the likes of Aran Dipaen, KJ Cataraja and Andrew Moloney during his career, and has shown good durability. This should be a good chance for the Thai to get some rounds, and hopefully in 2023 he will face someone in or around the world rankings. The other notable bout on this card will be an all-Thai affair, as Jakrawut Majungoen (42-2-1, 21), aka Kongfah CP Freshmart, takes on Wittawas Basapean (38-18-1, 14), aka Samartlek Kokietgym. Both of these men are genuine veteran's of the Thai scene and have been around for years, and both have fought notable names, with Kongfah having lost to Daigo Higa and Samartlek having faced a real who's who including Naoya Inoue and Akira Yaegashi. Sadly the bout doesn't have much meaning in the grand scheme of things, given both men are certainly on the back end of their long careers, but in terms of action this one has the potential to deliver something a little bit special. The styles should gel and we should get a fan friendly bout, but one that is more about being fun to watch rather than actually being important in the sport.
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March 6th-Panya Pradabsri in action! Indian action! Central Asian's look to shine in the US!3/3/2021 This coming Saturday isn't a huge day for boxing, but there is more than enough to get your teeth into as we begin quite an interesting month for Asian boxing.
Rangsit Boxing Stadium, Rangsit, Thailand Arguably the most notable action of the day, at least for us, is in Thailand where we'll see a world champion in action and a really good looking all-Thai regional title bout. The world champion in question is WBC Minimumweight champion Panya Pradabsri (35-1, 22), who will be in action against a low level domestic opponent in a contracted bout well above the Minimumweight limit. This will be Panya's first bout since his title win, and huge upest, against Wanheng Menayothin. The plan for Panya is to have a tune up here before a potential rematch with Wanheng in the summer, so we don't expect to see him do much more than go through the motions here, but it's still good to see him in action. The most interesting of the bouts, on paper at least, is a WBC Asia title fight at Super Flyweight which will pit Kongfah CP freshmart (35-1-1, 18), aka Jakkrawut Majoogoen, against former world title challenger Wittawas Basapean (34-15-1, 12) aka Samartlek Kokietgym. On paper this might not look the best fight, but if we're being honest we expect a really exciting fight here. Kongfah is the younger and naturally bigger fighter, but Samartlek comes to fight and never takes a backwards step, so we are, genuinely, expecting a bit of a war. Kongfah should win, but he will not have an easy time with his more experienced foe. Aizawl, India Staying with Asian action we also get a show in India, which features a couple of noteworthy bouts. The main event here will see 21 year old Indian hopeful Lalrinsanga Tlau (4-0, 2) take on Ghana's Eric Quarm (4-1, 1) for the WBC Youth Super Featherweight title. The unbeaten Tlau will be fighting in his title bout and so far he has been pretty impressive, barely losing a round since his debut in 2019. The 23 year old Quarm, who is fighting outside of Africa for the first time, was last seen in the ring in 2019 when he lost in a bout for the West African Union Lightweight title. Although neither man is well known, this is a really interesting contest, and one that should provide some really good action, with both men desperate to avoid a loss and desperate to win the Youth title. Also on this card is an interesting match up between Indian fighter Asad Asif Khan (9-2-1-1, 2) and Afghan fighter Aimal Ahmad Sediq Zada (5-1, 4). Khan made his debut all the way back in 2011 and despite going 2-2-1-1 in his first 6 has reeled off 7 straight wins, and done so internationally with bouts in Thailand, Dubai and the Philippines. The hard hitting Zada lost on his debut, in 2018, but also comes into this one with some momentum on the back of 5 straight wins. This could end up being a very good bout, but one that is certainly easy to over-look. Miami, Florida, USA As well as the action in Asia we also have some central Asian fighters in action in Florida. One of those Central Asian fighters is Uzbek hopeful Kozimbek Mardonov (1-0, 1), who was impressive in his January debut. The talented former amateur standout is expected to be moved quickly he's being matched with the experienced Abel Nicolas Adriel (23-20-3, 5) here. The 31 year old Adriel has been collecting losses during his career, but with only 4 stoppage losses he is durable and should be able to survive a few rounds with Mardonov, though the Uzbek will be strongly favoured to pick up the win. Another Central Asian on this card is Tajik fighter Mekhrubon Sanginov (9-0-1, 6) , who looks to build on a career best win over Quincy LaVallais as he takes on Miguel Angel Suarez (15-6, 9). The 25 year old Sanginov will be favoured here, and will be expected to pick up his 10th win, and do so relatively quickly. Suarez, and Argentinian 39 year old, was once 15-0 but has lost his last 6, and has been stopped in 5 of those 6 losses. This looks like an easy win for Sanginov following some struggles vs LaVallais in January. Also scheduled for this show, though with no opponent named at the time of writing, is US based Azeri fighter Elvin Gambarov (14-0, 13), who will be looking for his third win of 2021. Gambarov has already blown away two limited opponents in Colombia this year and he's likely to be facing another over-matched foe here. It's a shame that we really don't know how good Gambarov can be as his competition so far has been beyond terrible. Fingers crossed we see him tasted later this year.  Blue Arena, Samut Prakan, Thailand
The main action this coming Sunday comes from Thailand where Tantelecom are putting in a very, very interesting card, and as with two shows on Saturday this will be free to view online, via the promoters website. The main event will see the very promising Nattapong Jankaew (6-0, 3) take on former Naoya Inoue opponent Petchbarngborn Kokietgym (44-9, 20). We've been really impressed by Nattapong and see him as being among the best of the rising Thai prospects. Unlike most Thai's he's very much a boxer first and it's clear he has some solid amateur pedigree and very good boxing foundations. Petchbarngborn is a 35 year old who has been been a pro since 2009 and has faced a relative who's who, including Inoue, Kohei Kono, Sho Ishida and Amnat Ruenroeng. Sadly though he is well past his prime and we see him really struggling here with the very skilled Nattapong. In a supporting bout we'll see the debuting Thitisak Hoitong (0-0) take on former world title challenger Samartlek Kokietgym (34-14-1, 12), who was last seen losing a decision to Nattapong. Sadly we don't know much about Thitisak, though it is known he fought as an amateur and is only 24 years old, but we do love the fact he's taking a test like Samartlek on his professional debut. Samartlek is past his best, but has proven to be a tough guy, who comes to fight ask questions of prospects and is a baptism of fire for someone making their debut. A very interesting fight, and a really tough debut for Thitisak. Saga, Japan Over in Japan we get the set of bouts from the Western Japan Rookie of the Year in Saga. Originally this show was supposed to have 10 bouts, but 3 of those bouts have been cancelled, including a Middleweight bout. Despite several bouts being cancelled there are still several worth talking about. One of the more interesting bouts on this show is at Bantamweight, where Hiroki Kinjo (5-0, 4) takes on Fuya Tomita (3-2, 2), in a battle of 21 year olds. The unbeaten Kinjo made his debut in 2018 and has looked good so far, but has only faced absolute novices and his record lacks any sort of substance. In fact his 5 wins have come against opponents with a combined 1-3 record. Tomita's record is less impressive than that of Kinjo, but he has, on paper, faced better competition and was unfortunate in one of his losses. This might look like a mismatch but should be more competitive than it looks. Another bout worthy of some attention is at Featherweight, where the 21 year old Hikaru Fukunaga (6-1, 4) takes on unbeaten 25 year old Masashi Tokihiro (1-0-1, 1). The talented Fukunaga lost around a year ago to the brilliant Jinki Maeda and since then has bounced back with two straight decision wins, though was run very close last time out out. Tokihiro made his debut in September 2019 with a win, but was held to a draw last time out. We expect this one to be explosive, and competitive.  This coming Sunday we get quite a bit of action with a televised card from Thailand and two shows from Japan, where we are well and truly in Rookie of the Year season!
Blue Arena, Samut Prakan, Thailand One complain we've long had about the Thai scene is that we don't see enough good all-Thai match ups, with the country often relying on having a local fighter battle a limited foreign visitor. Thankfully that's not been possible recently and we have had some interesting all-Thai bouts in recent months as a result. We potentially get two more here. In the main event of the card we'll see Campee Phayom (20-4-2, 12) defending his WBA Asia Super Featherweight title against former WBO Bantamweight champion Pungluang Sor Singyu (53-8, 35). The 22 year old Campee is no world beater in the making, but he's a solid fringe regional level fighter who is getter and is starting to get some attention in Thailand. He needs to be stepped up and given developmental fights and that's sort of what we see this as. Aged 30 Pungluang is a little bit long in the tooth, but isn't a shot fighter in terms of his age, he is however a fighter fighting well above their best weight, and that will likely be the difference here. We suspect Pungluang will ask questions of the youngster, but lack the physical traits to be a danger to the developing Campee. In a second all-Thai bout on this show the unbeaten Nattapong Jankaew (5-0, 3) will be defending his WBA Asia South Super Flyweight title against Samartlek Kokietgym (34-13-1, 12). For the 24 year old Nattapong this will be his first defense as he looks to build on an solid win earlier this year against John Kenan Villaflor. The champion is the younger, unbeaten and naturally bigger man, but Samarlek has significantly more experience and has faced the likes of Naoya Inoue and Akira Yaegashi. We suspect Samartlek's experience will see him asking questions of Nattapon, but suffer a 5th straight loss here against a talented young who will be looking to launch himself towards bigger and better fights over the next few years. Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan At the Holy Land of Japanese boxing we have an East Japan Rookie of the Year card. In total there are, 9 bouts set for this card. From the bouts on this card the one that interests us the most is the Flyweight bout between Kei Fujita (1-0, 1) and Shugo Namura (2-0, 2). From the 3 combined bouts these two have had so far not one has gone beyond 2 rounds. We expect this to be a shoot out! Another bout worthy of noting here will see 19 year old Aito Abe (1-0, 1) fight for the second time, as he takes on he 35 year old Kentaro Omori (2-2, 1). For Abe this bout will see him looking to build on his debut win in November whilst Omori will be returning to the ring more than 4 years after his last bout, was was a loss back in April 2016 to Satoshi Tanaka. Amazingly Omori's last win came in June 2015, at that point in time Abe was just 14! Sun Rise Park Gym, Saga, Saga, Japan Over in Saga we get a Western Japan Rookie of the year show, with just 4 bouts scheduled for this card. The bout that stands out here will see 21 year old Featherweight hopeful Hikaru Fukunaga (4-1, 4) take on 36 year old southpaw Kohei Suzuki (1-0-1). Fukunaga competed in last year's Rookie of the Year, and was 1 win away from reaching the All Japan final, losing to the brilliant Jinki Maeda. Given his experience from last year, along with his power and aggression Fukunaga has got to be among the favourites for the tournament. As for Suzuki he impressed in August when he beat the more experienced Majisuka Kosaka and will feel the confidence of an unbeaten man who has twice gone the 4 round schedule. This could be a genuine highlight for fans at the Sun Rise Park Gym. On the total opposite end of the spectrum we are interested in the match up between Yoshitada Shimogishi (0-1) and Ryoki Terada (0-3), who clash at 140lbs. With both men having lost all their bouts we have an interesting dynamic here with both know they can get off the mark. For Shimogishi this will be his first bout in more than 2 years, when he was stopped in 2 rounds by Sota Kohara. As for Terada he fought 3 times last year, and lost all 3 by decision. Whilst fights between win-less fighters aren't usually high quality they are usually entertaining and we see suspect that will be the case here.  This coming Tuesday we get two notable Asian cards, one in China and one in Japan. Both of those cards have an international feel and both have some really interesting match ups.
Xi An, China The most interesting of the two cards is the Chinese one from Xi An, featuring local Chinese fighters along with Japanese and Korean visitors. The show features 3 regional title bouts along with several other less under-card bouts. One of the title bouts will see local fighter Qixiu Zhang (10-5-1, 3) take on unbeaten Korean Jong Sun Gang (8-0-1, 5) in a bout for the WBC Youth Intercontinental Super Featherweight title. Zhang was stopped last year by Joe Noynay, in 8 rounds, though he can't be written off and did impress in stopping Nak Yul Park in Korea. On the other hand Gang, a natural Featherweight, was held to a draw last time out but has scored stoppages in 4 of his last 5. This could be the bout of the daY. In a female bout we'll see Li Ping Shi (4-2, 2) make her first defense of the WBC Asian Boxing Council female Super Flyweight title as she takes on Japanese challenger Yuko Henzan (8-7-4, 2). Shi won the belt last year stopping Hyun Gee Gil and looks to be much, much better than her record suggests. Henzan on the other hand is a pretty limited fighter, despite having previously won the OPBF female Bantamweight title. Henzan lost last time she faced a Chinese fighter, coming up short to Fan Yin, and could only manage a draw with Phannaluk Kongsang last time she fought outside of Japan. A third title fight will see Yougu Yu (5-1-3, 2) take on Hyuma Fujioka (10-8-1, 1) for the WBC Asian Boxing Council Continental Bantamweight title. Yu is 2-0-3 in his last 5 bouts, but those draws are a bit strange. He certainly deserved to lose to Yuya Nakamura in December, but also deserved a win over Yushi Tanaka back in April and that Tanaka fight showed he is a solid fighter. Fujioka has a poor looking record, but has been competitive with the likes of Ryo Akaho, Shohei Kawashima and Naoya Okamoto, so if a game fighter who will be in China to win. One other bout of note here will see local fighter Shan Wu (8-5, 1) take on Chinese fighter Seita Ogido (13-4-3, 3). The 29 year old Wu has won his last 4 bouts, but has faced limited competition since losing to Min Jang in Korea. On the other hand Ogido is 2-2-2, with his last 2 wins really not being impressive and it does look like the Okinawa man will fall short of the expectations some had for him. Tokyo, Japan As well as the Chinese card there's also a really notable Japanese card, featuring two former world title challengers and a member of the Kameda family. The main event of the show will see recent world title challenger Ryohei Takahashi (15-4-1, 6) look to bounce back from his loss to TJ Doehny, as he takes on Korean visitor Jin Wook Lim (10-6-5, 3). Whilst Takahashi is the much more well known fighter, given the Doheny bout, he's not a very skilLed fighter, relying more on toughness and work rate than technical skills. Lim isn't too well known but he but he has challenged for AN OPBF title before and is certainly a live under-dog here. Sadly for Lim he has been stopped in 2 of his last 4, and he would need a career best performance to pick up a win here. The other world title challenger is Thai visitor Samartlek Kokietgym (34-9-1, 12), who has lost in world title fighters to Naoya Inoue and Akira Yaegashi. The highly experienced Samartlek will be up against Naoki Mochizuki (15-4, 8), a recent Japanese title challenger. Although the Thai is the more experienced man he is the much smaller fighter and we suspect that Mochizuki will be too big, too strong and too powerful for Samartlek. One other bout of interest will see Kyonosuke Kameda (3-1, 2), the cousin of the Kameda brothers, facing off with the unbeaten Ryugo Ushijima (3-0, 2). Kameda comes into this on the back of 3 straight wins, following a stoppage loss on his debut, but we see this as a step up for Kameda. The 18 year old Ushijima really impressed us this past February in his win over Shota Ogasawara and we do believe he's very, very talented, with the potential to develop into a pretty solid domestic fighter. If Ushijima is as a good as he looked against Ogasawara he should take the win here.  This coming Friday is a crazy day in the world of Asian boxing with a trio of Chinese cards, as well as a notable Japanese show. The bouts aren't likely to have much global attention, but they range from a really high profile debut, to a potentially thrilling war on the verges of world class.
Beijing, China For us the biggest show of the day is from Beijing, where we see a number of prospects in action, in bouts of varying quality. One of the really good looking bouts will see Filipino Ronnie Baldonado (9-0-1, 6) defending his WBO “interim” Oriental Flyweight title against touted Indonesian puncher Iwan Zoda (14-2-1, 13). For the champion the bout will be his first defense of the title he won back in April, when he stopped Yiming Ma inside a round whilst Zoda will be looking to rebuild after a year that has seen hi suffer a stoppage to Robert Onggocan and a surprising draw with Ical Tobida. It's fair to say Zoda can ill afford a set back but Baldonado is on a role with a trio of first round blow outs. Another really interesting contest will see Filipino prospect Mark Anthony Barriga (6-0, 1) take a huge step up to face former 2-time world title challenger Samartlek Kokietgym (33-6, 12) in a contest for the WBO International Minimumweight title. The 24 year old Barriga was a top Filipino prospect and it's clear his team view him as a special talent but this is a massive step up in class, and should tell us a lot about just how far Barriga could go. Samartlek, who is best known for losing in world title bouts to Naoya Inoue and Akira Yaegashi, does have a padded record, but is a very decent fight and will certainly not be afraid of Barriga's amateur background. Another title bout featuring an unbeaten fighter on this show will see Jin Xiang Pan (7-0, 4) take on James MacDonald (8-1-1, 4) for the WBO Youth Super Featherweight title. On paper this bout doesn't have the appeal of the ones above, but it's a step up for both fighters and it should be very interesting to see where both men are going in their career. Arguably the most notable title bout on the card, yet potentially the most one-sided, will see former Chinese amateur stand out Lu Bin (0-0) take on Thai foe Chatchai Or Benjamas (8-9, 6) for the vacant WBC Asian Boxing Council Light Flyweight Title. Making his professional debut in a 10 rounder is clearly Bin and his team looking to make a statement and given his background in amateur boxing and the APB there is real star potential here. It should be noted that Chatchai isn't great, and was an early opponent for the likes of Yohei Tobe and KJ Cataraja, but Bin's willingness to fight for a title early is still a statement from his team. One other bout of note from this show will see big punching Filipino Jayar Inson (13-1, 9) take on China's Yangcheng Jin (5-1-2, 1). This is likely to be a straight forward win for the visitor, but he is coming in to the bout on the back of a loss on the road in South Africa, and may be wearing the mental scars of that defeat. Xi An, China We get more title action in Xi An as novices Yiran Li (3-0, 3) and Super Top Singnamchai (2-0, 1) battle for the WBC Youth Featherweight title. Li made his professional debut back in April and has needed just 7 rounds to despatch his first 3 foes whilst the Thai visitor apparently debuted in 2012, and hasn't had a boxing contest in more than 5 years, making this a very perplexing contest on paper. Jinan, China Staying in China just a little longer fans will get card in Jinan where the headline bout will see Indonesian veteran Hero Tito (23-12-2, 8) battle with local Aizi Aili (5-2-1, 2), in what could be a pretty solid match up between well matched fighters at different stages of their career. Tokyo, Japan As well as all the action in China there will also be a notable card at the Korakuen Hall, which will be available on the A-sign service. The main event of the card is a potential war as former world title challenger Hisashi Amagasa (33-6-2, 21) takes on Richard Pumicpic (19-8-2, 6) in a bout for the WBO Asia Pacific Featherweight title, essentially securing the winner a top 15 WBO ranking. Of the two men Amagasa is the more well known, given his bouts with Guillermo Rigondeaux and Josh Warrington, and will be favoured, however Pumicpic is no pushover and he has has pushed fighters like Ryosuke Iwasa, Cesar Juarez and Yohei Tobe all really close in thrilling fights. We're expecting this fight to be the bout of the day. In another good looking contest we'll see veteran Takafumi Nakajima (28-9-1, 12) take on Jin Miura (9-2, 1). Coming in to this Nakajima has a little bit of momentum, with 3 straight wins to put back to back losses behind him, whilst Miura comes in on the back of a narrow loss in Russia. This could be a highly skilled battle with both men looking to really boost their hopes of a potential domestic title bout. One other fighter of note on this card is Naoki Mochizuki (11-2, 6), who will be facing off with a Thai visitor.  Tokyo, Japan
Whilst big cards, with multiple noteworthy bouts, aren't rare in Japan it's rare to get a full card of notable and notable bouts. There is however one such card on December 30th when Ohashi put on a genuine super show with two world title bouts, two Olympic medal winners, several prospects and just one of those rare cards where everything looks to have significance...and that's despite the fact one of the key announced bouts for the show was actually cancelled due to an injury! The main event of the card will see WBO Super Flyweight champion Naoya Inoue (11-0, 9) taking on former 2-time world champion Kohei Kono (32-9-1, 13). This will be Inoue's most notable bout in 2 years, since he beat Omar Andres Narvaez to claim the title, and will see him hunting his 4th defense and most notable so far. For Kono this is a chance to prove he's still a world class Super Flyweight and potentially a chance to become a 3-time world champion. In the chief main event of the show we see IBF Light Flyweight champion Akira Yaegashi (24-5, 12) defending his title against Thailand's Samartlek Kokietgym (35-5, 12), who is best known for being stopped by the aforementioned Naoya Inoue in 2014. Yaegashi will be seeking his second defense of the title and will know that a win will lead him to about with interim champion Milan Melindo in 2017. A win for the challenger would be a shock and it would genuinely shake up the 108lbs division. The chief support bout behind the double main event will see 2012 Olympic gold medal winner Ryota Murata (11-0, 8) fight against the once beaten Bruno Sandoval (19-1-1, 15). For Murata this bout is the next step forward as his team continue to pursue a 2017 fight with WBO champion Billy Joe Saunders, of the UK. Whilst Sandoval is a live opponent he hasn't really proven his worth and could well be an easy target for Murata, who has shown real improvement in recent bouts and with his heavy hands there is genuine potential. Another major under-card bout will see the once beaten Ryo Matsumoto (17-1, 15) face off with his sole conqueror Victor Uriel Lopez (10-5-1, 4). This rematch was announced earlier in the year but cancelled as Matsumoto required surgery for a serious medical issue, the same issue that reared it's head in the first bout with Lopez. Now, supposedly healed, Matsumoto is looking for revenge whilst Lopez is looking to prove that Matsumoto's medical woes weren't the only reason for the result in the first bout. In a relatively interesting bout we'll see former world title challenger Ryuji Hara (20-2, 12) battle with Hiroya Yamamoto (10-4, 4). Hara is looking to get his career back ion the right track after a 2-2 record in is last 4, and should be too good for Yamamoto however the under-dog is a 2-time Japanese title challenger, having come up short to Go Odaira and Takuya Fukuhara, and is certainly a live under-dog here. Naoya isn't the only fighter from the Inoue clan on this card, as his cousin Koki Inoue (5-0, 4) takes on his biggest test to date, Futoshi Usami (14-2-1, 11). Inoue is touted as another world champion in the making but this is a credible test for the Kanagawa man, especially given that Usami fought for the OPBF Lightweight title in 2014, and went the 12 round distance with the world ranked Masayoshi Nakatani. Another unbeaten prospect on this card is 20 year old hopeful Andy Hiraoka (7-0, 4), who fights for the second time as an Ohashi fighter. The talented youngster will be up against Indonesian journeyman Naty Yongraksa (0-0), in what should be a straight forward win for the local star. The visitor is 1-5-1 in his last 7 and it's hard to see what he has to really Hiraoka. The second Olympian on the show is 2012 Olympic bronze medal winner Satoshi Shimizu (1-0, 1), who takes a huge step up in class to take on Filipino Carlo Demecillo (6-3, 1). Whilst this is a big step up for Shimzu from his debut it should be noted that Demecillo struggled to win a round recently when he took in Hisashi Amagasa, back in October. Demecillo should give Shimizu some resistance, but the bout should be a win for the Japanese local Bangkok, Thailand
For a second day running Thai fans will get televised action, though this time around the action is a bit more interesting and Channel 7 do appear to have picked up a solid looking card, well solid looking for a Thai show at least. The main event will see the unbeaten Petchchorhae Kokietgym (13-0, 8) trying to record a double over promising Indonesian teenager Iwan Zoda (6-1, 5), in a bout for the interim WBO Asia Pacific Flyweight title. These two men met last October with Petchchorhae taking a 6 round decision win, though since then the Indonesian has picked up 5 straight stoppage wins and could well go into this bout believe he can avenge his sole defeat. We'll admit we're actually rather exciting about this one. The key support bout here will see former world title challenger Samartlek Kokietgym (21-5, 6) take on Indonesia's Iwan Key (9-12-3, 1). It's hard to see Key offering much resistance to Samartlek, who has run up 4 wins since his 11th round TKO loss to Naoya Inoue, almost a year ago to the day. One man we're excited to see return to action is unbeaten prospect Kongthara KKP (8-0, 6) who will be up against Indonesia's Rasmanudin (19-10-3, 10). A few years ago this would have been a solid bout but in recent times Rasmanudin has become a “loser” and is 1-6-1 in his last 8. We expect this to be another loss to the talented and fast rising Rasmanudin.  Although this week started with a female world title fight the action really didn't last and for the past few day's we've had almost no action. Thankfully however the weekends with a few fights, albeit nothing great.
Tokyo, Japan The biggest potential fight this Friday was a clash which would have seen OPBF Super Middleweight champion Yuzo Kiyota (25-4-1, 23) defending his title. Unfortunately the title part of that bout fell through when none of the ranked contenders were happy to fight Kiyota, understandable given his power and aggression. Sadly with no ranked contenders happy to face him Kiyora has ended up facing off against Indonesian fight Hero Yauw Katili (6-6-1, 4). From what we understand Katili's record is incomplete but he has never fought anyone like Kiyota and this looks to be little more than a stay busy bout from the fun to watch Japanese slugger. Sadly many of the other bouts on the same show lack any type of appeal with the best of the rest being an 8 rounder between the 22 year old Yoshitomo Watanabe (4-1, 3) and Thailand's Pirat Manopchaigym (0-0). Although Pirat is listed on boxrec.com as a debutant we have our suspicions that he has fought before however his actual number of fights and level of fights is up in the air. In total there are 8 bouts on this show but it's hard to get excited about any of them now that Kiyota is facing a significantly over-matched opponent. California, USA Outside of Asia fans will get the chance to see the Kyrgyzstan born Timur Shailezov (17-7-1, 4) fighting against the hard hitting and somewhat promising Victor Ruiz (13-3, 10). Shailezov has started to become a bit of a journeyman with 5 losses in his last 6, including stoppages to Rex Tso and Zhanat Zhakiyanov, though he did shock the previously unbeaten Miguel Cartagena last time out. In Ruiz we have an unknown but young and hungry Mexican who has shared the ring with the very good Francisco Rodriguez Jr. On record we'd favour Ruiz but on recent performances it's fair to say that Shailezov could score another upset. (Image courtesy of boxmob.jp) Nonthaburi province, Thailand
In Thailand we get a televised show on Channel 7 which is headlined by the world class Paipharob Kokietgym (24-0, 19) who will be defending his WBO Oriental Light Flyweight title for the first time. In the opposite corner to Paipharob will be Filipino fighter Bobby Concepcion (11-4-1, 5). We don't see anything but a win for Paipharob but hopefully he'll move on after a win because he really has the skills to make a mark on the world stage. In one of the support bouts fans will get the chance to see Thailand's Samartlek Kokietgym (16-4, 5) fighting in a warm up bout prior to his world title challenge with Naoya Inoue, on September 5th. For those worrying about the Inoue fight there is very little risk for Samartlek as he takes on Indonesia'sDomi Nenokeba (11-18-1, 7), a man who is winless in more than 4 years! The only other bout that we have had confirmed for this show Ratchasak Kokietgym (22-3-1, 10) battle against Indonesia's Jemmy Gobel (18-24-5, 13). This will be Ratchasak's first fight since his loss in Macau to Rex Tso though unlike that bout we don't see him chasing shadows here. |
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