This coming Sunday sees 3 shows taking place across Japan. Fukuoka, Japan The most notable of the shows is in Fukuoka where we get female world title action. That world title bout will see WBC female Minimumweight champion Yuko Kuroki (16-4-1, 8) battle against Mari Ando (13-9, 6), in what will be the second bout between the two ladies. Kuroki won the title in May 2014, when she defeated Ando, and has racked up 4 defenses of the title whilst showing genuine signs of improvement. For Ando the bout will be a chance to gain some revenge over Kuroki but a loss will almost be the end of her hard career. In a really interesting supporting bout we'll see the struggling Hideo Sakamoto (16-3-3, 5) face of with Ryotaro Kawabata (11-2-2, 5). Sakamoto made a name for himself in 2014, when he upset Hiroki Shiino, and looked to be beading towards a Japanese title, but a draw with Hiroaki Teshigawara has been followed by losses to Kentaor Masuda and Seizo Kono, leading some to wonder how much he has left. For Kawabata the bout is a chance to score his biggest win following draws against the likes of Hirofumi Mukai and Rene Dacquel. It's hard to know how good Kawabata is, but he did run Mark John Yap very close just a few fights back and clearly has potential. Osaka, Japan Another title bout in Japan sees unbeaten youngster Takuya Uehara (10-0, 6) battle Filipino Markquil Salvana (11-2, 5) for the WBC Youth Featherweight title. For Uehara this will be his first title bout, but his team have prepared him pretty well with a string of 8 rounders, though he has only gone that distance once. Salvana has previously fought for a title, losing in a WBA Oceania title fight in 2015, and is struggling for form coming into this bout with 2 stoppages losses in his last 4. On paper this looks good but with Salvana's struggle and the fact he is moving up in weight does mean it's hard to see anything but a win for Uehara. On the under-card here we'll see the now struggling Tatsuya Ikemizu (13-2, 6) battle against limited Thai Jaipetch Chaiyonggym (5-6, 1). Ikemizu has lost 2 of his last 3 bouts, albeit to good fighters in the form of Mak John Yap and Jonas Sultan, and is now looking to rebuild his career before being written off. Despite the set backs Ikemizu was the 2013 Bantamweight Rookie of the Year and has shown plenty of promise, though one wonders about his mental state. Jaipetch is expected to offer no resistance and will likely suffer his 5th stoppage loss. Hyogo, Japan There will also be a show in Hyogo, featuring no title action. The main event of the show will see former Japanese title challenger Takumi Sakae (14-1-1, 9) face off with Ryoki Hirai (7-4-1, 3) as Sakae looks to end a bad year. Sakae began 2013 as a world ranked hopeful but a loss in a Japanese title fight with Tatsuya Fukuhara and a technical draw against Lito Dante has left him really needing to rebuild and a win over Hirai here would steady the ship leading into 2017. It looks like Hirai is a safe opponent for Sakae, with little to really test the youngster, but their will be questions about Sakae's confidence following the year he has had. On the under-card wee see the once beaten Tetsu Araki (6-1-1) look to score a third straight win as he takes on Takuya Fujioka (7-5-1, 1) for the second time. This looks like a straight forward win for Araki, who's only loss was a razor thin set back to Tenta Kiyose in September 2015, however Fujioka did run Araki very close when the two men first fought back in July 2015. Another notable under-card bout here will see Giraffe Kirin Kanda (7-2, 4) take on Shota Aikawa (5-6-2, 2) in an interesting looking contest. On paper Kanda will be the favoured fighter but he was stopped inside a round last December and has fought only a single round since that loss . Aikawa has lost his last 2, but will come in here looking to change that here against a possibly rusty Kanda.
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Fukuoka, Japan The most notable of two Japanese shows this coming Sunday comes from Fukuoka, and features two notable hopefuls. In the main event we'll see Japanese Welterweight puncher Yuki Beppu (13-0, 13) hunt a 14th straight stoppage as he takes on a Thai foe. A win here for Beppu will almost certainly be his final step before moving into a title bout next year. Sadly unless the Thai visitor is better than most “unnamed” Thai's fighting in Japan this really isn't going to serve as any type of preparation for a title fight. Also on this card will be Takumi Sakae (13-1-1, 8),who will look to put a bad year behind him. Sakae will be up against a Thai foe, like Beppu, but he needs a win here to stop 2016 being a total write off. He lost his unbeaten record in March, losing to Tatsuya Fukuhara in a Japanese title fight, and subsequently had a technical draw with Lito Dante in July. Okayama, Japan A second Japanese show comes from Okayama and will features only one bout of real interest at the Japanese domestic level. That bouts will see the unbeaten Seigo Yuri Akui (7-0-1, 3) take on Yamato Uchinono (6-6-5, 4) in an interesting match up. Akui, the 2015 Rookie of the Year at Flyweight, is stepping up to his first 8 round. Uchinono has lost 4 of his last 5 but has mixed at a better level than the unbeaten youngster and could genuinely be a good test for a man moving up in class. It's fair to say this Sunday doesn't look the best day for fight fans, saying that however there are two shows in Japan Fukuoka, Japan One of those comes from Fukuoka where we will see pair of notable Japanese fighters in action, as they both look to build towards title fights. In the main event fight fans will see former Japanese title challenger Takumi Sakae (13-1, 8) battle against Filipino foe Lito Dante (11-6-3, 6). For Sakae this will be his first bout since being out pointed by Tatsuya Fukuhara in March, in what was a competitive but clear win for the defending champion. This bout will be a great chance to see how Sakae bounced back from that defeat, but Dante shouldn't be over looked and he is incredibly tough and very under-rated. This should be a real test for Sakae. Also on this card is former multi-time Japanese title challenger Yosuke Kirima (22-6-2, 15), who faces a Thai foe in a 6 rounder. For Kirima it may well be last chance saloon and another loss is likely to end his dreams of ever becoming a champion, especially given he has lost 2 of his last 3, however the 31 year old will perhaps know that stringing together a few wins now could, potentially, land him a title fight in the next 12-18 months. Aichi, Japan The other card is a low quality show from Aichi. In the main event of this card the heavy handed Takuya Mizuno (8-1-1, 8) will be up against the hard matched Shota Okuda (7-3, 2). Whilst Mizuno has got the undeniable edge in power, given his 80% KO rate, it should be noted that Okuda has shared the ring with Ryota Kajiki and Shinji Takayama, both of whom are better than anyone Mizuno has faced. This should be a really goof test for both but Mizuno should take the win, if he's as good as some suspect. In the co-feature Daiki Ichikawa (6-2, 4) will be facing off against Petchmahalert Eminent Air (0-2), with both men trying to bounce back from successive losses. Ichikawa started his career 6-0 and looked promising but losses in his last two bouts have killed his momentum and it's clear this easy match up has been made to get him back on the winning road. Kumamoto, Japan The Champion Carnival continues this Saturday as Japanese fans get a Minimumweight title fight between two world ranked fighters each looking to prove their ability and move towards a world title fight. That champion carnival bout will see Japanese champion Tatsuya Fukuhara (16-4-5, 6) defending his title, for the first time, against the unbeaten Takumi Sakae (13-0, 8). The champion won the title last year, out pointing a determined Hiroya Yamamoto, though is best known for set backs against Yu Kimura, Takuma Inoue, who was making his debut, and Fahlan Sakkreerin Jr, who he actually held to a draw. For Sakae this is a big step up in class and although he won the Rookie of the Year in 2013 he hasn't really kicked on since. This is an acid test for both and the winner will almost certainly be thinking about world honours later in the year. The only other bout of note on this card will see Japanese ranked Ryusei Yoshida (26-8, 13) face off with Thailand's Maneeden Kiatpratpat (0-0) in a 10 round support bout at 140lbs. Yoshida has gone 3-5 in the last 4 years but will be hoping to get his career back on track with a victory over Maneeden. Shanghai, China For a second day running Chinese fans have action with a show in Shanghai. This time around the main bouts come at 154lbs where we see two battles of unbeaten fighters. One of those bouts will see Tong Hui Li (5-0, 3) take on Cheng Su (7-0-1, 5) in a contest between two 26 year olds. On paper this is a huge step up for both men but the winner should establish themselves as one of the more notable Chinese fighters. The other bout will see teenager Alimu Tuersun (5-0-1) face off against 30 year old puncher Qiang Luo (5-0, 4) in what looks likely to be a “skill Vs power” match up. Neither of these two have faced anyone of note so far and this really could be a very intriguing bout. California, USA In the USA fight fans will be able to see Kyrgyzstan born America based Urmat Ryskeldiev (11-3-2, 7) take on Aaron Coley (12-1-1,6). This looks like a really watch matched bout and although Coley will be favoured it is worth noting that Ryskeldiev is an upset minded fighter who always comes to win and could well shock the naturally bigger Coley. This coming Sunday Japanese fans get the choice of two shows Fukuoka, Japan In Fukuoka Japanese fans get an interesting card with a trio of unbeaten fighters all looking to extend their perfect runs. The most well known of those three is the world ranked Takumi Sakae (12-0, 8) who puts his perfect record and rankings on the line against little known domestic rival Munehito Kijima (6-7-1). This should be a clear win for Sakae however we're unsure if he's really deserving of his world rankings and we really can't wait to see him really tested. Saying that though he is a fun to watch fighter with a lot of potential. Another man showing real potential, and genuine excitement, is Yuki Beppu (9-0, 9) who puts his perfect KO run on the line against Indonesian fighter Yasmet Star (3-4, 3). On paper this looks like an easy win for Beppu, and it really should be a blow out for the power puncher given that Star has been stopped in 3 of his 4 losses. If Beppu, as expected, blows away Star here we're hoping to see him move onto Japanese ranked foes in 2016 ahead of potential domestic title fights in the next 12-18 months. The other unbeaten fighter on this card worth making a note of is Kotaro Ishibashi (3-0-2, 3) who faces Shota Aikawa (4-4-2, 1) in a 6 rounder. At 36 years old Ishibashi cannot waste much time so a win here could see him being moved quickly towards the 8 round distance. As well as the three unbeaten fighters we're also genuinely excited to see the professional debut of Yuki Koha (0-0) who is tipped as one to watch at 140lbs. Koha makes his debut against Indonesian visitor Rian Cobra (2-1, 1). On paper this isn't a terrible debut for the Japanese fighter who is facing a man who's only loss was a 4-round TKO loss to Yusuke Yamanouchi back in May, and if Koha can impress then there's a good chance he'll be put on a fast track. Osaka, Japan A second Japanese show, which also features a number of interesting bouts, comes from Osaka. The first of two main events here is a rematch between former world champion Sonny Boy Jaro (41-13-5, 29), of the Philippines, and Shota Kawaguchi (18-6-1, 8). These two men met earlier this year, with Jaro claiming a close decision win, but Kawaguchi will be looking for revenge in what will almost certainly be a brilliant and competitive contest. Interestingly Jaro's win Kawaguchi last time out was Jaro's first win in Japan having lost in 3 previous bouts in the country. The co-main on this show will see Shingo Kawamura (10-2-1, 5) battle Shun Ishibashi (10-17-1, 4) in an all southpaw match up. On paper this should be a straight forward win for Kawamura though he has gone 1-1-1 in his last 3 bouts whilst Ishibashi is certainly better than his record suggests. This could be a very good test for Kawamura if he's to move on to title level in the next 12 months. Fukuoka, Japan After a small break in Japan action things get back under-way today with some really notable fighters, sadly however they are set to be involved in bouts that look likely to be mismatches. The main event features unbeaten prospect Takumi Sakae (11-0, 7) defending his world rankings against Indonesian visitor Hengky Elleuw (3-2, 3). Sakae isn't nearly ready for a world title fight, but should be focusing on a domestic title fight by the end of the year, sadly however this is a nothing bout, a real waste of time for the talented youngster who is staying active but should be facing much better foes. An equally meaningless bout between a local fighter and an Indonesian visitor will see Yosuke Kirima (20-4-2, 13) battle again Yasmet Star (1-2, 1). Star was stopped in a round last time out and has never beaten a fighter with a win and whilst we don't rate Kirima as a world beater he should still be far too good for the visitor, even on a very bad day. Another mismatch comes at Welterweight where the exciting Yuki Beppu (8-0, 8) battles against Thailand's Topform Sithsaithong (0-0). Beppu was the 2014 All-Japan Welterweight Rookie of the Year and he looked really powerful, even if he was a little crude, last year and has got a lot of promise. Hopefully we'll see that promise later this year in a more meaningful bout than this one. As well as the 3 bouts mentioned this card is set to include a further 3 bouts. (Image courtesy of boxmob.jp) Hwacheon, South Korea
For the second in the space of just a few days action is in South Korea, this time however it's a KBF sanctioned card and a very interesting looking one at that with Japanese, Thai and Korean fighters all in action and with titles up for grabs. One of the main events will see Japanese youngster Takumi Sakae (10-0, 6), the WBA #11 ranked Minimumweight, battle against Thailand's Jaipetch Chaiyonggym (4-2, 2) for the IBF Youth Light Flyweight title. Sakae will be fighting outside of Japan for the first time as a professional and is tipped as a hot prospect in the lower weights, as for Jaipetch he'll be hoping to record a third successive win after suffering losses to bother Jonathan Taconing and Denver Cuello last year. Another of the main events will see Takuya Watanabe (22-5-1, 10) fighting on the road for the 4th time in less than a year. Watanabe, who was memorably in a blood bath in Korea last year with Jaesung Lee, will be fighting against Thailand's Non Sithsaithong (12-6, 8). For Watanabe this will be the first defence of his IBF Asia title that he won last year when he stopped Yodpichai Sithsaithong, also in Korea. A third major bout will see Shingo Eto (14-3-1, 9) fighting against former OPBF Featherweight title challenger Maxsaisai Sithsaithong (15-6, 4) in a bout for the IBF Asia Super Featherweight title. For Eto this is his first bout since his loss to Rikki Naito in a Japanese title fight and despite that loss he will have to start as a huge favourite here. As well as those 3 bouts there will be a number of bouts on the undercard, albeit at a much lower level. Misamis Oriental, Philippines As well as the show in South Korea there will also be a small show in the Philippines. The most interesting bout here will see Jerry Tomogdan (15-5-2, 8) battle against the unbeaten Joey Canoy (8-0-1, 3) for the Philippines Boxing Federation (PBF) Minimumweight title. It's not a bout that will set the winner on the road to a world title bout but it will be a significant bout domestically and could potentially move the winner towards an OPBF title fight later in the year. The biggest name on the card is the criminally under-rated Adones Aguelo (23-10-2, 15) battles against the very mis-matched William George (10-20, 3). We like Aguelo, a lot, and hope to see him in much better fighters through out the year. Sadly this show appears to have another mismatch on it as Renoel Pael (15-1-1, 6) battles against the horribly matched Nicardo Calamba (6-18-3, 3) in what appears to be a very poor match and also the show's main event. This Sunday isn't an action packed day but there is plenty of action with two Japanese cards and one Filipino show. Aichi, Japan One of those two shows takes place at the Aioi Hall in Aichi. This one will be headline by a contest between the the Japanese ranked Lightweight Daiki Koide (21-7-2, 9) and the heavy handed Tatsuya Miyazaki (8-5-1, 8). Koide needs to be favoured but has been stopped in the past and if Miyazaki catches him we could see Kiode suffer his 3rd loss in just 4 fights and if that happens his dream of becoming a champion, even at domestic level, could well be over. In the co-feature in this show Ryosuke Maruki (7-3-1, 5) will be in action against an Indonesian opponent, sadly we've been unable to find the Indonesian on boxrec though we suspect that Maruki hasn't been matched hard here, Strangely this co-feature is scheduled for 10 rounds whilst the main event is just an 8 rounder. We're unsure why but we do know Maruki has lost he previous 2 bouts, both of which narrow 10 round decision losses. In a 6 rounder on the undercard Kosuke Mizuno (6-4-2, 2) will be taking on Kazuki Fukakura (7-7-2, 3). This isn't a huge bout but it should be an entertaining domestic level contest. As well as the 3 bouts mentioned this show will feature a further 6 contests giving the card 9 bouts in total. Fukuoka, Japan The other show comes from the Fukuoka prefectural gymnasium and will feature 7 bouts, 3 of which feature an fighter of some form of interest. One of those men is the OPBF and Japanese ranked Bantamweight Yoshihiko Matsuo (17-5-6, 3) who will be battling against Tatsuya Miyamoto (10-12-1, 6). Miyamoto is very limited and has won just 3 of his last 10 and shouldn't pose Matsuo any problems on paper, though he surprisingly did hold him to a 6 round draw last time out in a real surprise. We suspect Matsuo will be going in to this bout to make a statement but it's hard to be sure given the previous contest between the two men. For us the star of the show is the unbeaten 21 year old Minimumweight Takumi Sakae (9-0, 5) who will be going for his 10th straight win as he takes on a Thai visitor. Ranked #10 by the JBC and #15 by the WBA Sakae is on the way to achieving something notable in the course of his career. Although we're unsure who the Thai is it's fair to say he'll be coming to win and would love to upset a "world ranked" fighter like Sakae. For those who haven't seen Sakae we have managed to hunt down the video of his Rookie of the Year final win from last year which can be seen here. Strangely the main event on this show will see Keisuke Nakayama (6-1, 3) taking on another Thai fighter that we don't recognise. We've got to admit that we find it strange Nakayama is in the main event though we suspect he's almost assured of a win with his opponent likely to be a limited one picked to get beaten easily by the Fukuoka local. Metro Manilla, Philippines In the Philippines Johnny Elorde Promotions puts on an 8 bout show with a few interesting looking contests though nothing that will really interest an international boxing audience. The biggest name on the card is WBC #10 ranked Light Flyweight Lionel Legada (12-6-1, 5) who will be risking his world ranking as he takes on the once beaten Rene Patilano (11-1-2, 6). It's interesting to note that Patilano comes into this bout on a 5-fight unbeaten run, including an 8 round technical draw with current WBA interim Light Flyweight world champion Rany Petalcorin. We're unsure how Legada is still ranked given that he's lost 4 of his last 7 and we are actually to see him lose again here. In the co-feature the unbeaten Randy Braga (13-0-1, 3) will be fighting Benjie Suganob (8-2-1, 4) in what we suspect could be a tough test for the unbeaten man who has been prone to have head clashes in recent bouts. Unfortunately many of the other bouts appear to be mismatches though we do like the look of the 6 rounder between Roderick Flores (3-0-1, 1) and Ryan Medez (1-2-2) which could end up being a very tough contest. (Image courtesy of boxmob.jp) After a great month of June we're disappointed to say that July seems to be limping to begin a new month, almost as if it's out of breath. Thankfully we do have the odd interesting bout but on the whole Sunday will not be a day to remember. Grozny, Russia Although this weekend is certainly not one to remember, especially not when we consider how great some of the other weekends have been. One redeeming factor is that Sunday will feature a pretty tasty card from Russia with a number of interesting contest at varying levels. The main event of the show will be a very interesting contest between Uzbekistan's Ruslan Chagaev (32-2-1, 20) and American veteran Fres Oquendo (37-7, 24). The men, who will be battling for the "vacant" WBA Heavyweight title, are likely fighting for their career and the loser will almost certainly be thinking about hanging up their gloves. Unfortunately whilst the belt is for a "world title" it's probably the most paper belt in boxing and sees gthe WBA further devaluing the Heavyweight division, thankfully though it's a good enough bout to just enjoy for what it is. It's not just the Chagaev/Oquendo bout on the Russian show, in fact that is just 1 of 3 Heavyweight bouts on the show, but it is clearly the highlight bout. One of the other Heavyweight contests however did catch our eye and that was the bout between the unbeaten Apti Davtaev (6-0, 6), who has stopped all 6 opponents so far in the first 2 rounds, and the more experienced Oleksandr Nesterenko (9-2, 4). Nesterenko may have been stopped last time out but this is still a great step up for Davtaev who has a nice record but little stands out other than the numbers. One other bout on the show we'd like to note is a Welterweight contest that will see the unbeaten Viskhan Murzabekov (8-0, 4) battle against the far more experienced Igor Faniyan (14-8-2, 7) in a battle for the vacant WBC Youth Intercontinental Welterweight title. It's a good step up for the unbeaten 23 year old, dubbed "Little Tyson", and Faniyan should prove to be an excellent test for the unbeaten man. As well as the 3 bouts we've spoken about we are expecting a further 4 bouts on this show. Fukuoka, Japan As well as the Russian show we also have a trio of domestic cards in Japan. One of those is an 8 bout show at the Kyushu Kyoritsu University. This show will be headlined by a very intriguing contest between Yosuke Kirima (18-4-2, 13) and the unbeaten Takahito Osaka (6-0-2, 4). Kirima is ranked by the JBC and OPBF at Light Middleweight but the 23 year old Osaka will not be coming to the ring to just make up numbers and this could be a very good 8 round bout. Sadly one of the others bouts on the card made us simply shake our heads and wonder what the match making was thinking. This bout is the contest between the unbeaten and fast rising Takumi Sakae (8-0, 5) and the very poor Indonesian visitor Boy Tanto (6-14) who will be unlikely to see out the first sustained attack from Sakae who impressed us a lot last year when he won the Rookie of the Year competition. Osaka, Japan At the IMP Hall in Osaka we get several interesting contests including a major domestic clash at Minimumweight as the highly ranked, domestically, Naoki Matsumoto (9-7-2, 2) battles former multi-time title challenger Kenichi Horikawa (25-13-1, 4). Horikawa is the favourite here for us but the winner will certainly start eyeing up a Japanese title for in their next fight or two with both men being that level of fighter and this is why it's such a great bout despite neither man having a great record. Another very interesting Japanese domestic bout will see the unbeaten Tatsuya Ikemizu (10-0, 4) battling against Satoshi Niwa (15-17-3, 2). On paper this is a total mismatch but in reality it's a fantastic test for Ikemizu who has never fought at this level before. It's not often a fighting with 17 losses from 35 bouts is a step up but Niwa is much better than his record would indicate and Ikemizu will have to step up his game to over-come Niwa. One more bout of note on this card will see the unbeaten Ryuto Kyoguchi (11-0-1, 8) battling against the very tough Kenta Takahashi (10-7-3, 3). Kyoguchi is a heavy handed prospect but Takahashi has never been stopped in his 20 bouts and this could see Kyoguchi asked some serious questions about a plan B. Of course if Kyoguchi can stop Takahashi then we have a serious puncher on our hands. Aichi, Japan The weakest of the Japanese cards is at the Aioi Hall in Aichi and will feature 9 bouts in total. Sadly despite having 9 bouts none are really worth much attention with the most significant of them being a contest between Yuji Shimizu (15-8-1, 1) and Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi (1-3). Whilst the records really should have been enough to rule this fight off it's an even bigger mismatch than it looks with Yamaguchi being a 34 year old with no recorded fights in almost 7 years. Awful match up and very poor card we're afraid. (Image courtesy of the13thround) |
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