This coming Friday is certainly not a busy day for Asian, fighters but there is a Kazakh fighter in action, looking to bounce back from suffering their first professional loss late last year.
Bolton Whites Hotel (formerly De Vere Whites), Bolton, Lancashire, United Kingdom The bout in question will take place in the UK and will see talented Lightweight Viktor Kotochigov (12-1, 5) clashing with the unbeaten Gary Cully (11-0, 5) in a bout for the vacant WBO European Lightweight title. The 27 year old Kotochigov was upset last October, when he lost a decision to the tricky Maxi Hughes in Dubai, and a second straight loss would be a major hit to his career. Cully, from the Republic of Ireland, has impressed in recent bouts, and blew out the unbeaten Joe Fitzpatrick just over a year ago. He'll be looking to build on that win here. Although not the most exciting of bouts, and neither man is a dynamite puncher, this should be a very competitive match up and, on paper, looks very even. --- Note, there was a scheduled bout between Ali Akhmedov (16-1, 12) and Scott Sigmon (35-14-1, 17) for this date. According to Vesti.KZ that bout was cancelled due to the purse offered to Sigmon being less than he was willing to accept.
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This coming Friday we are set to get action featuring Asian fighters from Japan, Dubai and the US
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan In Japan we get a low key, but very interesting, card from the Kaneko Gym. The main event here will see former OPBF and WBO Asia Pacific Middleweight champion Shinobu Charlie Hosokawa (12-5-1, 11) taking on unheralded prospect Rei Nakajima (3-0), who is stepping up massively. At 36 years old Hosokawa has seen better days and he has struggled for form recently, going 1-2-1 in his last 4, but he is still a heavy handed, physically strong, and experienced fighter who is a real danger man on the Japanese and Oriental scene. Nakajima on the other hand is a touted prospect at 154lbs and will be taking a massive step up in class. Aged 22 Nakajima is one of the most over-looked Japanese prospects out there, but a win here would get him series attention. In an interesting looking support bout Japanese ranked Bantamweight Yoshihiro Utsumi (16-9-3, 10) will be up against the once beaten Tulio Kuwabata (3-1, 2). The 36 year old Utsumi is very much on the back end of his career, and he has suffered losses to Hiroaki Teshigawara and Kazuki Nakajima in his last 6, but he will go into this fight with a point to prove. As for Kuwabata this is a must win following a big upset loss in December, when he was stopped by Ken Jordan. Kuwabata looks like a real talent, but the loss to Jordan was a major set back and he can't afford another one here. Another ranked fighter on this card is Jin Miura (10-3-4, 1), who takes on the once beaten Daiki Wakamatsu (7-1, 4) in one of the better looking bouts of the day. Amazingly Miura has won just 1 of his last 5, but has some how gone 1-0-4 during that run, including draws with Shingo Kawamura and Mugicha Nakagawa. Although unranked himself Wakamatsu comes into this bout with form and has won his last 6, following an early career loss. On paper this is a bit of a toss up and should be a very interesting match up. One other bout deserving of a mention is one pitting Japanese ranked Super Flyweight Takahiro Fujii (11-6-1, 3) against Akira Kokubo (8-9-3, 2), in a battle of 30-something's. This bout, technically the chief support bout, is an all southpaw bout that could end up a very compelling contest, though is unlikely to be hugely exciting. Fujii enters with a JBC ranking, but the 31 year old isn't expected to get a shot at the title any time soon and is 4-3 in his last 7. Although Kokubo's record looks poor he is 4-1 in his last 6 and is much better than his record suggests. Caesars Palace Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates As well as the action in Tokyo we also get a show from Dubai where we'll see some more Asian action. The most notable bit of action for an Asian fighter here will see unbeaten Kazakh Viktor Kotochigov (12-0, 5) defending his WBC International Lightweight title against the under-rated Maxi Hughes (21-5-2, 4) in a very interesting match up. The 27 year old Kotochigov won the title in July 2019 and will be looking for his second defense here, as he continues to climb through the rankings towards a potential world title fight. Although very talented Kotochigov has been, at times, willing to cruise through bouts and 3 of his last 4 wins have been rather forgettable decisions. In the opposite corner to the Uzbek is a British fighter coming in on the back of an upset win over Jono Carroll. Despite having 5 losses to his name Hughes is a talented, technically sound, busy, accurate fighter and a very, very live under-dog here. Lower down the card unbeaten Indian puncher Faizan Anwar (4-0, 4) will take on Filipino journeyman JR Mendoza (11-19, 5). The 19 year old Anwar has taken just 11 rounds to blow out his first 4 opponents but may be taken rounds here. Mendoza, although sporting 11 losses, has only been stopped 3 times in his career. Saying that however he is the naturally smaller man and hasn't had a boxing contest in 5 years, and ring rust may well prove to be a major issue for him here. The Bubble, MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA Also in action will be unbeaten US based Kazakh Middleweight hopeful Zhanibek Alimkhanuly (8-0, 4). He was originally pencilled in to fight a world ranked southpaw, though sadly his original opponent was injured in training and instead the Kazakh will face Gonzalo Gaston Coria (16-3, 6). Coria is a 23 year old Argentinian southpaw, who gave 2-time world title challenger Artur Akavov a test in 2018, and should be a decent marker. Sadly after a solid 2019, which saw Alimkhanuly going 4-0 (3) it's a shame to not see him in with a more notable opponent this year. Fingers crossed that in 2021 we see Top Rank giving Alimkhanuly a big bout, as he deserves to show his skills against a top notch opponent sooner rather than later. Please note - As we try to get all of these done well in advance we have been unable to get the full MTK Kazakhstan card which still wasn't announced a week before the event. As a result we've only been able to go on the one announced bout and some of the names announced for the card.
Almaty, Kazakhstan In Kazakhstan MTK will be putting on a card full of notable fighters, including a trio of talented debutants. At the time of writing the only announced bout for the show will see 2-time World Amateur Championship Silver medal winner Kamshybek Kunkabayev (0-0) take on veteran Issa Akberbayev (20-1-0-1, 15). On paper this looks an extremely tough bout for the former amateur stand out but in reality Akberbayev isn't as good as his record suggests, he hasn't scored a win in close to 3 years, and was stopped last time out by Evgeny Tishchenko. This is one of those smart bits of match making where a prospect in a bout that looks tough, but really isn't, with Kunkabayev really expected to shine. The other debutants on this card are the sensationally talented Tursynbay Kulakhmet (0-0), who looks like he could be fast tracked to the top, and the exciting but rather unpolished Talgat Shaiken (0-0). At the time of writing neither of these men have had their opponents named, but both are expected to take on solid domestic opponents. Also scheduled for this show are Abay Tolesh (5-0, 3), Victor Kotochigov (11-0, 4), Ray Seitzhanov (2-0), Saparbay Aidarov (4-0, 2), Nurtas Azhbenov (9-0, 4), Nurdos Tolebay (2-0, 1) and Sagadat Rakhmankulov (6-1, 4). As with the debutants their bouts haven't been announced, though we suspect at least one of these fighters will take on one of the talented debutants. Fenghuang street commercial plaza, Changsha, China As well as the Kazakh card we also have a show in China. Sadly this is another of the new regular Chinese shows that feature nobody of note on it, and a lot of novices and debutants. In total we are expecting 6 bouts on this card, featuring a total of 6 debutants and 9 fighters with less than 3 bouts. Despite most of the card being scheduled for 4 rounds we do have one longer bout pencilled in for the event. That bout will see the light punching pair of Dacong Wang (5-1-1, 1) and Yajie Ding (4-4-1) face off in a bout that appears set for 10 rounds. The 22 year old Wang has gone unbeaten in 6 but has been out of the ring since April 2019, when he beat Weizhen Ni. Ding on the other hand has lost 3 of his last 4 and it's hard to know what he really offers here. His last bout was a win, but that was way back in June 2019. Although this is the main event it's certainly not a bout that has us too excited. Tokyo, Japan This coming Monday focus heads to a Kadoebi card at Korakuen Hall, where we get an OPBF title fight, a really good looking novice pro bout, and several decent supporting bouts. The main event will see OPBF Light Middleweight champion Akinori Watanabe (38-7-1, 32) making his first defense of the title, as he take on Thai challenger Sitthidet Banti (12-5, 6), in what looks like a very, very soft first defense. Watanabe has mixed against stiff competition through his career, and last December's war with Nobuyuki Shindo was truly sensational, so for him to have an easy bout isn't too bad, but it is a weak title defense. To show how weak it is, Banti was stopped by Japanese novice Takuma Takahashi back in August. Our preview of this bout can be read here Does Watanabe get an easy first defense of OPBF crown? Whilst the main event is a mismatch there is some really interesting action on this card, including a brilliant match up between Ran Tomomatsu (1-0) and Mikio Sakai (1-0). Despite both men being professional novices both were talented amateurs and they both looked great, albeit in very different ways, on their debut. Of the two Tomomatsu looks the more physical and stronger fighter, but the less technical, whilst Sakai has a flash and speedier look to him. This is a huge risk bout for both, and something to get very excited about. In another interesting support bout we'll see the talented Yuichiro Kasuya (13-2-1, 4) take on 2-time Japanese title challenger Satoru Sugita (15-6-1, 10). Since moving over to the Kadoebi gym we've seen Kasuya show more some real development, and belief in his punching, and with 3 wins already this year he does now seem to have some momentum behind him. As for Sugita this is a real must win after going 4-4 in his last 8, including his two losses in Japanese title fights. As his best Sugita would favoured against the best we've seen from Kasuya, though it's unclear what Sugita still has left and how much more Kasuya can improve. Another bout worth noting here will see talented youngster Yuki Nakajima (2-1, 2) look to bounce back from his first defeat as he takes on Yasuhiro Tanaka (6-4-2) in a good looking comeback bout. Nakajima was beaten back in August, by the excellent Ryu Horikawa and although he was beaten it wasn't a loss to be ashamed by and he's certainly not having an easy blow out here, despite Tanaka's record. Tanaka has proven to be a competitive fighter at the lower levels of the Japanese scene and went 5 rounds with the excellent Rikito Shiba last year. That will be the target for Nakajima, and if he can beat what Shiba did then we'll be impressed. Almaty, Kazakhstan As well as the action in Japan there is also a notable card in Kazakhstan, though one that appears to have gone through a number of changes in recent days. The card is being hosted to celebrate Kazakhstan Independence day, and should be a great show if you're a Kazakh with a great array of Kazakh talent on the show. Former world champion Hekkie Budler was originally announced for main event of this show, but it now appears that the main event will see Viktor Kotochigov (10-0, 4) take on Javier Jose Clavero (27-5, 5). On paper this looks like a good test for the unbeaten 26 old Kazakh, but in reality Clavero should be seen as a clear under-dog against an unbeaten prospect fighting in front of his home fans. This is a step up for Kotochigov, but one he will be be expected to win with out too many issues. A solid supporting bout will see the highly touted Sultan Zaurbek (8-0, 6) take on China's Leshan Li (16-3-2, 9), in what is Zaurbek's first title bout as they face off for the WBC Youth Super Featherweight title. We've been wanting to see Zaurbek take a step up for a while and this is exactly the sort of bout that should tell us more about the talented 23 year old. Impressive Zaurbek will be fighting for the 6th time in 2019. As for Li he's unbeaten in 3, but has yet to score a win of note in his 21 bout career. Other fighters on this card include an array of Central Asian prospects and hopefuls. They include 22 year old American based Kazakh Iskander Kharsan (7-0, 6), 2-time Olympian Khurshid Tojibaev (3-0, 2) and 2016 Olympic champion Fazliddin Gaibnazarov (7-1, 4). Eastern Cape, South Africa In South Africa we'll see another bout in the excellent Philippines Vs South Africa rivalry. This time around it'll be unheralded Filipino Joey Canoy (15-3-1, 8) taking on South African Nkosinathi Joyi (28-5-1-1, 19) in a bout for the IBO Minimumweight title. On paper Joyi will be the favourite, the former IBF world champion is the more proven and more experienced man, however Canoy will be confident of picking up the win, in what is his third visit to South Africa, and he'll be boosted by John Riel Casimero's recent win against Zolani Tete. Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan The big focus this Saturday is in the Kazakh Capital of Nur-Sultan, where the country will be celebrating Capital City day. To celebrate the day MTK will be putting on a stacked card in the city with a world title fight main event, several interesting support bouts and a host of prospects. The main event will see WBC Bantamweight champion Nordine Oubaali (15-0, 11) defending his title, for the first time, as he takes on Filipino challenger Arthur Villanueva (32-3-1, 18). The talented French-Moroccan is a real talent, and he was one of the many top Bantamweights frozen out of the WBSS, but is getting on in age and won't remain the skilled boxer-puncher that he's looked for much longer. Despite being the older fighter Oubaali will be strongly favoured here against a challenger who has lost his 3 biggest bouts, and would need a career best performance to even come close against the Frenchman. Villanueva isn't a bad fighter, but his ability is more that of a gatekeeper than a true contender. A full preview of this bout is available here Villanueva takes on Oubaali for WBC Bantamweight crown In the main supporting bout we'll see unbeaten Kazakh Zhankosh Turarov (23-0, 16) take on Mauro Maximiliano Godoy (31-4-1, 16) in a bout for the WBO Inter-Continental Light Welterweight title. The unbeaten Turarov returned to the ring in June after almost 21 months out of the ring, and took a really disappointing win over Richmond Djarbeng, who sat in his corner complaining of stomach cramps after the second round. Godoy should prove to be a good test for Turarov, but the Argentinian has lost 3 of his last 7 and may be on the slide from the fighter he once was. Still this is easily Turarov's best test on paper, so far. Another notable supporting bout will see the unbeaten Viktor Kotochigov (9-0, 4) taking on Jairo Lopez (24-10, 16), who was once regarded as a fringe contender. On paper this is a step up for the unbeaten Kazakh but Lopez is 3-4 in his last 7 and has been stopped in 3 of those 4 losses. This should be easier than it looks on paper for Kotochigov. This card will b stacked with other Kazakh prospects, as MTK go all out to put on a show for local fans with Kazakh talent. Among the prospects are Ali Baloyev (8-0, 7), Sultan Zaurbek (7-0, 5), Nurtas Azhbenov (5-0, 1), Abay Tolesh (2-0, 2) and Abilkhaiyr Shegaliyev (5-0, 4), who are in relatively easily here and won't face too much of a test as they continue to build their careers and move towards bigger bouts. Tokyo, Japan As well as the Kazakh show there is also a notable card in Tokyo thanks to Teiken. This card is a really interesting one, with a notable name in the main event, a really good chief support bout, and a host of notable prospects The main event will see Kenichi Ogawa (23-1-0-1, 17) take on limited Filipino visitor Glenn Medura (10-5-1, 6) in what will be little more than a stay busy bout for Ogawa. Originally the Japanese puncher was scheduled to have an IBF world title eliminator eliminator with South African Azinga Fuzile (14-0, 8), but Fuzile failed to secure a visa in time for the bout leading to Medura, who is 0-4 in Japan, getting the bout. We don't see this going very long at all. A much better Japan Vs Philippines bout will see Shuya Masaki (12-1, 5) take on Al Toyogon (10-3-1, 6) in an excellent match up. The once beaten Masaki, who's only loss came to Hironori Mishiro, hasn't really shined as Teiken would have wished and this is a long way from a gimme. Masaki is talented, but really needs to get prove he can put on good performances, something we don't really see from him with any consistency. Toyogon on the other hand is looking to bounce back from a recent loss to Ryo Sagawa, and will be coming into this out with a point to prove. A very interesting bout contest. One of the other main supporting bouts will be a Welterweight bout between Masaya Tamayama (12-1, 6) and Riku Nagahama (9-2-1, 4), with both men wanting to tak a big step towards a potential Japanese title fight in the near future. Nagahama is looking to secure a second win since his TKO loss last year to Yuki Nagano, who has since gone on to win the Japanese title, whilst Tamayama is looking for a 9th straight win, and a chance to take a huge step towards a big bout. Among the other supporting bouts we will see Japanese Super Flyweight prospect Hayate Kaji (12-0, 9) take on Japanese based Filipino veteran Rey Orais (20-18-2, 5), in what looks to be a chance for Kaji to take a huge step towards a Japanese title fight. It feels like Kaji has been on the verge of a break out fight for a while and whilst this isn't going to be it, it seems like a win and his next one will be his long awaited break out bout. For Orais questions should be asked why he's continuing to fight, rather than focus more on the training role he has at the Flare Yamagami gym. Lower down on this card we'll see two more touted Japanese prospects both take big steps up in class against Filipino foes. One of those is the fantastic Mikito Nakano (2-0, 2), who takes on Arvin Yurong (12-2, 3) in a genuinely good test. Nakano looks like he has the ability to move through the rankings quickly, and could fight for a title as early as late 2020, and Yurong is a very under-rated young fighter who should force answers from Nakano. The other is Kuntae Lee (1-0, 1), who's debut saw him look fantastic against an opponent who didn't want to be there. Here Lee takes on unbeaten Filipino Marlon Paniamogan (9-0-1, 5) in what should be a much, much better match up. Sadly not much is known about the visitor, so it's unclear what type of a test he will actually pose for the very talented Lee. Cebu, Philippines A smaller show takes place in the Phillipines where we see a few interesting Filipino fighters in action with a really good main event. The main event will see the unbeaten Mark Vicelles (10-0-1, 5) take on the once touted Jesse Espinas (19-3, 11). The 23 year old Vicelles isn't well known but comes into this on the back of an excellent win over Robert Onggocan, and this is a logical step up in class. As for Espinas this is a slight step backwards, but is one that makes sense given he was beaten last time out in an OPBF title bout against Edward Heno. A very interesting match up, and rightfully the main event of the card. In a good supporting bout Ponciano Remandiman (10-4-1, 5) and Prince Andrew Laurio (10-2-1, 7) will face off for the Philippines Visayas Professional Boxing Association Super Flyweight title. The 22 year old Remandiman has turned around a 2-4-1 start with 8 straight wins and has great momentum coming into this bout, as well as a good win last time out against Renz Rosia. Interestingly Lauio's career is going in the opposite direction, and he is 2-2-1 in his last 5, with stoppage losses in his last 2 bouts. His early potential appears to have been massively over-hyped and he is now really faltering. One other bout of note here will see the one beaten Tomjune Mangubat (10-1-1, 9) take on Joffrey Garcia (6-10-4, 5), in what should be another straight forward win for Mangubat. California, USA The most interesting card, by far, for the weekend comes from California, where we see several brilliant match ups, including a unification bout in the Super Bantamweight division where several Asian fighters lie in wake, including Ryosuke Iwasa and Murodjon Akhmadaliev. Despite the Super Bantamweight bout the focus for us is a Super Flyweight rematch, as WBC and Ring Magazine, champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (47-4-1, 41) takes on Mexican Juan Francisco Estrada (38-3, 26) in a mandatory rematch. These two fought in an excellent contest last year, with Srisaket taking a narrow decision over Estrada, and fans have clamoured for a rematch ever since. Both men have stayed busy since their first bout, but this is the first really meaningful bout either had since their clash. Sriskaet, regarded by many as a top pound for pound fighter, will be kicking off a new DAZN deal, whilst Estrada will be seeking a second divisional throne. A full a preview of this bout can be read here Srisaket and Estrada go again in rematch of 2018 war! On the supporting card we'll see rising unbeaten Uzbek contender Shakhram Giyasov (7-0, 6) take a step up in class to face off with Emmanuel Taylor (20-5, 14). Giyasov impressed last year picking up 6 wins, and this will be his second bout of 2019, following a win over former world title challenger Edgar Puerta in February. Taylor, known as Tranzformer is a step up in theory, but hasn't fought in almost 2 years, and has just 3 wins in the last 6 years, against 4 losses. Taylor was a capable fighter, as wins over Karim Mayfield and Victor Manuel Cayo show, but we really don't know what he has left to offer at this point in time. Also on this card is the aforementioned Murodjon Akhmadaliev (5-0, 4) who will be up against former WBC Bantamweight challenger Carlos Carlson (23-5, 14). In theory this is a tune up for the WBA #1 ranked Super Bantamweight title challenger, but in reality this should be a straight forward win for the unbeaten hopeful. Pennsylvania, USA Staying in the US we'll also see Chinese Light Heavyweight hopeful Fanlong Meng (14-0, 9) take on Daniel Najera (8-3-1, 4). This will be Meng's first bout since stopping Frank Buglioni in in November, when he scored a career best win, and it feels like a lot of the momentum he had from that bout has now been lost. Mexican fighter Najera has gone 1-3-1 in his last 5, and isn't expected to put up much of a test for Meng, who really should be taking on better opposition than this at this stage of his career. London, United Kingdom In the UK we'll see a MTK Global card featuring a pair of Kazakh prospects. The more notable of the two is Viktor Kotochigov (8-0, 4), who fights for the first time as an MTK fighter. The unbeaten Kotochigov, who shone in Poland earlier this year when he stopped Piotr Gudel, will be up against Latvian journeyman Andrejs Podusovs (16-10-1, 5). The Latvian is riding an 8 fight winning run into this bout, but has had mixed results outside of Latvia, going 8-10-1 in the UK. The other Kazakh on this card is Nurtas Azhbenov (4-0, 1), who has shown some touches of class but appears to be a bit on the feather fisted side. He will be up against an opponent who hadn't been named at the time of writing. New South Wales, Australia
In Australia we'll see unbeaten Australian puncher Brock Jarvis (15-0, 14) battle against Filipino foe Philip Luis Cuerdo (11-5-1, 4) in a bout for the IBF Youth Bantamweight title. The heavy handed Jarvis is one of Australia's most promising fighters, though he has been up against some pretty opponents so far and is in need of a step up. On paper he is stepping up in class here, but it should be noted that Cuerdo is naturally the much smaller man, and has been stopped in 3 of his last 5 bouts. Cuerdo is a decent fighter on the Filipino domestic scene, but shouldn't be in there with a bigger, strong more powerful guy like Jarvis. Legionowo, Poland In Poland we'll see unbeaten Kazakh hopeful Viktor Kotochigov (7-0, 3) battle against Piotr Gudel (9-2-1, 1) in a bout for the Republic of Poland International Super Featherweight title. The unbeaten Kotochigov has had an interesting career, with bouts in China, Russia, Georgia and Kazakhstan but this will be his first title bout. Grudel on the other hand has fought his entire career in Poland, and his most notable bout so far is a 2016 loss to Kamil Laszczyk. This should be a really interesting contest, and could well see notable doors opening for Kotochigov if he wins. Wales, United Kingdom Talking about unbeaten Kazakh's there will also be an appearance from the unbeaten Sultan Zaurbek (4-0, 3), though his opponent hasn't been announced at the time of writing. Fellow Kazakh Nurtas Azhbenov (3-0, 1) was also announced for this show, but his appearance on the card is now thought to be in some doubt. |
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