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The Macau boxing scene is obvious dependent on the success of Zou Shiming though with Shiming being in his 30's already the long term success depends on the success of other local talent such as the exciting Rex Tso, from Hong Kong, and Macau's very own Kuok Kun Ng. We all know Tso is limited but exciting but Ng strikes us a better schooled and more technically capable fighter, in fact we like Ng a lot. Sadly in his most recent bout Ng discovered something very telling, his corner isn't as good as he is. Ng was fighting the rough and tough Steve Attard and after a headclash in round 1 he was cut with his corner unsure of what to do. It became a major issue later in the bout and hopefully will have taught Ng a valuable lesson, he needs a corner with some experience not a corner who are as new to the sport as he is. If he can get that sorted for his next bout then we'd expect to see a more confident and complete performance from a man who really is developing into a talented, though still flawed, young fighter.
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The Philippines has numerous interesting and exciting fighters. Due to the depth of the Filipino boxing scene it can be easy to lose track of some of the exciting young fighters, for example Jerwin Ancajas. The promising Pinoy looked sensational on his Macau debut earlier this year and again looked like a fantastic prospect as he returned to Macau and made light work of Tanzania's Fadhili Majiha. The fight wasn't an easy one for the talented Filipino but he never looked in any trouble before finishing off his foe in eye catching fashion with a monster straight left hand. Macau is quickly becoming a new Asian hub of boxing and that's courtesy not just of Zou Shiming and Manny Pacquiao but also lesser known local talent, such as the always fun to watch Rex Tso who is really never in an unexciting bout. We saw Tso in action on the most recent Macau card as he battled against Indonesian journeyman Espinos Sabu in what was one of the shows most exciting contests. We won't pretend that this bout was a FOTY candidate but it was certainly an entertaining affair between two men looking to put on a show and give the fans their money's worth When we talk about the best fighter in the world it's hard to avoid the name of Roman Gonzalez who continually proves to be one of the most impressive offense fighters. He showed his power, aggression, pressure and destructiveness again recently as he defeated Filipino tough guy Rocky Fuentes in a bout that should have been tough but was made to like very easy by the Nicaraguan. Whilst the performance and result were both very impressive it needs to to be noted that this contest came just weeks after Gonzalez's win over Akira Yaegashi in September. After the fight fight Gonzalez said he was willign to fight with either Kazuto Ioka or Naoya Inoue two other fights that would be genuinely great and both of which would likely see Gonzalez returning to Japan where he is clearly very popular. Japanese fighters have a reputation for being incredibly tough. We saw this stereotype last year in a 2013 FOTY contender between Nihito Arakawa and Omar Figueroa, we saw it again in 2014 when Hidenori Otake took the best shots of Britain's Scott Quigg, and came back for more. The bout wasn't the most competitive but Otake did show insane toughness, heart and energy in a brilliant losing effort. For those wondering about history, this was the first time a Japanese fighter had traveled to Britain to challenge a world champion since Akio Kameda challenged Terry Marsh back in the 1980's. Sadly like Kameda we saw Otake fall short and we've still not seen a Japanese fighter win a world title in Europe. Japanese fighter Shindo Go has had an interesting few months recently ahead of a defense of the WBC female Flyweight title against Arely Mucino. The upcoming Go Vs Mucino bout will be Go's second bout outside of Japan following her 2012 bout with Mexican female boxing star Mariana Juarez. This bout was the one that put Go on to the boxing map. We won't ruin the result, or the action though we will say that following this bout plenty wanted to see a rematch and many wanted to see more of both women, both of whom showed their ability in a very well fought bout that showed female boxing can, at it's absolute best, be thrilling, exciting and and combine all the great things we love about boxing. When we talk about controversy in boxing we usually mean poor judging though when it comes to Filipino fighter Rodel Mayol we are often talking about his actions and at one point he was the most controversial men in boxing. His bouts often seemed to end in odd fashion and have some sort of strange talking point. One of the most controversial Mayol bouts saw him fighting Edgar Sosa for the WBC Light Flyweight title and the bout was horribly marred by a devastating clash of heads on round 2 that left Sosa looking like damaged goods until Mayol eventually saw off the Mexican later in he same round. Rather funnily Mayol's follow up bout was just as controversial as he was knocked out by Omar Nino Romero in a bout that resulted in a technical after Romero connected with a low blow followed by a devastating left hook. (Video courtesy of Jerome Naldoza) Some bouts have results that don't fully reflect the fight it's self. One such bout was the action packed though very short lived contest between Filipino slugger Sonny Boy Jaro and Mexican wild man Giovani Segura. Going in Segura was the WBA Light Flyweight champion and one of the most feared little men in the sport though Jaro went into the bout with the intention of winning a shoot out. What we ended up getting was just over a minute of chaos as both men swung for the fences, sadly though Jaro was unable to avoid a devastating body shot that left him in pure agony. Many fans only remember Jaro losing though prior to the stoppage the contest was thrilling. (Video courtesy of Jerome Naldoza) Filipino youngster Marvin Sonsona seems likely to be one of boxing's modern day enigma's. At his best he is a tremendous fighter with all the tools to be a true star of the sport whilst at his worst he is a nightmare to watch and a man who can turn fans away almost as easily as he can excite them. Part of the Sonsona enigma was shown in his bout with the teak tough, though at the time relatively unknown, Alejandro Hernandez. The bout came just 2 months after Sonsona had won the WBO Super Flyweight title though saw him being forced to vacate the belt after missing the Super Flyweight limit by more than 2lbs. In the ring the contest was incredibly competitive but the failure to make weight seemed to begin a career crisis for Sonsona who would suffer a stoppage in his very next fight before almost retiring from the sport. As for Hernandez we recently saw him in a contest with Tomoki Kameda in which he gave the Japanese fighter a very tough contest. (Video courtesy of BunchesInPunches) Despite both Japan and Britain being regarded major boxing countries fights between involving men from both countries do seem to be oddly rare. The last time we saw fighters from the two countries collide in the UK was when Akio Kameda attempted to dethrone IBF Light Welterweight champion Terry Marsh way back in 1987. For Kameda it was his second world title fight, having previously come up short against the excellent Aaron Pryor, and it would also serve as his last bout. Incidentally it would also be Marsh's final bout before he retired. We won't ruin this bout for those who haven't seen it though we advise fans stay with it despite a relatively forgettable opening round as the bout really picks up in round 2. For those who are interested, the bout alluded to by the commentator with Howard Winstone was Winstone's fight with Mitsunori Seki in 1968. |
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May 2024
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