​May 18th 2019-Sumida City Gymnasium, Tokyo, Japan
​Yusaku Kuga (17-3-1, 12) vs Ryoichi Tamura (12-3-1, 6) II

One of the very best bouts from 2019 took at the Sumida City Gymnasium last May when Japanese Super Bantamweight champion Ryoichi Tamura [田村 亮一] took on mandatory challenger Yusaku Kuga [久我勇作]. This was the second bout between the two men, with Kuga having won the first bout. This is a brutal, exciting and thrilling bout well worthy of a watch by anyone who considers themselves a fight fan.

A huge thanks to DANGAN Boxing for uploading this and making it available to a wider audience than just subscribers to their boxingraise service.

Back in late November there was a show in Taiwan that featured not only two talented local prospects but also some notable Japanese names, in the form of former Japanese Super Bantamweight champion Ryoichi Tamura [田村亮一] and talented former amateur standout Daisuke Sugita [杉田大祐], both in minor title bouts.

This card is a chance to see some of the early stages of Taiwan's boxing development, and whilst it's not the highest level action it certainly has a place in boxing, and we suspect Taiwan will become a notable player in the coming years.

March 15th 2015- Kyuden Gym, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Japan
Hideo Sakamoto (15-1-2, 5) Vs Ryoichi Tamura (3-1-1, 1)

Last year we saw Hideo Sakamoto come to our attention with an upset win against the then world ranked Hiroki Shiino. In his first bout following that one Sakamoto took on the talented but inexperienced Ryoichi Tamura, who was best known for stopping Kenji Kubo late last year. On paper this looked like a mismatch though for fans who had follow the fighters in question it looked very good match making.

(Video courtesy of aka0113)

In the west fans wouldn't get excited if they saw men with records of 2-1-1 and 5-2-1 (2) fighting against each other. In fact with records like that you would suspect the fighters would be opening a small card with next to no interest in the bout which would likely be a 4 rounder. In Japan however fighters like that can actually be very talented and fighters between them can be genuine good fights with 2 men who have genuine talent. That was seen in the recent 8 round bout between Ryoichi Tamura and Kenji Kubo.

The bout had it all. It had good quality boxing early on, it had high tempo action in the middle and at the end it had a definitive winner as one of the fighters, who looked exhausted from his effort, was dropped hard. For those who like action this was a bout they should enjoy and hopefully we'll get to see a lot more of both men.

(Video courtesy of nov K)