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December 31st 2015-Aichi Prefectural Gym Nagoya, Aichi, Japan Kosei Tanaka (5-0, 2) Vs Vic Saludar (11-1, 9) One of the top Prospects of 2014 was Kosei Tanaka, who claimed a world title this year in just his 5th professional bout. To end 2015 he sought the first defense of that title as he took on Filipino puncher Vic Saludar in what turned out to be a thrilling encounter of power and action. The tactics used may not have been the smartest but the action was amazing and explosive.
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May 30th 2015-Park Arena, Komaki, Aichi, Japan Kosei Tanaka (4-0, 2) Vs Julian Yedras (24-1, 13) Last year we saw Naoya Inoue stop Adrian Hernandez in his 6th professional bout to claim the WBC Light Flyweight title. That win saw Inoue setting a Japanese record for the fewest fights taken to win a world title. Today we saw Kosei Tanaka attempt to break that record as he took on Julian Yedras for the WBO Minimumweight title. March 16th 2014- International Conference Hall, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan Kosei Tanaka (1-0) Vs Ronelle Ferreras (13-6-2, 5) In 2013 we saw the professional debut of Japanese sensation Kosei Tanaka, who easily over-came Oscar Raknafa. In his second bout as a professional Tanaka took on Filipino Ronelle Ferreras. In the past we'd only had a fan-cam version of this fight though we've recently stumbled on CBC television broadcast of the fight. This broadcast version doesn't feature the full fight, though is a much higher quality than the other verion. For those interested in the fan cam version that's available here. March 2013- Kofu, Japan Kosei Tanaka (N/a) Vs Takuma Inoue (N/a) When we talk about amateur rivalries few can compare to the sensational rivalry between Kosei Tanaka and Takuma Inoue. The two men fought regularly in Japanese amateur tournaments before they both turned professional in 2013 and we believe they managed to fight 5 times. From what we understand this was the 5th and final meeting between the two hotly tipped prospects, both of whom are now expected to have major success in the professional ranks. (Video courtesy of Takaetu Inoue) March 15th 2013- Subic Bay, Philippines Kosei Tanaka (N/a) Vs Lalitha Prasad Polipalli (N/a) The 2013 Asian Youth Championships were, for some fans, their first chance to see ultra-talented Japanese youngster Kosei Tanaka who reached the finals before losing a controversial decision to Filipino Jade Bornea. On route to the final Tanaka defeated Indian boxer Lalitha Prasad Polipalli with a clear win in the semi final. For those who haven't seen Tanaka this is a great opportunity to see the then 17 year old in action. (Video courtesy of sakana1976) March 12th 2013- Subic Bay, Philippines Kosei Tanaka (N/a) Vs Erdenbaat Tsendbaatar (N/a) The 2013 Asian Youth Championships in the Philippines was a great tournament for home fighters with 4 Philippines winning gold, including Jade Bornea. Bornea over-came the very highly touted Kosei Tanaka by controversial decision in the final. One his way to the final we saw Tanaka looking like a star in the making with great movement, speed and skills. Those traits helped the talented Tanaka over come Mongolia's Erdenbaat Tsendbaatar with ease in the preliminaries. (Video courtesy of sakana1976) March 13th 2013- Subic Bay, Philippines Kosei Tanaka (N/a) Vs Jong Hyok Nam (N/a) Over the last year and a bit we have raved about Kosei Tanaka. The teenage sensation already looks ready for a world title despite having only gone 4-0 (2) in the professional ranks. Prior to turning professional however the youngster had created quite a name for himself in the amateur ranks with numerous excellent performances on both the domestic and international scene. One of his most successful international amateur tournaments was the 2013 Asian Youth Championships in the Philippines where he finished up, narrowly losing to local favourite Jade Bornea. On his route to the final Tanaka went through 4 foes, including North Korean fighter Jong Hyok Nam, who he met in the quarter finals. (Vide courtesy of sakana1976) October 30th 2014- Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan Kosei Tanaka (3-0, 1) Vs Ryui Hara (18-0, 10) Through out 2014 we were raving about a Japanese youngster who we compared to Naoya Inoue in terms of talent, in fact we later went on to proclaim him as our 2014 Prospect of the Year. That was Kosei Tanaka a teenage sensation. Tanaka's most notable bout of the year saw him taking on OPBF Minimumweight champion Ryuji Hara, a man widely regarded as a top 10, if not top 5, fighter in the Minimumweight division. It was aggressive match making from Tanaka's team but the sort of match up that can allow a young fighter to really make an impression on the sport. For fans of high speed boxing with everything on the line this is a treat and although it wasn't a "war" it was still a truly tremendous bout between two highly skilled young fighters each looking to prove themselves. [Note-This fight is the first to be featured TWICE in our video section as we were also able to come across a fan cam video of the fight which is available here] When we talk about the best prospects in the world one name that really stands out to us is Japanese youngster Kosei Tanaka. The youngster, tipped to be the next big star in Japan boxing, won his first 2 fights by decision in what were relatively one sided contests. Despite those two wins, which were both against world ranked fighters, there had been questions about his punching power. Tanaka went some way to answering the questions about his power in his third fight, a fight that saw him decimate Filipino fighter Crison Omayao inside a round. Whilst Omayao was best known for his 4th round loss to a debuting Naoya Inoue he was still a highly ranked OPBF contender and no one would have expected a performance like this from Tanaka who really looked sensational and looked every bit the champion in the making that his team and the Japanese boxing press have been making him out to be. In fact Tanaka's performance against Omayao looked more complete than Inoue's did. After the fight Tanaka said he wanted to fight for the "Toyo" championship, for us in the west that's the OPBF title. With that in mind it seems likely that we will see Tanaka chasing a fight with Ryuji Hara either later this year or early next year. (Video is thanks to KARAAGE MAN who filmed it) Whilst it's rare for a fighter to face a world ranked foe in their debut Kosei Tanaka surprisingly faced back-to-back world ranked fighters. The first was Oscar Raknafa, who was ranked in the top 10 by the WBO before Tanaka fought him, and the second was Filipino Ronelle Ferreras who was in the top 15 with the WBA. For the talented Tanaka this was a much better test than his debut and with the 8 round distance we got to see some questions about his stamina which, unsurprisingly, was solid and allowed him to go 8 rounds at a decent pace, in fact if anything it looked like he had plenty left in the tank at the final bell. Whilst the performance wasn't as impressive as those we've seen from Naoya Inoue it's hard to deny that it wasn't a very impressive performance from Tanaka who continued to show his speed, movement, skills and understanding of the sport. Of course his power is there to be questioned but so far it's difficult to even question that considering he has only been in with tough opponents so far. For Ferreras, who is 29, we're expecting him to continue around the PABA level. To see Tanaka beating a PABA level fighter in just his second bout really should make fans sit up and take note of just how much talent this young kid has. We've to to give a huge thanks to KARAAGE MAN for this video! |
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