Category: Carlos Canizales

Canizales and Kimura battle for gold in China!

5/19/2019

By - George Delis (@Delisketo)

On May 26, Sho Kimura aims to become a 2 division king as he faces the undefeated Carlos Canizales for the WBA (Regular) Light Flyweight World championship, in Fuzhou, China.

Sho Kimura (18-2 / 11 KOs) despite suffering a KO loss on his pro debut, he quickly bounced back, amassing 12 wins within 3 years, as well as the WBO Asia Pacific Flyweight title after a heated battle with Masahiro Sakamoto (13-2).

In 2017, Kimura’s biggest test took place in China when he challenged the WBO Flyweight World champion Shiming Zou (9-2). A 2 time Olympic champion & 3 times AIBA World champion, the Chinese fighter held victories over fellow accomplished amateur boxers and future World title holders like Nordine Oubaali, Amnat Ruenroeng and Rau'shee Warren. Kimura, who was coming in as the underdog and was even fighting the champion in his own country, weakened his opponent with body shots throughout the match and eventually delivered a lethal combination during the 11th round, connecting almost a dozen times with Zou’s head, to put a stop to their encounter and to win the big one.

Kimura made his triumphant return to Japan, on December of the same year, defending against the former WBC, The Ring and Lineal Flyweight World champion Toshiyuki Igarashi (23-3). Unbeaten close to 5 years, Igarashi was overwhelmed early on in the fight by Sho’s aggressive style, suffering a lot of damage, while offering almost no offense of his own. The action picked up in the later rounds, as both men started swinging for the fences, bringing the fans to their feet. Finally the end came in the 9th after he landed a straight right hand, stunning the challenger, sending him back to a corner and finishing him off with a flurry of punches. It’s worth mentioning that neither Zou nor Igarashi had ever been stopped before in their careers.

After dispatching Froilan Saludar (30-3) for an easy second title defense, Kimura lost a majority decision to now 3 division World champion Kosei Tanaka (13-0) in what was considered the best Japanese fight of 2018. 6 months later, he came back against Wicha Phulaikhao (60-11), showing no signs of ring rust, completely dominating the Thai veteran and even dropping him thrice with uppercuts in the 3rd round, earning his 11th stoppage victory and setting his sights on a second World title reign.

Carlos Canizales (21-0 / 17 KOs) made his debut in 2014, winning 19 fights in a row, all transpiring in his home country of Venezuela. After a close encounter with the WBA (Super) Light Flyweight World champion Ryoichi Taguchi (27-4), which ended in a draw, he received another shot, this time at the vacant Regular title, against Reiya Konishi (17-1) in March of last year. The Japanese champion was also undefeated at the time with 15 victories under his belt. Canizales once again found himself in a tough contest, going back and forth, but was more in control than in his previous bout, scoring also a knockdown in the 3rd round and eventually earning a unanimous decision and of course the strap.

“Triple C” met accomplished amateur star & AIBA Youth World champion Lu Bin for his inaugural WBA title defense. This was the Chinese fighter’s second only match as a pro. Canizales outclassed Bin, throwing and landing way more punches, sealing the deal in the last round after he floored him with a right straight.

Both Kimura and Canizales are action fighters. They like to throw more and hard, than less but accurate. Stylistically it’s a dream match. Even though this might go to deep waters, it wouldn’t be a surprise if we don’t need the judges in the end. Comparing the caliber of opponents they’ve faced, it’s clear that Kimura has gone up against better competition (for example: Shiming Zou – Olympic champion, Lu Bin – AIBA Youth champion) plus he knows how to work the body more efficiently than the Venezuelan. To conclude with, Kimura is most likely to leave China once again with the gold, but at the same time, there’s a reason Canizales is 21-0-1 in his professional career. Either way, their fight will certainly be a blast !

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Lu Bin chases history as he takes on Carlos Canizales!

7/9/2018

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One of the things we're big on is fighters trying to create history, push themselves and trying to do something a bit special. This coming Sunday we see a fighter try to do exactly that, as Lu Bin (1-0, 1) looks to claim a world title in just his second professional bout. He isn't attempting to do it by fighting for a vacant title, but instead by taking one one of the most feared Light Flyweights on the planet, WBA champion Carlos Canizales (20-0-1, 16). For Lu this is a chance to become the first male fighter to win a world title in fewer than 3 fights, which is the record set by Saensak Muangsurin and tied by Vasyl Lomachenko. As for Canizales this bout will be his first defense, defending the title he on in March when he over-came Reiya Konishi in a hotly contested bout in Kobe. That win came in Canizales' second world title bout, following a 2-16 split decision draw with Ryoichi Taguchi.

The 23 year old Bin was a former amateur star, following in the footsteps of Chinese compatriot Zou Shiming. He had been a break out star in the APB, the AIBA Professional Boxing league, and shone in a special 1-off exhibition against former world champion Xiong Zhao Zhong. Last September he made his professional debut, under normal professional rules, and stopped Wanchai Nianghansa, aka Chatchai Or Benjamas, in 3 rounds to claim the WBC Asian Boxing Council Silver Light Flyweight title. In that bout Bin looked like a star in the making, with tight defenses, smooth boxing, and a lovely variety of shots. Despite looking like a star in the making it's hard to ignore that Bin has fought just 3 rounds as a “proper” professional. It's also hard to ignore the fact they came against a Thai journeyman, it's not like when Muangsurin beat the in-form and world ranked Rudy Barro and Lion Furyama or when Lomachenko defeated the experienced Jose Ramirez, it was essentially a win over a very weak opponent by Bin.

Watching Lu's debut we saw a special fighter. He looked like he knew more about professional boxing than someone like Shiming was ever going to understand. Even as a little fighter he looked like his shots had spite, especially his body shots, and he was able to find holes where novices rarely find them. He had a real smoothness to his work and it was a joy to watch. There was however still the feeling that he was just a very good prospect beginning his career, not someone who was going to be challenging for a world title so early in his career, especially in one of the toughest divisions in the sport.

Venezuelan fighter Canizales was a relative unknown before his 2016 bout with Taguchi in Japan, a bout that he could well have gotten the decision for, rather than being held to a draw. After 3 straight forward wins back in Venezuela Canizales travelled back to Japan and defeated Konishi in what was a brilliant bout that saw him come close to stopping Konishi, before being forced on to the back foot. In those bouts Canizales shower that he was aggressive, hard hitting, but could box, could move and had under-rated footwork. He possibly has some question marks about his stamina, dropping his output during both those fights, but is clearly a very dangerous and talented boxer-puncher. It's notable that both his best performances have come in Asia, and this bout with Bin will take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Canziales has been a professional since July 2014 and his rise has been quick. Despite being quick he has still managed to to fit in 21 bouts so far, and fought 92 rounds. Those 92 rounds have included a couple of bouts that have gone 12 rounds and one that has gone 11. He has experience in the later stages of bouts, has proven his toughness, his power and his skills. This proven quality certainly gives him the edge over Bin. Had Bin been more experienced, more proven as a professional, this could have been viewed as a real 50-50. Instead however it seems like too much too soon for Bin, who is a real talent, but perhaps could have waited just a touch longer and fit in a few more fights before agreeing to step in the ring with Canizales.

We suspect that Bin will have his moments early on, but unfortunately we expect him to come up short later in the bout, with Canizales' experience and proven ability to do 12 rounds being the difference between the two men here. Saying that however, we would love to see Bin win here, and lay down a marker to the world of boxing, that top amateurs don't need to be held back and can be fast tracked insanely quick.

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Konishi and Canizales battle for WBA crown!

3/12/2018

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The Light Flyweight division is, arguably, the strongest ion the sport right now and also the most varied. It has boxers, like Ken Shiro and Pedro Guevara, it has action swarmers like Ryoichi Taguchi and Tetsuya Hisada, it has big punchers like Angel Acosta, Felix Alvarado and Jonathan Taconing and it has insane depth with about 15 world class fighters, many of whom are facing each other. It really is an incredible division mixing talent, depth and styles in a way that no other division is really doing.

This coming Sunday we again see the division look to deliver something special as two talented and unbeaten fighters, with different styles, face off for a world title.

The bout in question sees Japanese swarmer Reiya Konish (15-0, 5) risking his unbeaten record against Venezuelan puncher Carlos Canizales (19-0-1, 16), with both men looking to become the WBA “regular” Light Flyweight champion, and earn a shot at getting a fight with the aforementioned Taguchi.

Fighting at home Konishi will be the fan favourite for the bout, but in the eyes of many internationally he is the unknown having never fought above Japanese domestic level. The 24 year old from Kobe is however someone who is pretty proven having won the 2014 Rookie of the Year and the Japanese Minimumweight title, which he defended twice during a 9 month reign. He won the domestic title last April, defeating the talented Masataka Taniguchi, before defending hit against multi-time world title challenger Shin Ono and mandatory challenger Kenta Matsui. After the win over Matsui we saw Konishi vacate and turn his attention on to the Light Flyweight division, as if to admit his body was struggling to continue to boil down to 105lbs.

In the ring Konishi is an incredibly busy fighter with a style that involves boring forward with his hands flowing freely and a lot of leather being thrown. It's not the prettiest of styles, but it is an exciting one to watch, and he seems to be able to combine his high level of activity with accuracy and toughness. Technically he's not the most talented, or fluid of fighters, but he's someone who looks very tricky to beat, and almost impossible to out work. A big question is whether or not his style will be effective at 108lb or at world level.

Hardcore fans might remember Canizales for his draw, which happened at the end of 2016 when he challenged Ryoichi Taguchi. The bout saw some suggest that Canizales was hard done to, others suggest Taguchi had been the clear winner, but the judges were all over the place with one judge scoring the bout 116-112 to Canizales, another giving the same score to Taguchi and the third giving it a 114-114 draw. The reality, in some ways, is that Taguchi under-performed in that bout, however Canizales is a very solid fighter. The Venezuelan is a naturally heavy handed fighter, with a solid jab, a good rate and a dangerous mixture of aggression, combinations and power.

Whilst Canizales certainly looks incredibly dangerous, and has a record which backs that up, there is huge question marks about his competition. His biggest bout is the Taguchi bout, obviously, and then a win over Robert Barrera comes a somewhat distant second. Other than that, there is almost nothing of note on his record. If anything his record suggests he's merely cleaned out the local scene in Venezuela, taking on limited foe after limited foe. His record might look impressive but it's paper thin and a win over Konishi would be a career best.

Given that both men are aggressive, action fighters who throw a lot of leather we're expecting something very special. Both men like to come forward, and we're expecting to see that happen here in a FOTY contender. On paper Canizales has the edge in power whilst Konishi has the home advantage. On paper Canizales is the fighter more proven at 108lbs, but Konishi the fighter with more experience against good competition. It's a hard one to call, but we're leaning toward Konishi taking the decision in a truly action packed war, which will see a lot of punches thrown and a lot of fantastic, jaw dropping exchanges.

This will be close, great fun and something for the fans at the Portopia Hotel to really savour, and we think those fans will help Konishi take the win and the title.

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Taguchi takes on unbeaten Canizales!

12/27/2016

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To end 2016 we'll see WBA Light Flyweight champion Ryoichi Taguchi (25-2-1, 11) return to the ring as he looks for his 6th title defense, and takes on the unbeaten Venezuelan puncher Carlos Canizales (16-0, 13). On paper it looks like a great match up and a fantastic test for the champion but the reality is that we know next to nothing about Canizales, and really can't explain his top #3 ranking with the WBA.

On paper Canizales does look good. Unbeaten in 16, with an 83% stoppage rate, a catchy nickname “CCC”, similar to Golovkin in both respects, and at 23 presumably has a lot of potential and the belief of his team. Sadly though that potential and belief hasn't been backed up by his match making so far, in fact he has only faced 2 opponents with “winning records”, according to boxrec.com, and the most proven of those is Robert Barrera who was 12-0 (7) as the time and has since reeled off 4 more wins to sit at 16-1 (10).

There isn't a lot of great footage of Canizales but what is available makes him look to be an aggressive fighter who likes to throw powerful shots, including a wild roundhouse right hand. He's not the most accurate, or the quickest but he has serious belief in his power and is a fighter who looks like he could become a decent fighter one day. Sadly his open offense is partnered with an open defense and again a world class fighter his wild shots will be countered and his power probably won't have the effect at world level as it's had at Venezuelan national level.

Whilst is little known it's fair to say that Taguchi is becoming more and more known, in fact he's the longest active reigning world at 108lbs. His reign began at the end of 2014, when he beat Alberto Rossel, and has since distinguished himself with wins over Kwanthai Sithmorseng, Luis De la Rosa, Juan Jose Landaeta and Ryo Miyazaki. Those wins haven't set the world on fire by any means but have helped Taguchi move on from merely being “the man to take Naoya Inoue the distance”, which he did in a Japanese title fight back in 2013.

Taguchi a huge fighter at 108lbs, he's gangly, rangy, tough, tricky and talented. He's certainly not a big puncher, despite stopping 3 of his last 4, but he's a solid puncher who can hurt fighters and grind them down with his surprisingly good body shots. Technically Taguchi is very solid, but can be inconsistent as we've seen in bouts against De La Rosa, Ryan Bito and Florante Condes. When he's at his best however he is a handful for anyone in, or around, the Light Flyweight division, and given his size he can certainly move up in weight.

If Taguchi is at, or close to, his best he defeats Canizales with ease using his reach and skills. If however he's off his game he could be pushed hard here. Saying that however even at his worst we can't see Canizales beating him here, in fact we suspect this will be either a wide decision for Taguchi, if he''s off song and has to work hard for every round, or a mid round stoppage if he's close to his best.

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Canizales and Kimura battle for gold in China!

Lu Bin chases history as he takes on Carlos Canizales!

Konishi and Canizales battle for WBA crown!

Taguchi takes on unbeaten Canizales!

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