To some boxing fans the lower weight divisions aren't worthy of any attention or time. They are their to be derided, mocked or ignored. Whilst it's a real shame those fans have that view, that doesn't mean others of us can't enjoy those divisions which tend to give us some of the best action bouts and some brilliantly over-looked classics. This coming Saturday we may well get another of those over-looked classics as WBA Minimumweight champion Knockout CP Freshmart (15-0, 7) defends his title against mandatory challenger Rey Loreto (23-13, 15). On paper the uninformed may well look at the fight with extra derision given the different looking records, with Loreto having almost as many losses as Knockout has total bouts, but to those who know the men this is a mouth watering encounter. The champion first made waves thanks to his unusual ring name. It was memorable, it was different and even a bit comical. It was also much easier to remember than his birth name of Thammanoon Niyomtrong. He won the WBC Youth title on his debut, just over 5 years ago, and defended it 7 times in total, before giving it up to fight for bigger and better titles. That resulted in Knockout claiming the interim WBA title in 2014 with a controversial win over Carlos Buitrago and since then he has gone from strength to strength, claiming the full title last year with a win over Byron Rojas. At times in his career Knockout has looked laborious, and clumsy but fight after fight he has improved, with that being obvious in his 2016 rematch with Buitrago. Now the only major flaw that stands out is his questionable stamina, which has seen him running low in later rounds. Other than his stamina issues he looks like a talented, heavy handed and skilled fighter who could well be the best 105lb fighter on the planet. He may not have the 40-something win of compatriot Wanheng Menayothin but wins over Buitrago and Rojas are just as good as the best wins scored by Wanheng, and he's not taken the easy record padding fights that his countryman has. On paper the challenger looks useless. 13 losses from 36 fights is pretty bad. However they only tell a fraction of the story of Rey Loreto's career. To begin his career he went 0-4, losing all 4 fights in a little over 6 months during 2008. In 2011 he was 8-11 (4), a long way from ever looking like a world title challenger. Then came a run of 7 wins, including a stoppage in Thailand over Wisanu Kokietgym. Aged 21 Loreto was then 15-11 (8) and was a veteran at such a young age. Like a veteran he went through a bad patch, losing 2 of 3 against naturally bigger men, but has since reeled off 8 wins. They have including a technical decision over Pornsawan Porpramook and a 2014 Upset of the Year contender against Nkosinathi Joyi In the ring Loreto is an aggressive fighter with a great engine, really under-rated power and a great work rate. He might not be the most rounded fighter, or the quickest, or even a particularly technical fighter, but he's incredibly talented and very destructive with natural power, as he showed against Joyi. Also worth noting is he's a southpaw, making him even more feared and showing why he has been relatively avoided in recent years. We really think this could be something special. Loreto is hungry, he's been forced to wait, he's already a veteran and there is no way he's not going to be putting it all on the line here. He might not be as talented as Knockout but he's certainly hungrier and that could prove to be pretty key in this bout. We think the skills will be the difference, with Knockout winning, but he will have to fight through hellfire to come out on top and Loreto will not be there for loss #14, he'll be there for the title. We suspect this will be an exciting, hard hitting war and something that no fan should be missing out on.
0 Comments
March is set to be an incredibly busy month with major bouts spread across the month. Despite the spread of bouts through the whole of Mach it's fair to say that the first week or so is genuinely hectic with a huge number of big bouts crushed into the first few days of March. The first of those notable bouts will see WBA Minimumweight champion Knockout CP Freshmart (14-0, 6) defending his title against Japanese speedster Go Odaira (13-5-3, 1), in what will be Odaira's third world title shot in just over 2 years. Coming in to the bout Knockout will be a clear favourite, for so many reasons. Not only is the unbeaten champion, and arguably the best fighter at 105lbs. His record may not be he deepest in the division but his recent wins over the likes of Carlos Buitrago, Alexis Diaz, Byron Rojas and Shin Ono have shown that he's a very talented fighter who is consistently developing his skills. He's not longer the powerful but crude fighter he once was and is a much more rounded boxer, At his worst Knockout is a crude and slow fighter who looks predictable, as we saw in his first bout with Buitrago back in 2014. Since then he has improved significantly, and although he's still not lightening quick he is a much smoother fighter than he used to be. The smoothness has made other issues more visible and last time out, against Ono, he showed real pacing issues and looked exhausted in the later rounds. By then Ono was too far behind to capitalise but a better fighter could make Knockout pay in the future. Interestingly the bout with Ono saw Knockout's KO % fall to just 43% and was his 5th complete 12 rounder in his last 6, suggesting that he may not be the heavy handed puncher once looked like. In the ring Odaira really is a speedy fighter, much like his mentor Susumu Hanagata. Odaira has lovely hand speed and movement, and is a a fighter who has had much of his success to date based on that speed. Unfortunately though he totally lacks power, physically he's also lacking and can be bullied around and has shown stamina issues of his own, and when his stamina is tested he seems to lack the durability to get through a storm. That has resulted in a 7th round TKO loss to Katsunari Takayama and a 5th round TKO loss to Wanheng Menayothin in his previous world title bouts Although he has come up short in world title bouts in the past he has proven to be among the best on the Japanese domestic scene with a reign as the Japanese champion. As the domestic champion he recorded 3 defenses, beating the likes of Hiroya Yamamoto, Yuma Iwahashi and Yutaka Sowano. Sadly those defenses were against relatively poor opponents and came before the recent rise of fighters like Tatsuya Fukuhara, Ryuya Yamanaka, Tsubasa Koura, Reiya Konishi, Hiroto Kyoguchi and Masataka Taniguchi, who could have let us see how good Odaira really was. Whilst Knockout will be the favourite based on his own ability Odaira will also have history working against him, with no Japanese fighter having ever won a world title bout in Thailand. In more than 20 contests Japanese fighters have been rebuked, with the “best” result being Hirofumi Mukai's technical draw with Pongsaklek Wonjongkam. Saying that however Odaira has been planning ahead and this will be his third bout on the Land of Smiles and may well call on that experience with the Thai conditions here. Although Odaira has got some experience of Thailand it's hard to see him having enough skills or experience to survive the 12 rounds with Knockout. Instead we're expecting to see another bout where Odaira starts well before falling apart in the middle rounds. Hopefully with Knockout shining enough to entice some of the new wave of Japanese fighters to challenge him, rather than having to reuse challengers like Odaira and Ono in the future The Minimumweight division has had a very, very, under-rated year in 2016 with the key part of that being the Thai pairing of WBC champion Wanehng Menayothin, who defeated mandatory challenger Saul Juarez, and WBA champion Knockout CP Freshmart (13-0, 6) who scored notable wins over the Nicaraguan pairing of Carlos Buitrago and Byron Rojas. Knockout will look to close out the year with one more notable win as he takes on former OPBF champion Shin Ono (19-7-3, 3). Knockout, who has fought in title bouts through out his professional boxing career, claimed the WBA interim title in late 2014, with a close win over Carlos Buitrago, but has improved since then as he showed in his second bout with Buitrago. That rematch with Buitrago was Knockout's 3rd defense of the interim title with the talented Thai claiming the full version of title when he out boxed Byron Rojas in June. At his worst Knockout can look a bit clumsy, a bit stationary and a but lazy in the ring, with his style being a fairly rigid one. Thankfully though it does seem, fight by fight, that he's improving and is becoming a more rounded fighter, taking lessons from every fight he has. That doesn't mean he's a totally rounded fighter but he is one that is showing real improvement. His guard is strong, his footwork is very under-rated and his hands, whilst not concussive, are heavy. Given that he's fighting in Thailand he's also well adjusted to the Thai conditions, has solid stamina, even in the humidity of The land of Smiles, and can step it up if he needs to late in a bout. At his best Ono is a solid fighter, he's a tricky southpaw with nice movement, nice speed and good skills. He does however lack in terms of power, stamina and in recent fights he has began to look like a 33, soon to be 34, year old who has had a hard career. A May 2015 loss to Katsunari Takayama, for the IBF title, saw Ono impress but it would be 26 months until he would have another bout of note and was dominated by a hungry Kenichi Horikawa, who became the first man to stop Ono. Last time out Ono was being outboxed by Tatsuya Fukuhara before a headclash bailed out Ono with a technical draw. Through his career Ono has fought numerous notable opponents. That has seen him claim wins over the Toshimasa Ouchi, Yu Kimura, Xiong Zhao Zhong and Omari Kimweri, but the most recent of those notable wins was the win over Kimweri almost 4 years ago. Added to the poor recent form is inactivity, which has seen him fighting just 3 times in the last 24 months, going 1-1-1 during that run. At his best Ono may have given the worst Knockout a good bout, but the reality is that Ono is a faded fighter and Knockout is a drastically improving one who should be able to bully and break down the challenger, likely ending the bout in the later rounds. The last few years have been really interesting in the lower weights, even if they have lacked the Western appeal of some of the other weigh classes. The interest has been mostly from Asia, though other countries have had a their own bits of with South Africa having Hekkie Budler and Nicaragua having both Carlos Buitrago and Byron Rojas, who actually defeated Budler earlier this year for the WBA Minimumweight title.
Later this week worlds collide as Rojas (17-2-3-1, 8) travels to Thailand to defend his title against unbeaten “interim” champion Knockout CP Freshmart (12-0 6), one of the rising stars of the Thai scene and a man who holds two wins over the aforementioned Buitrago. Although his record might not be the most impressive in regards to numbers Rojas has got a legitimate claim to being one of the top guys in the division, with his win over Budler being one of the most credible among the current crop at 105lbs. Notably that was Rojas's 11th straight win not including a No Contest, and saw him continue turning around a career that was once 6-2-3 (4) whilst also claiming a world title on the road in his only fight outside of Nicaragua. In the ring Rojas is fearless. He's not a big puncher, or the most skilled, or the must elusive or even the quickest but he is a warrior and he comes to fight, comes forward and is in an opponents face as he forces the tempo and pace of a fight. Not only does he control the tempo but he also sets and extremely high one with busy output and a high pressure mentality. Strangely he seems to have a style that is similar to many current Thai's with his pressure output. Unbeaten fighter Knockout turned professional in 2012, following a lot of success in Muay Thai, and immediately fought for titles, winning the WBC Youth title in his debut. After 8 fights he was regarded as ready for world title level and fought the aforementioned Buitrago, winning a very close decision over the Nicaraguan for the WBA “interim” title. Following that win over Buitrago we've seen Knockout record 3 defenses of the “interim” title and develop significantly, rounding off some very rough edges. In the ring Knockout does still have clear traits of being a Muay Thai convert despite that it's also clear that he's a true fighter and is constantly improving, developing his boxing skills and adapting to the Western boxing style. He's aggressive, a solid puncher and is developing his defensive abilities every fight, and actually looked defensively responsible last time out in a rematch against Buitrago, with his head movement being genuinely impressive. Coming in to this one we're expecting something very exciting with Rojas going to Thailand for a fight with Knockout, and going there to really fight. Unfortunately in Thailand the conditions are harsh and fighting like Rojas does could be a very tough ask for 12 rounds. We suspect he'll start fast before the conditions begin to get to him slow him and inevitably allow Knockout to earn a decision win. Over the coming week Thai fans will get a couple of notable rematches on the fringes of world level. The first of those comes on Thursday when the unbeaten Knockout CP Freshmart (11-0, 6) [น็อคเอาท์ ซีพีเฟรชมาร์ท] faces the excellent Nicaraguan Carlos Buitrago (28-1-1-1, 16) in a bout for the WBA “regular” Minimumweight title.
These two men met back in October 2014 in a very hotly contest bout that Knockout won, via unanimous decision. That bout was Kncokout's coming out party in many ways and although he failed to shine he did get the all important win whilst Buitrago was left feeling heart broken by the judges, for the second time following a draw with Merlito Sabillo the previous year. Since their first meeting neither has been hugely active. Buitrago has fought just once, beating Mario Rodriguez last March, whilst Knockout has fought twice, beating Muhammad Rachman and Alexis Diaz. Of those bouts Buitrago did look highly impressive beating Rodriguez, dropping the Mexican twice and securing a 10 round decision win. For Knockout the win over Rachman was relatively straight forward, but he did get taken 12 rounds, whilst the win over Diaz was essentially a 1-sided beat down after a competitive opening round. That Diaz bout showed how good Knockout can be, though also said a lot about Diaz's limitations. In the ring Buitrago really is a joy to watch with his boxing and combinations being a key to his offensive work. He is regarded as a protégé of the sensational Roman Gonzalez and whilst he's not as good as Gonzalez he is just as fun to watch with very fluid punches, a lovely arsenal of punches, real spite, excellent movement and wonderful speed. He has shown very few faults and, with a more powerful team behind him, he could very easily have an unbeaten record right now, and a world title. Sadly for Buitrago his promoter doesn't have the power to drag champions away from home and whilst that has seen Buitrago collect stamps on his passport, with bouts in the US, Mexico, Philippines and Thailand, it has also cost him in his two most notable bouts. Whilst Buitrago is a beautiful to watch boxer the same cannot be said for Knockout, however that's not to say it's not enjoyable to see Knockout in the ring. He's more of a boxer-puncher, with an aggressive mentality and a come-forth style that can look fundamentally flawed but is hard to avoid. He's defensively tight, heavy handed and the sort of fighter who looks like he will walk through hell fire to land his shots, if he needs to. He's slower, and smaller, than Buitrago but is the more physically imposing and of course has home advantage, a big advantage in Thailand. Prior to becoming a boxer Knockout was a standout Muay Thai fighter, a triple crown winner and one of the best active fighters in the sport. His style as a boxer is more fluid than that of many Muay Thai fighters who turn over to Western boxing, but there are fundamental flaws in what he does at times and he often seems to struggle transitioning from defense to offense. When the two men get in to the ring this coming Thursday we're expecting a very close bout, and again we're expecting to see the judges play a key role. Unfortunately for Buitrago we suspect those will again side with the home fighter who will likely take another very close decision in a bout that is more intense than their first meeting. Unfortunately for Buitrago we see not only the travelling being an issue but also the inactivity with just 10 rounds in the last 16 months. That type of inactivity will likely cost Buitrago some of his ring sharpness and allow Knockout a better start than he had last time out. We all hate the proliferation of “interim” titles from the WBA. They are, of course, a way for the WBA to line their pockets with additional sanctioning fees. Despite our issues with the “interim” titles they do, occasionally, give us some good match ups. One such match up occurred last year when Knockout CP Freshmart (now 10-0, 5) defeated Carlos Buitrago to claim the WBA “interim” Minimumweight title. We get another mouth watering title bout at the start of July as Knockout makes the second defense of his title and takes on fellow unbeaten Alexis Diaz (16-0, 10). Back in the old days, when titles weren't handed out by the WBA like candy, this would have been an excellent eliminator style bout to face the “real” champion. With so many belts out there however we see the two men throwing leather for a belt even one as fake and “plastic” as this. Despite the the fake belt...the bout it's self is brilliant and the sort of thing we, as fans, love to see. Well matched and with both men seeking a big win. Anyway on to the fighters. Knockout CP Freshmart is probably the holder of the best name in the sport, and he's also a really solid boxer-puncher. He turned pro following a very successful Muay Thai career. It was due to that background that Knockout's team put him straight into 10 round bouts, and on his debut he claimed the WBC Youth title. Following 7 defenses of the WBC youth strap Knockout took on Buitrago in an excellent match up for the interim title. Sadly for Knockout the bout showed a lot of his flaws, despite the fact he got the win. For much of the bout Knockout looked predictable and came forward in relative straight lines whilst being tagged by Buitrago's sharp rangy shots. In the end Knockout, who did look strong and aggressive, got the decision partly due to where the fight was as opposed to legitimately “winning” it. Despite the less than sensational performance Knockout answered plenty of questions and proved he was tough, strong, aggressive and had the tank for 12 rounds fought at a good pace. It was clear that he wasn't the most illusive, or a monster puncher, but he was always gong to be coming forward and always looking to make things a fight. Whilst “Knockout” isn't exactly the most apt name for the Thai, who is now at a 50% stoppage rate and has stopped just 2 of his last 6, the named has served 2 purposes. Firstly it's summed up his style which sees him fighting for the knockout, even if he doesn't tend to get it all that regularly now a days. Secondly it has got him real attention in the west, a remarkable for a Minimumweight from Thailand. Aged 28 this is set to be the biggest fight so far for Diaz, a very promising fighter from Venezuela who has a been a professional for around 4 years and has never previously fought outside of Latin America. In fact just 5 of his 16 bouts have been outside of his homeland, with 4 of those 5 taking place in neighbouring Colombia. Although now a Minimumweight Diaz began his career at Flyweight and has been as high as 114¾lbs, before setting down at a much lower weight. Although a relative unknown outside of the Latin American scene Diaz has been carving out a successful career and already holds notable wins over the likes of Ronald Ramos, Jorle Estrada and Luis De la Rosa. Those wins have won his praise with many who follow the lower weights and have seen him in action, likewise he has impressed with his power, skills and style. Footage of Diaz isn't that easy to find though what does exist makes him look like a power, hard hitting, aggressive and quick fighter. He does look a bit crude at times but he look so strong and powerful that he could be a serious threat for most fighters in the division, he also appears to be big at the weight and very rangy. Having seen what footage of Diaz was available he looks like a real threat to Knockout. It looks like Diaz hits harder, is faster and equally as strong. Knockout is possibly a bit stronger and more refined but not by a lot. What we're expecting is for the two men to really let their hands go and for Diaz to have an excellent start. If Knockout can see out the early storm then we'll see what Diaz is really made of, though it does seem like he will be a handful through out the bout. One thing going in Knockout's favour, big time, is the fact the fight it in Thailand in hellish conditions for visiting fighters. Thailand is the country we often suggest is the most difficult country to get a win in and we suspect we'll see that here with Diaz coming up short on the cards despite a stirring effort. There is, of course, a chance he won't travel well though we expect he'll really put on a show and lose a controversial decision. (Image courtesy of thairec.com) The Minimumweight division may have been widely ignored by the casual fans through it's short history but it's a division which has given us a lot of great fights in recent years. Those fights have including unification wars, such as the Kazuto Ioka/Akira Yaegashi fight from back in 2012, or this year's scintillating war between Katsunari Takayama and Francisco Rodriguez Jr, as well as single-title slug fests like Yaegashi's war with Pornnsawan Porpramook. Sadly whilst the division is one of the very best for fans who enjoy a great fight it's also been a disappointing year for Asian fighters with 3 Asian's losing Minimumweight world titles already this year. One of those 3 men was China's Xiong Zhao Zhong (24-5-1, 14) who had his WBC title taken in shocking fashion when he met Oswaldo Novoa and was dominated by the Mexican under-dog. Whilst it's fair to say we all under-rated Novoa, who was a relative unknown, it was still an huge upset and one of the most shocking results of the year, especially given that the bout was fought in Zhong's native China. Zhong went into that bout as the first and only Chinese world champion. This coming weekend Zhong will attempt to become China's first 2-time world champion as he attempts to claim the WBA title from the highly regarded South African speedster Hekkie Budler (26-1, 9), a man looking for back-to-back wins against Asian fighters following his stoppage victory last time out against Pigmy Kokietgym, and in fact he'll be hunting his 4th successive stoppage. Although a divisive fighter Zhong is someone we respect even if we don't consider ourselves fans of his. He is the figure head of Chinese boxing in the mainland and although he's over-shadowed by Zou Shiming's fights in Macau Zhong has achieved more as a professional than any other Chinese fighter. He's done that not through skill and ability but sheer tenacity, bravery, natural strength and toughness, both mentally and physically. Zhong is one of the most diminutive professional boxers in the sport right now and even for a Minimumweight he's short. Despite his lack of height he is built like a tank and looks strong, powerful and muscular for a guy fighting in the sports lowest weight class. It's that power and toughness that has seen him achieve what he has in his career. Strangely for a fighter built like he is however Zhong isn't a big puncher and instead needs to grind opponents for stoppages. Against lower tier fighters that works perfect, as shown in his some what embarrassing win over Thailand's Lookrak Kiatmungmee. Against the better fighters that he has faced however he has struggled to really impose himself due to a lack of technical ability and a relative lack of speed compared to his fellow Minimumweights. And although some may point out that he holds a win over the exceptional Denver Cuello, those people do need to note that that came more from Cuello's health issues as opposed to Zhong's actual boxing ability. If we accept that Zhong is like a tank, with power and rugged toughness then Budler is like the opposite. He's tough like Zhong but trades off on his speed as opposed to power. Budler is quick, sharp and highly skilled. He's a fighter who will land 2 or 3 punches whilst an opponent is thinking about their next move and then he'll get out of range before an opponent can reply. It's his speed, both with feet and hands, that makes Budler such a brilliant fighter in the division and one of the men that could become a long reigning champion at the weight. What Budler has done over the years is improve and develop. Watching him from 2010 and 2011 he looked like a man who was going to struggle to advance. It was during that time the Budler suffered his sole loss, a split decision to fellow South African Gideon Buthelezi, and struggled with the likes of Juanito Rubillar and Evaristo Primero, since then though he has improved drastically and become his own fighter, as shown in his wins over the likes of Florante Condes and Nkosinathi Joyi. Whilst sometimes the limited but stronger fighter can over-come the quicker and more skilled fighter those bouts are rare and we suspect that Budler will be too quick, too smart and too good for Zhong. The Chinese fighter is likely to be tough and game throughout but unlikely to actually be competitive in terms of winning rounds. He'll make Budler work in stages but not enough to really mount a serious challenger in a bout that will help enhance the standing of the South African fighter. If he wins here wouldn't say Budler was the de facto #1 in the division but it looks to be between him and Francisco Rodriguez Jr and a bout between those two would, in our eyes, be for the #1 position. Hopefully 2015 will bring us a contest like that or we'll get the chance to see Katsunari Takayama share the ring with one of them with the Japanese fighter certainly still a proven top tier fighter in the division. (Image courtesy of Zovi.cn) Whilst many fight fans over-look the smallest division in the sport we genuinely love the Minimumweight division and consider Katsunari Takayama as one of our favourites due to his willingness to fight anyone. Amongst those that Takayama has been linked to in recent months is South Africa's WBA champion Hekkie "The Hexecutioner" Budler (25-1, 8). Budler is widely regarded as either the #1 or the #2 fighter in the division along with Takayama who fills out the top 2 with most fans and independent rankings. Although not much of a puncher Budler is still a nightmare to fight. He's quick on his feet, accurate with his punches and is very sharp with his shots which are often thrown in buzzsaw like combinations. It's not that he's going to knock out rivals regularly or hurt them but he's going to keep stinging them until whilst making them miss, a bit like Takayama does when he's at his best. The lack of power hasn't prevented Budler from becoming an elite level buzzsaw who has managed to score notable wins against the likes of Florante Condes and Nkosinathi Joyi, both of whom are world class fighters even if they were slightly on the slide to what they were once. This weekend sees Budler defending his WBA title against experienced Thai Pigmy Kokietgym (52-6-2, 22) who is stepping up to world class for just the second time in his long career. The 32 year old Pigmy debuted way back in 1999 and began his career with an unconvincing 12-5-1 (8). Since then however he gone an amazing 40-1-1 (14) and established himself as one of the busiest men on the Thai boxing scene with around 4 bouts per year for the last 10 years. Of course, as we all know, Thai's are busy fighters though tend to fight a lot of poor fighters in an attempt to just stay busy and keep paydays coming in and unfortunately this has been the case with Pigmy who's most notable wins have come against very limited opponents. Although he has 60 fights on his record Pigmy has only fought in 1 world title fight, losing that to the then unbeaten Kwanthai Sithmorseng on November 2010 via a split decision. Although he gave a great account of himself in that fight he still came up short and has been effectively put on the side until now. Much like Budler, Pigmy is a fighter who basis his work on speed and tries to break down fighters or out point them with volume as opposed to blasting through opponents. He's not quite as sharp or technically correct as Budler but he's got the Thai warrior mentality and will continually take the fight to an opponent meaning that this could be a very interesting contest to watch. Sadly for Pigmy the deck is stacked against him and whilst stylistically he and the South African are similar everything else is against the Thai. Pigmy at 32 years old, is getting on for a Minimumweight whilst the 26 year old Budler is just hitting his prime, the fight will be in Monaco on a show promoted by Golden Gloves Promotions, the company who back Budler, and it'll be the first bout outside of Asia for Pigmy. We're expecting a very fun to watch battle here with both men throwing a hell of a lot at the other but unfortunately for Pigmy we simply can't see him over-coming the smarter, faster and every so slightly more powerful South African who appears to have all the advantages both out of the ring and in the ring. Thankfully with all the action we're expecting we're unlikely to find much to complain about after the fight which we're hoping could steal the show. (Image courtesy of Golden Gloves Promotions, unfortunately it only features Budler and Martin Murray and not Pigmy) It's not often that a world champion is over-shadowed by his stablemate but that's exactly what has happened to WBA Minimumweight champion Ryo Miyazaki (19-0-3, 11), the stablemate of young superstar Kazuto Ioka. Many in boxing feel that Ioka himself moved up from Minimumweight to Light Flyweight last year so that the door could be opened to Miyazaki claiming a world title. Whether this was right, or wrong, is up for debate though Ioka's move certainly did help Miyazaki move into the world level. Prior to the door being opened to a world title fight Miyazaki had himself forged a respectable career having already claimed the Japanese and OPBF titles at Light Flyweight before dropping down to 105lbs to claim the WBA title. The unbeaten Miyazaki looks to defend his world title for the second time on Wednesday as he takes on WBA "interim" champion Jesus Silvestre (27-3, 20), a fighter who is somewhat well known to Asian boxing fans due to losing efforts in both the Philippines, to Donnie Nietes, and Thailand to Paipharob Kokietgym. Silvestre is still a young fighter himself, though he also appears to be an experienced one with fights against Nietes and Paipharob being just the ice cap of a deep career. Sure the Mexican youngster hasn't scored any really world class victories but he has beaten several decent opponents like Yader Escobar, Carlos Velarde, Walter Rojas and former Japanese champion Takuya Mitamura, in fact all 4 of those victories have come by stoppage. Interestingly both men share an opponent in the form of Velarde, who was stopped by both men in the 5th round. For Silvestre, who beat him in 2009, it was a step up for both men for Miyazaki however it was his first world title defense just a few short months ago. Although Silvestre has had a successful career he has lost to his sole world level fighter he has faced in Nietes. Sure that loss will have been a major learning experience but he's not really been facing the men who will help steady him for genuine world level. He's been facing good fighters, but very few have been proven world level fighters. From the footage available Silvestre does look like a decent fighter. He has shown good movement, a no-fear attitude, nice boxing fundamentals and against Paipharob he showed an impressive work rate with some excellent pressure work late in the bout. For those who saw Silvestre's bout with Mitamura, it's obvious just how good his pressure, though of course Miyamura is no Miyazaki and the champion has likely seen the same highly level pressure work in sparring from various sparring partners. Miyazaki will know what to expect from Silvestre, and has the network at the Ioka Gym to help prepare him for the fight. With that in mind we do have to think that Miyazaki has got his preparation right and will go to the body of Silvestre to slow him down. If Silvestre can see off the power of Miyazaki, and the body shots especially, then we really could be in for something special. Both guys can fight hard, and if they can each take each other shots then we've got to be honest this will see Miyazaki outshining Ioka's bout against Kwanthai Sithmorseng on the same card. We'll take Miyazaki to come out victorious but really this will not be easy for the champion nor will it be boring for fans. Courtesy of Boxrec.com WBA Minimumweight champion Ryo Miyazaki (18-0-3, 10) may very well be the most unknown Japanese champion right now though he's a fighter who will be looking to make a name for himself in 2013. Best known as a stablemate of 2-weight world champion Kazuto Ioka, Miyazaki actually won his title after Ioka vacated to move up up to Light Flyweight. Although Miyazaki had to come through former world champion Pornsawan Porpramook to win the belt it was a belt vacated for him to win. Aged 24 and based in Osaka, Miyazaki came through the tough Japanese amateur scene where he ran up 30 wins from 34 fights stopping a higher than expect 21 bouts early. It was obvious from an early age that despite fighting in the small weights that he was a fighter who could force stoppages. In 2006, not long after Miyazaki's 18th birthday he turned professional and within 3 years of being a professional he had already claimed the Japanese Light Flyweight title thanks to a victory over Munetsugu Kayo. After defending the national title once Miyazaki would go on to claim the OPBF Light Flyweight title thanks to a stoppage of Katsuhiko Iezumi. It appeared he was on the fast track to a world title bout though had to wait well over 2 years before that opportunity would arise. Instead of getting the world title bout Miyazaki instead had to do with the OPBF belt that he would defend 4 times before finally getting his shot at the vacant world title. Although Miyazaki could only manage a split decision against Porpramook the young Japanese fighter genuinely showed characteristics that fight fans need to love. He proved he could take a shot (Porpramook landed enough of them to test out Miyazaki's durability), he proved he could trade with the best of them (often going toe-to-toe with Porpramook) and he could also box on the move (as he did excellently in round 9). Though there are questions with his power (which doesn't look to be as good as his record suggest) and his stamina he does look a pretty decent fighter with genuine confidence and good skills that just needed a little bit of work. Of course it is hard to look good against Porpramook who is relentless, tough and always comes to fight. The first challenger to Miyazaki's throne is little known Mexican Carlos Velarde (23-2-1, 13) who at 22 years old will be looking for his biggest win by far. Born in Culiacan and known as "Chapito", Velarde has been a professional boxer since he was 16. On his debut in 2007 he scored a draw with fellow debutant Daniel Contreras Jr before running up a 10 fight winning streak against incredibly limited opponents (who between them had 2 recorded victories). In Velarde's 12th professional bout he would face his first test as he went up against Jesus Silvestre and unfortunately for Velarde he would come up short suffering a 5th round TKO loss. Rather than using the loss as a launch pad to fight opponents of a moderate caliber Velarde's team stuck him in with more completely inept opponents as he strung together another 10 wins. Although he did score a notable victory over Jorle Estrada, Estrada's record had been bulked up and he was coming in on the back of 2 defeats. Like in his first loss Velarde took a giant step up from awful opponents to fringe world level guys and was again beaten as Panamanian Edwin Diaz claimed an 8 round decision over him. Thankfully following the loss to Diaz it appeared that Velarde's men put more faith in him and he added 3 more victories to his ledger including a semi-notable one over Patricio Camacho. Whilst Velarde hasn't yet competed at the world level he has faced 2 men who have fought for (and one has won) the WBA interim title at Minimumweight, though admittedly he did lose to both. From watching clips of Velarde he appears to be an offensively minded fighter who stalks an opponent and looks to land his fast left hook on an opponent who comes in. The left hook of Velarde seem to be a punch that he likes to land to the body just as much as the head, though it is wild and he could be punished for the way it loops around. Velarde appears to switch stances at times though it appears to be less a case of choosing to and more a case clumsy footwork, especially when he lets his hands go. Like most Mexicans it appears that he likes a fight rather than a boxing and this is never a bad thing from the point of view of a viewer. It's unfair to write off Velarde despite his weak opposition so far and in all honesty this looks like it could be a bit of a modern classic. Miyazaki is the sort of fighter can box or brawl and if he looks to brawl the Mexican challenger will return fire with fire in what could end up being an explosive contest. If Miyazaki wants to make life easy for himself he could easily box the socks off Velarde who appears clumsy with his feet and lacking the sort of jab that would trouble Miyazaki, though if the Japanese fighter wants to make a statement he'll do so by causing a tear up. Although Miyazaki isn't well known, he has the ability to put on memorable bouts and it'd probably be in his best interest here to put on a show that could go viral with boxing fans. Velarde is the perfect foil for such a bout and this could be the type of "youtube classic" that several of Miyazaki's countrymen have been involved in recent years. For those who haven't seen anything of Ryo Miyazaki the video below shows his full fight with Pornsawan Porpramook. |
World Title Previews
The biggest fights get broken down as we try to predict who will come out on top in the up coming world title bouts. Archives
October 2022
Categories
All
|