The past week or so has been an interesting one in the world of Asian boxing with a number of notable stories breaking from around the continent. For those who missed some of those stories I’ve decided to try and let you all catch up on some of those recent announcements.
Announcements-
On June 29th we’ll see the professional debut of Thailand’s former amateur standout Manus Boonjumnong (0-0). Manus, a former Olympic champion, will be debut at the age of 34 as he takes on limit Indonesian Jamed Jalarante in a bout at Middleweight. This will probably be a case of “too little too late” for Manus, who was rumoured to have been set to go pro several years ago, however it’s still going to be interesting to see how the fleet footed Thai looks as a professional.
As one career begins another ends as the sport waves good bye to popular Japanese fighter Nobuhiro Ishida, 39, who recently announced his retirement. The lanky Japanese fighter who is best known for stopping James Kirkland on HBO in a massive upset has announced that his career will come to an end on August 2nd the the upcoming Green Tsuda show in Osaka, with a planned exhibition bout against close friend Crazy Kim. Although the win over Kirkland was his defining fight Ishida did claim title success with reigns as the Japanese, OPBF and WBA interim champion at 154lbs, and almost claimed the Japanese Heavyweight title earlier this year.
Title Fights-
A quickly approaching “world” title bout that has been announced recently in Thailand has been a WBA “interim” Minimumweight title bout between Knockout CP Freshmart and Alexis Diaz. This bout it set to take place on July 2nd in Thailand and will be Knockout’s second defense of the title. On paper this is a really mouth watering match up between two talented and unbeaten men who will each go into this bout looking to score another notable win. On paper it’s hard to go against a Thai in Thailand, however Diaz does appear to be the next genuinely talented Venezuelan and could spoil the party for the former Muay Thai star.
Another interim title fight set for July in Thailand will see unbeaten teenager Stamp Kiatniwat take on Gregorio Lebron for the WBA interim Flyweight title. This bout is set for July 29th and, in theory, would see the winner becoming the top contender for Kazuto Ioka’s “regular” title. Stamp has been tipped for a while as a potential champion from those in Thailand and his big win last year, over Kwanpichit OnesongchaiGym, suggests his hands have a lot of belief in him, though it’s hard to say how good he will really become.
One final world title bout set to take place in Thailand is set for August 7th as Ryo Akaho travels to the “Land of Smiles” to take on Pungluang Sor Singyu for the WBO Bantamweight title. The belt was given up earlier this year by Tomoki Kameda, prior to Kameda’s first bout with McDonnell (more on their rematch a little bit below).
Ishida’s retirement wasn’t a shock but the announcement that former Bantamweight champion Sirimongkol Singwancha would be getting a shot at WBO Light Middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade was a bit out of left field. This bout, apparently set to take place at Foxwoods Casino, is set to take place on August 15th and would see Sirimongkol attempt to become a 3-weight world champion more than a decade after his last world title fighter. The Thai would be bringing an incredible 41 fight winning streak into this match up be heavily up against it against a naturally bigger, stronger, faster and younger champion.
Other News-
The upcoming WBO Light Flyweight world title bout between Donnie Nietes and Francisco Rodriguez Jr has been pushed back a week and will now take place on July 11th. That’s because Rodriguez suffered a small ankle injury. Although the card has been pushed back there has been no other alterations to the show which will also feature the debut of former amateur standout Kevin Jake “KJ” Cataraja.
Former world title challenger Yuzo Kiyota will return to the ring on July 7th to defend his OPBF Super Middleweight title against Thai challenger Kajornsak Sithsaithong. Kiyota, who challenged WBO Super Middleweight champion Robert Stieglitz back in 2013, really has struggled for regional title challengers and it shows here with Kajornsak really not being qualified to challenge for a belt of any kind. Unfortunately until a deal between a top Aussie contender and Kiyota can be made it seems that the Japanese fighter will be wasting his time on match ups like this.
In really exciting news it’s been announced that Hinata Maruta, widely regarded as “the next Japanese wunderkind” will be debuting in Osaka on November 22nd. The 18 year old has been compared favourably to current world champions Kosei Tanaka and Naoya Inoue and the talk from his team is that they are targeting a world title in his 4th fight. If he’s as good as they say he is, and as good as he looks in the footage Morioka Gym have posted, then the youngster really could be a massive name over the next decade or so.
Another bit of exciting news is the fact Korean brawler Min Wook Kim will be back in action on July 18th. He’ll be fighting in Mexico against a yet to be named foe. Although not too well known Kim is, easily, the most exciting Korean currently fighting as a professional and given he’s a Light Welterweight there is a chance he could be in some very entertaining bouts against fighters known in the US and the UK. What may help him get notable fights is the fact he’s now based in the West and trains at the gym run by the infamous Javier Capetillo.
Talking about Korea AK Promotions have announced a KBC double title header for July 12th in Incheon. The show will see the KBC Light Middleweight and Light Welterweight titles put on the line on a show set to be televised on KBS N Sports. From what is being reported the main event will see touted teenager Kyoo Hwan Hwang battle Chan Hee Park.
Staying with AK Promotions for a moment, it seems like their heavy handed fighter Young Kil Bae (AKA Myung Goo Yuh) is set to get a shot at Wanheng Menayothin later this year, the actual details haven’t been set in stone but it’s likely to be Wanheng’s third defense of the title before facing a mandatory challenger in December.
A final bit of news relating to AK Promotions is the fact they now list Pakistani boxer Muhammad Waseem among their currently signed fighters. Waseem, a 2-time Commonwealth games medalist, would be a sensational signing for the Korean outfit though specifics regarding a debut and the such are scarce and it may well be that he’s been included as a thank you for the fact he’s been in camp with the Korean’s outift, who have spoken very positively about him
Rumours-
There was also a rumour from Japan that Tomoki Kameda Vs Jamie McDonnell II was being eyed for the under-card of Floyd Mayweather’s upcoming bout in September. If this comes off it would mean that the PPV would have at least one notable and interesting looking bout on it, unlike the mismatches we’ve had on recent Mayweather under-cards.
The Kameda Vs McDonnell rematch isn’t the only rumour that has been doing the rounds in Japan. A very interesting on is that Kazuto Ioka will rematch Juan Carlos Reveco on New Year’s Eve in Osaka. The bout has been ordered by the WBA though it appears Ioka has got the option of taking on a voluntary in the meantime, if he does then the rematch would be pencilled in for Decemeber 31st if both men win any bouts they have between now and the end of the year.
Another exciting rumour is that we’re likely to see a Minimumweight title unification bout between now and the end of the year. There has long been rumours of a bout between Katsunari Takayama and Hekkie Budler though it seems a lot more likely that we’re not set to see Takayama fight his countryman Kosei Tanaka instead. There is no date set on this bout but the odds are that it could take place sooner rather than later as Tanaka is hinting a move to Light Flyweight won’t be too far away. One stumbling block here is Fahlan Sakkreerin Jr who appeared to be told he would be getting a rematch at Takayama following the controversial ending to their bout earlier this year. It would likely however that Fahlan will have to wait for the Japanese super-fight before he gets a second title shot.
One other rumour is that Shingo Wake will be in Texas on July 18th to watch Carl Frampton’s bout with Alejandro Gonzalez Jr. Wake is the mandatory challenger to the winner of that bout and has hinted that he will be going on a “reconnaissance” mission from ringside.
Scott Graveson covers the Asian boxing scene for www.asianboxing.info
