Former world champion Denkaosan Kaovichit (63-7-1, 26) has announced his retirement. The Thai veteran was blown out in 2 rounds at the weekend by Kazuki Tanaka and announced his retirement following the bout.
-Another former world champion to announce their retirement recently is Yu Kimura (18-3-1, 3), who has retired in the wake of his loss to Ganigan Lopez in March. Kimura briefly held the WBC light flyweight title after upsetting Pedro Guevara last year.
-On April 11th Japanese Heavyweight hopeful Jun Long Zhang (12-0, 12) faces his stiffest test, as he faces George Arias (56-15, 42) in a bout for the WBA Oceania Heavyweight title. The bout is step up for the heavy handed Chinese fighter who has never been beyond 5 rounds. Arias has made a name for himself in recent years a travelling survivor and has gone the distance with a relative who’s who of heavyweight hopefuls, including Hughie Fury, and will be looking to drag Zhang into deep waters.
-The ring return of former WBC super featherweight champion Yong Soo Choi (29-4-1, 19) has been pushed back a week, with the Korean now facing Kazuya Nakano (9-5-1, 7) on April 16th. No reason was given but it was done at the request of Choi’s team
-Also on April 16th will be the IBF super flyweight title fight between unbeaten champion McJoe Arroyo (17-0, 8) and mandatory challenger Jerwin Ancajas (24-1-1, 16). This will be Ancajas’s first world title bout whilst Arroyo will be making the first defense of the title he won last year.
-Former Japanese super flyweight champion Yohei Tobe (9-2-1, 5) has been added to the April 22nd card in South Africa. The talented Misako gym fighter will be fighting outside of Tokyo for the first time when he takes on Luzuko Siyo (15-3, 12) for the WBA international super flyweight title. In the main event of this card Simpiwe Vetyeka (28-3, 17) will battle Tsuyoshi Tameda (13-1-2, 11).
-Also on April 22nd will be a bout between Olympic champion Manus Boonjumnong (5-0, 3) and unbeaten Canadian Ryan Ford (5-0, 3), in what looks to be a good test for both fighters. This bout will take place in Chiang Mai and be aired on Thairath
-Popular Filipino puncher Rey Loreto (21-13, 13) will kick off his 2016 by battling Japanese ranked Koji Itagaki (16-9-2, 7) on April 22nd in Hiroshima
-One of the key dates for April is the 27th as Watanabe gym put on a world title triple header. The main event here is a WBA super featherweight “super” title bout between Takashi Uchiyama (24-0-1, 20) and Jezreel Corrales (19-1-0-1, 7) with the other title bouts beign a WBA super flyweight title bout between Kohei Kono (31-8-1, 13) and Inthanon Sithchamuang (28-7-1, 17) and a WBA light flyweight title bout between Ryoichi Taguchi (23-2-1, 10) and Juan Jose Landaeta (27-8-1, 21)
-The April 28th bout featuring OPBF super featherweight champion Masayuki Ito (18-1-1, 8) has been cancelled. Ito has suffered an injury and won’t be able to fight until the Summer, the show however will go ahead as planned and will still feature the other title bout, a Japanese Welterweight title bout.
-On April 29th unheralded Filipino Cris Alfante (11-5-1, 4) will get his biggest opportunity so far as he takes on 36 year old former world champion Joseph Agbeko (30-5, 23). Agbeko will be strongly favoured, with the bout taking place in his native Ghana, but he has fought just once in the last 2 years and given his age the bout may prove to be somewhat competitive.
-A genuinely great bout, with serious implications at bantamweight, will take place on April 30th when former WBA super flyweight champion Suriyan sor Rungvisai (46-6-1, 23) battles Anselmo Moreno (35-4-1, 12), with the winner set to be the WBC mandatory challenger
-Former Japanese Middleweight champion Sanosuke Sasaki (11-4, 5) will release his first musical CD “Love Bees” on May 5th.
-Also on May 5th is an intriguing card in China headlined by the rematch between IBF flyweight champion Amnat Ruenroeng (17-0, 5) and John Riel Casimero (21-3, 13), who had a foul-fest last year. In the chief support bout Xiong Zhao Zhong (26-6-1, 14) will face Jose Antonio Jimenez (16-5-1, 7) in an IBF final eliminator at minimumweight. The under-card here will feature Heavyweight hopeful Zhang Zhilei (8-0, 5).
-Former world champions Takashi Miura (29-3-2, 22) and Toshiyuki Igarashi (21-2-2, 11) will return to the ring on May 7th as they co-headline a card at the Korakuen Hall. Neither man have had their opponents announced as of yet but both are expected to have easy opponents before big bouts later in the year.
-On May 8th Japanese fight fans will see both Naoya Inoue (9-0, 8) and Akira Yaegashi (23-5, 12) defending their world titles. The show will also feature Takuma Inoue (6-0, 1), defending the OPBF super flyweight title, Ryo Matsumoto (17-0, 15) and the very exciting Hiroki Inoue (2-0, 2), who will be fighting for the second time in the space of 6 weeks.
-Former Japanese super featherweight champion Rikki Naito (13-1, 5) and former WBA “interim” flyweight champion Koki Eto (17-4-1, 13) will co-feature on an upcoming Dangan card, set for May 12th. Neither man is in a tough bout but their names should attract some attention to the card and could well see both men kick start their climb back into title contention.
-May 14th sees Hong Kong’s popular Rex Tso (18-0, 11) battle former world title challenger Young Gil Bae (27-5-1, 21) on a card that also features Japanese middleweight hopeful Ryota Murata (9-0, 6), who fights Felipe Santos Pedroso (13-1, 11)
-On May 22nd former world title challenger Fahlan Sakkreerin Jr (29-4-1, 15) will return to the ring to face Lester Abutan (9-4-3, 5) for an IBF regional title. The hope for the Thai is that they will be able get their man a shot at the winner of the upcoming bout between Akira Yaegashi and Martin Tecuapetla
-The WBO Bantamweight mandatory title fight between Pungluang Sor Singyu (52-3, 35) and Marlon Tapales (28-2, 11) is set for June 17th, in Thailand. At the moment no venue has been set for the bout.
-The WBA have ordered a unification bout at minimumweight between their “interim” champion, Knockout CP Freshmart (12-0, 6), and their “regular” champion Byron Rojas (17-2-3, 8). The order was made on March 23rd and so the two teams have about 20 more days to agree terms before purse bids will be called.
-Former WBA lightweight champion Yusuke Kobori has returned to the gym that taught him what he knew. The former champion, who also won the OPBF and Japanese titles at lightweight, has gone back to the Kadoebi Houseki gym where he will now work as a trainer. Since his retirement in 2009 he has travelled and spent a significant amount of time in Canada.
-The JBC have refused to recognise the OPBF “Silver” title. The move comes in the wake of the OPBF willingly making the new title, regardless of whether the actual champion was active or not.,
Rumours
-Filipino fighter Randy Petalcorin (23-1-1, 18) has vacated the WBA “interim” light flyweight title to head down the WBC route. The Filipino will be in action on April 15th, when he faces Omari Kimweri (15-3, 6) with the bout seeing the two trading blows for a WBC “silver” title.
-The 2012 Olympic bronze medal winner Satoshi Shimizu is set to turn professional. The Japanese fighter will not be going to the 2016 Olympics, as hoped, and is instead likely to remove the vest. Interestingly Japanese sources are reporting that he’ll target a Japanese speed record for the fewest fights to a world title, if he signs professional papers later in the year
-Donnie Nietes (37-1-4, 21) will vacate the WBO light flyweight title in the Summer, ahead of a move to flyweight, where he will face unified champion Juan Francisco Estrada (33-2, 24). This has been reported in the Spanish language websites and appears to be a go-er for September.
-If, or when, Nietes vacates it seems a bout will be announced between Kosei Tanaka (6-0, 3) and Moises Fuentes (24-2-1, 13), with the two men facing off for the vacant title. Incidentally both Tanaka and Fuentes have held the WBO minimumweight title.
-When Tanaka vacates the WBO minimumweight title it’s expected that we’ll see Japanese teenager Riku Kabo (9-1-1, 2) fight for the title, if he over-comes former champion Merlito Sabillo (25-2-1, 12) on May 8th.
-Talks come out of South Africa are that WBA “interim” bantamweight champion Zhanat Zhakiyanov (26-1, 18) will face South African Zolani Tete (23-3, 19) in a bout set to take place in June in the UK
Scott Graveson covers the Asian boxing scene for www.asianboxing.info
