Home Boxing News Weekly Asian fight results (06/2 to 12/02)

Weekly Asian fight results (06/2 to 12/02)

This part week has been a quiet one in Asian boxing circles, with only a small number of cards. Despite the lack of quantity in terms of shows those shows did tend to feature numerous notable bouts.

February 9th-
The first notable show a Diamond Glove show from Tokyo. The card, promoted by Misako, featured numerous notable fights, and was a genuine treat from a domestic fans point of view.

One of the fights saw touted novice Izuki Tomioka (2-0) score a 6 round shut out win over Korean Joon Woo Park (4-7, 2). Although only 19 years old Tomioka is touted as someone to make a note of and he already has 12 rounds of professional experience, having gone 6 rounds twice already. Sadly for Park this was a 4th loss in 5 bouts and although he proved his toughness it seems clear that he’s going to be just a test for novices.

Tomioka wasn’t the only notable former amateur fighter on the under-card as Yusuke Suzuki (7-3, 5) was also in action. Suzuki, who had lost his previous 2 bouts, secured a 2nd round KO win over Ken Kodama (8-3-1, 3) in what looked like a very competitive contest on paper. Another 2nd round KO was scored by veteran Norihito Tanaka (15-5, 8), who ended a 5 year break from the ring and stopped Yuto Takahashi (6-3, 4). Although an unknown outside of Japan Tanaka had facedthe likes of Akira Yaegashi, Ryoichi Taguchi and Kenichi Horikawa among others.

The chief support bout for the show saw the always fun to watch Koichi Aso (21-7-1, 14) claim the Japanese Light Welterweight title, as he recorded an 8th round stoppage win against Kazuki Matsuyama (13-8-1, 7). Aso’s pressure managed to finally break down Matsuyama but not until after we’d had some great back and forth, especially in rounds 6 and 7, with Matsuyama meeting fire with fire. For Aso this was third time lucky, following two failed title efforts in the past to Hiroki Okada, though Matsuyama is likely to find himself struggling to get a second shot.

The main event was another title fight, with world ranked Featherweight Ryo Takenaka (16-3-1, 9) scoring a 4th round KO against the gutsy but out-classed Ryuto Araya (11-5-1, 3) to defend the OPBF title, for the third time. Araya ended the bout with a suspected fracture in his face whilst Takenaka looked towards the future and is said to now be eyeing a major bout later in the year.

February 10th-
The first show of note on Friday came from Singapore where Cartel Promotions put on a genuinely notable show.

The first bouts of note on this show saw Indonesian prospect Andika Sabu (12-0, 6) score a 5th round TKO over Sylem Serang (7-10-1, 1), to extend his unbeaten run. Another stoppage on thi show saw the in form Jeson Umbal (13-5, 9) score a 2nd round TKO over Namibian Nasibu Ramadhan (21-9-2, 10). Although he doesn’t boast a great record Umbal has won his last 5, and beaten the likes of Luis Bedolla Orozco and Mark Anthony Geraldo in recent contests.

The two main bouts in Singapore both featured promising Uzbek’s. The lesser of those bouts saw Qudratillo Abduqaxorov (10-0, 7) extend his perfect record with a 3rd round TKO against Idd Pialari (17-3-1, 12). The unbeaten Abduqaxorov is now set to return to the ring in March to fight for the WBC “silver” Welterweight title as he faces Zimbabwean fighter Charles Manyuchi.

The second of the Uzbeks was Azizbek Abdugofurov (5-0, 4) who scored a career defining win as he retained his WBC Asian Boxing Council Middleweight title and over-came Sirimongkil Singwancha (91-3, 57). The bout saw Abdugofurov being taken 12 rounds, and being genuine tested here, but proving his legitimacy as a genuine prospect as he over-came the 2-time world champion. Although Singwancha isn’t the fighter he used to be, given he is now 39, he used all of his experience to test Abdugofurov and both fighters come out of this bout with their reputations enhanced.

Later the same day the attention turned to Ohio where we saw a PBC show that featured Kazakh Bantamweight Zhanat Zhakiyanov (27-1, 18) claim a massive win as he out pointed Rau’shee Warren (14-2-0-1, 4) to claim the WBA Bantamweight “super” title. Zhakiyanov was down twice in the opening round but showed his will to win as he out hustled and out fought Warren over the following 11 rounds to take a split decision win.

February 11th-
On Saturday the action came from Chuncheon in South Korea, as Boxing M put on their latest show. The main event of the card ended in controversy as Joo Hyun Jung (8-3-1, 2) claimed the WBC EPBC Flyweight title, scoring a much debated win over Jeronil Borres (7-2-1, 5). Borres twice dropped Jung in round 3, though came up short on the cards, much to the chagrin of the Filipino’s team.

In another title bout on the same card Eun Young Huh (8-4-1) claim a Korean female title, as she avenged a defeated to Hee Jung Shin (1-2) over 8 rounds. Staying with Korean title action fans also saw Sang Hoo Kil (6-4-2, 3) scpre a 10th round TKO over Hak Sun Choi (5-7-2) for a national Bantamweight title.

February 12th-
The final show of note took place on Sunday in Hiroshima and saw Japanese veteran Kenishi Horika (32-14-1, 7) claim the WBO Asia Pacific Light Flyweight title, out pointing Koji Itagaki (17-112, 7) in a highly competitive 12 rounder. Horikawa started slowly but came on strong in the final 6 rounds to take a very well earned decision win. The win for Horikawa saw him claiming the second title of his professional career, and he’ll be hoping to keep this one for longer than he kept the Japanese title in 2015, which he lost just over 3 months after winning it. For Itagaki the loss could well be the end of his tough career.

Scott Graveson covers the Asian boxing scene for www.asianboxing.info