A little while back I did an Asian Faces article about Watanabe gym’s Hiroto Kyoguchi (6-0, 6), today fight fans had the chance to see Kyoguchi return to the ring to take part in his first title fight and he continued to build on his reputation as one of the most exciting little men in the sport.
Today’s bout saw Kyoguchi going up against Filipino veteran Armando dela Cruz (25-15-3, 11) in a bout for the vacant OPBF Minimumweight title, and Kyoguchi took his opportunity and ran with it making a statement and becoming just the 5th man to stop dela Cruz, following world champions Florante Condes, Nkosinathi Joyi, Wanheng Menayothin and Sonny Boy Jaro.
Introduced as “Kid Dynamite” today, Kyoguchi started the bout cautiously, moving forward behind a high guard and showing good head movement as he tried to get into range. Within a minute of the fight starting he was looking to land some of his heavy artillery. It was only the experience of dela Cruz that allowed him to avoid the early bombs of Kyoguchi who then began to show his phsycialty and by the end of the opening round he was letting his trademark combinations go, and backing the Filipino on to the ropes.
The opening round finished with dela Cruz throwing a shot after the bell. Although it did no damage it likely wasn’t the best idea as Kyoguchi seemed to take it as an insult and after a patient 35 seconds to begin round 2 he let loose dropping the Filipino on to the seat of his pants, and also landed a naughty shot on his downed foe. Dela Cruz got up from the knockdown but then got bullied for much of the round as Kyoguchi looked to land his power shots. Some got through, some missed, but his intention was clear, he wanted a 6th straight KO. Were it not for dela Cruz’s toughness that would likely have come later in the round when Kyoguchi landed some truly brutal body shots.
Dela Cruz’s toughness eventually deserted him in round 3, though not until he had landed his best shot of the fight, a solid left hand left hand about 70 seconds into the round. Prior to the blow Kyoguchi had looked the boss, and afterwards he looked like a man with an issue, quickly attacking dela Cruz and not stopping until his man was down in agony following a body shot about 30 seconds later. This time dela Cruz didn’t get to his feet, and instead was counted out.
Although the performance was a statement win from Kyoguchi it was clear that he occasionally rushed his own work, didn’t set things up properly and looked a bit too anxious to get the stoppage. He stated as much after the fight, admitting that he should have used his jab more, but for a man in just his 6th fight this was an out standing performance and it’s clear that he’s got his eyes on world honours, with a potential world title fight, though is likely to be made to wait and will instead be expected to defend this title in late April.
As for dela Cruz this could well be the end, if not he will surely be out of the ring for some time to recover from the brutal body assault that Kyoguchi gave him through out the contest. He may not have suffered any serious injuries, but will still need to give his body recovery time.
Scott Graveson covers the Asian boxing scene for www.asianboxing.info
