To begin April Japanese fight fans get the latest in the long line of “Dynamic Glove” shows, on pay channel G+. That card is set to be headlined by former world champion Toshiyuki Igarashi but the real bout of intrigue for many who follow the Japanese scene is actually the co-feature, which will see Shuya Masaki (6-0, 3) take on Shingo Eto (17-5-1, 9). For Eto the bout is a must win whilst Masaki will be looking to announce himself as not just being a prospect but also a genuine contender on the domestic and regional scenes.
The 23 year old Masaki likely isn’t a fighter you’ve heard of, or even scene, but he is tipped as one of the potential Japanese stars of the future and is backed by the hugely powerful Teiken promotions. He was seen as a notable fighter when he signed with the Tokyo promotion and is a fight that many in Japan have regarded as one of the country’s hidden gems.
Prior to turning professional, in 2015, Masaki had run up a solid amateur record of either 53 or 54 wins and 8 losses, which included appearances at notable national tournaments and impressive performances that had caught the eye of pro scouts long before he showed any intent on turning towards the professional ranks.
Eventually Masaki did wave good bye to the amateur ranks and made his debut on April 16th 2015, at the age of 21. His debut saw him taking a win with an opening round stoppage against Phanthong Por Panya (also known as Saranyu Intakaew), who was said to have had an 11-8-2 (2) record. The Thai came to win and gave his best against Masaki, but the Japanese fighter’s talent and amateur skills showed through as he took the fight Phanthong and stopped him with a beautiful combination punctuated by a nasty uppercut.
Less than 4 months later Masaki return to the ring, taking a 6 round decision over Shintaro Nakamura, essentially shutting out his compatriot. Teiken seemed to quickly realise they had a great talent on their hand and rushed him out again 4 months later, as he took a 3rd round TKO win over Fumio Ujihara, to end 2015 3-0 (2).
In Masaki’s first big step up he took on Filipino foe Vergil Puton in March 2016. To an outsider looking at Puton this wouldn’t have been considered as much of a test for a fighter like Masaki, however Puton’s record is a misleading one. At the time of his bout with Masaki Puton was 15-6 (7) but he had never been stopped and had lost 3 of his first 7 bouts, whilst suffering very close losses to JR Magboo and Ye Joon Kim, in Korea, both of which could have gone his way. Puton’s skills and toughness were on show as he gave Masaki real problems, despite being dropped. Sadly Puton’s work wasn’t recognised on the scorecards, but the 8 round bout was very tough and seemed to serve as a real gut check for Masaki, who showed world class potential but did so in a very flawed manner that his team would have began working on.
The skills and flaws were again on show when Masaki returned to the ring and had an hellacious and bloody battle with Yuya Shimakura. The bout was a real war, with Masaki being the more powerful guy, and sadly left Shimakura in the hospital not just for facial damage but also a but also a bleed on the brain. The bout essentially ended Shimakura’s once promising career and saw Masaki get through a gut check of a bout.
To end 2016 the Teiken man took out Thai fighter Tienchai Yoongkaogym (AKA Tienchai Sor Kanitsorn), stopping the Thai in 2 rounds to move to 6-0 (3). Against Tienchai we saw Masaki dominate with his aggression and skills, which dropped the Thai in the opening round and saw him finish him a little less than 2 minutes into round 2.*
Powerfully built and with an aggressive style Masaki will be a very fun fighter to see develop. He is flawed but with his heavy hands and aggressive fighting mentality it’s clear there is going to be a lot of fun bouts during his career. At the moment he seems to have transitioned into the professional ranks brilliantly, and despite really struggling with Puton he has developed since then into being a really young fighter. If he can get past Eto on April 1st then there is every chance his team will look to push him into the title mix by early 2018. At 23 years old however they might not mind holding him back a little bit, letting him get some more ring time, and then push him against the likes of Kazuhiro Nishitani or Nihito Arakawa.
*Note – at the time of writing Boxrec have the time as 2:58 but the towel was thrown in by Tienchai’s corner with over a minute left on the clock.
(Scott Graveson covers the Asian boxing scene for www.asianboxing.info)
