This past week has been an interesting one in Asian rings with a number of notable bouts across pretty much every level of the sport.
Monday-
The action began with a Dangan card on Monday. The main event of that show saw former Japanese Super Featherweight champion Rikki Naito (16-2, 5) take an 8 round unanimous decision win over Yusuke Nakagawa (10-7-1, 6). The win for Naito wasn’t a surprise but it was a much needed victory for the speedy fighter who has struggled in recent bouts, with two losses to Kenichi Ogawa and a less than impressive bout with Argie Toquero in recent contests.
The exciting Hiroaki Teshigawara (13-2-2, 7) also bounced back from a loss, to Ryo Akaho last year, as he over-came Filipino visitor Junny Salogaol (12-11-4, 11) with a 2nd round TKO. On paper may have looked like a mismatch but the Filipino is a big puncher and was a threat on paper, but wasn’t a big enough threat in the actual ring.
Talented debutant Tetsuya Watanabe (1-0) was also on the same card, kicking off his career with a 6 round win over Shogo Sakai (6-6-2, 4), in what proved to be a very good test for the debutant. I’m expecting big things from Watanabe and a debut against a live dog like Sakai was a good way to make a statement.
Thursday-
The next major action came on Thursday, as Misako hosted a really deep card.
The main event of hat card saw WBO Asia Pacific Super Featherweight champion Masayuki Ito (21-1-1, 10) score his first defense of the title as he scored a 9th round stoppage of Filipino puncher Lorenzo Villanueva (32-3-0-1, 28). The champion scored 3 knock downs but did suffer some damage to his eye and there is some fears that he has suffered a genuine injury that could keep him out of the ring. If he’s not as badly injured as fear there is talk that he could face Kenichi Ogawa later in the year.
In the chief support bout fans saw the heavy handed Keita Obara (17-2-1, 15) return to the ring for the first time since his memorable defeat to Eduard Troyanovsky. Unfortunately for Obara his performance wasn’t stunning, but it was a winning one as he easily over-came Indonesian visitor Larry Siwu (24-8, 20) in a clear 8 rounder. Interestingly this was the first time Obara has ever won a decision that has gone the scheduled distance, with his only other decision win being an early career technical decision win.
Whilst Obara wasn’t able to look sensational that wasn’t the case for the fast rising Shuichiro Yoshino (4-0, 2), who easily out pointed former OPBF and JBC Yoshitaka Kato (30-8-2, 9). Although not well known outside of Japan Kato is a really good fighter, though is now on the slide and Yoshino may have got him at the right time. Whether or not it was good timing is beside the point Yoshino really shone and it’s now time that those who follow the Japanese scene began to get excited about the former amateur stand out.
Also on this card was former 2-time Japanese Bantamweight champion Kentaro Masuda (27-7, 15), who blitzed Romel Oliveros (8-4-1, 3) in a horribly 1-sided mismatch. Although it was a mismatch the bout supposedly serves as a tune up for Masuda ahead of an OPBF title fight later in the year.
Friday-
On Friday there wasn’t a lot of action but what there was was an impressive destruction job by Dmitry Bivol (10-0, 8) in the US, with the Russian based Kyrgyzstan born fight dominating Samuel Clarkson (19-4, 12) to defend the WBA interim Light Heavyweight title. Clarkson got up from two knockdowns in the opening round but never managed to make Bivol think twice and in round 4 Clarkson was eventually finished off. Although this was only an “interim” title defense it does look like Bivol is genuinely world class and it won’t be look before he gets to prove that.
Saturday-
It’s sad to say that Saturday was incredibly quiet, but there was some action in Korea where WBA female Super Featherweight champion Hyun Mi Choi (14-0-1, 4) retained her title with a 10 round decision over Kimika Miyoshi (13-10-1, 5). Although the bout may have looked like a mismatch on paper Miyoshi gave it her all and really put Choi under pressure, but Choi’s better boxing skills and sharp counter punching helped her to a clear win. The score cards were wide for this one, but the bout was a lot more competitive than the cards my suggest, and credit needs to go to Miyoshi for her effort.
Whilst on the subject of Choi I have to admit her career is crazy and her story is one of the best in boxing. If you’re unaware of her I suggest taking a look into her background and her journey from North Korean Olympic hopeful to 2-weight world champion.
Sunday-
On Sunday there was 4 shows across Japan. The cards weren’t stacked but they did have some notable bouts.
The most significant of the bouts saw OPBF Middleweight champion Koki Tyson (12-2-2, 11) score a 4th round KO against Korean challenger Sung-Jae Ahn (6-4, 1), who was very much outclassed by the Japanese puncher. Although Tyson was impressive he does look a million miles from being the best in Japan, a long way behind Ryota Murata, and it’s going to take a lot of improvement for him to look above and beyond Oriental level.
On a different show the talented Junto Nakatani (11-0, 9) made a statement as he stopped Filipinoi Joel Taduran (8-6-1, 2) in 4 rounds. To those outside of Asia this wasn’t a huge win, but he did something that former world champion Toshiyuki Igarashi failed to do.
Another talented unbeaten Japanese fighter picking up a quick win was Seigo Yuri Akui (10-0-1, 6), who took around 30 seconds to blast out Thai visitor Nattawut Siritoem (0-3). This was a mismatch and no one will defend the poor quality of the Thai, but Akui will be back in the ring in May is a much more serious bout as he looks to progress to the final of the Japanese youth title tournament.
Another Japanese fighter picking up a win over a Thai visitor was Takumi Sakae (15-2-1, 10), who scored a 5th round win over the wild and rough Nayoklek Sithsaithong (1-1,1). Sakae has had a hard time recently and it seemed like the Thai knew it as he came out swinging, wrestling and doing everything to make Sakae’s life hard. Unfortunately for the Thai the rough style didn’t get him the success he needed and in round 5 Sakae landed a bomb forcing Nayoklek down and getting the referee to stop the bout.
It may not have been the biggest week, but certainly has been an interesting week!
Scott Graveson covers the Asian boxing scene for www.asianboxing.info
