The Japanese Boxing Thread - Inoue wins; Olympic gold medallist Murata in action!

In the main event of the card I've been mentioning, Yoshitaka Kato (21-4-1, 5KOs) retained his Japanese lightweight title and also gained revenge by winning a split decision over Akihiro Kondo (16-3-1, 6KOs). This was their second meeting and the second time the judges were split as to who won. This time, two cards read 97-94 and 96-95 in favour of Kato, whilst the other judge had it for Kondo by a score of 97-94.

 

He's Hearns, Valero and The Hawk all rolled into one :deal

Here he is decking a touted prospect in under a minute:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHn4VQ3U9tU&feature=player_embedded[/ame]


Knocking another guy out:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3czLMLaWJY[/ame]


Here he is stopping a Mongolian fighter (!) that is a decent fighter in Japan:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BGS4yLsWNQ[/ame]


Sadly his fight in the 2010 rookie lightweight finals seems to have been removed from YouTube - in that fight, he broke his opponents jaw inside a round.

He's unlikely to make it to the world stage IMO, but his open defence, attacking mentality and punching power will mean he'll be in plenty of exciting fights :yep

 

John-Kimura in Singapore Showdown

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It was announced yesterday that Chris John (46-0-2, 22KOs) will defend his WBA World featherweight title in Singapore against former two-time Japanese super bantamweight champion Shoji Kimura (24-4-2, 9KOs).

The bout, scheduled for May 5, is 32-year old John's 15th WBA featherweight title defence to take place in a row, whilst this will be only the second time Kimura has contested a 'world' title; the 34-year old's previous effort seen him stopped inside four rounds by Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym at super bantamweight in 2010.

In a much more intriguing bout on the undercard, contender Daud Cino Yordan (28-2-0-1, 22KOs) will battle against unbeaten Philippine puncher Lorenzo Villanueva (22-0-0-1, 21KOs) for the vacant IBO featherweight title.

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Kato keeps Japanese 135lb belt

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- Shuhei Tsuchiya (left) in Action against Davaa Ona -​

By Joe Koizumi

Shaven-skulled slow-starter Yoshitaka Kato (21-4-1, 5 KOs), 135, barely kept his Japanese lightweight belt in his initial defense as he avenged his previous defeat on a split duke by eking out an also split verdict (97-94, 96-95, 94-97) over ex-champ Akihiro Kondo (16-3-1, 6 KOs), 135, over ten close rounds on Tuesday in Tokyo, Japan. Kondo, some two years ago, kept his belt by dropping Kato with a left hook and managed to win a hairline decision at the same venue. Now Kato was the defending titlist who acquired the vacant belt renounced by the current OPBF ruler Nihito Arakawa. The slick-punching and fast-moving Kondo displayed his favorite hit-and-run strategy, steadily piling up points in the first half, while Kato only kept going forward with his peek-a-boo guard. It looked like a one-sided affair, but the tide abruptly turned in the second half. Kato’s jabs bloodied Kondo’s nostrils and began to mix it up with Kondo’s footwork fading and his stinging lefts diminishing. It followed a similar pattern of the first encounter between Carmen Basilio and Sugar Ray Robinson with the rugged puncher Kato emerging victorious though the decision might be debatable.

JBC#8 lightweight sensation Shuhei Tsuchiya (12-0, 12 KOs), 136.5, collected another victim Satawat Wor Surapol (7-4-1, no KO), 135.5, with a flurry of punches and demolished him for the count in the neutral corner at 102 seconds of the opening session in a scheduled eight. The 25-year-old ex-kick-boxer displayed his superior power in lopsidedly battering the Thailander from the outset and sank him with an uppercut following furious combinations. Tsuchiya, who can really punch, is worth watching.

Formerly K-1 fighter Kyotaro Fujimoto (2-0, 1 KO), 231.5, showed his fine form and impressively halted OPBF#9 heavyweight contender Jaechan Kim (6-2, 5 KOs), 242.75, at 1:03 of the second round in a scheduled six. The 6-foot Japanese, 25, whipped the Korean from all angles with his fine display of hand speed, and finally floored the beer-barreled loser midway in round two, when the referee promptly called a halt to the lopsided affair.

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http://www.fightnews.com/Boxing/kato-keeps-japanese-135lb-belt-109797

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Shuhei has got the backing of Koizumi :happy

Apparently he'll be back out on May 17th :good

 

Charlie Ohta to Make US Debut

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Japan-based American Charles Bellamy, more commonly known in boxing circles by his Charlie Ota/Ohta pseudonym, will be boxing on US soil for the first time in his professional career this Saturday. Fighting on the undercard of the middleweight showdown between Sergio Martinez and Matthew Macklin, Ohta (19-1-1, 13KOs) will be facing off against 33-year old club fighter Gundrick King (16-7, 11KOs) over 8 rounds at light middleweight.

The fight will effectively be a trial for WBA #9 Ohta to try and secure some form of contract with Lou DiBella, the promoter of the show. Although he still plans to campaign in Japan as well, the 30-year old is looking to garner interest on a more international scale in the hope of securing a major fight in the near future.

However, despite carving out a respectable career in Japan that has seen him be a long-standing national champion, the current OPBF champion and attain a world ranking, Ohta is under no illusions that he has to impress on the night against King.

As he mentioned in his recent interview with Sidney Boquiren for Bad Left Hook: "I gotta look impressive...that's my whole goal...I'm going to try and show anything I can to make people think this guy can really compete, which he can."

If his performances in Japan are anything to go by, then those in attendance and watching at home should at the very least be entertained.

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Here's some footage of Ohta sparring Canelo Alvarez:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_zLrAF2ggE[/ame]


Also, his first fight against popular home fighter Tadashi Yuba:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQHACePcgBw[/ame]

 

Sato upsets Suriyan for WBC super flyweight title

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By Sidney Boquiren

After three rounds of action in Tuesday’s WBC super flyweight title bout, Japanese boxing fans could have been under the impression that they were witnessing the birth of their next great boxing star.

Yota Sato had been impressively in the zone for the first nine minutes of the fight, punctuating on his height and reach advantages by repeatedly sticking incumbent Suriyan Sor Rungvisai with his jab. The challenger controlled distance well, displaying nifty footwork and good quickness. When the Thai bruiser closed in, Sato would ram him with a counter right before stepping away. The 27-year old Iwate native’s confidence was transparent – bordering on cockiness – the few punches he did eat mainly due to his own hubris.

The third frame in particular was an emphatic statement that Sato could be something special. Cracking Suriyan with a hard straight right in the opening moments would be a premonition of events to come. Just as the fight moved into the final minute of the round, the challenger would feint before launching an overhand right, buckling the titleholder upon impact. Suriyan would fall to the canvas amidst Sato’s ensuing flurry, and though he would rise from the mat, it would be on wobbly legs. The challenger would score a second knockdown at the end of the stanza when both men struck with right hands. While Sato remained upright, the Thai would land on his backside, crashing into the ropes.

After another strong round in the fourth, scores revealed that Sato had built up a huge lead on the cards. Two of the judges scored it a 40-34 shutout.

However, the tone of the fight as it moved into the middle frames was quite different from the first four.

Rest of the article here: http://www.badlefthook.com/2012/3/2...nockdowns-the-difference-as-sato-tops-suriyan

 

Suriyan-Sato fight:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0y4n9OSV50[/ame]


[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zq9aVlCKwpE[/ame]


[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4Pi8wLmSfg[/ame]

 

I did say Sato had a chance in this one

Still shocked he won it, though.