JBC, Japanese, OPBF, WBO-AP Thread (Click and Read at Least Once!)

Have you ever wanted to follow the Japanese domestic scene, but didn't know where to begin? No one to talk to, research is hard, barely any info on the fights? Worry no more, from the start of this thread onward, all Japanese title fights, WBO Asia-Pacific title fights, OPBF title fights and Japanese fighters in world championships/final eliminators will be covered, regardless of division. Other notable Japanese fights will also be covered, regardless of titles or rankings involved. I will do my best to watch and report on the fighters I watch, and I invite other forum members to watch fighters they find interesting. I have some knowledge now, but my accuracy in assessing the fighters will grow as I watch more. Anyway, let's get started!:

UPCOMING FIGHTS:

April 8th:

This content is protected

The big one. Kenshiro Teraji (20-1 12 KO) "The Amazing Boy" is the current WBC, WBA, Ring and lineal 108 champion. He made 8 defenses of his WBC title before being stopped by the very notable Masamichi Yabuki. Kenshiro beat Yabuki in the rematch in the third round. Prior to losing to Yabuki, Kenshiro had a stated goal of breaking the all-time Japanese record for most defenses in a single world title reign. He realized after losing to Yabuki this wasn't going to happen, and instead decided to either become undisputed, or win a title in the flyweight/112 division. This meant that he finally stopped ducking his countryman and WBA/Ring champion, Hiroto Kyoguchi. Kenshiro came into the unification as a mild underdog (Kyoguchi was -165 I believe) but shut out and knocked out Kyoguchi, showing he was many levels above the 2 division champion. Now he wants to beat Jonathon Gonzalez (27-3-1 14 KO), and take his IBF title. Ken Shiro wants immortality, and now undisputed seems his only way to achieve it. But can he do it?

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

 

I might create a site for archival/easy reading purposes, but I'd rather just make the thread here, so people actually see it. I'd like to get some discussion on this stuff going in the west. I mean prior to Ken Shiro KOinng Kyoguchi, even he, with 8 defenses of the WBC title had almost no discussion ever. 90%+ of people who regularly use this forum don't know who Masamichi Yabuki or Seigo Yuri Akui are, and through no fault of their own. That has to change. There needs to be more information.

 

Sorry, my phone died after I liked the reply. Anyway, yes! It is on ESPN+ and other sites I'm not allowed to mention. Also, personally, I would say this is my favorite card overall since I began watching the sport, slightly surpassing Ken Shiro's last fight.

 

Haha, I always think of moving to Japan too, but it's a lot harder than the USA, especially as I don't know Japanese. I always think "after I have a successful amateur career and finish university, I'll go to Japan anro in boxing." Now I'm at a point where if my run is successful next year (I can't go to the golden gloves this year because I just moved states and they have rules with needing an in-state address, which I technically legally don't have for Texas yet) I'll just turn pro and maybe move to Japan if I can.

 

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

Sagawa, age 29, 175cm/5'8 (12-2 7 KO) will be entering as the favorite. Do not let his record fool you. Besides looking better than his record suggests, he also has a borderline world-class resume. After losing in his second fight by TKO, he went on a 9 fight win streak, beating former OPBF champion Ryo Matsumo and Reiya Abe. (Abe is recently relevant for beating former world champion and world-ranked Kiko Martinez, but was already notable for beating 3x world title challenger Satoshi Hosono, who held Chris John to a draw. He also beat Hinata Maruta recently.) Hinata Maruta is notable for defeating Sagawa himself. Maruta snapped Sagawa's win streak with a KO in round 7 in an otherwise dead-equal fight. Since the loss, Sagawa has picked up two wins, including vs former 122 world champion Shun Kubo, who he stopped in the third round. His biggest weakness by far is his weak chin. Which is perhaps unfortunate, as his opponent's best attribute is power.

Matsumoto, age 23, 175cm/5'9 (7-0 7 KO) will therefore be entering as the underdog. He has no notable pro wins up to this point, and instead his place in this matchup is based on his all KO record and good amateur career. As an amateur, he went 80-15 30 KOs and won 5 national Japanese youth championships, where he was named the MVP across all weight classes in all 5.
As a little bonus fact, his father, Koji Matsumoto, was a 3x Japanese and OPBF featherweight champion who (probably) got robbed overseas in a 130 title fight and his grandfather, Hiroshi Matsumoto, was a bit of a patzer (went 6-4) but won the East Japanese Rookie King Tournament.

Ryo Sagawa is a very straight up (read: no lateral movement) boxer with a beautiful left hand (both jab and hook) which he uses to counter and upset his opponent's timing regularly. He bounces a lot, and is very good at keeping his own rhythm while upsetting his opponent's. His defense, though, is rather poor, and he gets tagged to the body a lot when his opponent goes for it. He's also very hesitant with his right hand, and is a bit of a one-armed fighter. If he used it more, he would probably be miles better. He uses head movement to angle out and get away from his opponent after getting tagged, but you won't see much (other than what his bouncing causes) when he's on the offensive. He's in impeccable shape, and cardio generally isn't a problem for him, though he did slow down a little vs Maruta before being stopped.

Keisuke Matsumoto is a tall, extremely fast fighter with a lightning quick 1-2. He creates range extremely well, is hard to hit for the basic fighters he has fought so far, and mixes the body and the head before quickly resetting. Remember: His best attribute is his power. He absolutely decimates people when he connects. All of that said, he's only fought very basic fighters so far, Sagawa will be his first live body, despite most of his former opponents being game. He's in decent shape for a 126 fighter. He has no known cardio issues, stopping 6 of his 7 opponents in the first two rounds.

 

Keisuke Matsumo ended up winning by UD (99-1, 99-1, 98-92) and advances to 8-0 (7 KO) as well as becoming the JBC Featherweight Champion. He's known to have a rivalry with Hayato Tsutumi (2-0 0 KO) who has a fight for the vacant OPBF Featherweight Title on May 31st. If Tsutumi succeeds there, we could very much get a JBC-OPBF unification between Matsumoto and Tsutumi.

 

Hayato Tsutsumi (3-0) defeated Jeo Santisima (22-6 19 KO) by UD (118-110, 120-108, 119-109) to win the formerly vacant OPBF title. Given that Tsutsumi was an amateur rival to Keisuke Matsumoto, who just won the Japanese title vs Ryo Sagawa, a big regional unification between them could very well be on the way, with both of those fighters being world title hopes for Japan.


Also! With this victory, Tsutsumi broke the record for the fewest amount of professional victories for a Japanese male boxer to win the OPBF title, with 3. Previously the record was held in tie at 4 by Kosei Tanaka and Satoshi Shimizu. Satoshi Shimizu (11-1 10 KO), interestingly enough, will be fighting on the co-main of Inoue-Fulton vs Robeisy Ramirez.