He is another excellent fighter from Japan. Showed alot again Vic D. I am surprise espn ranking has is countryman Koki Kameda ahead of him. That would be another big match if they want to do it.
Yea that's a joke that they rank him over Kameda who's yet to accomplish anything big.. ESPN doesn't know much about Asian boxing.. Moreno is moving back down to 118 so Id love to see these two get it on...
Good mix of skill and power; boxed very well against (admittedly faded) Darchinyan, and starched Rojas with a single punch. Managed to grind down and stop Japanese arch-rival Iwasa in a terrific contest and then did the same to a tough Christian Esquivel to win his share of the bantamweight championship. Did get dropped by Esquivel, but came back strong after being forced to touch down, so his punch resistance appears to be pretty good. He's not well known enough outside of the hardcore to bring up stateside just yet, methinks...But should he get past Tunacao I could see Moreno traveling to Japan to unify if the price is right. Either way, Yamanaka is fun to watch, and a fine addition to a talented division of fighters.
Meaning he's like the next Nishioka or that he's fast?? Yamanaka isn't really know for speed.. He's just pretty dam good..
If both retired and never fought again, Kameda has had the better career. I'm a huge, huge Kameda fan. But no doubt do I think Yamanaka would easily rout Koki.
Kameda definitely had the better career in terms of money earnings and fame and he's accomplished that mostly because of his personality and character... It's his personality that sells in Japan but as a fighter, he's about 2 notches below Yamanaka and if they were to face off, he'd get murdered..
He has Tunacao next. Former champ and is 35 but should be a good test, with the former being a boxer-puncher.
I'd disagree on their resumes, actually, if you scratch beneath the surface. Kameda got a gift IMO against De La Mora, and arguably in Landaeta I, Manakane and Ruiz as well (still haven't seen Kameda vs. Ruiz but it's a very widespread opinion) - and lost in his biggest step up to a past it Pong in what really ought to have been a UD rather than a MD...although he was badly cut. His biggest legitimate undisputed wins are a faded 35 year old Naito and a faded 31 year old Munoz. (remember, in the lower divisions 30-something is like 40-something for those on the heavier end of the scale - they typically burn out much faster and Naito and Munoz were no exceptions to that rule) All four of Yamanaka's victories in 2011 and 2012 - past it but still dangerous (differentiating him from Naito or Munoz) 36 year old Darchinyan, green but clearly already world class Iwasa, prime Esquivel, and Rojas - each trump either of that pair. On the surface it appears Koki has more than half a dozen very good triumphs to just a handful for Yamanaka - but throw away the robberies and look closely at the circumstances of when he caught Munoz and Naito and the two-year run Yamanaka's just had beat him out in quality and quantity of greatest achievements. Kameda should perhaps have five losses on his resume and be 1-4 (having beaten Landaeta clearly in the rematch) against guys Yamanaka would probably never come close to losing to. ...and yes, h2h Shin is a nightmare for Koki. That is unquestionable...although Koki has a real puncher's chance.
I was mildly surprised Tunacao stopped Esquivel, tbh. :yep Also, admittedly, somewhat annoyed, because Yamanaka vs. Esquivel I was lots of fun and II was on the table if the latter could get by Tunacao. Yamanaka vs. Tunacao is appealing in its own respect, though. :thumbsup
