Weekly Asian boxing results (November 3rd to November 9th)
(Photo by Etsuo Hara/Getty Images)
This past week has been a great one for fans who follow the Asian fight scene, with 3 legitimately amazing bouts, including a bout that will be in the Fight of the Year mix at the end of the year. As well as the great bouts we also had prospects in action and a lot of drama. The may have been best known for what happened in the middle of the week, but that was it’s self sandwiched between great bouts at the start and end of the week.
November 3rd
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Jong Seon Kang (10-0-2, 6) SD10 Tomjune Mangubat (11-2-1, 9)
The weekend kicked off with an unexpected instant classic, with Vietnam playing host to a 10 round thriller between unbeaten Korean Jong Seong Kand and Filipino Tomjune Mangubat. In a typical week this would have been a bout I'd have been waxing lyrical over and telling everyone to watch. Kang, who applied pressure through out, was down early and had to be down on the scorecards as we entered the middle rounds. The pressure of the Korean broke through in the later rounds, and the last 2 rounds saw him battering Mangubat to earn the split decision. This was brilliant, all action and a fantastically exciting that fans should hunt down, though was, of course, over shadowed just a few days later by a FOTY contender.
November 7th
Saitama, Japan
Naoya Inoue (19-0, 16) UD12 Nonito Donaire (40-6, 26)
The bout of the week, and one of the bouts of the year in fact, saw Naoya Inoue score his toughest win to date, as he over-came Filipino puncher Nonito Donaire in the WBSS Bantamweight final. From the opening round to the final bell this was special. It was expected to be a mismatch, but Donaire had arguably the best performance of his career and gave Inoue a genuine test. Through the 12 round battle Inoue was left with a fractured orbital and 2 breaks in his nose, whilst Donaire was some how able to fight back after a brutal body shot put him down in round 11. After 12 rounds Inoue took the decision to unify the WBA, IBF and Ring Magazine titles, take the Muhammad Ali trophy, and, rather funnily, decline the WBC Diamond title. If you missed this bout you really, really need to give it a watch, it truly was spectacular.
Nordine Oubaali (17-0, 12) UD12 Takuma Inoue (13-1, 3)
A second world title bout on the Saitama show saw French-Moroccan fighter Nordine Oubaali retain his WBC Bantamweight title as he defeated Naoya Inoue's younger brother Takuma Inoue. This looked really competitive on paper, and overall it was, but it always seemed like Oubaali's power and and physicality was too much for Inoue. Inoue was dropped in round 4 and was well down on the scorecards before ramping up his aggression, and closing the difference late on. It's worth noting that Inoue managed to legitimately shake Oubaali in the final round, and Oubaali did leave questions over his chin and stamina. One other thing to add here is that Alejandro Rochin should never, ever, be allowed to judge a bout again in his life. His 120-107 card is objectively one of the worst scorecards in recent memory, and he has shown a consistent habit of putting out these terrible scorecards. His scores are suggesting he is incredibly incompetent, and the WBC need to stop using him as he is putting in too many farcical scores.
Shokichi Iwata (4-0, 3) TKO5 Alejandro Cruz Valladares (5-2)
Talented Japanese youngster Shokichi Iwata, who was an excellent amateur before beginning his professional career last year, showed what he could do by breaking down Alejandro Cruz Valladares. Iwata took punishment from Valladares but stuck to his game plan and foreced the referee to stop the bout in the 5th round. Interestingly this fight was aired in the US, on DAZN, but wasn't actually shown in Japan, where Fuji TV showed the wo main bouts live and WOWOW showed the main two bouts on delay.
Katsuya Fukui (2-0, 2) TKO2 Chakkit Ratchakhot (2-3, 2)
In an off TV bout on the same Saitama card fans had the chance to see Teiken prospect Katsuya Fukui score a quick win against Thai foe Chakkit Ratchakhot. The unbeaten Fukui had a solid amateur record before turning professional earlier this year. The Thai offered little in terms of competition but it's good to see Fukui being kept active and hopefully 2020 will be a big year for him.
November 9th
Tokyo, Japan
Takuya Watanabe (37-9-1, 21) UD8 Taiki Minamoto (16-6-1, 13)
Coming in to the weekend I though the Inoue Vs Donaire bout was going to be untouchable in terms of excitement and drama. In the end however Takuya Watanabe Taiki Minamoto did give it a good run for it's money with an 8 round war, in a Japanese title eliminator at Super Featherweight. The teak tough Watanabe pressed the action against the more skilled Taiki Minamoto, and what we ended up getting was 6 rounds of brutal inside warring, and 2 rounds of Minamoto reverting to plan B in the middle of the fight. This was the sort of bout Japanese fans have been getting almost weekly this year, and is well worth a watch for those who have subscribed to the Boxing Raise service.
Kazuki Nakajima (8-0, 7) TKO1 Jin Minamide (4-1, 3)
In a short but thrilling shoot out Kazuki Nakajima stopped Jin Minamide inside a round. This bout was part of the God's Left Bantamweight tournament and it was clear both men wanted to win, and move on to the tournament final. After a slow opening 30 seconds the two men opened up, and in the end it was Nakajima who stood tall, dropping Minamide twice, with the referee stopping the contest after the second knockdown. Nakajima was simply too polished, too sharp, and too accurate with his counters for Minamide. With this win Nakajima has advanced to January's final, where he will face Seiya Tsutsumi.
California, USA
Janibek Alimkhanuly (8-0, 4) KO6 Albert Onolunose (24-3-1, 8)
Unbeaten Kazakh prospect Janibek Alimkhanuly continued his winning run with a solid performance against Canadian veteran Albert Onolunose. Alimkhanuly has often been a frustrating fighter to watch, but he here showed a bit of desire to impress, and he managed to do just that as he broke down his foe and forced the referee to halt the fight in round 6.
Madiyar Ashkeyev (14-0, 7) TKO6 Rodolfo Ezequiel Martinez (43-9-3, 16)
Another unbeaten Kazakh also scored a win in California, with Madiyar Ashkeyev breaking down Argentinian veteran Rodolfo Ezequiel Martinez. The 31 year old Ashkeyev expected to face someone else, then that opponent got replaced and the replacement also got replaced, by the 37 year old Martinez. To his credit Martinez hung around for a while but was never in the fight before being being dropped 3 times and deciding enough was enough.