Weekly Asian Boxing Results (December 29th To January 4th)

(Photo by A.McGovern)

So the past has been a quiet one for boxing, thanks in part to Christmas and the New Year. Of course boxing never sleeps, and even if it was quiet there was still more than a few talking points from the final few shows of 2019.

December 29th
Muhamad Farkhan (11-0, 11) TKO7 Pascal Abel Ndomba (24-10-2, 22)
The only non-New Year's Eve bout to talk about was a 7th round TKO win by 31 year old Malaysian fighter Muhammad Farkhan. The unbeaten, though rather untested Farkhan, has been one of the few talking points for Malaysian boxing over the last few years and his decade ending win over 36 year old Tanzanian Pascal Abel Ndomba saw him claim a trio of regional titles.

December 31st
Kazuto Ioka (25-2, 14) UD12 Jeyvier Cintron (11-1-0-1, 5)
Of course the year ended with action in Japan, as every year does, and it seems like most years the man who rang out the bells with the final bout of note was Kazuto Ioka. The 4-weight Japanese world champion retained his WBO Super Flyweight title with a tough, but clear, win over mandatory challenger Jeyvier Cintron. The challenger came in to the bout full of confidence but the body shots of Ioka proved to be the difference and in the end there was no arguing with the decision. After the bout Ioka called for potential fights with WBC champion Juan Francisco Estrada and fellow 4-weight champion Roman Gonzalez. News also broke about Ioka being set to open up a gym of his own, so 2020 could be a huge year for him!

Kosei Tanaka (15-0, 9) KO3 Wulan Tuolehazi (13-4-1, 6)
The penultimate world title fight of 2019 saw Kosei Tanaka put on arguably his most polished performance to date as he stopped Chinese challenger Wulan Tuolehazi. I'm a huge fan of Tanaka but all too often he makes life much harder for himself than he needs to. Here however he put on a near punch perfect display before stopping Tuolehazi with a wonderful burst of uppercuts. When Tanaka is on song he is a sensational talent, but his inconsistencies have been a problem through out and they need to be sorted if he's to become the huge star that he has the potential to be.

Miyo Yoshida (14-1) UD10 Li Ping Shi (5-3, 2)
WBO female Super Flyweight champion Miyo Yoshida finished the year with her first defense under her belt as she comfortably out boxed Chinese challenger Li Ping Shi. Yoshida, who is celebrated as a successful single mother in Japan, was up against a taller, longer fighter, but showed her skills in taking a very comfortable decision. Although Yoshida clearly lacks power, she's with out a single stoppage to her name after 15 fights, she is a talented fighter and her success is certainly getting plenty of attention in Japanese boxing circles.

Jhunriel Ramonal (17-8-6, 10) KO1 Yusaku Kuga (19-4-1, 13)
It wasn't a perfect day for Japan, as Filipino slugger Jhunriel Ramonal seemed to end 2019 as the new "Japanese killer", upsetting Yusaku Kuga inside a round to claim the WBO Asia Pacific Super Bantamweight. The bout saw both men unloading bombs, but it was Ramonal's bombs that proved the difference, dropping Kuga hard. Kuga got to his feet but had no idea where he was. This win for Ramonal came just weeks after knocking out Shingo Wake, and with back to back upsets in Japan we suspect he'll be a man in demand in 2020.

Ginjiro Shigeoka (5-0, 4) TKO5 Rey Loreto (25-15, 17)
One regional title bout that did go well for a Japanese fighter saw Ginjiro Shigeoka score a 5th round TKO over former world title challenger Rey Loreto.The talented Shigeoka dropped his man in the opening round, impressive in it's self, but was then dragged into a bit of a fight before closing the show with a second knockdown in round 5. Loreto perhaps could have gone on, but it very much seemed like Shigeoka would have taken him out soon afterwards had Katsuhiko Nakamura not stepped in.

Lap Cheong Cheong (8-0, 4) SD10 Yinhuan Su (7-4-2, 1)
It wasn't only Japan ringing in the bells with a New Year's Eve show, and there was also one in China. The main event there saw Macao's exciting Lap Cheong Cheong take his third win of the year, out pointing Yinhuan Su. Sadly I didn't managed to catch this one, but the Split Decision does leave a lot of questions, especially as Chinese judge Jin Hu had it 97-92 in favour of Su. This was the first time Cheong had been scheduled for more than 6 rounds, so he'll be glad to get to get a good 10 rounder under his belt.