Weekly Asian Boxing Results (February 9th to February 15th)

(Photo by A. McGovern)

This past week has been a really fun one in Asian boxing, with some really good fights, a number of which were streamed for free, around the globe, giving fans a great to see some of the emerging, and established talent in Asia.

February 11th-
Kento Hatanaka (11-0, 9) UD10 Roland Jay Biendima (15-6-1, 8)
One of the bout streamed for free was a brilliant 10 round back and forth war between WBC Youth Flyweight champion Kento Hatanaka, the son of former world champion Kiyoshi Hatanaka, and unheralded Filipino Roland Jay Biendima. Although the scorecards made this look like a 1-sided it really was an ultra competitive, and very entertaining 10 round fire fight. 

Hiroki Hanabusa (8-0-3, 3) KO1 Sorawit Bamrungrai (6-3, 3)
On the under-card of Hatanaka's win was a brutal body shot KO scored by Hiroki Hanabusa. Hanabusa, a former All Japan Rookie of the Year winner, who made real light work of Sorawit Bamrungrai with a left hook to the mid section that crumpled the Thai for the 10 count. Keep an eye for Hanabusa who looks like a genuine talent, but will have serious questions to answer on April 12th when he faces Hiroki Toshiki Shimomachi for the Japanese Youth Super Bantamweight title.

February 13th-
Shuichiro Yoshino (12-0, 10) TKO8 Izuki Tomioka (7-3-1, 2)
Unified Japanese, OPBF and WBO Asia Pacific Lightweight champion Shuichiro Yoshino was forced to rebuild from an opening round knockdown, to break down Izuki Tomioka. Yoshino struggled with the jab, speed and timing of Tomioka, but in the end the power, physicality and strength of the champion proved to be the difference. Given Yoshino is looking to make his US debut later this year, this performance wasn't what he would have wanted, and real improvements need to be made. As for Tomioka, this is the second time he has lost to a top domestic Lightweight, following an 11th round TKO loss to Masayoshi Nakatani, but he's given both guys fits and I wouldn't write him off, despite this loss.

Daigo Higa (16-1, 16) TKO6 Jason Buenaobra (7-5-3, 3)
After almost 2 years away from the ring we saw the long awaited return of former WBC Flyweight champion Daigo Higa, who had been suspended by the Japanese Boxing Commission. Higa was in charge through out against the tough and rugged Jason Buenaobra. The Filipino proved to be able to take punishment, but eventually got broken down by Higa's pressure, power shots and body work. Sadly after the bout Higa was very non-committal in regards to his future in the sport, essentially telling fans he was unmotivated and had lost his fighting spirit. Fingers crossed it returns as Higa is one of the fighters who really is great fun to watch, but if not, and if this ends up being his final bout, at least he goes out on a win.

February 14th-
Ryoji Fukunaga (12-4, 12) TKO7 Froilan Saludar (31-4-1, 22)
In one of the big surprises of the week Japan's Ryoji Fukunaga beat Froilan Saludar to claim the WBO Asia Pacific Super Flyweight title. Fukunaga, who was looking to build on his 2019 win over Tsubasa Murachi, left Fukunaga badly swollen under the right eye early on, but Fukunaga refused to give up on his big chance. As the bout went on Saludar began to slow, from body work of Fukunaga, and in round 7 that body work sent the Filipino down. To his credit Saludar recovered to his feet but was stopped soon afterwards from an onslaught by the heavy handed Fukunaga.

Yuki Nakajima (4-1, 4) TKO6 Shisui Kawabata (2-2, 2)
In a bit of a hidden gem Yuki Nakajima pulled himself off the canvas in round 3 to stop Shisui Kawabata in the 6th round of their 8 rounder. The first few rounds saw the two men boxing, jostling for position and fighting behind their shots at range. In round 3 the bout flipped on it's head as the two men began to trade blows on the inside. From here on the bout became an all out war with Nakajima dropping Kawabata in round 6 with a truly fantastic uppercut. The shot that put Kawabata didn't knock him clean out, which was a surprise given how clean he was caught, but he was unfit to continue after getting to his feet, seemingly out of instinct.

Ryota Yamauchi (7-1, 5) TKO2 MJ Bo (8-4-2, 4)
World ranked Japanese Flyweight Ryota Yamauchi scored his first win of 2020 as he stopped Filipino MJ Bo. Through much of the opening round Yamauchi looked relaxed and calm boxing behind his jab, but was caught late in the round and Bo attempted to push the action, thinking he had hurt the local. A fast start from Bo in round 2 saw him putting Yamauchi under pressure but that ended up costing Bo as he took a lot of body shots, and was eventually broken down by them. This was a fun bout, but I sort of expect more from Yamauchi, who is a talented fighter who keeps making life difficult for himself.

Bektemir Melikuziev (5-0, 4) KO1 Oscar Cortes (27-6, 14)
Farce. Complete farce. Fast rising Uzbek star Bektemir Melikuziev was originally scheduled to face former world title challenger Marco Antonio Periban, who pulled out and was replaced by Oscar Cortes. Cortes was out of shape and seemed like a dead man walking at the introductions. Cortes was dropped twice and the bout was stopped after around 2 minutes. Truly a farce, and hopefully tougher a test will be next for Melikuziev.

February 15th-
Eric Pen (6-0, 5) TKO3 Alexander Bajawa (43-11-4, 16)
Cambodian-American Eric Pen retained his WBA Asia Heavyweight title, as he stopped Indonesian veteran Alexander Bajawa. Pen looks like a Heavyweight, or rather an out of shape Cruiserweight, Bajawa on the other hand is a legitimate blown up natural Featherweight, and it showed. Bajawa was down numerous times, all ruled slips, had nothing to threaten Pen and pulled out between round 2 and 3 citing an injury. That was an injury I suspect he caused himself just moments earlier when he started wildly swinging for the fences.

Sho Kimura (19-3-2, 12) TKO2 Merlito Sabillo (27-8-1, 13)
Former WBO Flyweight champion Sho Kimura returned to his best weight as he took on former WBO Minimumweight champion Merlito Sabillo. This bout looked like it was going to be really one sided, but credit Sabillo for going out and taking the fight to Kimura, especially in the early stages of round 2. Sadly for Sabillo his aggression and pressure left him open to counters and a solid left hook from Kimura dropped the Filipino. It wasn't the knockdown by it's self that was the issue, but the way Sabillo went down. The Filipino's lead leg seem to bend in several un-natural directions, forcing the referee to instantly wave off the bout. This was one of the most gruesome looking finishes to a fight so far this year.

Dinh Hoang Truong (2-0, 2) TKO2 Yuttana Wongda (14-26, 10)
Talented Vietnamese fighter Dinh Hoang Truong claimed a regional title in just his second bout by stopping Thai foe Yuttana Wongda. It's rare I get to to talk about Vietnamese fighters, so fingers crossed that Truong isn't just a flash in the pan. He looked good, sharp and in shape against Wongda, with some very powerful looking punches. Wongda played his part in making Truong, and took some lumps before being dropped 3 times in round 2 and taking the TKO loss. Although it's hard to know where Truong goes from here, I'd suggest keeping an eye on him going forward.