West Japan Rookie of the Year results!
Earlier today at the Green Tsuda gym we got the second set of West Japan Rookie of the Year Semi-Finals, with 9 bouts taking place. The show was held without fans but was still a key show as we move towards the business end of this year's Rookie of the Year.
The show began with a Super Bantamweight bout that saw the unbeaten Sora Fukunaga (6-0, 3) [福永 宇宙] extend his unbeaten record. The talented Fukunaga stopped Shuya Kuwabachi (2-2, 2) [桑渕 柊耶] in the opening round, dropping Kuwabachi twice. Although Kuwabachi recovered his feet after the first knockdown, the second as much heavier and he needed to be stretchered out of the ring following a devastating straight right hand.
The second bout took place at Minimumweight and saw Ren Kojima (3-1-2) [小島 蓮] take a 4 round shut out win over Hiroki Masukawa (0-2-2) [増川 博紀]. Kojima proved to be too quick, too sharp and too accurate for Masukawa, who came forward but was tagged at will be the talented Kojima. In the final round Kojima went for a finish, letting his shots fly on a tired Masukawa, but he couldn't close the show. This was a third straight win for the 19 year old Kojima he certainly seems to be one to keep an eye on.
We saw a quick blow out at Featherweight as the heavy handed Takato Shibata (3-0, 3) [柴田 天斗] stopped Genki Kakiuchi (2-2, 1) [垣内 元気] in the opening round. The 21 year old Shibata, who debuted last October, started fast and didn't let off forcing the referee to stop the bout at the 2:46 mark of the opening round. Although perhaps not the most skilled it's hard to not be excited with Shibata's attitude and this is now his third successive opening round win.
In a Flyweight bout Yasuhiuro Kanzaki (4-1, 1) [神崎 靖浩] took a majority decision over Daichi Morino (0-1) [森野 大地]. The first round started pretty excitingly, but Morino couldn't keep up the pace as the bout went on and Kanzaki seemed to do enough to claim a pretty clear win. Two of the judges had this a shut out whilst one judge some how found 2 rounds to give to Morino to give us a majority decision.
We got a genuinely competitive bout as Super Featherweight as Issei Muko (1-0-1) [武庫 一生] and Taiga Hirano (4-2-1, 2) [平野 泰我], fought to a 4 round draw. This was a really good back and forth bout, with the two men matching each other really well and it was a genuinely hard one to call, as shown by the judges score-cards of 39-37 one way, 39-37 the other way and 38-38. Due to the tie-breaker rules Muko is the one who advances in the tournament and for a man fighting in just his second bout this was very impressive.
At Super Flyweight we had a pretty decisive result as Taichi Sugimoto (4-0-1, 1) [杉本 太一] took a shut out decision over Tomoki Yamada (2-6, 2) [山田 知輝]. In the opening seconds Yamada had some good success, but it was short lived as Sugimoto had taken control of the action before the opening round was complete. From there on Sugimoto remained in charge, out working Yamada and landing the cleaner shots. Unfortunately for Yamada when he put his foot on the gas Sugimoto did the same and the decision was never in doubt.
In a second Flyweight bout Hibiki Takano (4-2-1) [高埜 響] took a clear decision win over Yoshihiro Arao (2-4-1, 1) [新生 佳弘].The 21 year old Takano seemed to be in control through out, but was deducted a point a in round 3 for holding. That was pretty much the only blight he had on his performance, which was built well around his straight punches. We'd like to see Takano develop more of an inside game in the future, but this wasn't bad at all from the youngster.
The penultimate bout of the show took place at Light Flyweight and saw Masashi Ikeda (2-3, 2) [池田 雅史] stop Shota Ito (2-5, 1) [伊藤 翔太] with just seconds of the bout left. The power of Ikeda was on show early, and he dropped Ito in the early round. Having tasted Ikeda's power we saw Ito look to create space and work at range, but he was dropped a second time. In round 4 Ito got desperate and tried to turn things around, this was a mistake and he was stopped standing when the referee jumped in with just 2 seconds of the bout remaining.
The final bout on the card was at Middleweight, where Katsuhiro Nakata (3-0, 2) [中田 勝浩] scored a decision win over Shun Sakamoto (0-2) [坂本 駿]. Nakata, who boasted a significant height advantage, kept things at range, with his jab and straight right hands. This forced Sakamoto to put his foot on the gas to get inside and he managed that well in round 2. Sadly for Sakamoto however he failed to keep up the pressure and Nakata went on to take a clear decision with his consistent, solid work at range.
For those interested, the West Japan finals will take place on November 1st, and is expected to be at the EDION Arena Osaka.
For regular updates follow us on twitter @Asianboxing
The show began with a Super Bantamweight bout that saw the unbeaten Sora Fukunaga (6-0, 3) [福永 宇宙] extend his unbeaten record. The talented Fukunaga stopped Shuya Kuwabachi (2-2, 2) [桑渕 柊耶] in the opening round, dropping Kuwabachi twice. Although Kuwabachi recovered his feet after the first knockdown, the second as much heavier and he needed to be stretchered out of the ring following a devastating straight right hand.
The second bout took place at Minimumweight and saw Ren Kojima (3-1-2) [小島 蓮] take a 4 round shut out win over Hiroki Masukawa (0-2-2) [増川 博紀]. Kojima proved to be too quick, too sharp and too accurate for Masukawa, who came forward but was tagged at will be the talented Kojima. In the final round Kojima went for a finish, letting his shots fly on a tired Masukawa, but he couldn't close the show. This was a third straight win for the 19 year old Kojima he certainly seems to be one to keep an eye on.
We saw a quick blow out at Featherweight as the heavy handed Takato Shibata (3-0, 3) [柴田 天斗] stopped Genki Kakiuchi (2-2, 1) [垣内 元気] in the opening round. The 21 year old Shibata, who debuted last October, started fast and didn't let off forcing the referee to stop the bout at the 2:46 mark of the opening round. Although perhaps not the most skilled it's hard to not be excited with Shibata's attitude and this is now his third successive opening round win.
In a Flyweight bout Yasuhiuro Kanzaki (4-1, 1) [神崎 靖浩] took a majority decision over Daichi Morino (0-1) [森野 大地]. The first round started pretty excitingly, but Morino couldn't keep up the pace as the bout went on and Kanzaki seemed to do enough to claim a pretty clear win. Two of the judges had this a shut out whilst one judge some how found 2 rounds to give to Morino to give us a majority decision.
We got a genuinely competitive bout as Super Featherweight as Issei Muko (1-0-1) [武庫 一生] and Taiga Hirano (4-2-1, 2) [平野 泰我], fought to a 4 round draw. This was a really good back and forth bout, with the two men matching each other really well and it was a genuinely hard one to call, as shown by the judges score-cards of 39-37 one way, 39-37 the other way and 38-38. Due to the tie-breaker rules Muko is the one who advances in the tournament and for a man fighting in just his second bout this was very impressive.
At Super Flyweight we had a pretty decisive result as Taichi Sugimoto (4-0-1, 1) [杉本 太一] took a shut out decision over Tomoki Yamada (2-6, 2) [山田 知輝]. In the opening seconds Yamada had some good success, but it was short lived as Sugimoto had taken control of the action before the opening round was complete. From there on Sugimoto remained in charge, out working Yamada and landing the cleaner shots. Unfortunately for Yamada when he put his foot on the gas Sugimoto did the same and the decision was never in doubt.
In a second Flyweight bout Hibiki Takano (4-2-1) [高埜 響] took a clear decision win over Yoshihiro Arao (2-4-1, 1) [新生 佳弘].The 21 year old Takano seemed to be in control through out, but was deducted a point a in round 3 for holding. That was pretty much the only blight he had on his performance, which was built well around his straight punches. We'd like to see Takano develop more of an inside game in the future, but this wasn't bad at all from the youngster.
The penultimate bout of the show took place at Light Flyweight and saw Masashi Ikeda (2-3, 2) [池田 雅史] stop Shota Ito (2-5, 1) [伊藤 翔太] with just seconds of the bout left. The power of Ikeda was on show early, and he dropped Ito in the early round. Having tasted Ikeda's power we saw Ito look to create space and work at range, but he was dropped a second time. In round 4 Ito got desperate and tried to turn things around, this was a mistake and he was stopped standing when the referee jumped in with just 2 seconds of the bout remaining.
The final bout on the card was at Middleweight, where Katsuhiro Nakata (3-0, 2) [中田 勝浩] scored a decision win over Shun Sakamoto (0-2) [坂本 駿]. Nakata, who boasted a significant height advantage, kept things at range, with his jab and straight right hands. This forced Sakamoto to put his foot on the gas to get inside and he managed that well in round 2. Sadly for Sakamoto however he failed to keep up the pressure and Nakata went on to take a clear decision with his consistent, solid work at range.
For those interested, the West Japan finals will take place on November 1st, and is expected to be at the EDION Arena Osaka.
For regular updates follow us on twitter @Asianboxing