Kawamitsu and Toyoshima pick up title wins at Korakuen Hall
Earlier today at Korakuen Hall fight fans had the latest Dynamic Glove show, and it was an interesting one, with a notable debut and two Japanese title bouts, both as part of this year’s Champion Carnival.
We’ll start with the notable debutant, who was Yuichiro Taka (1-0) [高優一郎], who took a very clear 6 round win over Chinese visitor Yuqi Wang (1-2). The 22 year old based in Kanagawa started fast and controlled the action with accurate crisp shots to head and body, but he couldn’t hurt the Chinese fighter, who made for a very sturdy foe, and did enough to keep Taka’s respect, but not enough to win any rounds, resulting in a 60-54 shut out win for the promising Taka.
In the first title fight on the card Japanese Light Flyweight champion Toshiki Kawamitsu (10-1, 6) [川満俊輝] retained his title, stopping mandatory challenger Kosuke Ando (13-5, 6) [安藤教祐]. Kawamitsu pressed from the off, focusing on the body of Ando who seemed to be in all sorts of trouble with the pressure and aggression of the champion. To his credit Ando, who was stopped inside a round when these two men fought back in 2021, he tried to fight back but was unable to get anything really going in the first 2 rounds. Ando did however have some success in round 3, as he realised he had to fight fire with fire, and had moments. Sadly though the more he stood his ground the more punishment he took and he seemed to be back under fire in round 4.
Ando was under intense pressure in round 5, being forced into the corner and seemed close to being stopped before landing a big counter and getting Kawamitsu’s respect, and exciting the fans. It was a highlight for Ando, who was proving himself as tough under pressure, but not particularly competitive. After 5 rounds we went to the open scoring, which saw Kawamitsu up 50-45, and 49-46, twice. Whilst he could likely have cruised for a decision he instead wanted to get Ando out of there and his pressure continued in round 6, with the referee finally stepping in to save Ando at the 2 minute 29 second mark.
The other title bout on the show saw a title change hands, as Ryota Toyoshima (19-3-1, 11) [豊嶋亮太] over-came Shoki Sakai (29-14-3, 15) [坂井祥紀] to claim the Japanese Welterweight title, becoming a 2-time champion and notching his second win over Sakai. Unlike the Light Flyweight bout, this one was hotly contest with very, very little to split the men. From the off the two men got up close, with Toyoshima pressuring and Sakai being forced to respond, with an opening round that had a lot of action, with both landing crisp, clean shots to head and body. Toyoshima looked to create space in round 3, and really got in some great body work in round 4, but it was all very close and competitive, with the scored after 5 rounds narrowly favouring Sakai, 48-47 twice, whilst the third judge favoured Toyoshima 48-47.
Knowing he was behind Toyoshima stepped on the gas again in round 6, continuing to go to the body of Sakai, who fought back but seemed to be getting out worked, and was backed onto the ropes in round 8. In round 9 Sakai managed to have real success but it wasn’t something that he could build on, as Toyoshima landed landed the more eye catching shots in the final round.
Given the back and forth, nip and tuck, nature of this it was close, and that was shown on the cards, with scores of 96-94, twice, in favour of Toyoshima, and the third judge going 96-94 to Sakai.
We’ll start with the notable debutant, who was Yuichiro Taka (1-0) [高優一郎], who took a very clear 6 round win over Chinese visitor Yuqi Wang (1-2). The 22 year old based in Kanagawa started fast and controlled the action with accurate crisp shots to head and body, but he couldn’t hurt the Chinese fighter, who made for a very sturdy foe, and did enough to keep Taka’s respect, but not enough to win any rounds, resulting in a 60-54 shut out win for the promising Taka.
In the first title fight on the card Japanese Light Flyweight champion Toshiki Kawamitsu (10-1, 6) [川満俊輝] retained his title, stopping mandatory challenger Kosuke Ando (13-5, 6) [安藤教祐]. Kawamitsu pressed from the off, focusing on the body of Ando who seemed to be in all sorts of trouble with the pressure and aggression of the champion. To his credit Ando, who was stopped inside a round when these two men fought back in 2021, he tried to fight back but was unable to get anything really going in the first 2 rounds. Ando did however have some success in round 3, as he realised he had to fight fire with fire, and had moments. Sadly though the more he stood his ground the more punishment he took and he seemed to be back under fire in round 4.
Ando was under intense pressure in round 5, being forced into the corner and seemed close to being stopped before landing a big counter and getting Kawamitsu’s respect, and exciting the fans. It was a highlight for Ando, who was proving himself as tough under pressure, but not particularly competitive. After 5 rounds we went to the open scoring, which saw Kawamitsu up 50-45, and 49-46, twice. Whilst he could likely have cruised for a decision he instead wanted to get Ando out of there and his pressure continued in round 6, with the referee finally stepping in to save Ando at the 2 minute 29 second mark.
The other title bout on the show saw a title change hands, as Ryota Toyoshima (19-3-1, 11) [豊嶋亮太] over-came Shoki Sakai (29-14-3, 15) [坂井祥紀] to claim the Japanese Welterweight title, becoming a 2-time champion and notching his second win over Sakai. Unlike the Light Flyweight bout, this one was hotly contest with very, very little to split the men. From the off the two men got up close, with Toyoshima pressuring and Sakai being forced to respond, with an opening round that had a lot of action, with both landing crisp, clean shots to head and body. Toyoshima looked to create space in round 3, and really got in some great body work in round 4, but it was all very close and competitive, with the scored after 5 rounds narrowly favouring Sakai, 48-47 twice, whilst the third judge favoured Toyoshima 48-47.
Knowing he was behind Toyoshima stepped on the gas again in round 6, continuing to go to the body of Sakai, who fought back but seemed to be getting out worked, and was backed onto the ropes in round 8. In round 9 Sakai managed to have real success but it wasn’t something that he could build on, as Toyoshima landed landed the more eye catching shots in the final round.
Given the back and forth, nip and tuck, nature of this it was close, and that was shown on the cards, with scores of 96-94, twice, in favour of Toyoshima, and the third judge going 96-94 to Sakai.