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IBF super welterweight world champion Bakhram Murtazaliev has declared his intention to meet former world champion Tim Tszyu in the center of the ring when they square off in the main event on Prime Video action this Saturday from the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida.

“The best part of fighting Tim Tszyu is that he won’t run,” said Murtazaliev. “He is coming to fight. I love fighting in the center of the ring. It’s going to be a great fight for the fans to watch on Saturday night.” Continue reading “Murtazaliev: Tim Tszyu won’t run”

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Eight major bouts took place in Tokyo on Sunday and Monday. Below are links to photo-packed full reports for both days of the two-day world title event.

DAY ONE RESULTS

• Tsutsumi upsets Takuma Inoue, wins WBA 118lb belt
• Teraji halts Rosales, wins WBC 112lb belt
• Akui edges Charunphak, keeps WBA 112lb belt
• Iwata stops Noriega, wins vacant WBO 108lb belt

DAY TWO RESULTS

• Nakatani sinks #1 Chitpattana, keeps WBC 118lb belt
• Unbeaten Nasukawa wins vacant WBO AP 118lb belt
• Cafu upsets Tanaka, wins WBO 115lb belt
• Olascuaga ND with Bomba, keeps WBO 112lb belt

IBF minimumweight world champion Pedro Taduran (17-4-1, 13 KOs) of the Philippines will make the first defense of his world title against DianXing Zhu (14-1, 12 KOs) of China. The bout will take place November 23 in China.

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda (to come soon)

Unbeaten southpaw prodigy Tenshin Nasukawa (5-0, 2 KOs), 118, formerly kick-boxing titlist with an unblemished mark of 42-0, acquired the vacant WBO Asia Pacific featherweight belt when he defeated Filipino Gerwin Asilo (9-1, 4 KOs), 117.5, by a unanimous decision (98-91 twice, 97-92) over ten speedy rounds on Monday in Tokyo, Japan. Tenshin, tremendously popular among Japanese younger generations, was in command in a sizzling contest with the sharp counterpunching Filipino. The ninth saw Tenshin land a southpaw left to the belly, sending his rival to the deck. For the near-future world title challenger it might be a good lesson to go the distance.

Promoter: Teiken Promotions.

(More to come)

The WBO Championship Committee has authorized WBO junior middleweight champion Sebastian Fundora to proceed with a voluntary title defense of his WBO belt against any of the active top-15 world-rated WBO 154lb contenders. The winner must face Terence Crawford immediately thereafter within 180 days after the voluntary bout. Failure to comply with this condition will result in the Committee declaring the WBO jr. middleweight championship “vacant.”

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda (to come soon)

Unbeaten WBC bantamweight champ Junto Nakatani (29-0, 22 KOs), 117.75, successfully kept his belt in his mandatory defense as he scored a beautiful stoppage of #1 Petch Sor Chitpattana (76-2, 53 KOs), 117.5, at 2:59 of the sixth round on Monday in Tokyo, Japan. Chitpattana down twice in round six.

(More to come)

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda (to come soon)

Unbeaten South African Phumelele Cafu (11-0-3, 8 KOs), 114.75, astoundingly upset defending champ and four-division champ Kosei Tanaka (20-2, 11 KOs), 115, to win the WBO junior bantamweight belt by a split decision over twelve hard-fought rounds on Monday in Tokyo, Japan. Phil Austin (Australia) and Waleska Roldan (US) both tallied 114-113 in favor of Cafu, while Jesse Reyes (US) saw it 113-114 for Tanaka. Female referee was Sparkle Lee, who finely handled the very fast-moving speedsters.

It was truly a see-saw closest affair, but it was Cafu that scored the sole knockdown of the fight in round five, when the challenger beautifully countered the champ with a well-timed right when Tanaka threw a big right uppercut. The champ fell down forward and barely beat the count, but it was a damaging blow that made Tanaka pay his respect and caution to Cafu’s attack thereafter.

They exchanged hot rallies in the close range with Tanaka forcing the action and Cafu occasionally countering him effectively. The twelfth and final round saw Tanaka finally catch up with him into a great trouble, but Cafu was saved by the final bell. It was truly an entertaining give-and-take fight.

Promoter: Teiken Promotions.

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda (to come soon)

WBO flyweight champ Anthony Olascuaga (7-1-1ND, 5 KOs), 111.75, bizarrely kept his belt when referee Robert Hoyle, US, abruptly declared Puerto Rican challenger and ex-WBO 108-pound ruler Jonathan “Bomba” Gonzalez (28-3-1-1NC-1ND, 14 KOs), 112, unfit to go on with his cut over the left eyebrow at 2:25 of the opening session on Monday in Tokyo, Japan.

Problem was Bomba looked he could go on since his gash wasn’t so serious to halt the proceedings. Upon their head collision the referee had Bomba’s cut examined by the ring physician, who, however, didn’t seem to advise him to halt the affair. As they resumed fighting, the third man abruptly called a halt that had the crowd really stunned and disappointed. Bomba deserves a rematch.

Promoter: Teiken Promotions.

Report by Zach Hirsch

Unbeaten WBA #12 world ranked featherweight Dominique Francis (16-0, 10 KOs) of Miami, Florida stopped previously unbeaten Julio Carrera Lugo (18-1-1, 14 KOs) of Mexico Saturday night in Stockton, California. The official time was 2:22 of round four. The bout was fought at the super featherweight limit where Francis will now campaign.

Photos: Sumio Yamada

Check out this GIANT photo gallery for Saturday’s Nontshinga-Yabuki IBF junior flyweight title fight in Tokoname, Japan, featuring some incredible shots + the scorecard.

Photos

The 12 round main event saw Jayr Raquinel (17-2-1, 13 KOs) of the Philippines scored an upset unanimous decision of previously unbeaten local Yahir Frank (17-1,12 KOs) Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. The southpaw Raquinel came out immediately with a series of power punches to control the first half of round 1. Frank responded with his own in round 2. Raquinel then adjusted and begain to time the Frank rushes and was able to counter comfortably . Frank would have his moments the second half of the fight but Raquinel was in control. In the end the judges scored it 117-111, 116—112, and 115-113 all in favor to Frank who won the WBC Continental Americas Super Flyweight title.

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

WBC bantamweight title bout
Junto Nakatani 117.75
Petch Sor Chitpattana 117.5

WBO junior bantamweight title bout
Kosei Tanaka 115
Phumelele Cafu 114.75

WBO flyweight title bout
Anthony Olascuaga 111.75
Jonathan “Bomba” Gonzalez 112

WBO Asia Pacific bantamweight vacant title bout
Tenshin Nasukawa 118
Gerwin Asilo 117.5

Promoter: “Only in Japan” Akihiko Honda’s Teiken Promotions
TV: ESPN+ (USA)

More photos

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Unheralded compatriot Seiya Tsutsumi (12-0-2, 8 KOs), 117.75, surprisingly captured the WBA bantamweight belt when he upset defending champ Takuma Inoue (20-2, 5 KOs), 118, by winning a unanimous decision (114-113, 115-112, 117-110) over twelve sizzling rounds on Saturday in Tokyo, Japan.

Takuma, the brother of Monster Naoya, might fight on a wrong strategy, forgetting his footwork, rhythm and hand speed. Tsutsumi, from the start, kept outhustling the sluggish champ all the way by frustrating him with his persistently reckless mix-up. The tenth saw Tsutsumi score a knockdown as he had Takuma reeling to the ropes and the referee thought that without the ropes the champ would have been dropped with the effect of Tsutsumi’s shot. It wasn’t Takuma’s night at all.

Promoter: Teiken Promotions.

(More to come)

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Fleet-footed Japanese Kenshiro Teraji (24-1, 15 KOs), 111.75, seized the vacant WBC flyweight belt when he battered Nicaraguan Cristofer Rosales (37-7, 22 KOs), 112, from all angles, had him badly nose-bleeding and scored a TKO victory at 0:06 into the eleventh round on Sunday in Tokyo, Japan. For ex-WBC 108-pound kingpin Kenshiro, it was his second acquisition of the world belt in the heavier 112-pound category. It was Teraji, 32, that controlled the contest all the way by making good use of his versatile jabs and right counters to the taller Nicaraguan. Continue reading “Teraji halts Rosales, wins WBC 112lb belt”

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda (to come soon)

WBA flyweight champ Seigo Yuri Akui (21-2-1, 11 KOs), 112, kept his belt as he kept stalking Thai challenger #8 Thananchai Charunphak (25-1, 15 KOs), 112, and overcame his occasional retaliation and earned a split decision over twelve hard-fought rounds on Sunday in Tokyo, Japan. The official tallies were as follows: Robert Hoyle (US) 115-113, Kwan-Ho Jang (Korea) 117-111, both for the champ, Guillermo Perez Pineda (Panama) 113-115 for the counterpunching challenger. The referee was Luis Pabon (Puerto Rico). Continue reading “Akui edges Charunphak, keeps WBA 112lb belt”

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda (to come soon)

The curtain raiser of the quadruple world title event saw a quick but dramatic stoppage on Sunday at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan. Japanese hard-puncher #1 Shokichi Iwata (14-1, 11 KOs), 108, acquired the vacant WBO junior flyweight belt when he caught up with unbeaten Spaniard #2 Jairo Noriega (14-1, 3 KOs), 108, badly floored him twice and halted him at 3:00 of the third round in a scheduled twelve. Having failed to win the same belt from Jonathan “Bomba” Gonzalez on points two years ago, Shokichi this time looked so much determined to win the belt and turned loose in round three. Though Noriega made a good start, he absorbed a vicious long right uppercut and hit the deck. The damaged Spaniard barely regained his feet, but Iwata swarmed over him and landed a solid right to the belly followed by a wicked left hook. Noriega fell prone with the referee Raul Caiz Jr. promptly calling a well-timed halt. The flattened loser stayed there for a while, which showed Iwata’s lethal power punching. Shokichi, 28, became the ninth current world titleholder out of Japan.

Promoter: Teiken Promotions.

Undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev spoke about hie controversial twelve round majority decision over Dmitry Bivol on Saturday night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

“I feel not bad. I did not good today,” said the 39-year-old Beterbiev. “I wanted to box today with more quality. I don’t know why, but I didn’t like this fight, but I’ll be better one day…of course, it’s a tough fight because Dmitry is a world champion, too. He has good skills, maybe better than me. But today, Allah chose me…you know, during the fight, we always try to change something. But, you know, maybe I just wanted to punch him. Maybe that’s why I’m not delivering more punches. I don’t know…if His Excellency wants it {a rematch}, then we can do it.”

Bivol said, “I am a warrior. I have to do everything perfect. And I don’t have any explanation because it could look like excuses. I just congratulate Artur and his team. He deserves it. No problem. I just have time to make another decision for my future. That’s it…I don’t know. I just did my job. I felt that I could have done better. I always could be better. It’s just the opinion of the judges. Congratulations, Artur. I didn’t see the fight. He won. What can I say?”

Kris Lawrence (Heavyweight Factory Promotions) presented boxing Friday night at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, in Hollywood, Florida. The 10 round main event featured unbeaten former amateur standout and WBA #3 / WBC #9 world ranked middleweight Yoenli Hernandez (6-0, 6 KOs) of Cuba. Hernandez impressively stopped previously unbeaten 6’3 Bryce Henry (7-1, 5 KOs) of Florida. Hernandez kept his 0 and 100% KO percentage intact.

The co-feature saw unbeaten lightweight Armando Martinez Rabi (12-0, 11 KOs) of Miami by way of Cuba stopped D’Angelo Keyes (18-5, 11 KOs) in round seven.

Matchmaker: Henry Rivalta

Unbeaten WBC/IBF/WBO champion Artur Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) became the light heavyweight division’s first undisputed ruler in the four-belt era with a twelve round majority decision over WBA champion Dmitry Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) on Saturday night at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Beterbiev pressed the action while the quicker Bivol tried to work the jab. Bivol stayed out of range and connected in spurts. Beterbiev tried to up the pressure even more midway but Bivol had success countering. Beterbiev had a big round seven but Bivol mostly managed to fight his fight down the stretch. Beterbiev tried desperately for the KO late, and managed to pull it out 114-114, 115-113, 116-112.

Unbeaten IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia (26-0, 20 KOs) successfully defended his world title by sixth round TKO against Jack Massey (22-3, 12 KOs) on the big Beterbiev-Bivol undercard Saturday night at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Opetaia steadily broke down the game Massey, until finally Massey’s corner threw in the towel in round six. Time was 2:00.

British champion and WBC #8, WBO #8, WBA #9, IBF #12 heavyweight contender Fabio Wardley (18-0-1, 17 KOs) scored a spectacular first round KO against Frazer Clarke (8-1-1, 6 KOs). After fighting to a draw in March, Wardley connected with a big right hand that put Clarke on the deck to end it. Time was 2:28.

WBC #3, IBF #5, WBA #7 middleweight Chris Eubank Jr (34-3, 25 KOs) stopped former world title challenger Kamil Szeremeta (25-3-2, 8 KOs) in round seven. Eubank dropped Szeremeta in rounds one and six, then finished him with two more knockdowns in round seven. Time was 1:50. Eubank picked up the IBO belt.

Unbeaten light heavyweight Ben Whittaker (8-0-1, 5 KOs) and Liam Cameron (23-6-1, 10 KOs) fought to a five round technical draw. Cameron gave 2020 Olympic silver medalist Whittaker all he could handle. During a clinch at the end of round five, both fighters tumbled over the top rope with Whittaker suffering a leg injury. The bout went to the cards with scores of 58-57 Whittaker, 58-57 Cameron, 58-58.

WBC female featherweight champion Skye Nicolson (12-0, 1 KO) outpointed Raven Chapman (9-1, 2 KOs) over ten rounds to retain her title. Scores were 99-91, 98-92, 98-92.

Report/Photos by Boxing Bob Newman

Jesse Uhde’s Hard Knocks Promotions presented a multi-disciplinary combat show featuring boxing, bare knuckle boxing and MMA, on Saturday night in Kalispell, Montana. Majestic Valley Arena, normally a rodeo venue, played host to this event. This write-up will focus on the amateur and pro boxing as well as the bare knuckle bout. Continue reading “Watley Gets Revenge on Miranda”

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Let’s go back to our preview for the second day of the multiple title events on Monday.

Day Two (Monday, our Sports Day)

WBC bantamweight title bout

Unbeaten three-division champion Junto Nakatani (28-0, 21 KOs), Japan, will put his belt on the line against WBC#1 Petch Sor Chitpattana (AKA Petch CP Freshmart or Tasana Salapat; 76-1, 53KOs) from Thailand in the main event. Having captured the WBC bantam belt from Alejandro Santiago via spectacular sixth-round TKO this February, the lanky southpaw Junto already cleared his mandatory defense with a first-round knockout of Vincent Astrolavio in July. His single southpaw left to the belly was the haymaker in the only 157-second demolition. Petch, also a tall southpaw, tasted just a single defeat at the hand of Takuma Inoue by a unanimous verdict (all 117-111) in the WBC interim 118-pound title go in December 2018. Nakatani will be a prohibitive favorite thanks to his recent improvement under his US handler Rudy Hernandez.

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WBO junior bantamweight title bout

WBO 115-pound ruler Kosei Tanaka (20-1, 11 KOs) will face unbeaten #5 Phumelele Cafu (10-0-3, 8 KOs), South Africa, with his belt at stake. It was a pity that Tanaka, scheduled to defend his newly acquired belt against Mexican Jonathan Rodiriguez this July, was forced to have his initial defense abruptly cancelled due to the challenger’s terrible overweight. Eager to show his good form and fine victory, Tanaka will put on an aggressive performance, but the unbeaten South African should not be underestimated due to his unbeaten mark and his career of having gained the IBF international belt and national title as well.

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WBO flyweight title bout

Newly crowned just a couple of months ago, Anthony Olascuaga (7-1, 5 KOs), from California, is reported to be in tip-top shape prior to his initial defense against more experienced ex-WBO 108-pound champ Jonathan “Bomba” Gonzalez (28-3-1-1NC, 14 KOs), from Puerto Rico. Bomba recently renounced his WBO 108-pound belt due to his difficulty to make weight, and now participate in a mandatory shot at Olascuaga. Though Olascuaga is a harder hitter than Bomba and is a prefight favorite as well, it is true that the Puerto Rican possesses his excellent footwork that may frustrate and confuse the new champ like Ivan Calderon.

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WBO Asia Pacific bantamweight vacant title bout

Also, future champion and tremendously popular here, unbeaten Tenshin Nasukawa (4-0, 2 KOs), former kick-boxing champ, will meet also unbeaten Filipino Gerwin Asilo (9-0, 4 KOs) in quest of the vacant WBO Asia Pacific bantamweight belt. Tenshin is highly expected to deck a spectacular victory that will certainly pave the way to his near-future challenge to any of the world 118-pound championships, all of which are now dominated by his compatriots.

Promoter: Akihiko Honda’s Teiken Promotions.

By Joe Koizumi

Another new champion was born in Japan. Former WBC 108-pound champ Masamichi Yabuki (17-4, 16 KOs), 107.5, very impressively wrested the IBF junior flyweight belt when he took the initiative, dropped defending titlist Sivenathi Nontshinga (13-2, 10 KOs), 107.5, from South Africa, three times and finally halted him at 1:50 of the ninth round in a scheduled twelve on Saturday in Tokoname, Japan.

Yabuki, 32, controlled the fight with sharp jabs and left-right combinations from the outset, though Nontshinga, 25, responded with fewer jabs and occasional rights. Steadily piling up points, Masamichi exploded a vicious right to the head of the champ, who fell down in the closing seconds of the eighth to have a narrow escape. The eighth saw Yabuki turn very pugnacious with a fusillade of punches, badly decking the champ twice more. The ref Mark Calo-oy, US, then called a well-timed halt over the crestfallen ex-champ who couldn’t show any of his usual zip this night.

Promoter: Kameda Promotions.
IBF supervisor: Ben Keilty (Australia).

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

If you can very correctly list up who out of the eight bouts on Sunday and Monday will appear respectively, you are a boxing addict or a keen Japanologist. The weigh-in results of the Day One for the two-day world title events are as follows:

WBA bantamweight title bout
Takuma Inoue 118
#2 Seiya Tsutsumi 117.75

WBC flyweight vacant title bout
#1 Kenshiro Teraji 111.75
#2 Cristofer Rosales 112

WBA flyweight title bout
Seigo Yuri Akui 112
Thananchai Charunphak 112

WBO junior flyweight vacant title bout
#1 Shokichi Iwata 108
#2 Jairo Noriega 108

Promoter: Akihiko Honda’s Teiken Promotions.
TV: Amazon Prime Video in Japan, ESPN+ in US.

Photos