Suganob stops Ishizawa, Urakawa stops Kotari, Moloney takes part in open work out, Nery takes part in 7 day weigh in!
Another day has gone by and once again we have a little of small stories to share!
In the Philippines WBO Global Light Flyweight champion Regie Suganob (15-1, 5) successfully retained his title with a very impressive performance, as he stopped Japanese puncher Kai Ishizawa (11-4, 10) [石澤開] in round 8. From the off Suganob seemed to have the crowd behind him, and he managed to dictate the distance and tempo well, creating space when he wanted it, and punishing Ishizawa when the Japanese fighter looked to close the distance. The accurate clean punching saw Suganob sending Ishizawa to the canvas, Ishizawa beat the count and tried to turn things around, with one final assault, but it wasn't enough to turn the tide, and Ishizawa's corner threw in the towel as a fresh looking Suganob began to let his hands fly. As the towel came into the ring Ishizawa fell to the canvas, as Suganob’s shots took their toll on the visitor.
Sadly for the once promising Ishizawa, this is a 3 loss in 4 bouts, and it's clear that he's taken a lot of punishment, and probably already on the back end of his career, despite only being 27. As for Suganob this was a successful first defense, and he’ll be in the hunt for a second world title fight in the not too distant future, having bounced back well from a 2023 loss to Sivenathi Nontshinga in an IBf title fight.
Over in Tokyo we had a show at Korakuen Hall today, pitting two JBC ranked fighters against each other, as Shigeotshi Kotari (6-2-1, 5) [神足茂利] clashed with Hiromasa Urakawa (10-2, 7) [浦川大将], who showed off his power. Within 20 seconds of the bout starting, Urakawa scored the fight's first knockdown, doing so with a jab of all things.
Although the knockdown was a flash one, it did seem to suggest Urakawa had the power needed to take the win. Kotari however managed to have success after the knockdown, using his own jab well to counter the pressure of Urakawa. In round 4 the fight came alive again, as Urakawa got close and forced Kotari into a physical fight. The intensity from Urakawa had a breakthrough in round 5, when he scored the second knockdown of the fight. Kotari barely made it to the end of the round but couldn’t survive round 6 as Urakawa’s pressure and power wobbled Kotari, and forced the referee to jump in and stop the action.
In other news from Tokyo, WBO Bantamweight champion Jason Moloney (27-2, 19) took part in his media work out, ahead of his upcoming defense against Yoshiki Takei (8-0, 8) [武居由樹]. Sadly the workout was a very, very limited one from Moloney, who did a round of shadow boxing, and seemed to be doing so at half speed. The training workout seemed to disappoint promoter Hideyuki Ohashi and Takei's trainer Akira Yaegashi, who likely expected to see more form Moloney.
Whilst his work out was limited Moloney was open at a press conference. He explained that his 2020 loss to Naoya Inoue was a valuable experience and went on to admit “I've always wanted to compete in Japan someday. I'm happy to be able to participate in such a huge event.” Notably he has prepared for the bout with a number of Japanese fighters, with Seiya Tsutsumi (10-0-2, 7) [堤聖也], Jun Ikegawa (7-0-2, 2) [池側純] and Matcha Nakagawa (15-2-2 6) [武田航] all being used as sparring partners, due in part to them being Japanese southpas of a similar stature to Takei. Moloney has also sparred with former Takei foe Bruno Tarimo (28-4-2, 7), in what he described as the “best preparation of his career”.
Yesterday we reported the aforementioned Unified Super Bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue (26-0, 23) [井上尚弥] took part in the WBC 7 day weigh in, for his upcoming bout with Luis Nery (35-1, 27),weighing in at 57Kg (125.66lbs), comfortably within the 3% of the divisional limit that he needed to weigh in under. At the time there was no weight reported for Nery, who appears to have done his 7-day weigh in today, and came in at 56.6KG (124.8lbs). Putting to bed the fear that Nery would be missing weight for the contest.
In the Philippines WBO Global Light Flyweight champion Regie Suganob (15-1, 5) successfully retained his title with a very impressive performance, as he stopped Japanese puncher Kai Ishizawa (11-4, 10) [石澤開] in round 8. From the off Suganob seemed to have the crowd behind him, and he managed to dictate the distance and tempo well, creating space when he wanted it, and punishing Ishizawa when the Japanese fighter looked to close the distance. The accurate clean punching saw Suganob sending Ishizawa to the canvas, Ishizawa beat the count and tried to turn things around, with one final assault, but it wasn't enough to turn the tide, and Ishizawa's corner threw in the towel as a fresh looking Suganob began to let his hands fly. As the towel came into the ring Ishizawa fell to the canvas, as Suganob’s shots took their toll on the visitor.
Sadly for the once promising Ishizawa, this is a 3 loss in 4 bouts, and it's clear that he's taken a lot of punishment, and probably already on the back end of his career, despite only being 27. As for Suganob this was a successful first defense, and he’ll be in the hunt for a second world title fight in the not too distant future, having bounced back well from a 2023 loss to Sivenathi Nontshinga in an IBf title fight.
Over in Tokyo we had a show at Korakuen Hall today, pitting two JBC ranked fighters against each other, as Shigeotshi Kotari (6-2-1, 5) [神足茂利] clashed with Hiromasa Urakawa (10-2, 7) [浦川大将], who showed off his power. Within 20 seconds of the bout starting, Urakawa scored the fight's first knockdown, doing so with a jab of all things.
Although the knockdown was a flash one, it did seem to suggest Urakawa had the power needed to take the win. Kotari however managed to have success after the knockdown, using his own jab well to counter the pressure of Urakawa. In round 4 the fight came alive again, as Urakawa got close and forced Kotari into a physical fight. The intensity from Urakawa had a breakthrough in round 5, when he scored the second knockdown of the fight. Kotari barely made it to the end of the round but couldn’t survive round 6 as Urakawa’s pressure and power wobbled Kotari, and forced the referee to jump in and stop the action.
In other news from Tokyo, WBO Bantamweight champion Jason Moloney (27-2, 19) took part in his media work out, ahead of his upcoming defense against Yoshiki Takei (8-0, 8) [武居由樹]. Sadly the workout was a very, very limited one from Moloney, who did a round of shadow boxing, and seemed to be doing so at half speed. The training workout seemed to disappoint promoter Hideyuki Ohashi and Takei's trainer Akira Yaegashi, who likely expected to see more form Moloney.
Whilst his work out was limited Moloney was open at a press conference. He explained that his 2020 loss to Naoya Inoue was a valuable experience and went on to admit “I've always wanted to compete in Japan someday. I'm happy to be able to participate in such a huge event.” Notably he has prepared for the bout with a number of Japanese fighters, with Seiya Tsutsumi (10-0-2, 7) [堤聖也], Jun Ikegawa (7-0-2, 2) [池側純] and Matcha Nakagawa (15-2-2 6) [武田航] all being used as sparring partners, due in part to them being Japanese southpas of a similar stature to Takei. Moloney has also sparred with former Takei foe Bruno Tarimo (28-4-2, 7), in what he described as the “best preparation of his career”.
Yesterday we reported the aforementioned Unified Super Bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue (26-0, 23) [井上尚弥] took part in the WBC 7 day weigh in, for his upcoming bout with Luis Nery (35-1, 27),weighing in at 57Kg (125.66lbs), comfortably within the 3% of the divisional limit that he needed to weigh in under. At the time there was no weight reported for Nery, who appears to have done his 7-day weigh in today, and came in at 56.6KG (124.8lbs). Putting to bed the fear that Nery would be missing weight for the contest.