Japanese Scene: Yamanaka Stops Yasuda, Hasegawa Back in Training, Kameda update

Sidney Boquiren of RingwalkNippon has the latest Japanese boxing recaps and news.  For more updates, you can follow Sidney on twitter: RingwalkNippon@Twitter

Yamanaka wins Japanese 118lb title by stopping Yasuda

Japanese powerhouse Teiken Gym continues its production of champions as they saw the seventh man in their stable crowned on Sunday. Undefeated Shinsuke Yamanaka lifted the national Bantamweight title by stopping incumbent beltholder Mikio Yasuda in a showdown between heavy hitters. The 27-year old southpaw, taking his biggest step up in competition, dropped the champ with a one-two at the beginning of the 7th. Though Yasuda managed to get back to his feet, he was clearly hurt and unable to withstand the ensuing barrage. The referee intervened, calling the fight at the 0:50 mark.

According to Daily Sports Online, the first six frames featured good back-and-forth action as the challenger worked his straight left while the champ answered with strong right hands. By that point, Yamanaka held a slight lead on the official scorecards. Urged on by WBC Super Bantamweight champ and gymmate Toshiaki Nishioka, the lefty came out of his corner for the seventh aggressively. Attacking with conviction, the challenger was able trap Yasuda along the ropes where he blasted him with the one-two.

With the TKO victory, the unheralded Yamanaka improves to 12-0-2 (8KO) while extending his streak of stoppages to six. In addition, he will likely be assigned a relatively high rank from the WBC as Yasuda (16-5-2, 13KO) had been the #7 Bantamweight coming into the bout.

Yamanaka joins Nishioka, Akifumi Shimoda (OPBF Super Bantamweight), Naoki Matsuda (OPBF Featherweight), Koji Sato (OPBF Middleweight), Yoshihiro Kamegai (Japanese Jr. Welterweight), and Daisuke Nakagawa (Japanese Welterweight) in Teiken’s list of titleholders.

Hasegawa back in the gym

At the end of last week, former WBC Bantamweight champ Hozumi Hasegawa made the first step toward his return to the ring, working the mitts and heavy bag in his first practice since losing to Fernando Montiel in April.

Hasegawa seems to be recovering well from the loss, in which he suffered a fractured jaw. Though he will not be able to partake in sparring until August, he should be on track to stage his comeback fight within the year.

The southpaw’s handlers are planning to negotiate with Montiel after he makes the defense of his WBO title on July 17 against Eric Morel. Hasegawa has insisted on a challenging the Los Mochis native immediately rather than ease his way back into action or move up in weight as many suspected he might do. His camp is open to holding the fight in Japan or abroad should the rematch be made.

Kameda bros back from camp in the Philippines

As has been a part of their regiment in preparing for recent fights, Koki and Daiki Kameda set out for the Philippines earlier in the month to hold a brief camp. Returning to Tokyo on Friday, the brothers told reporters that the training went well, each participating in approximately 40 rounds of sparring.

Both Koki and Daiki are scheduled to fight next month in Osaka. Though neither has an opponent set, Koki’s match will be his first foray into the Super Flyweight division, while Daiki’s will be a tune-up before he defends WBA title against Takefumi Sakata in September.

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