Japanese Scene: Akaho Wins in Four, Tomoki Kameda Edges Jamoye, Plus More News & Notes...

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

Top prospect Akaho destroys opponent in 4

Super flyweight prospect Ryo Akaho continued his unbeaten streak by disposing of his Thai opponent in four frames on Monday. The JBC #1 contender, coming off a five month layoff, put on an impressive display of his offensive arsenal, with left hooks and uppercuts, a solid straight right, and a rather nasty body attack that would prove to be the type of blows that finished the unfortunate Thai fighter. With the win, Akaho improved to 15-0-2, 9KO.

The 24-year old came out of his corner with the intent to make it a quick night of work, clearly loading up on his power punches, primarily the left hook. His out-matched opponent, Koratlek Or Benjamas (who was apparently making his boxing debut), did what he could to avoid the early onslaught and may have been a little too brave for his own good. As Akaho lulled the Thai into focusing on his left hand, a flush right cross dropped him immediately in the last minute of the opening frame. The rookie arose only to eat hooks and uppercuts while barely surviving until the bell.

The second was more one-sided action as Akaho landed hard left hooks to the body and staggered Or Benjamas with a lead right-left hook combination mid-round. The prospect finally showed his jab in this frame, which has good snap but used rather infrequently. While he finished the round the same way he began the fight – loading up and winging power shots from a distance – a few combinations in the later half of the stanza hinted that Akaho has the hand speed to put together quick, hard punches.

One would not have been surprised if the referee stopped the bout in third as Akaho was pummeling the Thai with lefts from all angles and landed a series of hooks to the body that had his opponent in serious trouble. Or Benjamas’ courage was admirable, but only set him up for a painful demise as Akaho, early in the fourth, found the right timing to throw a couple of hooks to the liver when his opponent was guarding up top. The Thai laid out on the canvas in pain and was counted out at the 1:06 mark.

Yesterday’s victory may have been nothing to brag about and a full evaluation of the young fighter’s abilities will have to wait until he is matched with competition that will actually have the skill to put him on the defensive. However, in December last year, Akaho battled defending national champ Daigo Nakahiro to a draw in a fight that was reported to be an action-packed, nip and tuck affair. A showdown with the winner of September 25th’s Nakahiro-Sato title match would be interesting, as would the winner of October 18th's Kogawa-Pena OPBF bout.

With scoring error discovered, Tomoki Kameda takes fourth minor title

The youngest of the fighting Kameda brothers, Tomoki (16-0, 11KO), added a fourth minor WBC title to his collection by taking a split decision over Belgium’s Stephane Jamoye (18-1, 8KO). Though the fight was originally announced as a draw with two judges split between each boxer and one ruling the bout even, the 96-96 card was found to be a miscalculation, and Kameda was pronounced the winner an hour later.

As scoring suggests, the actual contest was a close one according to reports by Sponichi and Daily Sports Online. Kameda started out aggressively, mixing blows to the body and head, but Jamoye, who was attempting to make the second defense of his youth title, held control of the early innings. A hard straight right by the champ in the fourth round in particular stood out, but Kameda fought his way back in the middle and late rounds.

After the corrected announcement was made, Kameda, who caused a bit of a ruckus before the fight, told the media that he would welcome a rematch with his Belgian counterpart.

Ioka set to fight for vacant national title

As Ryo Miyazaki has opted to retain only his OPBF light flyweight belt, Kazuto Ioka (5-0, 3KO) has been matched with Masayoshi Segawa (19-2, 8KO) to scrap for the vacant domestic crown. The bout will be the first title opportunity for the touted prospect, who is still gunning to be come Japan’s quickest to a world title. Japanese press had reported earlier in the summer that gymmate Miyazaki could give up the regional strap so his buddy could fight for it in July, but a match could not be made.

The title fight will take place in Ioka’s native Osaka on October 10.

More Boxing Notes

• The official announcement for Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym versus Ryol Li Lee was made yesterday in Tokyo. Lee (16-1-1, 8KO), a five-year pro originally from Osaka, will be dropping a weight class for the bout. Though he will have a height and reach advantage, the challenger will be a clear underdog as the beast from Thailand has looked spectacular, particularly since he gained the title from Bernard Dunne last September. Lee told reporters that he hopes to follow in the footsteps of fellow ethnic Korean and former world champ Masamori Tokuyama
• I have no idea what fight two of the judges were watching in last night’s main event between Hero Bando and Koseki Nakama. A former OPBF title challenger, Bando (21-10-7, 9KO) was announced the victor of the eight round contest with a split decision. While he clearly was the stronger puncher of the two, those blows were few and far between. Nakama (14-4, 6KO) was much more active and managed distance well, keeping Bando at the end of a busy jab, and landing the occasional lead right. The loss, his third in a row and all by decision, signifies another occasion where the Okinawa native has been on the short end of the scorecards.
• Rikiya Fukuhara (24-3-1, 18KO) will have a new opponent when he squares off for the vacant regional 130lb title on the undercard of Uchiyama-Mukhlis on September 20. Aussie Greg Eadie is out and will be replaced with Filipino Allan Tanada, (9-0-2, 4KO).

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