Koki Inoue stops Lesnikov, Ohashi and Kitano shine against Pinoy visitors
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Earlier today at Korakuen Hall "Lemino BOXING Phoenix Battle 132", and it featured a number of notable bouts with several very noteworthy fighters on the show.
The show opened with an interesting bout at 140lbs, as Kaiji Nakajima (8-1, 7) [中島海二] faced Ryuha Terada (6-1-3, 2) [寺田龍覇], in what looked like a very competitive and well matched bout between two fighters looking to climb up the domestic scene towards a title fight. The fight started somewhat slowly as both looked to get a read on the other in the early going, before a right hook cut Terada above the left eye. Terada seemed to click after the cut, and started to get his 1-2 working well, but his lack of power told and in round 5 Nakajima began to tag the wound with his own jab whilst wearing down his man. A right hook in round 6 further damaged the face of Terada to the point where the doctor stepped in and waved off the action.
The second bout was an incredibly compelling bout between Rikuto Adachi (19-4-1, 14) [安達陸仁] and Kamikaze Ran (4-3-1, 1) [友松藍] which saw all 3 judges struggle to split the men, resulting in an unanimous decision draw. The fight started hot, with both looking to establish their jab and control the tempo, with Ran looking to get close and bully and Adachi wanting to keep things long. It wasn't long until Ran got his way, and he forced Adachi to fight fire with fire, giving us a sensational back and forth war. Both had highlight moments, but neither could do enough to convince any of the judges that they had deserved the win, and given the response of the crowd afterwards, it seems the winners were the fans, who would likely welcome a rematch given the exciting, evenly fought, nature of this one.
One bout that certainly wasn’t competitive, in the slightest was the 8 rounder between Takero Kitano (8-0-1, 3) [北野武郎] and the world ranked Jake Amparo (16-7-1, 4), a bout that looked really good on paper, given the level Amparo had fought at and the #5 IBF ranking he took into this fight. In the end this was a masterclass from Kitano, who showed excellent composure, control and surprising power to drop Amparo in the opening round and twice in round 3. To his credit Amapro, who lost almost every minute of the fight, showed plenty of toughness, and gritted out the beating, but was far from competitive. After 8 rounds two judges had this 80-69, whilst the third had the bout 79-70, with Kitano really stamping his mark on the fight and the 20 year old looks likely to be moved from the Japanese Youth title, which he currently holds, into some for of senior title sooner rather than later.
Another Japan Vs Philippines bout saw Ren Ohashi (3-0, 3) [大橋蓮] continue his rapid rise as he dismantled Reycar Auxilio (7-5-1, 6) in a very good performance from the former amateur standout. Auxilio was dropped in the opening round with a straight left hand, and didn't seemed to heed the warning signs when in round 2 he was tagged by another, with this one dropping him really hard and seeing his head bounce on the canvas, forcing the referee to immediately wave the bout off, before he was removed from the ring on a stretcher. Given the nature of this performance it’s perhaps time Ohashi was put in with regionally ranked fighters, as few below regional level will cope with his blend of speed, skill and power.
In the chief support bout fans saw the skilled, but light hitting, Katsuki Mori (13-4 , 3) [森且貴] do as expected as he took a wide decision over the game Naoki Morooka (8-10, 3) [諸岡直樹]. Mori, a 2-time Japanese title challenger, was simply too good for Morooka, but lacked the power to really force the stoppage, despite landing plenty of clean shots. Knowing he could take the best Morooka had to offer Mori went for the finish in the final round and Morooka responded, as the two went toe to toe, giving the fans a real highlight round, but it was clear that neither was going to be stopped by the other. After 8 rounds the judges had this 80-72, twice, and 79-73, all for Mori.
In the main event former Japanese and WBO Asia Pacific Light Welterweight champion Koki Inoue (18-2, 15) [浩樹井上] had the chance to shine in a bout fought close to the Welterweight limit, as he took on Russian fighter Mikhail Lesnikov (8-6-1, 3). Lesnikov got off to a good start, and had a good opening round, but in round 2 Inoue landed a body shot that seemed to show a key weakness in Lesnikov, who took it but was clearly affected by it. In round 3 Inoue went back to the body and crumpled Lesnikov with a left uppercut, with the Russian taking the 10 count in agone on the canvas.
The show opened with an interesting bout at 140lbs, as Kaiji Nakajima (8-1, 7) [中島海二] faced Ryuha Terada (6-1-3, 2) [寺田龍覇], in what looked like a very competitive and well matched bout between two fighters looking to climb up the domestic scene towards a title fight. The fight started somewhat slowly as both looked to get a read on the other in the early going, before a right hook cut Terada above the left eye. Terada seemed to click after the cut, and started to get his 1-2 working well, but his lack of power told and in round 5 Nakajima began to tag the wound with his own jab whilst wearing down his man. A right hook in round 6 further damaged the face of Terada to the point where the doctor stepped in and waved off the action.
The second bout was an incredibly compelling bout between Rikuto Adachi (19-4-1, 14) [安達陸仁] and Kamikaze Ran (4-3-1, 1) [友松藍] which saw all 3 judges struggle to split the men, resulting in an unanimous decision draw. The fight started hot, with both looking to establish their jab and control the tempo, with Ran looking to get close and bully and Adachi wanting to keep things long. It wasn't long until Ran got his way, and he forced Adachi to fight fire with fire, giving us a sensational back and forth war. Both had highlight moments, but neither could do enough to convince any of the judges that they had deserved the win, and given the response of the crowd afterwards, it seems the winners were the fans, who would likely welcome a rematch given the exciting, evenly fought, nature of this one.
One bout that certainly wasn’t competitive, in the slightest was the 8 rounder between Takero Kitano (8-0-1, 3) [北野武郎] and the world ranked Jake Amparo (16-7-1, 4), a bout that looked really good on paper, given the level Amparo had fought at and the #5 IBF ranking he took into this fight. In the end this was a masterclass from Kitano, who showed excellent composure, control and surprising power to drop Amparo in the opening round and twice in round 3. To his credit Amapro, who lost almost every minute of the fight, showed plenty of toughness, and gritted out the beating, but was far from competitive. After 8 rounds two judges had this 80-69, whilst the third had the bout 79-70, with Kitano really stamping his mark on the fight and the 20 year old looks likely to be moved from the Japanese Youth title, which he currently holds, into some for of senior title sooner rather than later.
Another Japan Vs Philippines bout saw Ren Ohashi (3-0, 3) [大橋蓮] continue his rapid rise as he dismantled Reycar Auxilio (7-5-1, 6) in a very good performance from the former amateur standout. Auxilio was dropped in the opening round with a straight left hand, and didn't seemed to heed the warning signs when in round 2 he was tagged by another, with this one dropping him really hard and seeing his head bounce on the canvas, forcing the referee to immediately wave the bout off, before he was removed from the ring on a stretcher. Given the nature of this performance it’s perhaps time Ohashi was put in with regionally ranked fighters, as few below regional level will cope with his blend of speed, skill and power.
In the chief support bout fans saw the skilled, but light hitting, Katsuki Mori (13-4 , 3) [森且貴] do as expected as he took a wide decision over the game Naoki Morooka (8-10, 3) [諸岡直樹]. Mori, a 2-time Japanese title challenger, was simply too good for Morooka, but lacked the power to really force the stoppage, despite landing plenty of clean shots. Knowing he could take the best Morooka had to offer Mori went for the finish in the final round and Morooka responded, as the two went toe to toe, giving the fans a real highlight round, but it was clear that neither was going to be stopped by the other. After 8 rounds the judges had this 80-72, twice, and 79-73, all for Mori.
In the main event former Japanese and WBO Asia Pacific Light Welterweight champion Koki Inoue (18-2, 15) [浩樹井上] had the chance to shine in a bout fought close to the Welterweight limit, as he took on Russian fighter Mikhail Lesnikov (8-6-1, 3). Lesnikov got off to a good start, and had a good opening round, but in round 2 Inoue landed a body shot that seemed to show a key weakness in Lesnikov, who took it but was clearly affected by it. In round 3 Inoue went back to the body and crumpled Lesnikov with a left uppercut, with the Russian taking the 10 count in agone on the canvas.