Inoue, Sasaki and Shimomachi retain titles, Takada shocks Kobayashi
Just moments ago we saw the end of a Japanese card from Tokyo, that was stacked with talent, including 6 champions and 4 title bouts.
The show started with something of an upset, as the touted Goki Kobayashi (8-2, 5) [小林豪己] was dethroned of the WBO Asia Pacific Minimumweight title by former Japanese national champion Yuni Takada (16-8-3, 6) [高田勇仁], who scored the biggest win of his career. Takada had actively chased the fight for much of 2024, vacating the Japanese title to secure the bout, and really made the most of his opportunity.
Early on both men tried to find holes, with the first major one being found in round 3 by a nasty right uppercut from Takada, that was followed by a hook that dropped Kobayashi. To his credit the champion recovered well, but it did secure Takada a very important 10-8 round and show that he had the power to hurt Kobayashi getting his respect there and then. Despite feeling the effect of Takada’s uppercuts Kobayashi continued to get close, and took a number of other big uppercuts through the fight, as Takada got out to a clear lead. After 8 rounds the challenger was up 79-72, 78-73 and 76-75.
Kobayashi had struggled through the middle rounds but came on really strong late on in the final stages as his pressure, body shots, work rate and tenacity saw him come close to pulling victory from the jaws of defeat, with a huge round 12 that saw Takada being forced to fight fire with fire. After the thrilling finish, the cards had gotten a lot closer though they weren’t enough for Kobayashi. The cards were 116-111, 114-113 and 113-114, to give Takada the split decision win, and put him within touching distance of a world title fight.
The second title fight on the card saw Japanese Super Bantamweight champion Toshiki Shimomachi (20-1-3, 12) [下町俊貴] narrowly retain his title, with an underwhelming and unconvincing win over Misaki Hirano (11-2, 4) [平野岬]. On paper this was a massive step up in class for Hirano, as he took on someone who was making his 4th defense of the Japanese title and was world ranked. Despite the step up Hirano had a lot of success, often with lunging right hands, that really shouldn’t have landed on someone with the ability of Shimomachi. Despite the right hands landing from the challenger the champion had done enough for a lead at the midway point, with the open scoring showing him up 49-46 on two cards whilst Hirano was up 48-47 on the other.
Shimomachi had one of his best moments in round 6, when he scored the bouts first official knockdown, having had an early knockdown ruled a slip or a push. That knockdown seemed like it was going to be the start of Shimomachi taking control of the action. Instead it seemed to put the fire up Hirano’s backside, with the challenger picking up his tempo and output. It also seemed like Shimomachi, had lost his own composure after the knockdown, and in the final rounds it became something of a shoot out. A shoot out that almost cost Shimomachi, as he got dropped in the final round, securing Hirano a 10-8 of his own, and really making the scorecards close. After 10 rounds, two knockdowns, the bout went to the cards which saw Shimimacho taking the bout 95-93, twice, and the third card was level at 94-94.
After the bout Smimoachi admitted he was frustrated with his performance and felt pressure, as he was the clear favourite. It seemed he was unhappy being dropped, and unhappy at the fact he felt he needed to go for the finish late on. Sadly it’s not the first time he has spoken about being frustrated and been dropped in bouts where he was the clear favourite, and we wonder whether he and his team will look to address the mental aspect of things. As for Hirano the loss was a setback, but the experience will have been great for his career and the performance showed he could compete at the top of the domestic level.
The only non-title bout on the card featured two champions fighting above their championships weights, as Japanese Super Featherweight champion Tsubasa Narai (15-2, 10) [奈良井翼] took on WBO Asia Pacific Super Featherweight champion Kai Watanabe (13-2-1, 7) [渡邊海], in a bout at around 132lbs. Given the styles of the two men the fight was expected to be a genuine firefight, between two men with nasty power. Instead it was something of a more technical fight, with firefight elements. A bout that seemed like it could turn into a shoot out at any point, but rarely actually did. The reason for that was seen early on however, as Watanabe felt Narai’s power early on when the two exchanged, and then felt it again in round 3, suffering a knockdown. From then on Watanabe used his movement, jab and boxing brain to rack up points boxing and moving, picking his moments to land right hands but really neutralising Narai, who struggled to land much of note.
In the final two rounds Watanabe, likely feeling he had been breaking down Narai with his jab and movement, began to pick up the pace and unload some bigger, heavier shots, that again looked like they had the potential to begin a fire fight. Sadly for Watanabe when he did that he gave Narai chances, with Narai being caught by a counter right in round 9. After that we saw a mostly timid final round, until the final seconds as both unloaded.
It seemed, at least to us, that Watanabe had done enough following the knockdown to take the win, however the final two rounds, which had Watanabe standing his ground more and being more willing to fight Narai’s fight ultimately cost him. The cards were 96-94, 96-94 and 94-96, giving Narai the split decision win, and all 3 judges gave Narai the final 2 rounds. Had Watanabe continued to box and move, behind his jab he’d have almost certainly got the decision here.
In the chief support bout WBO Asia Pacific and OPBF Welterweight champion Jin Sasaki (19-1-1, 17) [佐々木尽] took on the rugged and teak tough Shoki Sakai (29-15-3, 15) [坂井祥紀]. This was supposed to be something of a showcase for Sasaki against a very tough opponent, however Sakai exceeded all expectations and proved not only his toughness, but his will to win. He managed to pick his moments time after time, and although he lacked the power to hurt Sasaki, he was regularly landing on the hard hitting regional champion. Sadly for Sakai his good, clean, disciplined work wasn't enough to deter the pressure and wild shots from Sasaki, who continually marched forward and looked to break down Sakai, with brutal shots to both head and body.
As the rounds went on Sakai’s toughness and desire was being chipped away at, and his 34 year old legs were starting to slow and feel the pressure and tempo. His output was dropping, and he was being forced onto the backfoot repeatedly. He was still doing well in frustrating Sasaki, but the 23 year old Sasaki was breaking him down and in round 10 he finally wobbled Sakai for the first time. Despite that Sakai recovered well, landed a great uppercut in round 11, left Sasaki with a bloodied nose, but continued to take more than he gave and Sakai’s right eye was pretty much closed by the final bell.
The bout showed both a lot to like about Sasaki, who proved he had the engine for 12 rounds, something that was questioned in recent years, but also showed a lot of flaws, many of which were already known. Of course we knew about his limited defense, and his wide and wild shots, but the bout also saw him really lack creativity and the ability to mix things up. He was very much doing the same thing time after time, and hoping it would eventually send Sakai to the canvas, which it didn’t. After 12 rounds, going the distance for the first time in his career, Sasaki got the decision with scores of 118-110, 117-111 and 116-112.
After the win, during his post fight interview, Sasaki called out the Welterweight world champions, stating, in English, "I'm Jin Sasaki, I will become the first Japanese welterweight world champion! I'm absolutely confident that I'll win, so all you welterweight world champions, let's have the fight! Boots Ennis, Eimantas Stanionis, Brian Norman and Mario Barrios, I`m not going to ran away or hide, I`m looking forward to the World title match this year! Thank you!" He made it clear he wants to face one of them this year and whilst it’s hard to see him having the tools needed to deal with any of them, and become the first Japanese Welterweight world champion, there is no doubting his confidence and desire, and he could well see himself landing a big fight by the end of 2025.
In the main event Undisputed Super Bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue (29-0, 26) successfully defend his world titles against South Korean challenger Ye Joon Kim (21-3-2, 13) [김예준], who was stopped in round 4.
To begin the fight Kim, a switch hitter, came out as a southpaw, and to begin with the two men really took a moment, waiting to get a read on the other, in what was 2 minutes of very patient feeling out. Despite the occasion Kim showed a lot of composure, but Inoue managed to carefully pressure him, backing him into a corner with intelligent footwork and picking a few shots. Kim really didn’t let much go at all in the opening 3 minutes, but also didn’t take much, giving Inoue no openings at all. Imn round 2 the action began to pick up with Inoue pressing more and starting to let shots go, landing a right hand early in the round. Inoue managed to land another right and began to soften Kim up, landing clean headshots with both hands. Whilst controlling with his offense Inoue would regularly drop his hands, almost inviting Kim to let something go to counter, which he did with a right hand late in the round. Kim began to show more ambition in round 3, but was again on the wrong end of some heavy shots from Inoue, with the shots marking Kim under the left eye.
To begin round 4 Inoue stumbled from a trip, though remained upright, before pressing the action more, cornering Kim and picking away at him with crisp, clean, sharp jabs. Kim didn’t look hurt, but was being mentally and physically punished. Knowing he had to fight back Kim let some shots go through the round, but paid for it, taking a huge left hook in return just moments later. The shot that badly hurt Kim, and Inoue followed up landing a truly brutal 1-2, dropping Kim, who went on to his haunches before being counted out.
To his credit Kim performed better than most expected. He was out classed, out gunned and out-everythinged, but did try, which is more than we’ve seen from some Inoue opponents. Sadly though it did look like Inoue was going through the motions before he hurt Kim with the hook and swiftly closed the show.
After the bout Inoue seemed to accept he wasn't at his best, likely affected by the change in opponent, and join the crowd in giving Kim a round of applause, showing the appreciation the fans had for the Korean.
The show started with something of an upset, as the touted Goki Kobayashi (8-2, 5) [小林豪己] was dethroned of the WBO Asia Pacific Minimumweight title by former Japanese national champion Yuni Takada (16-8-3, 6) [高田勇仁], who scored the biggest win of his career. Takada had actively chased the fight for much of 2024, vacating the Japanese title to secure the bout, and really made the most of his opportunity.
Early on both men tried to find holes, with the first major one being found in round 3 by a nasty right uppercut from Takada, that was followed by a hook that dropped Kobayashi. To his credit the champion recovered well, but it did secure Takada a very important 10-8 round and show that he had the power to hurt Kobayashi getting his respect there and then. Despite feeling the effect of Takada’s uppercuts Kobayashi continued to get close, and took a number of other big uppercuts through the fight, as Takada got out to a clear lead. After 8 rounds the challenger was up 79-72, 78-73 and 76-75.
Kobayashi had struggled through the middle rounds but came on really strong late on in the final stages as his pressure, body shots, work rate and tenacity saw him come close to pulling victory from the jaws of defeat, with a huge round 12 that saw Takada being forced to fight fire with fire. After the thrilling finish, the cards had gotten a lot closer though they weren’t enough for Kobayashi. The cards were 116-111, 114-113 and 113-114, to give Takada the split decision win, and put him within touching distance of a world title fight.
The second title fight on the card saw Japanese Super Bantamweight champion Toshiki Shimomachi (20-1-3, 12) [下町俊貴] narrowly retain his title, with an underwhelming and unconvincing win over Misaki Hirano (11-2, 4) [平野岬]. On paper this was a massive step up in class for Hirano, as he took on someone who was making his 4th defense of the Japanese title and was world ranked. Despite the step up Hirano had a lot of success, often with lunging right hands, that really shouldn’t have landed on someone with the ability of Shimomachi. Despite the right hands landing from the challenger the champion had done enough for a lead at the midway point, with the open scoring showing him up 49-46 on two cards whilst Hirano was up 48-47 on the other.
Shimomachi had one of his best moments in round 6, when he scored the bouts first official knockdown, having had an early knockdown ruled a slip or a push. That knockdown seemed like it was going to be the start of Shimomachi taking control of the action. Instead it seemed to put the fire up Hirano’s backside, with the challenger picking up his tempo and output. It also seemed like Shimomachi, had lost his own composure after the knockdown, and in the final rounds it became something of a shoot out. A shoot out that almost cost Shimomachi, as he got dropped in the final round, securing Hirano a 10-8 of his own, and really making the scorecards close. After 10 rounds, two knockdowns, the bout went to the cards which saw Shimimacho taking the bout 95-93, twice, and the third card was level at 94-94.
After the bout Smimoachi admitted he was frustrated with his performance and felt pressure, as he was the clear favourite. It seemed he was unhappy being dropped, and unhappy at the fact he felt he needed to go for the finish late on. Sadly it’s not the first time he has spoken about being frustrated and been dropped in bouts where he was the clear favourite, and we wonder whether he and his team will look to address the mental aspect of things. As for Hirano the loss was a setback, but the experience will have been great for his career and the performance showed he could compete at the top of the domestic level.
The only non-title bout on the card featured two champions fighting above their championships weights, as Japanese Super Featherweight champion Tsubasa Narai (15-2, 10) [奈良井翼] took on WBO Asia Pacific Super Featherweight champion Kai Watanabe (13-2-1, 7) [渡邊海], in a bout at around 132lbs. Given the styles of the two men the fight was expected to be a genuine firefight, between two men with nasty power. Instead it was something of a more technical fight, with firefight elements. A bout that seemed like it could turn into a shoot out at any point, but rarely actually did. The reason for that was seen early on however, as Watanabe felt Narai’s power early on when the two exchanged, and then felt it again in round 3, suffering a knockdown. From then on Watanabe used his movement, jab and boxing brain to rack up points boxing and moving, picking his moments to land right hands but really neutralising Narai, who struggled to land much of note.
In the final two rounds Watanabe, likely feeling he had been breaking down Narai with his jab and movement, began to pick up the pace and unload some bigger, heavier shots, that again looked like they had the potential to begin a fire fight. Sadly for Watanabe when he did that he gave Narai chances, with Narai being caught by a counter right in round 9. After that we saw a mostly timid final round, until the final seconds as both unloaded.
It seemed, at least to us, that Watanabe had done enough following the knockdown to take the win, however the final two rounds, which had Watanabe standing his ground more and being more willing to fight Narai’s fight ultimately cost him. The cards were 96-94, 96-94 and 94-96, giving Narai the split decision win, and all 3 judges gave Narai the final 2 rounds. Had Watanabe continued to box and move, behind his jab he’d have almost certainly got the decision here.
In the chief support bout WBO Asia Pacific and OPBF Welterweight champion Jin Sasaki (19-1-1, 17) [佐々木尽] took on the rugged and teak tough Shoki Sakai (29-15-3, 15) [坂井祥紀]. This was supposed to be something of a showcase for Sasaki against a very tough opponent, however Sakai exceeded all expectations and proved not only his toughness, but his will to win. He managed to pick his moments time after time, and although he lacked the power to hurt Sasaki, he was regularly landing on the hard hitting regional champion. Sadly for Sakai his good, clean, disciplined work wasn't enough to deter the pressure and wild shots from Sasaki, who continually marched forward and looked to break down Sakai, with brutal shots to both head and body.
As the rounds went on Sakai’s toughness and desire was being chipped away at, and his 34 year old legs were starting to slow and feel the pressure and tempo. His output was dropping, and he was being forced onto the backfoot repeatedly. He was still doing well in frustrating Sasaki, but the 23 year old Sasaki was breaking him down and in round 10 he finally wobbled Sakai for the first time. Despite that Sakai recovered well, landed a great uppercut in round 11, left Sasaki with a bloodied nose, but continued to take more than he gave and Sakai’s right eye was pretty much closed by the final bell.
The bout showed both a lot to like about Sasaki, who proved he had the engine for 12 rounds, something that was questioned in recent years, but also showed a lot of flaws, many of which were already known. Of course we knew about his limited defense, and his wide and wild shots, but the bout also saw him really lack creativity and the ability to mix things up. He was very much doing the same thing time after time, and hoping it would eventually send Sakai to the canvas, which it didn’t. After 12 rounds, going the distance for the first time in his career, Sasaki got the decision with scores of 118-110, 117-111 and 116-112.
After the win, during his post fight interview, Sasaki called out the Welterweight world champions, stating, in English, "I'm Jin Sasaki, I will become the first Japanese welterweight world champion! I'm absolutely confident that I'll win, so all you welterweight world champions, let's have the fight! Boots Ennis, Eimantas Stanionis, Brian Norman and Mario Barrios, I`m not going to ran away or hide, I`m looking forward to the World title match this year! Thank you!" He made it clear he wants to face one of them this year and whilst it’s hard to see him having the tools needed to deal with any of them, and become the first Japanese Welterweight world champion, there is no doubting his confidence and desire, and he could well see himself landing a big fight by the end of 2025.
In the main event Undisputed Super Bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue (29-0, 26) successfully defend his world titles against South Korean challenger Ye Joon Kim (21-3-2, 13) [김예준], who was stopped in round 4.
To begin the fight Kim, a switch hitter, came out as a southpaw, and to begin with the two men really took a moment, waiting to get a read on the other, in what was 2 minutes of very patient feeling out. Despite the occasion Kim showed a lot of composure, but Inoue managed to carefully pressure him, backing him into a corner with intelligent footwork and picking a few shots. Kim really didn’t let much go at all in the opening 3 minutes, but also didn’t take much, giving Inoue no openings at all. Imn round 2 the action began to pick up with Inoue pressing more and starting to let shots go, landing a right hand early in the round. Inoue managed to land another right and began to soften Kim up, landing clean headshots with both hands. Whilst controlling with his offense Inoue would regularly drop his hands, almost inviting Kim to let something go to counter, which he did with a right hand late in the round. Kim began to show more ambition in round 3, but was again on the wrong end of some heavy shots from Inoue, with the shots marking Kim under the left eye.
To begin round 4 Inoue stumbled from a trip, though remained upright, before pressing the action more, cornering Kim and picking away at him with crisp, clean, sharp jabs. Kim didn’t look hurt, but was being mentally and physically punished. Knowing he had to fight back Kim let some shots go through the round, but paid for it, taking a huge left hook in return just moments later. The shot that badly hurt Kim, and Inoue followed up landing a truly brutal 1-2, dropping Kim, who went on to his haunches before being counted out.
To his credit Kim performed better than most expected. He was out classed, out gunned and out-everythinged, but did try, which is more than we’ve seen from some Inoue opponents. Sadly though it did look like Inoue was going through the motions before he hurt Kim with the hook and swiftly closed the show.
After the bout Inoue seemed to accept he wasn't at his best, likely affected by the change in opponent, and join the crowd in giving Kim a round of applause, showing the appreciation the fans had for the Korean.