Prospects shine on Ohashi show, Abe and Shimizu fight to a draw
Earlier today we had the latest show form Ohashi Gym, and it was one that showcased a lot of future stars, whilst being headlined by two men both coming towards the end of their careers after having notable success below world level. Despite the show only having 5 bouts on it, all 5 were notable, for either having a very highly touted prospect, or for the fact it was a must bout, in the case of the main event.
The bout opened with Tanaka Vs Tanaka as the very highly regarded Shogo Tanaka (3-0, 2) [田中将吾] scored his first win of 2025, as he stopped fellow Tanaka, Keito Tanaka (2-1-1) [田中佳斗] in the 7th round of a very well matched bout. Throughout the contest Shogo looked too quick, too shark and too accurate for Keito, who came forward and showed lots of desire, but struggled with the speed and technical skills of Shogo, a former amatuer standout. As the bout went on Shogo began to settle more offensively, and in round 5 he moved up a gear and began to take the fight to Keito who was coming under and in round 7 his corner stepped in to save their charge who was being tagged hard and often.
The second notable prospect on the card was teenage sensation Yuta Sakai (3-0, 3) [坂井優太], who showed off his "Super Rookie" tag as he ran through Thai visitor Thanyapat Seehanan (11-3, 4) in less than 2 minutes. The bout started slowly, but it wasn't long until Sakai landed a left hand to the body that crumpled the Thai visitor into a ball of agony, and he took the 10 count in real pain. Prior to the end Sakai had put on a cameo of accuracy, sharpness and again shown why he is so highly regarded, but also it feels like it’s time he stepped up his competition after 3 early blow out wins.
A third notable Ohashi Gym hopeful moved to 3-0 as Welterweight Sora Tanaka (3-0, 3) [田中空] took out hard nosed Filipino Ador Torres (12-7-1, 8) in 4 rounds, becoming only the second man to stop Torres. From the opening moments it was clear Tanaka was wanting to stop Torres, and he landed a hard left hook in the opening round that showed his intention. Torres wasn't going to just fall over however and he looked to fight back, but was unable to get Tanaka's respect, with Tanaka continuing to press the action whilst Torres tried to fire back and make things competitive. Sadly for Torres his desire to fight was ended in round 4, when he was hurt by a body shot, and the had Tanaka unload on him until the referee stepped in and saved Torres.
In the chief support bout we saw Taiga Imanaga (8-0, 5) [今永虎雅] put on a polished performance to overcome dangerous Filipino Romer Pinili (8-3-1, 7). From the off it was clear Imanaga had the edge in skills and in ring ability, whilst Pinili was dangerous, and there was a sense of respect from Imanaga who boxed well, used his straight shots well, and made Pinili pay for his mistakes. Pinili proved to be tough, and took some heavy shots whilst looking for a chance to counter, but it was almost all controlled by Imanaga, who looked too good and that class showed in round 5 with a body shot that dropped Pinili. To his credit Pinili got back to his feet and despite being punished, showed his toughness to survive the 8 round distance. After 8 rounds we went to the scorecards, and the judges turned in cards of 80-71, twice, and 78-73, to give Imanaga a clear decision victory.
The main event saw some controversy as former world title challengers Reiya Abe (26-4-2, 10) [阿部麗也] and Satoshi Shimizu (11-2-1, 10) [清水聡] fought to a draw, in a bout many had Abe winning. The bout, which was hugely anticipated and had a great response from the crowd, seem to show Abe's speed, accuracy and skills showing themselves early on, despite Shimizu's longer reach and heavier artillery, with Shimizu looking his usual awkward self. Abe continued to land good counters, and looked sharp, whilst Shimizu showed some rust. As the rounds went on however Abe's movement began to slow, and Shimizu began to find his timing, as the crowd erupted in battling chants for the two men. Sadly for Shimizu his best shots seemed to get caught on the guard, however given the force they were thrown with they still caught the eye. Despite Shimizu easing his way into the bout, it appeared that Abe ended well, showing his class in the final 2 rounds, as he landed some of his best shots and went on the offense.
Remarkably two of the judges had the bout 95-95, with the third, somehow, giving the bout to Shimizu 97-93, in what was an atrocious card. Despite the outcome, it’s now been suggested that Abe’s next bout could be a Japanese Featherweight title bout against Yuya Oku (8-0-2, 5) [大久祐哉], who was supposed to headlined this card against Keisuke Matsumoto (12-0, 8) [松本 圭佑], who pulled out of a planned Japanese title defense on health grounds and vacated the title..
The bout opened with Tanaka Vs Tanaka as the very highly regarded Shogo Tanaka (3-0, 2) [田中将吾] scored his first win of 2025, as he stopped fellow Tanaka, Keito Tanaka (2-1-1) [田中佳斗] in the 7th round of a very well matched bout. Throughout the contest Shogo looked too quick, too shark and too accurate for Keito, who came forward and showed lots of desire, but struggled with the speed and technical skills of Shogo, a former amatuer standout. As the bout went on Shogo began to settle more offensively, and in round 5 he moved up a gear and began to take the fight to Keito who was coming under and in round 7 his corner stepped in to save their charge who was being tagged hard and often.
The second notable prospect on the card was teenage sensation Yuta Sakai (3-0, 3) [坂井優太], who showed off his "Super Rookie" tag as he ran through Thai visitor Thanyapat Seehanan (11-3, 4) in less than 2 minutes. The bout started slowly, but it wasn't long until Sakai landed a left hand to the body that crumpled the Thai visitor into a ball of agony, and he took the 10 count in real pain. Prior to the end Sakai had put on a cameo of accuracy, sharpness and again shown why he is so highly regarded, but also it feels like it’s time he stepped up his competition after 3 early blow out wins.
A third notable Ohashi Gym hopeful moved to 3-0 as Welterweight Sora Tanaka (3-0, 3) [田中空] took out hard nosed Filipino Ador Torres (12-7-1, 8) in 4 rounds, becoming only the second man to stop Torres. From the opening moments it was clear Tanaka was wanting to stop Torres, and he landed a hard left hook in the opening round that showed his intention. Torres wasn't going to just fall over however and he looked to fight back, but was unable to get Tanaka's respect, with Tanaka continuing to press the action whilst Torres tried to fire back and make things competitive. Sadly for Torres his desire to fight was ended in round 4, when he was hurt by a body shot, and the had Tanaka unload on him until the referee stepped in and saved Torres.
In the chief support bout we saw Taiga Imanaga (8-0, 5) [今永虎雅] put on a polished performance to overcome dangerous Filipino Romer Pinili (8-3-1, 7). From the off it was clear Imanaga had the edge in skills and in ring ability, whilst Pinili was dangerous, and there was a sense of respect from Imanaga who boxed well, used his straight shots well, and made Pinili pay for his mistakes. Pinili proved to be tough, and took some heavy shots whilst looking for a chance to counter, but it was almost all controlled by Imanaga, who looked too good and that class showed in round 5 with a body shot that dropped Pinili. To his credit Pinili got back to his feet and despite being punished, showed his toughness to survive the 8 round distance. After 8 rounds we went to the scorecards, and the judges turned in cards of 80-71, twice, and 78-73, to give Imanaga a clear decision victory.
The main event saw some controversy as former world title challengers Reiya Abe (26-4-2, 10) [阿部麗也] and Satoshi Shimizu (11-2-1, 10) [清水聡] fought to a draw, in a bout many had Abe winning. The bout, which was hugely anticipated and had a great response from the crowd, seem to show Abe's speed, accuracy and skills showing themselves early on, despite Shimizu's longer reach and heavier artillery, with Shimizu looking his usual awkward self. Abe continued to land good counters, and looked sharp, whilst Shimizu showed some rust. As the rounds went on however Abe's movement began to slow, and Shimizu began to find his timing, as the crowd erupted in battling chants for the two men. Sadly for Shimizu his best shots seemed to get caught on the guard, however given the force they were thrown with they still caught the eye. Despite Shimizu easing his way into the bout, it appeared that Abe ended well, showing his class in the final 2 rounds, as he landed some of his best shots and went on the offense.
Remarkably two of the judges had the bout 95-95, with the third, somehow, giving the bout to Shimizu 97-93, in what was an atrocious card. Despite the outcome, it’s now been suggested that Abe’s next bout could be a Japanese Featherweight title bout against Yuya Oku (8-0-2, 5) [大久祐哉], who was supposed to headlined this card against Keisuke Matsumoto (12-0, 8) [松本 圭佑], who pulled out of a planned Japanese title defense on health grounds and vacated the title..