New champions crowned at Korakuen Hall!
14
On Tuesday Korakuen Hall played host to the latest Diamond Glove show, which had 4 very good looking Japanese title fights on it, in what was the real gem of the 2025 Champion Carnival. The card wasn’t a major one internationally, though at least one of the bouts was expected to have implications on the world level with one man looking to pick up a Japanese title en route to fighting for world honours in the not too distant future, whilst another was a much anticipated rematch in a great clash of staples, whilst the other pit man going through a late career run against someone looking for success in a second weight class.
The first of the three fights saw 40 year old Yuichi Ideta (19-17-1, 10) [出田裕一] fail to continue his incredible late career run, as Ryota Toyoshima (21-3-1, 12) [豊嶋亮太] took the Japanese title at 154lbs in dominant fashion. Ideta, seeking his 4th defense, really had little to test Toyoshima, who had been Japanese and Asian champion at 147lbs, From the opening moments the 29 year old Toyoshima just seemed too good, too sharp, too quick and too accurate. He took control almost immediately with his boxing and his movement, and allowed the slower, older, Ideta to walk himself into harm. Ideta's style was pretty much made to order and Toyoshima had fun as he used a busy jab, landed good counters, and in round 4 he unloaded on Ideta, several times, before the referee saved Ideta, who was being too tough for his own good.
The stoppage, at 2 minutes 11 into round 4, saw Toyoshima put on one of his best performances. After the bout he explained "I respected Ideta, who has won by gritty means, and went all out to defeat him. I've seen (the fighter who faced Ideta) get caught up in fights even when he kept his distance, so I thought I would go for a physical fight." and later admitted, "I fought with the feeling that if I lost today, it was over. If I don't win here, there's no restart. Neither do I have any other options.". He also admitted that he feels 154lbs is his best weight, that he keeps his stamina better and feels more comfortable there than he did at Welterweight. As for IDeta, it seemed clear he had a lot of respect for Toyoshima, and he explained "I had wanted to fight Toyoshima, so even though I lost, I am satisfied. I was stopped, so I can't say I gave it my all, but I'm glad I was able to fight."
The second title bout was much, much, more competitive and saw Josuke Nagata (8-2) [永田丈晶] take a razor thin decision over Ryota Yamauchi (13-5, 12) [山内涼太], for the second time, to become a 2-time Japanese Flyweight champion. This was as hotly contested as bouts coming, with Nagata looking to repeat his 2023 win over Yamauchi, and Yamauchi looking to score revenge. Yamauchi looked the bigger punch early on, and landed some of the more eye catching single blows, but Nagata was also looking to set a higher tempo, with shots up and down, and the man who was pressing, forcing exchanges. The exciting back and forth saw neither man manage to establish any real control of the action After 5 rounds Yamauchi was narrowly up, 49-46 and 48-47 whilst Nagata had the other card 48-47, with the open scoring announcement being made between rounds 5 and 6. From there on Nagata fought like a man possessed, getting inside, and trading body blows, trying to grind down Yamauchi, who was being tagged on the inside in round 7n and back up in round 8 a Yamauchi began to feel the pace and his work rate began to drop off. Going into the final round it seemed like Nagata had probably done enough to avoid a loss, but the job, of course, wasn’t done and both men unloaded some of their best in the final 3 minutes, with Nagata refusing to back off, and Yamauchi landing anything he could.
After 10 rounds the judges had this 95-95, 96-95 and 97-93 to give Nagata the win. All 3 judges gave Nagata at least 4 of the last 5 rounds, to secure the win After the bout he explained "I was behind in the public judgement, but I changed my mindset and stuck to my own boxing. I thought about quitting after losing the belt and losing the next match, but thanks to the encouragement of my wife and those around me, I was able to get this far." And then spoke about his new born son, explaining "I'm grateful that he was born safely. I'm really glad." As for Yamauchi, he was harsh on himself, though hopefully he realises he was involved in one of the best Japanese title bouts we’ll see this year.
In the main event we saw confirmation of what many in Japan were already expecting, with a new star breaking out. That was Kyosuke Takami (9-0, 7) [高見享介] who claimed the Japanese Light Flyweight title with a stoppage win over defending champion Toshiki Kawamitsu (11-2, 7) [川満俊輝]. Takami, who has long been on the radar as one of Japan’s top rising talents The bout started with an air of tension, with Kawamitsu landing a good bout shot and Takami landing good shots up top, working well off his jab. At the end of the opening round Takami showed his dangerous side, as he landed a good left hook, letting Kawamitsu know that the challenger was genuine very dangerous. In round 2 Takami moved up a gear, landing some solid body shots and forced Kawamitsu to respond in an attempt to get his respect. Takami then moved up another gear,, using his feet and jab, really well, whilst also tagging the body of the champion, who was then beginning to look like cracks were forming. To his credit however Kawamitsu dug deep and had a solid round 5 as he narrowed the scores, slightly, on the open scoring, with scores of 49-46, twice,m and 50-49 all in favour of Takami.
Sadly for Kawamitsu he couldn’t build on the moments he had in round 5, as am uppercut form Takami rocked Kawamitsu and a follow up forced the referee to step in and wave off the action.
After the bout Takami explained "I never lost my spirit, but I fought while thinking to myself, 'this is the strength of a champion.' The belt that you win after overcoming difficulties is worth it." and then spoke of the passing of Kanamu Sakama and Haru Nagano Following the win Tsyuyoshi Hamada explained "He barely got hit, and he fought freely while thinking. He seems ready to fight in a world match at any time." Akihiko Honda also praised Takami, stating "It's been a long time since we've had a talented, young champion with star power. He's definitely a player who will become a world champion in the future."
Notably Takami seems to be confident of winning a world title himself, explaining "I think I can say some arrogant things now that I've defeated my opponent. The weight cut is tough, but I'm going to aim for the world in the light flyweight division. I want to go to the world as soon as possible. I want to challenge an organization that has a chance."
As for Kawamitsu he explained "I've always sparred with strong fighters, but I'm not good with fighters who are good at keeping their distance, and I haven't been able to overcome that until today." He then added "I thought I was losing points in the public judging, so I thought I had to change the flow, but I continued to take punches. I was too naive to think that he would exchange punches, and I was weak in the second half, not being able to bring it to a close exchange,"
The first of the three fights saw 40 year old Yuichi Ideta (19-17-1, 10) [出田裕一] fail to continue his incredible late career run, as Ryota Toyoshima (21-3-1, 12) [豊嶋亮太] took the Japanese title at 154lbs in dominant fashion. Ideta, seeking his 4th defense, really had little to test Toyoshima, who had been Japanese and Asian champion at 147lbs, From the opening moments the 29 year old Toyoshima just seemed too good, too sharp, too quick and too accurate. He took control almost immediately with his boxing and his movement, and allowed the slower, older, Ideta to walk himself into harm. Ideta's style was pretty much made to order and Toyoshima had fun as he used a busy jab, landed good counters, and in round 4 he unloaded on Ideta, several times, before the referee saved Ideta, who was being too tough for his own good.
The stoppage, at 2 minutes 11 into round 4, saw Toyoshima put on one of his best performances. After the bout he explained "I respected Ideta, who has won by gritty means, and went all out to defeat him. I've seen (the fighter who faced Ideta) get caught up in fights even when he kept his distance, so I thought I would go for a physical fight." and later admitted, "I fought with the feeling that if I lost today, it was over. If I don't win here, there's no restart. Neither do I have any other options.". He also admitted that he feels 154lbs is his best weight, that he keeps his stamina better and feels more comfortable there than he did at Welterweight. As for IDeta, it seemed clear he had a lot of respect for Toyoshima, and he explained "I had wanted to fight Toyoshima, so even though I lost, I am satisfied. I was stopped, so I can't say I gave it my all, but I'm glad I was able to fight."
The second title bout was much, much, more competitive and saw Josuke Nagata (8-2) [永田丈晶] take a razor thin decision over Ryota Yamauchi (13-5, 12) [山内涼太], for the second time, to become a 2-time Japanese Flyweight champion. This was as hotly contested as bouts coming, with Nagata looking to repeat his 2023 win over Yamauchi, and Yamauchi looking to score revenge. Yamauchi looked the bigger punch early on, and landed some of the more eye catching single blows, but Nagata was also looking to set a higher tempo, with shots up and down, and the man who was pressing, forcing exchanges. The exciting back and forth saw neither man manage to establish any real control of the action After 5 rounds Yamauchi was narrowly up, 49-46 and 48-47 whilst Nagata had the other card 48-47, with the open scoring announcement being made between rounds 5 and 6. From there on Nagata fought like a man possessed, getting inside, and trading body blows, trying to grind down Yamauchi, who was being tagged on the inside in round 7n and back up in round 8 a Yamauchi began to feel the pace and his work rate began to drop off. Going into the final round it seemed like Nagata had probably done enough to avoid a loss, but the job, of course, wasn’t done and both men unloaded some of their best in the final 3 minutes, with Nagata refusing to back off, and Yamauchi landing anything he could.
After 10 rounds the judges had this 95-95, 96-95 and 97-93 to give Nagata the win. All 3 judges gave Nagata at least 4 of the last 5 rounds, to secure the win After the bout he explained "I was behind in the public judgement, but I changed my mindset and stuck to my own boxing. I thought about quitting after losing the belt and losing the next match, but thanks to the encouragement of my wife and those around me, I was able to get this far." And then spoke about his new born son, explaining "I'm grateful that he was born safely. I'm really glad." As for Yamauchi, he was harsh on himself, though hopefully he realises he was involved in one of the best Japanese title bouts we’ll see this year.
In the main event we saw confirmation of what many in Japan were already expecting, with a new star breaking out. That was Kyosuke Takami (9-0, 7) [高見享介] who claimed the Japanese Light Flyweight title with a stoppage win over defending champion Toshiki Kawamitsu (11-2, 7) [川満俊輝]. Takami, who has long been on the radar as one of Japan’s top rising talents The bout started with an air of tension, with Kawamitsu landing a good bout shot and Takami landing good shots up top, working well off his jab. At the end of the opening round Takami showed his dangerous side, as he landed a good left hook, letting Kawamitsu know that the challenger was genuine very dangerous. In round 2 Takami moved up a gear, landing some solid body shots and forced Kawamitsu to respond in an attempt to get his respect. Takami then moved up another gear,, using his feet and jab, really well, whilst also tagging the body of the champion, who was then beginning to look like cracks were forming. To his credit however Kawamitsu dug deep and had a solid round 5 as he narrowed the scores, slightly, on the open scoring, with scores of 49-46, twice,m and 50-49 all in favour of Takami.
Sadly for Kawamitsu he couldn’t build on the moments he had in round 5, as am uppercut form Takami rocked Kawamitsu and a follow up forced the referee to step in and wave off the action.
After the bout Takami explained "I never lost my spirit, but I fought while thinking to myself, 'this is the strength of a champion.' The belt that you win after overcoming difficulties is worth it." and then spoke of the passing of Kanamu Sakama and Haru Nagano Following the win Tsyuyoshi Hamada explained "He barely got hit, and he fought freely while thinking. He seems ready to fight in a world match at any time." Akihiko Honda also praised Takami, stating "It's been a long time since we've had a talented, young champion with star power. He's definitely a player who will become a world champion in the future."
Notably Takami seems to be confident of winning a world title himself, explaining "I think I can say some arrogant things now that I've defeated my opponent. The weight cut is tough, but I'm going to aim for the world in the light flyweight division. I want to go to the world as soon as possible. I want to challenge an organization that has a chance."
As for Kawamitsu he explained "I've always sparred with strong fighters, but I'm not good with fighters who are good at keeping their distance, and I haven't been able to overcome that until today." He then added "I thought I was losing points in the public judging, so I thought I had to change the flow, but I continued to take punches. I was too naive to think that he would exchange punches, and I was weak in the second half, not being able to bring it to a close exchange,"