Earlier today Korakuen Hall played host to the latest show from the long established Kaneko Gym. The card, held under the "Golden Child Boxing" banner, was a small yet notable domestic card.
The first of the notable names on the show was notable former amateur Ryosuke Koyama (1-0, 1) [小山涼介], who made a successful start to his career, with a quick win over Kyota Shinya (4-5-2, 3) [新屋叶多] in a bout that lasted just 117 seconds. Despite this only being something of a cameo debut Koyama is one to watch, and was a notable fighter on the High School and University circuits in Japan before turning professional.
The second notable bout saw Akira Hoshuyama (10-1, 5) [宝珠山晃] bounce back from his first loss, which came in September against Kento Hatanaka, as he stopped Daichi Morino (5-4, 3) [森野大地] in the 7th round of a scheduled 8. Marino came into the fight with plenty of ambition, and that showed in round 2, where he was hurt but rfused to go down. Despite his desire Marino lacked the tools needed to cope with Hoshuyama, who began to use his boxing to control the fight, breaking Marino down through the middle rounds. In round 6 Hoshuyama began to turn the screw and Morino tried to fire back, landing some good counters whilst relying on his toughness. That toughness never failed him, but in round 7 a series of clean, hurtful shots from Hoshuyama forced the referee to save Marino.
In the chief support bout unbeaten prospect Yuya Oku (8-0-1, 5) [大久祐哉] secured a 7th straight win, as he stopped Morihisa Iju (11-7, 9) [伊集盛尚] in the 7th round. Despite keeping his unbeaten record intact this was no cakewalk for Oku who was fought much of the bout was a nasty cut. The cut was opened in round 2 and it was so bad that the doctor had a serious look at it in round 4 and seemed to consider stopping the bout. The cut forced Oku to be careful, but the cut was always threatening to end the bout early. Oku managed to have a big break through in round 5, as he dropped Iju with a combination. Knowing the fight was slipping away from him Iju looked to up the tempo in round 7, but a straight right and left hook combination from Oku forced the referee to step in.
In the main event we again saw blood flowing as Ryusei Ishii (12-8-1, 9) [石井龍誠] and Soreike Taichi (10-7, 6) [木村太一] clashed in a thrilling, bloody bout between two highly ranked domestic contenders. Taichi was cut in the first round but in round 2 Taichi got revenge as he dropped Ishii with a counter right hand, and then dropped him again soon afterwards to secure a huge round. Taichi was then dropped in round 3, and despite recovering to his feet a follow up worsened the cut, forcing the doctor to stop the contest. Ishii is expected to fight for a title in the near future, and he'll know that to win a title, he'll need to be much, much better than he was here.
