Earlier today the Yamato Arena, in Suita held it's second ever professional boxing show, following on from the disappointing and almost empty arena-esque Matchroom Japan show last month. Unlike the maiden show at the venue, which was plagued with promotional issues high pricing, a lack of fan interest and really a cavalcade of problems, this show was a genuine hit as it mixed boxing and music, in the first cross promoted Lush Bomu and 3150 event, to give a show that bad entertainment, fans, upsets and two former world champions, one bouncing back from their first loss and one looking to stake their claim as a mandatory challenger for a world title.
Early on the card we had several notable prospects in action. The first of those was was 23 year old Ryusei Miyakawa (4-0, 1) [宮川竜成], who continued his perfect start as he beat Chinese visitor Shuai Wu (3-3-2, 2). Miyakawa was given a bit of a test here by Wu, who came to win, but the amateur pedigree shone through in the end to give the local his 4th win, as he won 5 of the 6 rounds. To his credit Wu came to fight, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see him back in Japan for similar fights against prospects in the future.
The second notable young hopeful was Japanese Youth champion at 154lbs, Ruku Sasaki (8-1-2, 3) [佐々木る玖], who scored his third win of 2024 as he took a competitive 6 round win over Japanese ranked Middleweight Mitsuyoshi Oshima (6-6-1, 3) [大島光容], who was unable to build on his April upset win over Kazuki Tominaga. The two men, who had fought last year, saw both men dig in their heels and put on a rough bout up close, with some solid uppercuts and nasty shots up close. Sasaki dropped Oshima in round 3, and whilst that wasn’t the difference maker, it did help him secure the decision, with scores of 58-55, twice, and 59-54.
The shocking upset on the card saw the highly touted Filipino KJ Cataraja (17-1, 13) lose to the unheralded 36 year old Japanese based Mexican Kenbun Torres (15-5, 10), who had shocked Reymart Gaballo back in May with a 1st round TKO before recording a second notable upset here. The 36 year old Torres, who had come in with world rankings from both the WBO and WBC, was expected to put up a lively fight against Cataraja, the WBO #1 ranked Flyweight, but he did more than just put up a spirited effort. Instead he wanted to show Japanese fans what they’ve been missing in his almost 8 year absence from a Japanese ring. The bout saw both men looking to establish their range early on, before Torres began to pressure his opponent. At the end of round 4 we had a major moment, as Cataraja dropped Torres with a shot after the bell, resulting in Cataraja having a point deducted.. A clash of heads in round 5 resulted in Cataraja being cut above the left eye before the bout resumed to be a technical bout, with both men spending time waiting for the other to make a mistake, with Torress even taunting Cataraja to try and get him to open up in round 7, with Cataraja ending the round well but being timid at times. After 9 rounds it was clear this was close, with one judge giving it to Catajara, 95-94, but it wasn't enough, with the other judges giving it to Torres 96-93.
In a major win for a prospect Sho Nogami (4-0, 2) [野上翔] secured an 8 round decision over Filipino visitor Danrick Sumabong (13-5-1, 9). Nogami, the Japanese Youth Flyweight champion controlled the tempo and distance, with good jabs, very accurate straight left hands . Sambong really couldn't be competitive with Nogami at any point, but showed his toughness and did last the distance, losing an 8 round shut out. For Nogami this win should secure him an OPBF ranking, given Sumabong was ranked #15 himself going into this fight.
The first of two former world champions in action on this show was former WBC Minimumweight champion Yudai Shigeoka (9-1, 5) [重岡優大], who took a 10 round decision over former IBF world title contender Samuel Salva (20-2, 13), making it a 0-3 day for Filipino fights on the show. Throughout the bout Shigeoka was in control, for the most part, dictating the tempo, landing good solid shots, especially to the body, but he did take some hard counters and body shots from Salva. The bout did see Shigeoka look like a man who really needs to sort out how he wants to fight, being too willing to get involved when he shouldn’t have been, and not willing to use his boxing often enough. He was also hurt several times, with Salva coming on particularly strong in the final round as he tried to pull victory from the jaws of defeat, though fell short. After 10 rounds all 3 judges had this 97-93 to Shigeoka, who will be glad to get back to winnings ways and got the sort of test he was expecting from Salva, but it also showed that there are a lot of areas for the talented former champion to work on.
In the main event Tomoki Kameda (42-4, 23) [亀田和毅] secured a shot at the IBF Featherweight title, as he defeated South African Lerato Dlamini (20-3, 11) via split decision to avenge a 2023 loss to Dlamini. Like their first bout this was hotly contested but Kameda managed to fight a very smart bout. He got off to a really hot start, dominating the first half of the bout, dropping Dlamini in round 5 and cutting Dlamini in round 6. It was a fast tempo form Kameda, who used his speed, was aggressive, and really made sure to build up the early lead. From the mid point however he slowed down, as we’ve seen from him in the past, and that opened the door to Dlamini’s fight back, with the South African really gritting his teeth, digging deep and doing what he could to fight out of the big hole he was in. The huge effort from Dlamini to get back into the fight wasn’t enough and Kameda finished strongly in round 12 as he looked to put the bout beyond doubt. The judges however saw this as really close with scores of 114-113 each way, with the deciding judge having it 116-111 to Kameda.
