Earlier today we had one of the most notable Japanese domestic cards of the year, with two Strongest Challenger bouts, a tournament finale and a regional title unification bout, on a card that really had a bit of everything, including a genuinely brilliant main event.
The first of the really major bouts was a Japanese Welterweight title eliminator, asSeeser Minagawa (5-3, 2) [シーサー皆川] clashed with second generation fight Kaiki Yuba (11-4-2, 7) [湯場海樹], to see who gets to fight for the title during the Champion Carnival early next year. The bout looked like one of the least interesting eliminators this year on paper, but it over delivered as Minagawa showed exactly what he was about, breaking down Yuba and stopping him in the 8h round. From the off Minagawa seemed sharp, using great footwork and movement, and offsetting Yuba’s power. Yuba really struggled with the distance, which caused numerous head clashes.
Knowing he was behind after the early round sYuba tried to press more in the second half of the bout and it seemed to be taking it’s toll on Minagawa, who seemed to slow down in round 6 and Yuba’s seemed to be coming on strong in round 7, before he was dropped, hard, by a counter left from Minagawa. Yuba’s fighting heart got him to his feet but he was dropped again upon the restart to give Minagawa his biggest win, and secure him a second title shot. For Minagawa this bout ends a 2 fight losing streak, which included a loss in a Japanese title fight with Shoki Sakai, whilst it gives Yuba his second successive loss, following a defeat to Aso Ishiwaki last time out.
The second Japanese title eliminator was at 154lbs and was surprisingly one sided as former Japanese, OPBF and WBO Asia Pacific Welterweight champion Ryota Toyoshima (20-3-1, 11) [豊嶋亮太] made a very successful move up a division as he shut out the previously unbeaten Yasuomi Soda (7-1-1, 4) [左右田泰臣]. From the off Toyoshima seemed too busy, too accurate, too aggressive and simply too good for Soda who had no real answers, and when he did have moments they were brief. Soda’s key successes were left hooks to the body, but they failed to slow Toyoshima, who seemed to be in control and landed his own share of lefts to the body, as well as pretty much more of everything. After 8 rounds Soda managed to see out the bell, but was the second best throughout, losing 80-72 on all 3 cards as Toyoshima booked a shot at Japanese champion Yuichi Ideta in 2025.
In the final of the “Asia’s Strongest Lightweight tournament” fans saw Taiga Imanaga (7-0, 5) [今永虎雅] score his best win to date, as he comprehensively beat the extremely dangerous Yoji Saito (8-4-2, 8) [齊藤陽ニ]. From the off Imanaga’s technical boxing skills proved to be the difference as he controlled the tempo early on, and really punished the slower, clumsier, Saito in round 2, cutting Saito around the ear with some vicious shots up top. Saito, who remained dangerous, struggled with pretty much every aspect of Imanaga’s boxing early on, and was nearly offensively handcuffed by the clean, accurate shots of his opponent who dropped him in round 3 with a right hook. Despite being clearly down on the cards, and taking some big shots Saito was determined to turn things around, and landed some of his best shots in round 4, despite a doctor checking on the cut. In the second half of the bout Imanaga went out hunting a finish, taking on Saito and trying to take him out, landing some huge shots that Saito somehow withstood. After 8 rounds there was no questioning the winner with Imanaga taking the bout with scores of 80-71, 79-72 and 78-73, with that last card seeming generous to Saito. After the win it seemed like Imanaga had his eyes on regional title fights whilst Saito seemed proud of the fact he had shown no quit, despite feeling the effects of body shots through much of the bout.
In the main event OPBF Lightweight champion Shu Utsuki (15-1, 13) [宇津木秀] scored the biggest win of his career, as he unified his OPBF title with the WBO Asia Pacific title, dethroning Katsuya Yasuda (14-2, 9) [保田克也] in a brilliant bout, and one of the contenders for the best bout in Japan this year. The fight started somewhat tensely, with both men well aware that the other was talented and could hurt them, Yasuda looked to create space and land counters, with Utsuki looked to go to the body through the opening round. From there the bout began to warm up, rapidly, and by round 3 fans were getting something special, with both holding their ground more and fighting at mid range with huge shots back and forth. Utsuki’s power seemed like it could be the difference maker, but Yasuda landed plenty of very solid counters.
The action then picked up again, somehow, in round 4. The round saw Utsuki landed a brutal short right hand up close, dropping Tasuda who recovered to his feet but still looked damaged. Utsuki, smelling blood, went after him, and walked on to a huge counter right that dropped Utsuki. Utsuki then seemed hurt for much of the round, and was dropped by a counter left in round 5 as the tide turned in favour of Yasuda, who then went hunting a finish of his own. Utsuki was in all sorts of trouble, but survived the round. In round 6 Utsuki would score the fight’s 4th knockdown, with a 1-2 that sent Yasuda to the seat of his pants, he beat the count but this time wouldn't be able to back Utsuki off, as the heavy handed man unloaded on him, forcing the referee to save Yasuda, who was cornered and unable to fight Utsuki off him.
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