By Derek Bonnett: It is very hard for me to let go of 2015. The boxing calendar over the last 12 months was absolutely scintillating. Boxing returned to non-premium television, making me aware that such channels as TruTv and Spike existed. For much of that, I have to applaud Al Haymon and his Premiere Boxing Champions series, which yielded no less than four legit Fight of the Year candidates and several other dark horse favorites, which lost ground as the year unfolded.
Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotion should not be left out though as they continued to promote world class boxing cards regularly. The fight of the millennium came and went as Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fought like mega-millionaires in a slow-paced contest, but, now, at least we know. Debate over. With Mayweather “retiring” from the sport, his vacancy atop the boxing world left room for a new debate as the world must anoint its new P4P boxing king. Roman Gonzalez seems to get the majority vote, but I like that the debate is open and fighter like Gennady Golovkin, Sergey Kovalev, and Terence Crawford are in the conversation. I also look forward to seeing how Andre Ward, Guillermo Rigondeaux, Pacquiao, Naoya Inoue, and Saul Alvarez challenge their stand in 2016. I will close 2015 with an apology or two. In a recent writing (Title Shots Here; Getcha’ Free Title Shot! Vol. 11), I dismissed Japan’s Akira Yaegashi, a favorite of mine, as a washed up, name opponent for Javier Mendoza. If you still have not seen what Yaegashi did to Mendoza, search the fight out on YouTube. SecondsOut votes were already in (probably something we should address in 2016) to name our Comeback Fighter of the Year. While I doubt Yaegashi would have won, his rise from back to back stoppage losses to Roman Gonzalez and Pedro Guevara deserves recognition and I give him a modest Honorable Mention for Comeback Fighter of the Year. In defeating Mendoza, Yaegashi joins Koki Kameda and Kazuto Ioka as three-division world champions from Japan. Secondly, I wrote off Jose Argumendo as a worthy challenger for Katsunari Takayama and guess what? Yep, we have another new champion. Happy New Year, SecondsOut readers. On the Move will continue in 2016, its seventh year.
SecondsOut fighters On the Move:
On Tuesday, December 29, at Ariake Colosseum, Tokyo, Japan, Naoya Inoue defeated Warlito Parrenas by second round TKO. Parrenas was dropped twice in round two. The official time of the stoppage was 1:20 of the second round. Inoue made the first defense of his WBO super flyweight title and lifted his ledger to 9-0-0 (8). Parrenas fell to 24-7-1 (21).
Inoue remained SecondsOut’s number one super flyweight in the world. Inoue was not penalized in the rankings for inactivity due to a hand injury.
Also on the card, Akira Yaegashi scored an upset unanimous decision over Javier Mendoza in a twelve round IBF light flyweight title bout. Yaegashi won by lopsided scores of 120-107, 119-109, and 117-111. Yaegashi become a three division champion winning belts at 105, 112, and now 108. Yaegashi raised his record to 23-5-0 (12). Mendoza fell to 24-3-1 (19).
Yaegashi crashed back into the SecondsOut rankings at number five. Mendoza fell from fifth to seventh. The previous seven through ten contenders fell one ranking. Randy Petalcorin dropped from the top ten for the time being.
Also on the card, Takuma Inoue won a unanimous decision over Rene Dacquel in a twelve round super flyweight bout. Inoue dropped Dacquel in round twelve to bring home scores of 118-109 twice and 117-111. Inoue improved to 6-0-0 (1). Dacquel fell to 15-6-1 (5).
The younger Inoue remained SecondsOut’s number ten rated super flyweight.
On Thursday, December 31, at EDION Arena, Osaka, Japan, Kazuto Ioka stopped Juan Carlos Reveco in eleven rounds of a WBA flyweight title rematch. Reveco was dropped with a body shot in the eleventh. The end came at the 1:57 mark. Ioka defended the title for the second time and lifted his ledger to 19-1-0 (11). Reveco fell to 36-3-0 (19).
Ioka remained SecondsOut’s fourth rated flyweight in the world today. Reveco fell from fifth to sixth. Brian Viloria rose from sixth to fifth.
Also on the card, Katsunari Takayama suffered a surprise upset against Jose Argumendo in a IBF minimumweight title bout. Argumendo won a ninth round split technical decision. The scores favored Argumendo 87-84 twice and 85-86. Takayama could not continue due to cuts over both eyes. Argumendo captured his first world title and raised his record to 16-3-1 (9). Takayama fell to 30-8-0 (12).
Argumendo debuted in the SecondsOut minimumweight rankings at number six. Takayama fell from third to seventh. Carlos Buitrago moved from sixth to fifth. Saul Juarez exited to make room. The previous seven through nine contenders fell one ranking.
Also on this date, at Ota-City, General Gymnasium, Tokyo, Japan, Takashi Uchiyama scored a third round TKO over Oliver Flores in a WBA super featherweight title bout. Flores was floored with a shot to the body. The end came at the 1:47 mark. Uchiyama notched his eleventh title defense and upped his dossier to 24-0-1 (20). Flores crashed to 27-2-2 (17).
Uchiyama remained SecondsOut’s top-rated 130 pounder in the world today.
Also on the card, Ryoichi Taguchi forced Luis De La Rosa into ninth round corner retirement. The official time of the stoppage was 3:00. At the time of the retirement, Taguchi trailed 84-87, 85-86, and 87-84. Taguchi added his second defense of the title while moving his record to 23-2-1 (10). De La Rosa fell to 24-6-1 (14).
Taguchi remained SecondsOut’s number two rated light flyweight in the world today.
Also on this date, at Aichi Prefectural Gym, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, Kosei Tanaka scored a sixth round KO over Vic Saludar in a WBO minimumweight title bout. Tanaka rose from a knockdown in round five to drop Saludar with a shot to the body in round six. At the time of the stoppage, Tanaka trailed 44-50 twice and 45-49. The official time of the stoppage was 2:15. Tanaka defended his title for the first time and lifted his ledger to 6-0-0 (3). Saludar fell to 11-2-0 (9).
Tanaka climbed from fifth to third in the SecondsOut 105-pound rankings. Saludar entered the SecondsOut rankings at number eight. Byron Rojas fell from ninth to tenth. Ryuji Hara dropped out of the top ten for the time being.
Also on the card, Genesis Servania won an eight round unanimous decision over Hendrik Barongsay in a super bantamweight bout. The scores favored Servania 80-72 thrice. Servania advanced his record to 27-0-0 (11). Barongsay fell to 29-24-3 (18).
Servania remained SecondsOut’s number eight rated 122-pounder in the world.
Also On the Move, Robinson Castellanos has exited the SecondsOut featherweight rankings. Castellanos, inactive since January, was dropped in favor of Satoshi Hosono following the Japanese fighter’s recent decision over Akifumi Shimoda. Hosono is rated tenth.
SecondsOut ranked fighters in action through Sunday, January 10, 2015:
On Saturday, January 9:
At Centro Deportivo Boxing Unitres, Communidad Valenciana, Spain, Evgeny Gradovich versus Jesus Galicia in a ten round featherweight bout
For a more in depth look at Derek Bonnett’s SecondsOut world rankings:
https://www.secondsout.com/rankstat/secondsout-rankings
