Shinsuke Yamanaka: record, next fight and profile →
Shinsuke Yamanaka watched two titles change hands in the hours leading up to his bantamweight title defense. The defending champ made sure to avoid such a dubious hat trick, battering mandatory challenger Malcolm Tunacao en route to 12th round stoppage Monday evening in Tokyo, Japan.
by Cliff Rold - While most US fights fans are readying themselves for work or school in the wee hours of dreaded Monday morning, a stellar fight card will likely be in full gear on the other side of the pacific. The two best fights on the card will see the lineal Flyweight crown on the line and the Bantamweight belt of one of the best in the world at 118 lbs. They will be challenged by men who held titles two classes below and who appear to be live threats to upend their reigns. It’s hard not to root for Yaegashi here. Despite a badly damaged eye, he made it razor close and fell just short in his 105 lb. unification clash with Kazuto Ioka last year. Combined with winning the 2011 BoxingScene and ESPN Fight of the Year versus Porpramook, Yaegashi is as hardcore friendly as it gets.
By Jake Donovan - Shinsuke Yamanaka and Toshiyuki Ishigara went through very different means to defend their respective championships in the first title fights to hit Sendai, Japan in nearly 30 years. Yamanaka was explosive in his 7th round knockout of Mexico's Tomas Rojas in their main event. Igarashi's first defense of the lineal flyweight crown was dangerously close to the end of his reign, taking a majority decision over Nestor Narvaez.
SENDAI, Japan -- Shinsuke Yamanaka of Japan stopped Mexico's Tomas Rojas 36 seconds into the seventh round on Saturday to retain the WBC bantamweight title. Yamanaka (17-0-2, 12 KOs), making his second defense of the title he won in April, sent the challenger to the canvas with a left and Rojas (39-14-1) was unable to move for several minutes but left the ring under his own power.
Hall of Famer Akihiro Honda, CEO of Teiken Promotions, arrived in California last week to watch his fighters in back-to-back televised cards. “He tried to show his heart, but a little too much, which is why he took two big [punches],” Honda told BoxingScene.com regarding Teiken welterweight Yoshihiro Kamegai, who drew with Jorge Silva in an entertaining main event last Saturday in Sacramento. “He can take [punches], and we will give him another chance here in America.”
Japan's World Boxing Council bantamweight champion Shinsuke Yamanaka and flyweight champion Toshiyuki Igarashi will both defend their titles in November, organizers said on Thursday. The bouts will be fought in Sendai on November 3 as a charity event for the disaster caused by a huge 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011. The tsunami killed thousands of people and crippled the cooling systems at the Fukushima nuclear plant, causing meltdowns in three of its reactors.
WBC silver bantamweight champion Tomoki Kameda (23-0, 15KOs) is looking to challenge his countryman Shinsuke Yamanaka (16-0, 11KOs), the full WBC champion, by early next year. Kameda captured the silver belt in April with a ten round stoppage of previously undefeated Jairo Hernandez. Yamanaka captured vacant belt with an eleven round stoppage of Christian Esquivel in November and won a twelve round decision over highly regarded Vic Darchinyan in April.
According to the management of Vic Darchinyan (37-5-1, 27KOs), a protest has been lodged with respect to the recent decision loss to WBC super bantamweight champion Shinsuke Yamanaka (16-0), which took place on April 6th in Tokyo, Japan. The scores were 117-111, 116-112 and 116-112 - all for Yamanaka. Darchinyan's team outlined their reasons for the protest iwith the below graph.
Unable to review the previously previewed Shinsuke Yamanaka-Vic Darchinyan battle, the grades aren’t in. If it shows up on YouTube this week, the grades will be added to next week’s post fight report cards.
Tokyo International Forum, Japan - WBC bantamweight champion Shinsuke Yamanaka wants the biggest fights possible, after pulling off a dominating unanimous decision victory over Vic Darchinyan. Darchinyan, a former undisputed super flyweight champion known as the "Raging Bull" due to his relentless wild charges and unorthodox crouching style, swung with massive haymakers, but most of them widely missed their marks.