Toshiaki Nishioka-Rendall Munroe: Post-Fight Report Card
By Cliff Rold
The scorecards might not have been far off, but they felt wrong. 119-109? Across the board? From this armchair viewpoint, Saturday’s challenger at 122 lbs., Rendall Munroe (21-2, 9 KO) could have had as many as three rounds but, ultimately, eleven might have been just as fair.
It was that good an effort.
It was also that clear a win for still-reigning WBC Jr. Featherweight titlist Toshiaki Nishioka (37-4-3, 23 KO), now five defenses into an improbable run. The man who could not become a Bantamweight titlist in four tries at the excellent Veraphol Sahprom has emerged, at age 34, as the best in the world one class higher. With title losses this year by Koki Kameda at Flyweight and Hozumi Hasegawa at Bantamweight, he also has a case as the standard bearer for a nation for the time being.
Let’s go the report card.
Grades
Pre-Fight: Speed – Nishioka B+; Munroe B/Post: Same
Pre-Fight: Power – Nishioka B; Munroe C/Post: B+; Same
Pre-Fight: Defense – Nishioka B; Munroe B/Post: Same
Pre-Fight: Intangibles – Nishioka B+; Munroe B+/Post: A for both
For a full recap of the action, see Alexey Sukachev’s post-fight report: https://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=32154
Having had the opportunity to catch the all-southpaw clash Sunday afternoon on YouTube, the most glaring difference in the fight was what wasn’t. If Munroe had any sort of serious pop, the fight might have gone differently.
He doesn’t and it didn’t. That didn’t mean the challenger failed to do everything he could. He landed some beautiful, flush lefts and went to the body well in spots. It was his bad fortune that Nishioka met him step for step and added just that much more.
Nishioka’s power was underrated going in, evident during the fight as he repeatedly hurt Munroe to the body. Too often power is thought of in the big chin check moment, but the ability to fold a man forward counts for a lot. That Nishioka rocked Munroe badly upstairs late in the fight as well was also noted.
The bulk of the fight saw Nishioka play the assertive champion, mixing up his jab speed to keep Munroe off balance and just whipping in lefts behind it. Nishioka never let up either. In rounds ten and twelve, he had Munroe reeling and let loose with two fisted flurries which begged for a knockout finish. Munroe just refused to be Nishioka’s fifth straight inside the route victim.
It was a fight that fell well short of classic status while also supplying plenty of profiles in courage. Nishioka was cut in the seventh and blew it off. Munroe was bleeding beneath and swollen all around the right eye in the final round and would not yield. He was not good enough this time to win a belt but the honorable display made him worth watching try again some day should the opportunity arise.
Looking Ahead
If opportunity does arise, it would probably be best for Munroe that it come against a beltholder other than the red hot Nishioka. There is no reason to regard Munroe, going forward, as anything less than a top ten Jr. Featherweight on the current scene. He’d be hell for IBF titlist Steve Molitor (33-1, 12 KO), WBA belted Ryol Li Lee (17-1-1, 8 KO), or WBO honored Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. (20-0-1, 17 KO). In a better world, we’d all realistically ask if those men would be hell on Nishioka but unification isn’t that common low on the scale.
What is common is organic rivalry and Nishioka could have a pick. Fernando Montiel (43-2-2, 33 KO) was the man who defeated Hasegawa, in Japan no less, and has made noise about a move to 122 to try for a fourth divisional title. Montiel has other business on tap first, but a 2011 showdown isn’t outside the realm of the possible.
And then there is Hasegawa (28-3, 12 KO). Rumored in the past to be struggling with the 118 lb. limit, Hasegawa is skipping right over 122 and making the leap to a shot at a vacant Featherweight belt. He’ll face heavy-handed Juan Carlos Burgos (25-0, 18 KO) in late November and, coming off the worst loss of his career, should have his hands full.
Hasegawa beating Burgos is still an if…but if he does, an all-Japan showdown with Nishioka would be a fantastic challenge for both men. For the extra element of drama, consider that Hasegawa was the man who ended the reign of Sahaprom and later stopped him in a rematch. Nishioka may never have a chance to add the faded Thai battler to his ledger, but the enemy of his enemy could do.
Author’s Note: In the pre-fight report card, an errant statement was made that Nishioka had fought outside Japan only once. The number is actually three and the mistake is noted with apologies.
Report Card Picks 2010: 24-12
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com