Kazuto Ioka Sensationally Crushes Kosei Tanaka in Japanese Superfight

Published

4 years ago

December 31, 2020

Kazuto-Ioka-Sensationally-Crushes-Kosei-Tanaka-in-Japanese-Superfight

In what proved to be a very happy new year for fight fans, Kazuto Ioka scored a sensational eighth round knockout of wonderkid Kosei Tanaka in what stands as a wonderful advertisement for seasoning, for experience, for cooler heads.

The Japanese superfight saw Tanaka, ranked the number one flyweight contender in the world, stepping up to attack the 115lb division in the shape of Ioka, ranked number four in what remains one of the most stacked divisions in the sport.

The younger, more explosive, quicker Tanaka was the favourite and the first round revealed why. Tanaka’s superb, gliding footwork kept him in range, where he most wants to be, betting on himself to win exchanges against an older, slower fighter. Ioka found himself blasted with a straight right-hand in the very first seconds, dis-heartening in that this was the punch he himself was supposed to utilise to keep Tanaka honest. Pushed around the ring with jabs, he also found himself the target of a florid offence, Tanaka treating him with real contempt, throwing expansive combinations with the expectation of landing them. Ioka absorbed this information and landed some jabs of his own to close out the round, a warning that went unheeded by young Tanaka.

So he was punished; Ioka took advantage of punches that were over-extended tactically if not technically to win the second round. The two swapped jabs early, Tanaka’s apparently the more hurtful, but with thirty-five seconds remaining in the round, Ioka sounded his first warning shot, a booming right hand that evened the contest on the cards and gave the younger man something to think about.

Adaptions in boxing warm my heart. They speak of intelligence in the ring, of cornermen who know their job and are paying attention, of fighters of exponential potential. Tanaka showed a thrilling adaption in the third, tightening up and going to the body as Ioka unexpectedly gave ground. It was a misstep from the more experienced man who allowed Tanaka to generate painful momentum. Ioka, however, has been there and done it. He offered his own adaption in the fourth, moving Tanaka about the ring with his own punches, standing his ground and forcing Tanaka to visit him in the pocket. The result was success with punches that felt, perhaps, that they should not have been landing. Hooks, especially, seemed to trouble Tanaka, still betting on himself to win hurtful exchanges but now running neck and neck.

It was a close round then, but Ioka edged it for me and in edging it he took a split of the first third of the fight and made clear that he would not be bulldozed by Tanaka, and therefore by nobody. The absolute clarity with which he approached the fifth underlined this. Having measured Tanaka’s much vaunted guns and found them wanting, Ioka fought the round with, if not quite contempt, then with no fear. Well-positioned and making small moves to take away Tanaka’s circling footwork, Ioka engaged with Tanaka as per his wishes and they exchanged hard punches through the first two minutes. His left eye closing but bright, Ioka endured the flurry Tanaka landed on forty-five seconds and then dropped him neatly with a counter left that left his opponent on his haunches, hurt and suddenly uncertain, in the apex of a disaster that had unexpectedly visited him.

Ioka looked absolute in charge in the sixth, economical, careful, unhurried. Here is the value of experience, the warning to all the wonderkids that stalk boxing, the terrifying visage of the man who knows more than you and uses it to hurt you. Tuning in now you would not know that Ioka had dropped Tanaka in the fifth but rather would assume that the master was dishing out a lesson in boxing control to the younger man, who might be expected to come on late. Using Tanaka’s enthusiasm, desperation, against him, he scored consistently and with technical surety, brushing past Tanaka’s second minute success and allowing him to rush himself onto what now seems an inevitable second knockdown.

But it was not inevitable.

Instead, it was bought by careful deconstruction of Tanaka’s style in a manner that absolved Ioka for his pre- (and post-!) fight claims to inherent superiority over his foe. The second knockdown, a near replay of the first, seemed to seal the fight. Tanaka, hurting, was in need now of a knockout to win, and Ioka looked more poised and more controlled than at any time in the fight.

Remember those punches Ioka was landing in the fourth that I said seemed as though they shouldn’t be? Ioka never stopped landing such punches from that moment on, and in the fifth and sixth those same punches took the fight. In the seventh, Ioka began to open up, felt something he didn’t like, returned to careful boxing. What he didn’t like was the bodyshots and momentum both of which were generated, or rather allowed, by Ioka’s aggression. This was the final adaption and one that Tanaka would never be capable of. Ioka recognises an over-step in his own offence and so reigns it in. As a result, he won a close, arguable round and goes again in the eighth.

And it was in the eighth that what he had worked for all this year came to fruition. The right hand, the punch he was expected to use from go, was finally uncorked in earnest and the result was a referee holding up a sagging Tanaka while waving the contest off. It happened so fast it seemed momentarily unreal, perhaps even premature, but Tanaka did not protest the stoppage and in fact nodded to the referee, patted him on the back. Replays revealed a fighter momentarily boneless. Dazed but unbowed, Tanaka recovered enough to congratulate his masterful opponent and the two hugged it out in the corner.

Ioka said what he was going to do, did it, then spent some time on the microphone pointing out that he had done it; what he does next is up to him, he can write his own 115lb story, his 2018 split loss to Donnie Nietes a distant memory. The winner of the mouth-watering rematch between Roman Gonzalez and champion Juan Francisco Estrada would seem most natural, but there is Thai tough Srisaket Sor Rungvisai to consider, beltholder Jerwin Ancajas, a host of other lesser lights that would make for fascinating contests.

But perhaps most interesting of all for the ageing Ioka is fellow Japanese Naoya Inoue. Tanaka-Ioka was perhaps the first all-Japanese superfight to be thoroughly embraced by the western boxing fan, appealing beyond the hardcore fans I normally see amped up for the traditional New Year contest. Ioka-Naoya is next level and there are stylistic reasons to think Ioka may cause Naoya serious problems. It is a high-risk fight against a bigger man though, and while he has stylistic chances, they call for him to take serious stylistic risks – to allow The Monster to bloom and then try to punish him. Naoya is not Tanaka. The fight could be a thrill-ride, a clinic, or a decimation but what can be said with certainty is that it would be the biggest Japanese fight in history.

It is a nice problem for Ioka to have. Yesterday he was the betting underdog. Today, he is the second -most exalted fighter of Japan, as fight-wild a nation as rest upon the earth.

For Tanaka, a rebuild is required, but a minor one. He remains the number one flyweight on that same earth, and a match with veteran Moruti Mthalane is one of several contests available to him at 112lbs that fascinate. Both men are in for a must-watch 2021.

Photo credit: Getty Images via DAZN

Check out more boxing news on video at the Boxing Channel

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!

Matt McGrain

Up Next

How I Became a Boxing Writer

Don't Miss

For Whom The Bell Tolled: 2020 Boxing Obituaries PART TWO

Hall of Fame Boxing Writer Michael Katz (1939-2025) Could Wield His Pen like a Stiletto

Published

2 hours ago

January 30, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Hall-of-Fame-Boxing-Writer-Michael-Katz-Could-Wield-his-Pen-like-a-Stiletto

One of the last of the breed – a full-time boxing writer for the print edition of a major metropolitan daily – left us this week. Hall of Fame boxing writer Michael Katz was 85 when he drew his last breath at an assisted living facility in Brooklyn on Monday, Jan. 27.

Born in the Bronx, Katz earned his spurs writing for the school newspaper “The Campus” at the City College of New York. He was living in Paris and working for the international edition of the New York Times when he covered his first fight, the 15-round contest between Floyd Patterson and Jimmy Ellis at Stockholm in 1968. He eventually became the Times boxing writer, serving in that capacity for almost nine years before bolting for the New York Daily News in 1985 where he was reunited with the late Vic Ziegel, his former CCNY classmate and cohort at the campus newspaper.

From a legacy standpoint, leaving America’s “paper of record” for a tabloid would seem to be a step down. Before the digital age, the Times was one of only a handful of papers that could be found on microfilm in every college library. Tabloids like the Daily News were evanescent. Yesterday’s paper, said the cynics, was only good for wrapping fish.

But at the Daily News, Michael Katz was less fettered, less of a straight reporter and more of a columnist, freer to air his opinions which tended toward the snarky. Regarding the promoter Don King, Katz wrote, “On the way to the gallows, Don King would try to pick the pocket of the executioner.”

With his metaphoric inkwell steeped in bile, Katz made many enemies. “Bob Arum would sell tickets to a Joey Buttafuoco lecture on morals and be convinced it was for a noble cause,” wrote Katz in 1993. Arum had had enough when Katz took him to task for promoting a fight on the night of Yom Kippur and sued Katz for libel.

“It was out of my hands, HBO picked the date,” said Arum of the 1997 bout between Buster Douglas and John Ruiz that never did come off after Douglas suffered a hand injury in training. (Arum would subsequently drop the suit, saying it wasn’t worth the hassle.)

At press luncheons in Las Vegas, the PR people always made certain to seat Katz with his pals Ed Schuyler, the Associated Press boxing writer, and Pat Putnam, the Sports Illustrated guy. They reveled in each other’s company. But Katz also made enemies with some of his peers on press row, in some cases fracturing longstanding friendships.

“I like Hauser,” wrote Katz in a review of Thomas Hauser’s award-winning biography of Muhammad Ali, “and was afraid that after Tom put in those thousands of hours with Ali, somehow the book couldn’t be as good as I wanted. With relief, I can report it’s better than I had hoped.”

The two later had a falling-out.

Katz’s most celebrated run-in with a colleague happened in June of 2004 when he scuffled with Boston Globe boxing writer Ron Borges in the media room at the MGM Grand during the pre-fight press conference for the fight between Oscar De La Hoya and Felix Sturm. During the fracas, Katz, Borges, Arum, and Arum’s publicist Lee Samuels toppled to the floor. The cantankerous Katz, who initiated the fracas by attacking Borges verbally, then wore a neck brace and carried a cane.

“I had my ups and downs with him,” wrote Borges on social media upon learning of Katz’s death, “but we traveled the world together for nearly 50 years and I long admired his talent, his willingness to stand up for fighters and to call out the b.s. of boxing and its promoters and broadcast entities who worked diligently to try and destroy a noble sport.”

A little-known fact about Michael Katz is that he played a role in getting one of the best boxing books, George Kimball’s vaunted “Four Kings,” to its publishing house. Kimball, who passed away in 2011, an esophageal cancer victim at age 67, was hospitalized and too ill to finish the proofing and editing of the manuscript and enlisted the aid of Katz and an old friend from Boston, Tom Frail, an editor at the Smithsonian magazine, to complete the finishing touches. “If there are any mistakes in the book,” wisecracked Kimball, “blame them.”

Katz was one of the first sportswriters to hop on the internet bandwagon, moving his tack to HouseofBoxing.com which became MaxBoxing.com. That didn’t work out so well for him. Some of his last published pieces ran in the Memphis Commercial Appeal and in the Las Vegas weekly Gaming Today.

A widower for much of his adult life, Katz was predeceased by his only child, his beloved daughter Moorea, a cancer sufferer who passed away in 2021. Her death took all the spirit out of him, noted matchmaker and freelance boxing writer Eric Bottjer in a moving tribute.

During a moment in Atlantic City, Bottjer had been privy to a different side of the irascible curmudgeon, “a beautiful soul when open and vulnerable.” The best way to honor Katz’s memory, he writes, is to reach out to a long lost friend. Pass it on.

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!

Boxing Odds and Ends: Ernesto Mercado, Marcel Cerdan and More

Published

2 days ago

January 28, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Boxing-Odds-and-Ends-Ernesto-Mercado-Marcel-Cerdan-and-More

The TSS Fighter of the Month for January is super lightweight Ernesto “Tito” Mercado who scored his sixth straight knockout, advancing his record to 17-0 (16 KOs) with a fourth-round stoppage of Jose Pedraza on the undercard of Diego Pacheco vs. Steven Nelson at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas.

Mercado was expected to win. At age 35, Pedraza’s best days were behind him. But the Puerto Rican “Sniper” wasn’t chopped liver. A 2008 Beijing Olympian, he was a former two-division title-holder. In a previous fight in Las Vegas, in June of 2021, Pedraza proved too savvy for Julian Rodriguez (currently 23-1) whose corner pulled him out after eight rounds. So, although Mercado knew that he was the “A-side,” he also knew, presumably, that it was important to bring his “A” game.

Mercado edged each of the first three frames in what was shaping up as a tactical fight. In round four, he followed a short left hand with an overhand right that landed flush on Pedraza’s temple. “It was a discombobulating punch,” said one of DAZN’s talking heads. Indeed, the way that Pedraza fell was awkward. “[He] crushed colorfully backward and struck the back of his head on the canvas before rising on badly wobbled legs,” wrote ringside reporter Lance Pugmire.

He beat the count, but referee Robert Hoyle wisely waived it off.

Now 23 years old, Ernesto “Tito” Mercado was reportedly 58-5 as an amateur. At the December 2019 U.S. Olympic Trials in Lake Charles, Louisiana, he advanced to the finals in the lightweight division but then took sick and was medically disqualified from competing in the championship round. His opponent, Keyshawn Davis, won in a walkover and went on to win a silver medal at the Tokyo Games.

As a pro, only one of Mercado’s opponents, South African campaigner Xolisani Ndongeni, heard the final bell. Mercado won nine of the 10 rounds. The stubborn Ndongeni had previously gone 10 rounds with Devin Haney and would subsequently go 10 rounds with Raymond Muratalla.

The Ndongeni fight, in July of 2023, was staged in Nicaragua, the homeland of Mercado’s parents. Tito was born in Upland in Southern California’s Inland Empire and currently resides in Pomona.

Pomona has spawned two world champions, the late Richie Sandoval and Sugar Shane Mosley. Mercado is well on his way to becoming the third.

Marcel Cerdan Jr

Born in Casablanca, Marcel Cerdan Jr was four years old when his dad ripped the world middleweight title from Tony Zale. A good fighter in his own right, albeit nowhere near the level of his ill-fated father, the younger Cerdan passed away last week at age 81.

Fighting mostly as a welterweight, Cerdan Jr scored 56 wins in 64 professional bouts against carefully selected opponents. He came up short in his lone appearance in a U.S. ring where he was matched tough against Canadian champion Donato Paduano, losing a 10-round decision on May 11, 1970 at Madison Square Garden. This was a hard, bloody fight in which both men suffered cuts from accidental head butts.

Cerdan Jr and Paduano both trained for the match at the Concord Hotel in the Catskills. In the U.S. papers, Cerdan Jr’s record was listed as 47-0-1. The record conveniently omitted the loss that he had suffered in his third pro bout.

Eight years after his final fight, Cerdan Jr acquired his highest measure of fame for his role in the movie Edith et Marcel. He portrayed his father who famously died at age 33 in a plane crash in the Azores as he was returning to the United States for a rematch with Jake LaMotta who had taken away his title.

Edith et Marcel, directed by Claude Lelouch, focused on the love affair between Cerdan and his mistress Edith Piaf, the former street performer turned cabaret star who remains today the most revered of all the French song stylists.

Released in 1983, twenty years after the troubled Piaf passed away at age 47, the film, which opened to the greatest advertising blitz in French cinematic history, caused a sensation in France, spawning five new books and hundreds of magazine and newspaper articles. Cerdan Jr’s performance was “surprisingly proficient” said the Associated Press about the ex-boxer making his big screen debut.

The French language film occasionally turns up on Turner Classic Movies. Although it got mixed reviews, the film is a feast for the ears for fans of Edith Piaf. The musical score is comprised of Piaf’s original songs in her distinctive voice.

Marcel Cerdan Jr’s death was attributed to pneumonia complicated by Alzheimer’s. May he rest in peace.

Claressa Shields

Speaking of movies, the Claressa Shields biopic, The Fire Inside, released on Christmas day, garnered favorable reviews from some of America’s most respected film critics with Esquire’s Max Cea calling it the year’s best biopic. First-time director Rachel Morrison, screenwriter Barry Jenkins, and Ryan Destiny, who portrays Claressa, were singled out for their excellent work.

The movie highlights Shields’ preparation for the 2012 London Olympics and concludes with her training for the Rio Games where, as we know, she would win a second gold medal. In some respects, the movie is reminiscent of The Fighter, the 2010 film starring Mark Wahlberg as Irish Micky Ward where the filmmakers managed to manufacture a great movie without touching on Ward’s famous trilogy with Arturo Gatti.

The view from here is that screenwriter Jenkins was smart to end the movie where he did. In boxing, and especially in women’s boxing, titles are tossed around like confetti. Had Jenkins delved into Claressa’s pro career, a very sensitive, nuanced biopic, could have easily devolved into something hokey. And that’s certainly no knock on Claressa Shields. The self-described GWOAT, she is dedicated to her craft and a very special talent.

Shields hopes that the buzz from the movie will translate into a full house for her homecoming fight this coming Sunday, Feb. 2, at the Dort Financial Center in Flint, Michigan. A bevy of heavyweight-division straps will be at stake when Shields, who turns 30 in March, takes on 42-year-old Brooklynite Danielle Perkins.

At bookmaking establishments, Claressa is as high as a 25/1 favorite. That informs us that the oddsmakers believe that Perkins is marginally better than Claressa’s last opponent, Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse. That’s damning Perkins with faint praise.

Shields vs. Perkins plus selected undercard bouts will air worldwide on DAZN at 8 pm ET / 5 pm PT.

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!

Ringside at the Cosmo: Pacheco Outpoints Nelson plus Undercard Results

Published

5 days ago

January 25, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Ringside at the Cosmo: Pacheco Outpoints Nelson plus Undercard Results

LAS VEGAS, NV – Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Promotions was at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas tonight for the second half of a DAZN doubleheader that began in Nottingham, England. In the main event, Diego Pacheco, ranked #1 by the WBO at super middleweight, continued his ascent toward a world title with a unanimous decision over Steven Nelson.

Pacheco glides round the ring smoothly whereas Nelson wastes a lot energy with something of a herky-jerky style. However, although Nelson figured to slow down as the fight progressed, he did some of his best work in rounds 11 and 12. Fighting with a cut over his left eye from round four, a cut that periodically reopened, the gritty Nelson fulfilled his promise that he would a fight as if he had everything to lose if he failed to win, but it just wasn’t enough, even after his Omaha homie Terence “Bud” Crawford entered his corner before the last round to give him a pep talk (back home in North Omaha, Nelson runs the B&B (Bud and Bomac) Sports Academy.

All three judges had it 117-111 for Pacheco who mostly fought off his back foot but landed the cleaner punches throughout. A stablemate of David Benavidez and trained by David’s father Jose Benevidez Sr, Pacheco improved to 23-0 (18). It was the first pro loss for the 36-year-old Nelson (20-1).

Semi wind-up

Olympic gold medalist Andy Cruz, who as a pro has never fought a match slated for fewer than 10 rounds, had too much class for Hermosillo, Mexico’s rugged Omar Salcido who returned to his corner with a puffy face after the fourth stanza, but won the next round and never stopped trying. The outcome was inevitable even before the final round when Salcido barely made it to the final gun, but the Mexican was far more competitive than many expected.

The Cuban, who was 4-0 vs. Keyshawn Davis in closely-contested bouts as an amateur, advanced his pro record to 5-0 (2), winning by scores by 99-91 and 98-92 twice. Salido, coming off his career-best win, a 9^th-round stoppage of former WBA super featherweight title-holder Chris Colbert, falls to 20-2.

Other TV bouts

Ernesto “Tito” Mercado, a 23-year-old super lightweight, aims to become the next world champion from Pomona, California, following in the footsteps of the late Richie Sandoval and Sugar Shane Mosely, and based on his showing tonight against former Beijing Olympian and former two-division title-holder Jose Pedraza, he is well on his way.

After three rounds after what had been a technical fight, Mercado (17-0, 16 KOs) knocked Pedraza off his pins with a short left hand followed by an overhand right. Pedraza bounced back and fell on his backside. When he arose on unsteady legs, the bout was waived off. The official time was 2:08 of round four and the fading, 35-year-old Pedraza (29-7-1) was saddled with his third loss in his last four outings.

The 8-round super lightweight clash between Israel Mercado (the 29-year-old uncle of “Tito”) and Leonardo Rubalcava was a fan-friendly skirmish with many robust exchanges. When the smoke cleared, the verdict was a majority draw. Mercado got the nod on one card (76-74), but was overruled by a pair of 75-75 scores.

Mercado came out strong in the opening round, but suffered a flash knockdown before the round ended. The referee ruled it a slip but was overruled by replay operator Jay Nady and what would have been a 10-9 round for Mercado became a 10-8 round for Rubalcava. Mercado lost another point in round seven when he was penalized for low blows.

The scores were 76-74 for Mercado (11-1-2) and 75-75 twice. The verdict was mildly unpopular with most thinking that Mercado deserved the nod. Reportedly a four-time Mexican amateur champion, Rubalcava (9-0-1) is trained by Robert Garcia.

Also

New Matchroom signee Nishant Dev, a 24-year-old southpaw from India, had an auspicious pro debut (pardon the cliché). Before a beaming Eddie Hearn, Dev stopped Oakland’s Alton Wiggins (1-1-1) in the opening round. The referee waived it off after the second knockdown.

Boxers from India have made large gains at the amateur level in recent years and Matchroom honcho Eddie Hearn anticipates that Dev, a Paris Olympian, will be the first fighter from India to make his mark as a pro.

Undefeated Brooklyn lightweight Harley Mederos, managed by the influential Keith Connolly, scored his seventh knockout in eight tries with a brutal third-round KO of Mexico’s Arturo de Isla.

A left-right combination knocked de Isla (5-3-1) flat on his back. Referee Raul Caiz did not bother to count and several minutes elapsed before the stricken fighter was fit to leave the ring. The official time was 1:27 of round three.

In the opener, Newark junior lightweight Zaquin Moses, a cousin of Shakur Stevenson, improved to 2-0 when his opponent retired on his stool after the opening round.

Photo credit: Melina Pizano / Matchroom

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!