One of the final world title bouts of the year is an all-Japanese clash between WBA Super Featherweight champion Takashi Uchiyama (20-0-1, 17) and fellow Japanese fighter Daiki Kaneko (19-2-3, 12). The bout, to those outside of Japan, looks like a mismatch with Uchiyama being a clear favourite though from the view of many Japanese fans this is a truly outstanding match-up between the best in the world and one of the top contenders from around the world.
Whilst fans in the US and the Europe won't know much about Kaneko he's a genuinely credible fighter. He's currently on an excellent 16 fight unbeaten run which has seen him claim the Japanese national title and make several defenses of the belt. The 16 fight streak has seen Kaneko develop markedly and score 10 KO's taking his record from 6-2 (2) to 19-2-3 (12).
Aged 25 Kaneko is young, quickly maturing and a fighter who has really developed. He was once a light hitting teenager though now appears to he a heavy hitting man with solid straight shots and an ever improving technique.
Although Kaneko, despite significant improvements, will be the under-dog he will be a live one against Uchiyama, a man many feel is the premier Super Featherweight on the planet.
At his best Uchiyama is a destructive, strong and powerful fighter who control the distance of the fight well walking down his opponents well before unloading with either powerful single shots or devastating combinations. Although a huge puncher Uchiyama has shown an incredible patience in many of his fights, applying intelligent pressure with out forcing the issue too much.
Aged 34 Uchiyama is probably on the slide slightly whilst Kaneko is improving however though with his style being so intelligent Uchiyama has generally avoided wars. The one time he has been hurt was when he faced Takashi Miura and even though he was dropped hard there he recovered used his boxing and came back to stop Miura. Although not young he's probably fresher than most other 34 year old fighters and with his power it could be just a matter of time here.
From where I'm sat I favour Uchiyama to take a few rounds to see what Kaneko has, force the younger man to work hard and then find open opportunities before unloading on the young challenger who makes it into the second half of the fight but not too much further.
Prediction-Uchiyama TKO8
Showing posts with label Takashi Uchiyama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Takashi Uchiyama. Show all posts
Monday, 30 December 2013
Sunday, 5 May 2013
Takashi Uchiyama v Jaider Parra
The Super Featherweight division has been one of the weakest divisions in recent years though the one man who has managed to stand out in the division is Japanese hard hitter Takashi Uchiyama (19-0-1, 16), the current WBA champion.
Uchiyama claimed his title way back in January 2010 by stopping Juan Carlos Salgado and since then then has been the only really impressive fighter in the division with 6 title defenses including stoppage victories over Takashi Miura (the current WBC champion), Jorge Solis and Bryan Vasquez.
Despite being 33 years old the tank like Uchiyama has only fought 126 professional rounds, a little over 6 per bout as his destructive power has seen him repeatedly finishing opponents off inside the distance. In his 20 career bouts only Hero Bando has managed to see out the 12 round schedule.
Although not the fastest fighter in the division Uchiyama is very deliberate, defensively sound, more intelligent than he seems and has ridiculously quick recuperative powers. To date he has only been down once as a professional, dropped by Miura, but got immediately back to his feet and carried on despite being tagged by what appeared to be a fight ending shot.
Whilst Uchiyama is a slow starter he's a fighter who can defeat opponents both mentally by refusing to go away or physically by just battering them, or taking them out with one shot (as he did to Solis). This means he's always dangerous. Even if he can be out boxed early on he he only needs a single chance to land his destructive power.
For Uchiyama's 7th title defense he will be facing the relatively unknown Jaider Parra (20-0-1, 10), the younger brother of former world champion Lorenzo Parra.
Hailing from Venezuela Parra is a fighter than little is really known about. He's unbeaten and 30 years old having fought his entire career in Latin America, in fact all but 4 of his bouts have been fought in his native Venezuela.
From watching footage of Parra we do see a pretty decent technical boxer with nice movement and a good jab. Sadly though his lack of power and relative lack of activity in the ring can be a major issue and whilst his opponents so far haven't made him pay, they've also been of a much lower level than Uchiyama. In all honesty Parra's best opponents wouldn't even be favourites against Uchiyama's worst title defenses, Parramay be able to beat some of the weaker ones but Parra's opponents wouldn't.
Prediction-Uchiyama TKO8
Uchiyama claimed his title way back in January 2010 by stopping Juan Carlos Salgado and since then then has been the only really impressive fighter in the division with 6 title defenses including stoppage victories over Takashi Miura (the current WBC champion), Jorge Solis and Bryan Vasquez.
Despite being 33 years old the tank like Uchiyama has only fought 126 professional rounds, a little over 6 per bout as his destructive power has seen him repeatedly finishing opponents off inside the distance. In his 20 career bouts only Hero Bando has managed to see out the 12 round schedule.
Although not the fastest fighter in the division Uchiyama is very deliberate, defensively sound, more intelligent than he seems and has ridiculously quick recuperative powers. To date he has only been down once as a professional, dropped by Miura, but got immediately back to his feet and carried on despite being tagged by what appeared to be a fight ending shot.
Whilst Uchiyama is a slow starter he's a fighter who can defeat opponents both mentally by refusing to go away or physically by just battering them, or taking them out with one shot (as he did to Solis). This means he's always dangerous. Even if he can be out boxed early on he he only needs a single chance to land his destructive power.
For Uchiyama's 7th title defense he will be facing the relatively unknown Jaider Parra (20-0-1, 10), the younger brother of former world champion Lorenzo Parra.
Hailing from Venezuela Parra is a fighter than little is really known about. He's unbeaten and 30 years old having fought his entire career in Latin America, in fact all but 4 of his bouts have been fought in his native Venezuela.
From watching footage of Parra we do see a pretty decent technical boxer with nice movement and a good jab. Sadly though his lack of power and relative lack of activity in the ring can be a major issue and whilst his opponents so far haven't made him pay, they've also been of a much lower level than Uchiyama. In all honesty Parra's best opponents wouldn't even be favourites against Uchiyama's worst title defenses, Parramay be able to beat some of the weaker ones but Parra's opponents wouldn't.
Prediction-Uchiyama TKO8
Sunday, 30 December 2012
Takashi Uchiyama v Bryan Vasquez
In the western world boxing seems to
take a break over the Christmas and New Year period however in Japan
New Year is a whole different ball game with an amazing 5 world title
fights all on the New Years Eve. For me personally the stand out of
those fights is the WBA Featherweight bout between regular champion
Takashi Uchiyama (18-0-1, 15) and former interim champion Bryan
Vasquez (29-0, 15).
Of the two fighters it's the Japanese champion who is much higher regarded than the challenger with some regarding him as one of the hardest punchers pound-for-pound in the sport. Although aged 33 Uchiyama is actually a very young 33 with just 118 rounds under his belt (around 6 rounds a fight) thanks to his fearsome power which has seen him move in to the top spot at 130lbs.
Whilst not well known in the west Uchiyama has a very respectable record with victories over proven world class fighters such as Juan Carlos Salgado and Jorge Solis as well as solid rivals like Takashi Miura and Roy Mukhlis. Though maybe the most telling thing on his record in regards to his up coming fight is the 3rd round technical draw he suffered last time out at the hands of tough Filipino Michael Farenas, who recently gave Yuriorkis Gamboa a tougher than expected bout. That bout saw a clash of heads opening up a nasty cut around Uchiyama's eye that may not have fully healed.
As well as being hard hitting Uchiyama is also very fun to watch. He's not the slickest and he can be drawn in to a tear up, however with his power he always has the ability to end the fight at any moment, a trait that everyone at 130lbs needs to be fully aware of.
Whilst we know enough about Uchiyama to make an opinion that he's a top guy at the weight, we really don't know a lot about Costa Rican Bryan Vasquez who despite his long unbeaten record really hasn't faced anyone of note. In fact the best victory on the record of the 25 year old challenger came last time out against Jorge Lacierva who had previously challenger for silverware way down at 115lbs.
Despite not being really known about, Vasquez has actually looked like a “decent” fighter with good all round skills and respectable speed, though his lack of power is a trait that does stand out as being a key weakness. Although his record is littered with opening round wins (7) they have come at a very low level with no noteworthy stoppages other than the one against Lacierva (who interestingly had only been stopped once in his previous 55 bouts). This will be a real problem again Uchiyama who will try to establish his type of fight and try to land his booming shots.
For me the class and power difference as well as home field advantage should be far more than enough to see a clear winner. I imagine Vasquez will be game but out classed in the early rounds before fading in the second half and getting stopping by Uchiyama's very hurtful power.
Prediction-Uchiyama TKO8
Of the two fighters it's the Japanese champion who is much higher regarded than the challenger with some regarding him as one of the hardest punchers pound-for-pound in the sport. Although aged 33 Uchiyama is actually a very young 33 with just 118 rounds under his belt (around 6 rounds a fight) thanks to his fearsome power which has seen him move in to the top spot at 130lbs.
Whilst not well known in the west Uchiyama has a very respectable record with victories over proven world class fighters such as Juan Carlos Salgado and Jorge Solis as well as solid rivals like Takashi Miura and Roy Mukhlis. Though maybe the most telling thing on his record in regards to his up coming fight is the 3rd round technical draw he suffered last time out at the hands of tough Filipino Michael Farenas, who recently gave Yuriorkis Gamboa a tougher than expected bout. That bout saw a clash of heads opening up a nasty cut around Uchiyama's eye that may not have fully healed.
As well as being hard hitting Uchiyama is also very fun to watch. He's not the slickest and he can be drawn in to a tear up, however with his power he always has the ability to end the fight at any moment, a trait that everyone at 130lbs needs to be fully aware of.
Whilst we know enough about Uchiyama to make an opinion that he's a top guy at the weight, we really don't know a lot about Costa Rican Bryan Vasquez who despite his long unbeaten record really hasn't faced anyone of note. In fact the best victory on the record of the 25 year old challenger came last time out against Jorge Lacierva who had previously challenger for silverware way down at 115lbs.
Despite not being really known about, Vasquez has actually looked like a “decent” fighter with good all round skills and respectable speed, though his lack of power is a trait that does stand out as being a key weakness. Although his record is littered with opening round wins (7) they have come at a very low level with no noteworthy stoppages other than the one against Lacierva (who interestingly had only been stopped once in his previous 55 bouts). This will be a real problem again Uchiyama who will try to establish his type of fight and try to land his booming shots.
For me the class and power difference as well as home field advantage should be far more than enough to see a clear winner. I imagine Vasquez will be game but out classed in the early rounds before fading in the second half and getting stopping by Uchiyama's very hurtful power.
Prediction-Uchiyama TKO8
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