Jerusalem vs. Landero

The official Tapology discussion thread for the event!

Flores vs. Saludar
Judy Flores, TKO, R1
Gotta be tough to be a man named Judy

Just a quick question and I hope this doesn't come across as insensitive in any way as I'm asking in earnest but why do Asian countries such as the Philippines and Japan produce so many good boxers in the lighter weight classes? Are they naturally smaller people or do they just take the lighter weight classes more seriously over there compared to western society? It's just something I've noticed and I was just wondering if there was any legit reason for it as it seems a bit disproportionate.

@Stephen Terry

It's a little bit of both.

Actually, the Oriental fighters are much smaller in stature and there isn't much of a market for smaller weight classes in the west and I hear that it is easier to score bigger fighters because they are faster and throw more punches. The west tends to concentrate more on the lightweights and up. Salute my friend. 👍👍👍

@tepid55
@ern7777

Thanks for the answers guys!

They may be little but they are some of my favourite fighters to watch!
Chocolatito, Inoue, Ioka are amazing and all in my personal top 10 P4P.
Rungvisai from Thailand is a destroyer at 115lbs as is Julio Cesar Martinez at 112lbs!
Young Shigeoka, who blasted another undefeated boxer yesterday is quickly rising up the ranks. 
There's a Dominican Erik Mini Pacman fighting in Dominican Republic next Wednesday worth watching 

If you love boxing, if you want technique, speed and lots of punches then you have to pay attention to the lighter weights 

I know that wasn't really related to your question but I wanted to take the chance to big up the little warriors!!! 

@Mikey1903

All info is welcome as I'm trying to make more of an effort about learning about the lighter weight classes (specifically the ones below 130lbs) as that is definitely the weakest aspect of my boxing knowledge. I know about the big names of those divisions like Roman Gonzalez and Naoya Inoue but I don't know as much about those divisions compared to the more "glamourous" divisions like Heavyweight, Super Middleweight ect.

Plus, I only weigh 112lbs myself so it would be nice to learn more about fighters I could relate to a little more!

* Edited at 07.15.2021, 7:30 PM ET *

I mean I could easily help you with that. I could give you a list of names if you want to check them out. 
I'm always happy to pass on some of this boxing info I have overloaded my brain with!!! 

@Mikey1903

Yeah, that would be greatly appreciated, I'll add the names to my watchlist on BoxRec!

Right OK then!!  So good /great boxers under Featherweight. I'll give you a mix of prospects and under the radar, lesser known Champions.
You know I love my Japanese boxing and there is plenty talent there. 
2 young brothers Ginjiro and Yudai Shigeoka are excellent only 5'0, less than 5 fights each, lots of power and will, IMO, be World Champions in a year or so. Ginjiro just fought yesterday, KO'd an undefeated Japanese Youth Champion inside 2rds.
Rentaro Kimura is another top top prospect. Suburu Murata too, just fought on the Lomachenko card on ESPN. 
The most underrated Champion in the world for me is 4 weight World Champion Kazuto Ioka, currently WBO Super Flyweight Champion. 
Everyone raves about Inoue, rightly so, but Ioka is just as great.
Another young Japanese World Champion is Junto Nakatani, WBO World Flyweight Champion, he is rangy, slick and can put people away. 
I'm hoping for a Flyweight unification between Nakatani and WBC World Flyweight Champion Julio Cesar El Rey Martinez. This wee Mexican is a smashing machine!!! Nearly all his recent fights are available on YouTube. Check em out!
2 Scottish Bantamweights I think are going places are European Champ Lee McGregor and Matchroom fight Kash Farooq.  They actually fought each other for the British title in 2019. It was an amazing fight, sure that's on YouTube too. Watch it!!! Amazing!!!
An exciting US Flyweight on the verge of breaking into Title contention is Jessie Bam Rodriguez!!! He's been fighting on Top Rank cards for the last few years and has left a trail of bodies!!!! Also Ricardo Sandoval who just came over to the UK and wrecked Jay Harris with a body Shot is on the verge of Titles, tho I prefer Bam Rodriguez. Those 2 could develop a rivalry in years to come.
Another Mexican Light Flyweight BANGER is Elwin Soto, he's the WBO World Champion and there's rumours of some great unifications between him Nicaragua IBF Champ Felix Alvarado and Japan WBA Hyoto Kyoguchi because all 3 are with DAZN and Matchroom. Kyoguchi is more slick, still can punch. But Soto vs Alvarado would be a violent collision!!! All hooks and no back steps!!!! 

There's a young 3-0 Dominican called Erik Mini Pacman Rosa who fights thi Wednesday. He's got a bit of hype about him. The card is on Tapology and it's being shown  live on YouTube so I'll add the link to the thread. 

I could go on for a lot longer but I'll leave it there for now !!!. But, like I said, don't be shy in asking me anything if you want any recommendations bud

@Mikey1903

WOW, thanks mate! That's a long list of names to keep me going for a while! I'd heard of Kazuto Ioka but only in the "I don't know anything about him but that name rings a bell so @Mikey1903 must've mentioned him before" sense. It seems nuts that someone can be a 4 weight world champion and still remain largely unknown! Thanks for the info, I really appreciate the effort you put into that!

No worries mate. I need to get all this stuff out somewhere!! 
Yeah Ioka is really good. He's actually no. 10 P4P on the Ring Magazine list so he gets some credit. But not enough IMO!His last fight was shown on BT Sport at the big Japanese New Year show(they do that every new years MMA & Boxing) ioka vs Kosei Tanaka was an excellent, excellent fight!
Tanaka was a young, undefeated 3 weight World Champion and primed to become the fastest 4 weight World Champion ever and Japan's next superstar. But Ioka put on a masterclass. He found a weakness and despite a great effort from Tanaka, he's a superb offensive fighter, Ioka put him out.
If you want to appreciate Ioka and high class light weight boxing I'd recommend watching that fight. Along with the Estrada Chocolatito 2 fight. 2 of the very best fights of the last few years. 
Anyway, like I said any info, recommendation on prospects, fights old and new I'm happy to share.  Tho I am sometimes gonna keep my sneaky underdog picks to myself!!! Haha 

@Mikey1903

I'll definitely check out the Ioka VS Tanaka fight, it sounds awesome! Thanks again mate, you're a ******* human encyclopedia of boxing!

Haha! Yeah, I've always been like this. Used to be Football when I was a kid. Used to write out pages of football scores, squads, transfers etc. I could tell you Lazios right back and Boca Juniors right winger in no time.
It's just stuck with me, I like statistics, records lists, etc.
That's why I liked this site so much, spend hours going down MMA record rabbit holes!!
Since doing all the boxing my boxing knowledge has definitely expanded. 
So much information bouncing about this head of mine!!! Ha 

@Mikey1903

Me on the other hand, if you introduce yourself to me and we have a short conversation where your name doesn't come up then there is a 100% chance that I'll forget your name by the end of it!

Haha!