Kosei Tanaka vs. Sho Kimura: The 1st Birthday of a Classic
We at The Fight Site are proud to announce that one of the best boxing websites and accounts on the web Asian Boxing will be joining forces with us!
Not only will Scott provide us with round-ups of all the goings on in the Oriental boxing scene, we will also feature his work from his own site right here (and you can find his site right here).
The Fight Site felt there was no better way to introduce this exciting new addition to our already stacked roster of writers by including Scott’s review of the all-time classic flyweight title bout from 2018 between defending champ Sho Kimura and the phenom Kosei Tanaka.
One last note from us: this was boxing editor Kyle McLachlan’s fight of the year for 2018. He encourages all fight fans (regardless of the combat sport you Stan for) to check out this fight: an absorbing, technical and most importantly violent scrap between two tiny guys that don’t look at all small once you see them trading leather.
Without further ado, let’s hear from Asian Boxing
One year ago we were lucky enough to work with CBC for the first time. We agreed terms to carry the official stream of their international broadcast for the WBO Flyweight world title bout between Sho Kimura (17-1-2, 10 at the time) and Kosei Tanaka (11-0, 7 at the time).
Entering the bout Kimura was looking to make his third defense of the title, building on not only his title win against Zou Shiming but also wins against Toshiyuki Igarashi and Froilan Saludar. He was looking to continue his remarkable ascent from obscurity to star and build on real momentum that had been generated by his 3 wins at world level.
Tanaka on the other hand was looking to etch his place in history and match the record for fewest fights needed to become a 3 weight world champion, a record of 12 fights set just months early by Vasyl Lomachenko. He was looking to become a 3 weight champion at the age of just 23 and less than 5 years after making his debut.
We had high hopes for the bout. Kimura had been wonderfully impressive in recent bouts, not just his world level wins but also his win against Masahiro Sakamoto. He had shown real grit and determination,a great work rate, under-rated power and amazing energy. In fact he seemed to get stronger the longer fights went on. Tanaka on the other hand was an extremely skilled boxer, who got dragged into fights willingly, he had a reputation for getting into wars and had been dropped dropped twice just 2 fights previous by Palangpol CP Freshmart. Despite being skilled their was a sense of vulnerability about Tanaka that could have been his down fall here.
What we ended up getting was something exceeded expectations. It wasn't just a great fight, instead it was a bout that was widely hailed FOTY contender. A back and forth war that left fans on their seat, they styles of the two men gelling, the mentality of the two battling at the top. The fight was the sort of battle that makes people realise just how good fights with the little men can be.