Srisaket Sor Rungvisai v Hirofumi Mukai

Srisaket Sor Rungvisia (23-3-1, 21), who made such a statement earlier this year when he destroyed Yota Sato, successfully made the first defense of his WBC Super Flyweight title as he defeated another Japanese fighter, this time Hirofumi Mukai (9-3-1, 1).

Unfortunately for Mukai he proved, like many Japanese fighters, that he was simply too tough for his own good.

The first round saw Mukai starting well for the first 20 seconds or so before Srisaket imposed himself on the fight and forced the Japanese fighter to think twice about opening up. For Mukai it was unfortunate that he wasn't just up against one of the most fierce fighters in the sport but also the crowd who cheered every punch Srisaket landed.

If the first round was bad for Mukai the second was worse with the Japanese fighter being dropped in the opening seconds. Although he got up and continued it wasn't a round he managed to even get a foot hold in as Srisaket pounded him with both hands. The end looked imminent as Srisaket entered "beat mode" and went on the war path.

Surprisingly Mukai managed to navigate his way through rounds 3 and 4 with out too much trouble. It wasn't that he was about to win the rounds or even make them competitive but he wasn't being savaged like one would have expected following the way Srisaket had ended round 2. In fact if anything it seemed like Mukai was managing to slowly build his confidence with some lovely work, though wasn't doing nearly enough to take the round and was being backed up too easily.

After 4 rounds the judges all agreed with the only possible score one could have had the bout, 40-35 in favour of Srisaket.

Having survived rounds 3 and 4 Mukai managed to get everything going in round 5, a round that fought almost entirely in the pocket with both men having success. It was by far the best round for Mukai and one that you wouldn't begrudge giving him, although it did at times appear that Srisaket was tiring somewhat. The success for Mukai in the fifth continued in to the sixth as Mukai began to have the last word in the exchanges, albeit lesser words than those of Srisaket.

Unfortunately for Mukai 2 minutes of good work in round 6 was undone by a huge assault in the final minute by Srisaket who just stole the round on my card as he attempted to put an end to the proceedings. Mukai, who was genuinely hammered late in the round, refused to go down a second time.

If round 6 had ended badly for Mukai then round 7 was nothing more than a continuation of that. Srisaket set off to break Mukai using hard body shots and by the end of the round it appeared the were having a serious effect on the challenger. Mukai had managed to see out the round, but there was little left in the tank.

In the eighth round Mukai must have wished he was in the UK as he was given a genuine beating. His boxing was falling apart, Srisaket was starting to abuse him and I was wondering how he was managing to stay on his feet. By now it was clear Mukai needed a miracle and in boxing they don't tend to happen.

Down by scores of 80-71, 79-72, twice, on the scorecards it really should have been time for Mukai's corner to have saved their brave charge. Instead they sent him out for round 9. It was unnecessary. Within seconds of the round starting Mukai was hurt and Srisaket let loose as he tried to force the referees hand. Unfortunately for Mukai all the referee did was warn Srisaket for hitting and holding. Whilst that bought him some respite in theory it really just prolonged the beating another 30 seconds before Mukai's corner finally threw in the towel.

Oddly this was a bout where both men genuinely impressed me. Mukai could fair very well if he was put in with a lighter puncher, that is if there much of Mukai left mentally after this contest. Srisaket seems to always impress and I've no doubt that he could beat any fighter currently active at 115lbs. He's a genuine monster.

Yota Sato v Srisaket Sor Rungvisai

The history books prior to today had shown that no Japanese fighter had ever successfully defended a world title in Thailand. It was expected that Yota Sato (26-3-1, 12) had a good chance of changing that as he faced the hard hitting but untested Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (19-3-1, 18) in a defense of the WBC Super Flyweight belt, Srisaket however refused to let Sato have his place in history.

The bout opened fairly evenly with a close opening round, though for Sato the opening round was pretty much the only one he managed to hold his head up high at the end of as Srisaket managed to grow in to the bout very quickly.

In round 2 it appeared that the challenger put his foot on the gas and really upped the tempo of the bout as he tried to turn it in to a war landing flurries to both the head and body. The success in the second round only grew more success for the challenger who gave Sato a real shellacking in round 3 and really established himself in the bout as the boss. The offensive barrage of the challenger continued further through round 4 as he started to really force the champion under a lot of continued pressure  and made Sato very uncomfortable.

With the WBC's open scoring in effect it was made public that Srisaket was clearly in the lead with scores of 39-37 (twice) and 40-35 (scoring a 10-8 round at some point, likely round 3). Although Srisaket's dominance was unexpected it was pretty well assumed that the challenger would set a fantastic pace early on trying to blast out Sato early. It was thought however that if Sato could last out the opening storm he could turn the bout around the bout against a tiring Srisaket.

Sato seemed to have ridden out the storm with Srisaket slowing down in rounds 5 and 6. Although the challenger was slowing he was still doing enough to claim both rounds against a champion who was struggling to get any real success against a very determined opponent.

Having slowed the pace for 2 rounds Srisaket turned up the heat again in round 7 and forced Sato to take a genuinely sustained beating in the corner with pretty much nothing coming back at him. There would have no complaints from anyone had the referee stepped in and waved off the bout as Sato was forced to eat shot after shot, but the referee decided to give the champion a chance.

Although Sato was given a "chance" to start the 8th round it didn't take long for Srisaket to back him in to a corner an wail away with another continued assault that forced the referee to wave the bout off and Save Sato who had become drowned in the sea of punches coming at him.

This was not only the first stoppage loss of Sato's career but it was also the first time that Srisaket had won a bout that went beyond the start of round 6. The victory, a hard one for Sato to take, has genuinely announced Srisaket on the world stage and helped make him a number of new fans including myself.

A bout between Sato and any of the top guys at 115 or even 118 would be great to watch and this hard hitting, energetic and teak tough champion could well become one of the must watch fighters over the next few years.

Yota Sato v Ryo Akaho

In an all Japanese bout for the WBC Super Flyweight title the defending champion Yota Sato (26-2-1, 12) managed to claim a clear unanimous decision over the previously unbeaten and highly ranked Ryo Akaho (19-1-2, 12).

Also some had tipped Akaho to upset Sato, it was clear after only a few rounds that the challenger had his work cut out as the champion showed his superior and excellent boxing ability to control the pace and range of the fight. Akaho was game through out though failed to force Sato out of his comfort zone for any prolong periods of time.

With this win, and the victory by Kohei Kono on the same card we have a very promising all-Japanese WBC/WBA Super Flyweight title unification on the cards for 2013 as the division attempts to clear up the mess that it's been in over the past few years.

Whilst many may feel that veteran Argentinian Andres Omar Narvaez (the WBO champion) is the division's #1 guy, it's not hard to argue that he's the winner of Sato v Kono would also deserve credit for being amongst the very best in the division.

For Akaho it's obvious he can come again, he's only 26 and has time to rebuild, for Sato however it's the perfecting ending to a year that has seen him also defeating Sylvester Lopez and Suriyan Sor Rungvisai (who Sato defeated for the world title). In fact at just 28 years old himself Sato could well have 5 or 6 years at the top and he's only improving. Expect to hear a lot about this talented fighter over the coming years.

Yota Sato v Sylvester Lopez

Ultra talented Japanese fighter Yota Sato (25-2-1, 12) successfully made the first defence of his WBC Super Flyweight title by out pointing the very under-rated Filipino power puncher Sylvester Lopez (19-4-1, 15). Whilst this bout didn't appear to the wider boxing public it's a bout that really interested me due to the rise of Sato who claimed the title earlier this year when he out pointed the well regarded Suriyan Sor Rungvisai, twice dropping the Thai.

Going into the bout Sato was the #4 Ring ranked Super Flyweight whilst Lopez was the WBC's #1 contender a ranking that was genuinely deserved due to Lopez's performances against the likes of Oscar Ibarra and Everardo Morales. Sadly Sato was much better than Lopez's previous opponents and the class showed as Sato took a clear and wide decision.

Whilst Sato is relatively unknown by boxing fans despite notable wins over Rungvisai and Lopez he's actually on an amazing 21 fight unbeaten streak with solid domestic wins against the likes of Kenji Oba, Kohei Kono, Daigo Nakahiro and Go Onaga. Although he's 28 years old Sato is one of the most talented and under-the radar champions out there and a fighter who fans should be trying to watch.

For Lopez, who suffered the clearest loss of his professional career, he can take a lot of heart from his performance. At just 24 years old Lopez will certainly come again and has a very good chance of winning a world title somewhere down the line.

As a hardcore boxing fan I'd love to see Sato facing Tepparith Kokietgym in a WBA/WBC unification bout in a bout that would see a clear #1 crowned at Super Flyweight.