Kawamitsu retains Japanese title, Isotani wins Youth belt
Earlier today we had the latest Diamond Glove show at Korakuen Hall, the final Diamond Glove event of 2024.
The main event saw Japanese Light Flyweight champion Toshiki Kawamitsu (11-1, 7) [川満俊輝] record his second defense, as he stopped Natsu Ohashi (8-4-1, 6) [大橋波月] in 2 rounds. Despite being the under-dog, Ohashi came out aggressively, like a man with a point to prove, and he had early success, before a nasty head clash shook Ohashi. The referee allowed a break for Ohashi to recover from the clash before the action resumed, with Ohashi quickly back on the front foot. The hyper aggressive style of Ohashi was making for compelling action, but left him open, and part way through round 2 he ended up eating a left hook from Kawamitsu, who made no mistake and sensed Ohashi was in trouble. He unloaded on the challenger who was stopped by the referee as Kawamitsu landed on him against the ropes.
From the off this was all action and despite the early loss Ohashi definitely made new fans, who will be excited to see his next bout. As for the champion, he is expected to return in the Champion Carnival in 2025, where he will defend his title against Kyosuke Takami (8-0, 6) [高見享介], who is quickly emerging as one of the new faces at 108lbs.
In the chief support bout Taishin Isotani (8-3, 5) [磯谷大心] claimed his first professional title, as he took a hard fought decision over Taiga Kato (6-3, 2) [加藤大河] to claim the Japanese Youth title at 147lbs. The bout saw both men look to control the distance, with Kato looking to make the most of his jab whilst Isotani looked to land harder hooks, it made for some very tough to score action, as neither man seemed to really land too many telling blows, and after 4 rounds the cards were 38-38, twice, and 39-37 to Isotani. The 5th round saw Isotani look to up his tempo and vary his output. Kato managed to fight back hard in rounds 6 and 7 before the crowd got wild for the final round, which Isotani did enough in to claim victory, albeit by a narrow margin with scores of 77-75 and 78-74 in his favour, whilst the third judge had it even at 76-76.
Also on this card was former Japanese Featherweight champion Ryo Sagawa (13-4, 8) [佐川遼] who made light work of hard hitting Filipino veteran Jon Jon Estrada (18-14-1, 14). Sagawa established his jab and range through much of the first half, keeping the dangerous Estrada at bay, before detonating with a hard right hand late in the round, dropping Estrada for the count, at an official time of 2:47 of round 1.
The main event saw Japanese Light Flyweight champion Toshiki Kawamitsu (11-1, 7) [川満俊輝] record his second defense, as he stopped Natsu Ohashi (8-4-1, 6) [大橋波月] in 2 rounds. Despite being the under-dog, Ohashi came out aggressively, like a man with a point to prove, and he had early success, before a nasty head clash shook Ohashi. The referee allowed a break for Ohashi to recover from the clash before the action resumed, with Ohashi quickly back on the front foot. The hyper aggressive style of Ohashi was making for compelling action, but left him open, and part way through round 2 he ended up eating a left hook from Kawamitsu, who made no mistake and sensed Ohashi was in trouble. He unloaded on the challenger who was stopped by the referee as Kawamitsu landed on him against the ropes.
From the off this was all action and despite the early loss Ohashi definitely made new fans, who will be excited to see his next bout. As for the champion, he is expected to return in the Champion Carnival in 2025, where he will defend his title against Kyosuke Takami (8-0, 6) [高見享介], who is quickly emerging as one of the new faces at 108lbs.
In the chief support bout Taishin Isotani (8-3, 5) [磯谷大心] claimed his first professional title, as he took a hard fought decision over Taiga Kato (6-3, 2) [加藤大河] to claim the Japanese Youth title at 147lbs. The bout saw both men look to control the distance, with Kato looking to make the most of his jab whilst Isotani looked to land harder hooks, it made for some very tough to score action, as neither man seemed to really land too many telling blows, and after 4 rounds the cards were 38-38, twice, and 39-37 to Isotani. The 5th round saw Isotani look to up his tempo and vary his output. Kato managed to fight back hard in rounds 6 and 7 before the crowd got wild for the final round, which Isotani did enough in to claim victory, albeit by a narrow margin with scores of 77-75 and 78-74 in his favour, whilst the third judge had it even at 76-76.
Also on this card was former Japanese Featherweight champion Ryo Sagawa (13-4, 8) [佐川遼] who made light work of hard hitting Filipino veteran Jon Jon Estrada (18-14-1, 14). Sagawa established his jab and range through much of the first half, keeping the dangerous Estrada at bay, before detonating with a hard right hand late in the round, dropping Estrada for the count, at an official time of 2:47 of round 1.