Kiko Martinez opponent chosen.....

[chad]

Reports on Twitter suggest Kiko will not be facing either Quigg or Frampton, but will meet Hozumi Hasegawa instead.

A little disappointing if this is true. Would have been great to see one of our boys facing him for the IBF strap.

[mickey1975]

Reports on Twitter suggest Kiko will not be facing either Quigg or Frampton, but will meet Hozumi Hasegawa instead.

A little disappointing if this is true. Would have been great to see one of our boys facing him for the IBF strap.

I don't think we can moan considering some of the defences our lads have made. They only want Kiko because they seem as very beatable.

[Old bones Ian]

Seeing as Hozumi Hasegawa has never fought in the Super Bantam division, its a bad decision by the IBF, Hasegawa has fought as a bantam and a feather, and he last fought at bantam in 2010, he has fought at feather since, so by fight time that will be almost 4 years.

The IBF are risking seeing a boxer drop to a weight he has no proven strength in, and this could have damaging effect on him in a 12 rounder.

[bripez]

Reports on Twitter suggest Kiko will not be facing either Quigg or Frampton, but will meet Hozumi Hasegawa instead.

A little disappointing if this is true. Would have been great to see one of our boys facing him for the IBF strap.

I don't think we can moan considering some of the defences our lads have made. They only want Kiko because they seem as very beatable.

Correct - what do you want, Kiko to face Quigg in Bury or Frampton in Belfast ?

On the other hand, the IBF are becoming as bad as the WBO - as we have seen recently with the situation with Mcdonell and then Hall etc.

[lefty]

God knows who Quigg will fight next then. I've heard that Frampton might be fighting leo Santa Cruz. That would be a cracking fight if it happened.

[bripez]

God knows who Quigg will fight next then. I've heard that Frampton might be fighting leo Santa Cruz. That would be a cracking fight if it happened.

I do feel for Quigg - he is a good lad but not World Champion and he must get a bit embarrassed.

After being given the title he drew his first "defence" so they then had to wheel somebody out so that he could actually get a win.

It's not Quiggs fault he is in the same division is Rigondeaux, but there are still some decent fights out there for him.

[Boxing Prospect]

Seeing as Hozumi Hasegawa has never fought in the Super Bantam division, its a bad decision by the IBF, Hasegawa has fought as a bantam and a feather, and he last fought at bantam in 2010, he has fought at feather since, so by fight time that will be almost 4 years.

The IBF are risking seeing a boxer drop to a weight he has no proven strength in, and this could have damaging effect on him in a 12 rounder.

He's been licensed as a super bantamweight by the JBC and been fighting "overweight"/"contact weight fights" whilst calling out Super Bantamweights, including Quigg and Rigo. Whilst on paper it looks like they are draining in reality he's just not been cutting weight for stay busy bouts.

[Old bones Ian]

Seeing as Hozumi Hasegawa has never fought in the Super Bantam division, its a bad decision by the IBF, Hasegawa has fought as a bantam and a feather, and he last fought at bantam in 2010, he has fought at feather since, so by fight time that will be almost 4 years.

The IBF are risking seeing a boxer drop to a weight he has no proven strength in, and this could have damaging effect on him in a 12 rounder.

He's been licensed as a super bantamweight by the JBC and been fighting "overweight"/"contact weight fights" whilst calling out Super Bantamweights, including Quigg and Rigo. Whilst on paper it looks like they are draining in reality he's just not been cutting weight for stay busy bouts.

But straight into a world title fight? He should of had at least 1 fight in that weight division to see he can perform at world level.
Thing is i like watching Hasegawa, and want him to do well against Martinez.

[Boxing Prospect]

Seeing as Hozumi Hasegawa has never fought in the Super Bantam division, its a bad decision by the IBF, Hasegawa has fought as a bantam and a feather, and he last fought at bantam in 2010, he has fought at feather since, so by fight time that will be almost 4 years.

The IBF are risking seeing a boxer drop to a weight he has no proven strength in, and this could have damaging effect on him in a 12 rounder.

He's been licensed as a super bantamweight by the JBC and been fighting "overweight"/"contact weight fights" whilst calling out Super Bantamweights, including Quigg and Rigo. Whilst on paper it looks like they are draining in reality he's just not been cutting weight for stay busy bouts.

But straight into a world title fight? He should of had at least 1 fight in that weight division to see he can perform at world level.
Thing is i like watching Hasegawa, and want him to do well against Martinez.

I agree there, funnily enough the IBF DID rank him at Featherweight a month ago and have now moved him to Super Bantamweight in their rankings.

[expe]

Reports on Twitter suggest Kiko will not be facing either Quigg or Frampton, but will meet Hozumi Hasegawa instead.

A little disappointing if this is true. Would have been great to see one of our boys facing him for the IBF strap.

I don't think we can moan considering some of the defences our lads have made. They only want Kiko because they seem as very beatable.

Correct - what do you want, Kiko to face Quigg in Bury or Frampton in Belfast ?

On the other hand, the IBF are becoming as bad as the WBO - as we have seen recently with the situation with Mcdonell and then Hall etc.

He's fought in the divisions above and below, so Hasegawa shouldn't have a problem fighting at that weight. As for McDonnell, he was rightly stripped after failing to agree to make a mandatory defence, Hall and Malinga were the next two down the rankings, so they fought each other for the title.

[He's Gone Jim!]

If HH has anything left he could be quite a nasty match-up for Martinez. Good fight.
Anyone know what country this is in?

[Final round]

If HH has anything left he could be quite a nasty match-up for Martinez. Good fight.
Anyone know what country this is in?

Japan

[Autobarn]

i have plenty to say about this because I've followed both guys' careers.

the last couple of years to the present are the only time kiko would be favoured to beat hozumi.

it makes sense for Martinez. he was either going to get on HBO vs a good name in a gritty boxing after dark matchup...or accept a big offer from someone away from the US scene. obviously something like the Jorge arce of a couple of years ago'd be perfect. but it's not great now so kiko was going to travel to the highest bidder. most of us assumed it'd be vs quigg or Frampton.

well, surprises do happen in boxing and we know Japanese promoters have a lot of clout in the lower weight classes. on paper, it ticks all the boxes. hozumi outgrew 118 where he stayed for far too long. he was too small for 126 where he briefly held a title. so 122, the weight in between, might be just right. too late to drop 4 pounds? we'll see.

but this isn't some nobody - despite the 2 KO defeats to Mexicans with crafty left hands, hozumi defended his bantam title 10 times. because of his problems making weight, he had to force early TKOs which he did in five consecutive title defenses. interestingly 2 guys he dominated were vusi malinga (TKO1) & simpewe vetyeka (easy W12), south Africans who gave great challenges last year (malinga L12 stuart hall in a narrowly contested classic; vetyeka knocking out long time WBA feather king chris john) it is possible that this motivated him...and if that's not impressive he wrenched the tile from sahaprom, a standout in both muay thai and boxing, in one of the most action packed lower weight fights you'll come across.

has he got enough left to make it exciting? is he too vulnerable? don't old pros ever surprise the upstarts (which kiko undoubtedly is at world level)? aren't Martinez's hayemakers he kind of shot an experienced fighter like hasegawa will, perhaps, see coming? Martinez will certainly fancy checking that chin early ala bernard dunne. on paper (and we know it doesn't happen on paper) it sounds GREAT.

[Boxing Prospect]

but this isn't some nobody - despite the 2 KO defeats to Mexicans with crafty left hands, hozumi defended his bantam title 10 times. because of his problems making weight, he had to force early TKOs which he did in five consecutive title defenses. interestingly 2 guys he dominated were vusi malinga (TKO1) & simpewe vetyeka (easy W12), south Africans who gave great challenges last year (malinga L12 stuart hall in a narrowly contested classic; vetyeka knocking out long time WBA feather king chris john) it is possible that this motivated him...and if that's not impressive he wrenched the tile from sahaprom, a standout in both muay thai and boxing, in one of the most action packed lower weight fights you'll come across.

The Vetyeka fight was anything BUT easy

[Autobarn]

hasegawa well beat him. it was an awkward fight with the south African unwilling to commit, but not a tough fight.

I love how hasegawa doesn't even get mentioned in the thread title.

[Datsue]

Hasegawa was very good. Not as good as his biggest fans made him out to be--I fear people suffer from "Cute Southpaw Syndrome" when evaluating dudes like him--but I wonder how much (& how much punch resistance) he's got left.

[Autobarn]

I thought he was very good. the 2 fights he was KO'd in were sudden stoppages. I thought he'd rebound as, say, terry Norris did. Norris being another fast guy who got stopped suddenly (as opposed to drawn out beating) by a couple of punchers who caught him.

never felt hozumi was a cute fighter - bit slappy, but capable of excellent workrate (see 1st veeraphol fight, for instance) when he feels strong at the weight. like I say some good work on his ledger - veeraphol (twice), maludrottu, vetyeka (current WBA feather champ), malinga, juan carlos burgos (a top 10 super feather, these days). liked how he could force the early stoppage, bewildering his opponents for 20 or so seconds inviting the ref to stop it (ala roy jones-merqui sosa & tony thornton).

think he was kept away from his natural weight, 122, because of nishioka (a guy who beat all the Mexicans he faced, incl mutual foe jhonny gonzalez) who won a title on his 5th attempt and did some fine work. if he can surprise kiko, and doesn't feel comfortable at 122, perhaps a move up to 126 and rematch vetyeka?

anyway welcome to the hard bastard, gritty division, super bantamweight, hozumi hasegawa. the weight that produced Vazquez-marquez rivalry, kicked off barrera-morales, housed the punch marathons of Oscar larios, the gritty road wars of Daniel Zaragoza & wilfredo vazquez, the fight that heralded HBO's Boxing After Dark barrera-mckinney & going back the epic 14 rounds gomez-pintor...122 seems to produce brutal action with consistency and hozumi will have to be tough.

[Datsue]

True dat. Though I meant "cute" in the non-boxing sense of the word; he has a pretty style. Aesthetically pleasing.

But super-bantam's gotta be the best division for fights in the last thirty years... Gomez-Pintor, Banke-Zaragoza, McKinney-Ncita, McKinney-Barrera, McKinney-Jones, Barrera-Morales, Marquez-Vazquez, Vazquez-Gonzalez, Zaragoza-Morales, Morales-McCullough, Zaragoza-McCullough, Bones Adams-Ayala, Barrera-Jones, Larios-Vazquez, Tracy Harris Paterson had a few wars here, Wilf Vazquez the elder... Some top class stuff there.

[Autobarn]

great list datsue.

I'd also add nishioka-napapol (breathless punch-fest; nish wins title on 5th try), napapol-lookbanyai (upset, and elim for nishioka fight), nishioka-jhonny, larios-nakazata 1, Zaragoza-tatsuyoshi (both fun), zaragoza-hatanaka (Great), banke-ki jun lee (absolute brutality), poonsawat-hosono, dunne-cordoba, kiko-romero (some good exchanges & kiko winning a title after being knocked back at euro level several times, qualifies for grittiness & excitement), arce-vazquez jr.

one fight I felt was overrated at this weight, junior jones v orlando canizales.

hozumi, taking weight off and fighting at age 33, must channel this spirit - and some. because kiko's going to keep on coming.

[Autobarn]

...and monshipour-sitchatchawal, and monshipour-julio zarate

[Old bones Ian]

There's been some great fights in this division, Paul Banke was one of my favs a few years ago. Hope he's still battling his illness.