BoxRec

Otake defeated Maruta by Unanimous Decision today, never seen Maruta fight but many here are high on him and he has impressive results, this for sure will help him improve even more - thoughts?

I haven't seen maruta, but I'll be interested to hear boxing prospects take.

Maruta had shown a promising distance puncher style so far using the jab and a good mix of head and body punch thrown from the boundary of the pocket. I look forward to seing the fight which will be aired tomorrow

A friend at the fight (who's a stablemate of Otake) suggested it was just a little too soon for Maruta but he equipped himself well and will learn a lot from the fight. No real harm done and in Japan an 0 isn't king

Unlike many nationalities (American included) the Japanese are not prone to hyping up-and-coming prospects. When a highly touted rising star like Maruta loses it is usually a rare thing.

At least Hinata lost while taking a MAJOR step up and hopefully the learning experience will benefit him in the long run!!

Best Coast wrote:Unlike many nationalities (American included) the Japanese are not prone to hyping up-and-coming prospects. When a highly touted rising star like Maruta loses it is usually a rare thing.

At least Hinata lost while taking a MAJOR step up and hopefully the learning experience will benefit him in the long run!!

The Japanese will tell you they have a damned good prospect on their hands. If you look at what was said of Inoue, Tanaka, Ioka, R. Matsumoto, Iwasa, Ken Shiro, Kano and Murata for example. Thing is what they say rarely gets pushed to the Western fight fans, so they are less aware that Mr Hatanaka said Tanaka could win a world title in 3 fights, or that Shingo Inoue believes his son will be a 5 weight world champion, etc. Their top fighters are fighting in front of multi-million audience on free TV and their sports papers are reporting their stuff, they just (mostly) lack the....big mouths of some international counter parts.

The loss for Maruta, having now seen it, is certainly not a harmful one, it's a a developmental one and not one that has lead to real harm. Instead it's shown a flaw in how he deals with a certain style, and they can go back to the drawing board.

Going to be really exciting in a few years when the recent 8-time high school champion (Taiga Imanaga) turns professional (likely in 2020/2021, though potentially 2019), the hype they will get and the fast track the likes of Arashi Morisaka, Keisuke Matsumoto, his domestic nemesis Hayato Tsutsumi, and Ginjiro Shigeoka will get will be notable in Japan....even if it doesn't register much in the West.

great insight mate, but be honest, how much jav do you watch

This would be like if Cornelius Bundrage beat Erickson Lubin. It's like... not that major of a bump for the ancient veteran, who doesn't have much time left anyway. Temporary setback for the extraordinary prospect, who could easily surpass this defeat in a year or two. Hard to believe Maruta's handlers threw him to the wolves that recklessly, though, but... a loss doesn't necessarily ruin a fighter forever the way that some boxing fans act like. Wasn't even a bad loss for such a young fellow.

jamamb wrote:great insight mate, but be honest, how much jav do you watch

Probably more than most of the Japanese fans ;)

I have access to live and on demand Japanese TV from their 2 biggest boxing markets (Kanto and Kansai), similar access to their main pay tv channels (I.e. G+, TBS2 ETC), a subscription to Boxingraise and regularly pay for the one off Asign shows. I also know which YouTube channels are best for the fan cam stuff and follow them....

...so...a lot

Boxing Prospect wrote:

Best Coast wrote:Unlike many nationalities (American included) the Japanese are not prone to hyping up-and-coming prospects. When a highly touted rising star like Maruta loses it is usually a rare thing.

At least Hinata lost while taking a MAJOR step up and hopefully the learning experience will benefit him in the long run!!

The Japanese will tell you they have a damned good prospect on their hands. If you look at what was said of Inoue, Tanaka, Ioka, R. Matsumoto, Iwasa, Ken Shiro, Kano and Murata for example. Thing is what they say rarely gets pushed to the Western fight fans, so they are less aware that Mr Hatanaka said Tanaka could win a world title in 3 fights, or that Shingo Inoue believes his son will be a 5 weight world champion, etc. Their top fighters are fighting in front of multi-million audience on free TV and their sports papers are reporting their stuff, they just (mostly) lack the....big mouths of some international counter parts.

The loss for Maruta, having now seen it, is certainly not a harmful one, it's a a developmental one and not one that has lead to real harm. Instead it's shown a flaw in how he deals with a certain style, and they can go back to the drawing board.

Going to be really exciting in a few years when the recent 8-time high school champion (Taiga Imanaga) turns professional (likely in 2020/2021, though potentially 2019), the hype they will get and the fast track the likes of Arashi Morisaka, Keisuke Matsumoto, his domestic nemesis Hayato Tsutsumi, and Ginjiro Shigeoka will get will be notable in Japan....even if it doesn't register much in the West.

You are obviously immersed in the Japanese fight scene. Are any of those you mention in your last paragraph (or any other hot prospects you DIDN'T mention) expected to turn pro in the near future? Say between now and mid-2018?

Best Coast wrote:

Boxing Prospect wrote:

Best Coast wrote:Unlike many nationalities (American included) the Japanese are not prone to hyping up-and-coming prospects. When a highly touted rising star like Maruta loses it is usually a rare thing.

At least Hinata lost while taking a MAJOR step up and hopefully the learning experience will benefit him in the long run!!

The Japanese will tell you they have a damned good prospect on their hands. If you look at what was said of Inoue, Tanaka, Ioka, R. Matsumoto, Iwasa, Ken Shiro, Kano and Murata for example. Thing is what they say rarely gets pushed to the Western fight fans, so they are less aware that Mr Hatanaka said Tanaka could win a world title in 3 fights, or that Shingo Inoue believes his son will be a 5 weight world champion, etc. Their top fighters are fighting in front of multi-million audience on free TV and their sports papers are reporting their stuff, they just (mostly) lack the....big mouths of some international counter parts.

The loss for Maruta, having now seen it, is certainly not a harmful one, it's a a developmental one and not one that has lead to real harm. Instead it's shown a flaw in how he deals with a certain style, and they can go back to the drawing board.

Going to be really exciting in a few years when the recent 8-time high school champion (Taiga Imanaga) turns professional (likely in 2020/2021, though potentially 2019), the hype they will get and the fast track the likes of Arashi Morisaka, Keisuke Matsumoto, his domestic nemesis Hayato Tsutsumi, and Ginjiro Shigeoka will get will be notable in Japan....even if it doesn't register much in the West.

You are obviously immersed in the Japanese fight scene. Are any of those you mention in your last paragraph (or any other hot prospects you DIDN'T mention) expected to turn pro in the near future? Say between now and mid-2018?

At the moment it's hard to predict as the 2020 Olympics is in Tokyo and a lot of the top amateur guys will likely stay and try to qualify for that, so 2018 is probably a little too early but there will be an exodus as that dream is shattered.

Ohashi did snap a couple up earlier this year, Kazuki Nakajima and Katsuya Yasada, but they don't look to be on the super fast track. Satoshi Shimizu is the next "fast track" guy, but he's getting on after a long amateur career