Fighting for Redemption - Fightnews Asia

For the past 3 months, there has been a lot of news circulating around the boxing community regarding Marjhon Yap’s so called “retirement”. However, the boxer has finally spoken out against these false accusations propagated by his estranged ex-manager, Takashi Edagawa.

Firstly, according to Yap, he is as strong as ever. Ever since he parted ways with Edagawa last September 2018, he is now free from the “mental and emotional mistreatment” of his former manager. The toxicity of the environment where he used to train took a huge toll on him and he finally decided to leave. He may seem like a superhero on the ring, but he’s still human at the end of the day. Edagawa’s wrath and condemnation of his humanity was something that Yap could no longer endure.

In consonance with Yap’s message, he would like to clarify to the boxing community that he is still the same quality boxer and consistent contender as he was before. In lieu of the barrage of setbacks he had to sustain over the last three months- with the major heart procedure of his ailing father and the regression of his world ranking, Edagawa’s vindictive attempts to spread false news has made it significantly difficult for Yap to reestablish himself.

The moral of this story is to verify your sources. It is vital for the boxing community to not bite into the faulty and fallacious news circulated online without knowing the story of the other side. Moreover, this sends a deleterious message to the boxing world that there is a strong centralization of power among the influential boxing managers such as Takashi Edagawa, wherein it is them that controls the narratives of hardworking Filipino Boxers like Marjhon Yap.

Yap retires? Kurihara Vs Kobayashi confirmed for OPBF crown!

11/9/2018

0 COMMENTS

Earlier this month we reported that Keita Kurihara (12-5, 11) [栗原慶太] would be returning to the ring on December 24th to face off with YukiStrong Kobayashi (14-7, 8) [小林佑樹] in a bout for the vacant OPBF Bantamweight title at the EDION Arena Osaka.

Today that bout was officially confirmed, with the Mutoh Boxing gym not just announcing the bout but also the rest of their show for Christmas Eve, a show that will feature bouts involving two hotly tipped prospects as well as the OPBF title bout.

The OPBF title became vacant recently when Mark John Yap (29-13, 14) decided to retire, following a close loss to Takuma Inoue (12-0, 3) [井上拓真] in a WBC Bantamweight world title eliminator.

According to Takashi Edagawa, the head of the Mutoh gym, Yap retired after the loss and went back to the Philippines, hence vacating the title, in what a really surprising move from the Filipino given that he had seemingly secured his status as a top contender. We suspect that Yap will return from retirement down the line, but if not it’s a shame his career ended so abruptly after such a close loss and it appears that even Mr Edagawa was surprised by the decision.

Update – On Social Media Yap himself has stated that he’s not retired but that his contract with Mutoh gym has expired and that he has returned to the Philippines for the next chapter of his career. His parents are ill and he will be in Cagayan de oro City. It would seem like there is some miscommunication between the two, as the Japanese promoter doesn’t seem to be aware that the contract has expired and stated that Yap had complained about neck pain, told he he was returning to the Philippines and retiring.

At the press conference along with Kobayashi and Mr Edagawa was Rio Kuwabata (1-0, 1) [桑畑凜生], who has sent a request to change his ring name to a rather unique one. Kuwabata, who debuted in China back in September, will be up against 34 year old Yosuke Taniguchi (7-5-1, 2) [谷口陽祐] in an interesting 6 round contest.

One other highly regarded prospect on this card is Middleweight hopeful Riku Kunimoto (2-0) [国本陸], who is stepping up to 8 round bouts to face off with Toshihiro Kai (6-10-2, 2) [甲斐斗志広].

The card, dubbed “You will be the Champion 9”, seems almost certain to be the final Japanese card before Christmas.

(Image courtesy of boxmob.jp)