Eagle Kyowa


Den Junlaphan a.k.a. Eagle Kyowa is a professional boxer in the strawweight division. He won the WBC minimumweight title on January 10, 2004, by defeating José Antonio Aguirre. He lost it to Isaac Bustos in his second title defense, due to a shoulder injury. On August 6, 2005, in his first match back from the injury, Kyowa fought again for the WBC minimumweight title against Katsunari Takayama. He regained the title by a unanimous decision victory. Junlaphan defended the title four times before losing it again on November 27, 2007 against Oleydong Sithsamerchai.

Biography

Eagle Den Janlaphan was born as the eight of nine children in Phichit, Thailand. He entered Thammasat University at the age of 16, and began boxing, making his amateur debut in 1995. He turned pro, and made his professional debut in January, 2000, in Bangkok, Thailand. He transferred to the Kadoebi Houseki Gym in Tokyo, Japan, and made his Japanese debut in August, 2001 as "Eagle Okuda", winning by first-round knockout. He won the WBC Minimumweight title in January, 2004, beating Jose Antonio Aguirre by decision. He made his first defense in May of the same year, but lost his second defense in December, 2004 against Isaac Bustos. The fight was stopped in the 4th round due to a shoulder injury by Kyowa. He made his return in August, 2005, against Katsunari Takayama, who had beaten Bustos to win the WBC Minimumweight title. Kyowa won by decision, regaining his title.
On January 9, 2006, he defeated Ken Nakajima by 7th round tko. On May 6, 2006, he defeated future light flyweight champion Rodel Mayol by a 12-round unanimous decision. In his next bout, he almost lost his title to journeyman Lorenzo Trejo in November, 2006. Kyowa dropped Trejo in the 3rd round, but was knocked down twice in the 6th. All three judges awarded Kyowa the decision by one point, and Kyowa won a close third title defense.
He met Akira Yaegashi, the WBC's 6th ranked contender, on June 4, 2007 in Yokohama, Japan, for his fourth defense. Kyowa dominated the young challenger from the first round to make his fourth straight defense by unanimous decision. He lost a point for an accidental head-butt in the 2nd round, but knocked down Yaegashi in the 10th round to secure his victory. All three judges awarded him the win by over ten points. This fight also utilized the open scoring approved by the World Boxing Council. Every four rounds, they would announce the official scoring of the fight. The Japan Boxing Commission is one of the few organizations that has used the WBC's open scoring feature thus far.
On November 29, 2007, Kyowa lost his title to fellow Thai boxer Oleydong Sithsamerchai by unanimous decision.

Professional boxing record