By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda
Akihiko Honda of Teiken Promotions on Thursday announced seven world title bouts to take place in a couple of days at the same Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan, as follows:
October 13, Sunday
WBA 118lb title bout
Takuma Inoue vs. Seiya Tsutsumi
WBC 112lb title bout for the vacant belt
Kenshiro Teraji vs. Cristofer Rosales
WBA 112lb title bout
Seigo Yuri Akui vs. Thananchai Charunphak
WBO 108lb title bout for the vacant belt
Shokichi Ishida vs. Jairo Noriega
October 14, Monday
WBC 118lb title bout
Junto Nakatani vs. Tasana Salapat
WBO 115lb title bout
Kosei Tanaka vs. Phumelele Cafu
WBO 112lb title bout
Anthony Olascuaga vs. Jonathan Gonzalez
WBO Asia Pacific 118lb title bout for the vacant belt
Tenshin Nasukawa vs. Gerwin Asilo
TV: Amazon Prime Video in Japan; ESPN+ in US
Is it possible to stage no less than seven world title goes in just two days under recession? Yes, Teiken can.
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LOVE to see Japan continuously pouring love into the sport. Some fun stuff in here – probably the best, on paper, would be Olascuaga – Bomba and the infamous Tasana Salapat is finally getting a world title shot (which he will be knocked out in) at the age of 30, with a record of 76-1.
Lol.. fair assumption. Microweight fights, but some good ones. I’m still astonished how many weight classes there are below 126. Seriously, what amount of the population is less than 126… even the female population is probably a very small percentage.
Don’t forget, they are athletes who maintain their weight rigorously, but normally, when no fight is in sight, they walk around with up to 20 more pounds. Also, on fight night, they are no longer small.
Organizations probably created these weight classes to take advantage of the interest in the sport in Japan. Having a weight class for every three pounds equals more “titles” and sanctioning fees.
Absolutely agree with you Lucie – through to Salapat who is getting a title shot with what must be the worst record we’ve seen in some time. Japan really does boxing with respect and class from the managers to the officials and the fighters. Good action for mid-October.
I was looking up Kenshiro Teraji record on Boxrec, and noticed he lost a fight against Masamichi Yabuki, only to see that Yabuki is fighting Sivenathi
Nontshinga on Saturday, 12 October for the IBF light flyweight title, albeit in a different location in Tokyo. So, that’s eight world title fights in three days. Very impressive.