By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda
Our televisions highly expect a bumper harvest in getting high TV ratings at the end of the year since people usually stay at home without going out, watching TV programs at home box office. The annual year-end boxing shows are as follows:
December 30 at Ota-city General Gymnasium, Tokyo, Japan
WBO 130-pound title bout
Masayuki Ito (24-1-1, 12 KOs) vs. #1 Evgeny Chuprakov (20-0, 10 KOs) from Russia
WBC 108-pound title bout
Ken Shiro (14-0, 8 KOs) vs. #7 Saul Juarez (24-8-2, 13 KOs) from Mexico
WBC 118-pound interim title bout
#5 Takuma Inoue (12-0, 3 KOs) vs. #2 Tasana Salapat (AKA Petch CP Freshmart; 48-0, 33 KOs) from Thailand
New Year’s Eve at Wynn Palace Cotai, Macao, China
WBO 115-pound title bout for the vacant championship
Kazuto Ioka (23-1, 13 KOs) vs. Donnie Nietes (41-1-5, 23 KOs) of the Philippines
WBA 108-pound title bout
Hekkie Budler (32-3, 10 KOs) of South Africa vs. Hiroto Kyoguchi (11-0, 8 KOs)
IBF 112-pound title bout
Moruti Mthalane (36-2, 24 KOs) of South Africa vs. Masahiro Sakamoto (13-1, 9 KOs)
The headliner of the December 30 show, WBO junior lightweight ruler Masayuki Ito engaged in a public workout on Wednesday at Banryu Gym, where he showed a good form and demonstrated his fine shape prior to a highly anticipated initial defense since he decked an impressive title acquisition by defeating previously unbeaten Olympian Christopher Diaz by an upset unanimous verdict in Kissimmee, Florida, this July. Ito, a good lucking champ at 27, recently returned from his training camp in California, where he had been honing his fists under the tutelage of Rudy Hernandez and his right hand man Okabe. Ito is greatly expected to showcase a good performance in his first since his coronation abroad.
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