In Japan the action seems pretty thin in regards to world title bouts but on July 23rd Koki Kameda (30-1, 17) will defend his WBA Bantamweight title as he takes on the highly ranked Filipino John Mark Apolinario (17-2-3, 4). Kameda, a 3 weight world champion, will be facing a man who has twice drawn in bouts for the "interim" version of his title.
On the same card as the Kameda/Apolinario bout female Minimumweight champion Etsuko Tada (12-0-2, 2) defends against Anabel Ortiz (11-3, 2). This bout will be Ortiz's 3rd bout in Japan and should be an absolute barn burner between two highly regarded fighters.
Although scheduled action in Japan at the world level is limited the Philippines seems to be the place to go at the moment.
On July 13th WBO Minimumweight champion Merlito Sabillo (21-0, 11) will make the first defense of his belt as he takes on Colombian challenger Jorle Estrada (17-6, 6).
Just over a week later (July 21st) Filipino road warrior John Riel Casimero (18-2, 10) will defend his IBF Light Flyweight title as he takes on Mauricio Fuentes (16-2, 10). This will be Casimero's first fight at home since October 2011 and just his second in 8 bouts having traveled to Nicaragua, South Africa, Mexico, Argentina and Panama in recent bouts.
In early August Japan's Tomoki Kameda (27-0, 18) faces WBO Bantamweight champion Paulus Ambunda (20-0, 10). This bout is also in the Philippines which was selected as a neutral venue.
We're also expecting a title defense by WBO Light Flyweight champion Donnie Nietes (31-1-14, 17) in August, though his opponent is yet to be named.
Much avoided Filipino Denver Cuello (33-4-6, 21) looks likely to finally get his chance as he's now scheduled to face China's Xiong Zhao Zhong (20-4-1, 11), the current WBC Minimumweight champion. This bout is expected to take place in Dubai though we do have our doubts about it all at the moment.
In July Nihito Arakawa (24-2-1, 16) travels to Texas to take on the unbeaten and fun to watch Omar Figueroa (21-0-1, 17) in a bout for the WBC "interim" Lightweight title. This will only be Arakawa's second fight away from home (suffering a technical decision loss to Daniel Estrada last November) but it's a bout that he has a real chance to win.
The same month sees Milan Melindo (29-0, 12) attempt to claim the WBA "super" and WBO Flyweight titles as he takes on Juan Francisco Estrada (24-2, 18) in Macau.