Takei to defend WBO Bantamweight May 28th; Rikiishi and Nunez to clash for IBF Super Featherweight title

3/17/2025

Late last year we were expecting to see WBO Bantamweight champion Yoshiki Takei (10-0, 8) [武居由樹], make his second defense when he was announced as the chief support bout for the ill fated December 24th bout between Naoya Inoue (29-0, 26) [井上尚弥] and Sam Goodman (19-0, 8), a card that was rescheduled due to Goodman being injured and ultimately replaced by Ye Joon Kim (21-3-2, 13) [김예준]. Sadly Goodman wasn’t the only injured fighter who had to abandon the December 24th, and subsequently the rescheduled January 24th date, with Takei also forced to pull out of a planned bout against unbeaten Thai challenger Yuttapong Tongdee (15-0, 9).

Today Ohashi Gym held a press conference to announce a new date and venue for the bout, confirming earlier reports of a May 28th date, and also announced that the bout will be part of a brilliant looking world title double header.

The show, which will take place at the Yokohama BUNTAI and be broadcast on Lemino, as "NTT Docomo presents Lemino BOXING Double World Title Match", will also see Masanori Rikiishi (16-1, 11) [佐藤政法] take on hard hitting Mexican Eduard Nunez (27-1, 27), for the vacant IBF Super Featherweight title in what is the first world title bout for either man.

At the press conference for the show, we saw numerous attendees including the two Japanese, Ohashi promoted, fighters involved in the world title fights.

Speaking about his standing in the sport Takei explained "The top fighters in the bantamweight class are hyping it up, and I'm off to a slow start. I feel that I'm less highly rated than the other champions. I want to fight well and overtake them." He also admitted "It was frustrating watching from outside the ring.", when it came to the February 24th show, that saw WBA champion champion Seiya Tsutsumi (12-0-3, 8) [堤聖也] and WBC Bantamweight champion Junto Nakatani (30-0, 23) [中谷潤人] defending their titles, on a show that Takei attended in person.

Regarding how he feels about the bout, Takei explained "Last year, I felt a strong need to win and I wasn't playing myself. This year, I've let go of that in a good way. I want to fight with all my might again, playing my own style," He also spoke about a future clash with Tenshin Nasukawa (6-0, 2) [那須川天心], explaining "I came to the boxing world with K-1 on my back. The quickest way to prove that a K-1 fighter is strong is to fight Nasukawa Tenshin. However, if I don't win this one, there's no future. My first priority is to clear the next fight." It appears the two men do have an agreement that when they fight it will be a unification bout, and that the wait now is for Tenshin to win a world title, something he’s expected to get the chance to do later in the year. Takei added "If it's a title unification match, it will be even more exciting, and I want to match it with Tenshin." As for a prediction for his bout with Tongdee, he stated "I'll punch him with gratitude and knock him out!"

As for Rikiishi "The super featherweight class where I am is familiar to me because Uchiyama Takashi and Hatayama Takanori are world champions, but it has become a difficult class to challenge recently. This is my chance. There has been no Japanese world champion in the middleweight class, and Andy (Hiraoka Andy, Ohashi) and Sasaki (Sasaki Tsutomu, Hachioji Nakaya) are scheduled to fight in world matches, but I want to be the first to win the world. I think I only have one chance."

When asked what he made of Nunez, Rikiishi explained "He doesn't swing around, he attacks the body, he's a nasty KO puncher." With Hideyuki Ohashi, who uprooted Rikiishi, adding , "He's an old-fashioned Mexican fighter who connects uppercuts to the body, and is a tough opponent."

Speaking about the upcoming months, Rikiishi, spoke about his brother, current IBF Light Flyweight Masamichi Yabuki (17-4, 16) [佐藤政道], champion, saying “My brother will fight first (challenging IBF World Flyweight Champion n Angel Ayala Lardizabal (18-0, 8) on March 29), so he is focusing on that. He said he doesn't intend to hold the light flyweight title (even if he loses, he can still keep the light flyweight title), so I want him to win at all costs." He is scheduled to arrive at Yabuki's match the day before and act as his second.

Rikiishi also went on to say "I made it this far on my own, but I'm training in the best environment at Ohashi Gym. Thanks to the efforts of Chairman Ohashi and the people involved, I'm able to fight in a world match in Japan." Before going on to add "This is the culmination of my boxing career. I was planning to quit if I lost, so I'm going for a KO from the beginning, but don't miss it until the last second. My hand is up in the end. "

Notably Ohashi explained why he was so desperate to secure the bout in Japan, explaining, "It was difficult to hold the match in Mexico because the air is thin. Even so, the opponent is strong, but I did everything I could. I'm looking forward to Rikishi's spirit. Will his strategy work or will he fall spectacularly? Japan's lightweight class is high-level and there are many strong fighters, so I hope he will connect it to the middleweight and heavyweight classes."

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Tsutsumi and Nakatani retain Bantamweight titles, Tenshin overcomes Moloney

2/24/2025

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Earlier today we had a great card from the Ariake Arena in Japan, broadcast on Amazon Prime in Japan, ESPN + in the US and Sky Sports in the UK, among other broadcasters.

In the first of 3 major bouts we got a barn burner for the WBA Bantamweight title, as defending champion Seiya Tsutsumi (12-0-3, 8) [堤聖也] retained his title with a draw against former WBC Flyweight champion Daigo Higa (21-3-2, 19) [比嘉大吾].

The fight started surprisingly slowly, given the men involved, with both having a lot of respect for the other. It seemed that the respect was too much at times, with little in terms of real intensity, with Higa fighting well behind his jab, and Tsutsumi working more but neither really looking like their usual aggressive selves. In round 4 however things changed when a head clash left Tsutsumi with a nasty cut around his right eye. The cut invigorated Tsutusmi who began to really let his hands go and and put Higa under serious pressure for the first real time. Higa managed to bounce back well in round 5 as he began to really target the cut of Tsutusmi.

From there on the bout really really began to develop into a typical Tsutusmi fight, with the champion pressing the action, keeping a high tempo and forcing Higa to try and fight him off. Higa, to his credit, showed his toughness and found space to land some huge shots, but they were few and far between with the challenger really having an uncharacteristically low output. It seemed like Tsutusmi was taking control of the fight until round 9, a round that will be in contention for round of the year. The round saw Higa dropping Tsutsumi with a brutal left hook, the shot caught Tsutsumi clean and whilst on the canvas he smiled. Higa went all out hunting a stoppage, feeling like it was his chance to close the show, before he ran into a wild right hand from an off balance Tsutsumi that sent Higa crashing to the canvas face first.

From there on the fight was all Tsutusmi’s with the champion dominating the final 3 rounds, fighting like he didn’t just want to win the rounds, but stop Higa, who essentially shut up shop for the final rounds, as he looked to survive rounds 10 and 11. At points in round 12 there was life from Higa, but he really didn’t do a lot given the output, intensity and work rate of Tsutsumi, who really seemed to boss the action.

Amazingly all 3 judges, somehow, scored this 114-114, resulting in a draw between the two men. The same result they had in their 10 rounder back in 2020.

The second of the 3 major bouts saw fast tracked hopeful Tenshin Nasukawa (6-0, 2) [那須川天心] score a solid decision win against against former WBO Bantamweight world champion Jason Moloney (27-4, 19)

The fight was, in the eyes of many, going to be one for the purists, but instead it become a thrilling war of attrition as both men had to prove their toughness in a real thriller. The story of the fight was set early on when Moloney found a home for his right hand, and gave Tenshin a real chin checking. Tenshin seemed angry at himself for being caught so easily and in round 2 he began to have success with his boxing on the move, something that saw him take control of the action through the first half of the fight. Moloney was aggressive but struggled with the movement, the angles and the footwork of Tenshin, who used the ring excellently, and countered brilliantly.

The fight saw a change in style in rounds 6 and 7 as Tenshin began to fight Moloney’s fight, with the two going toe-to-toe for almost 2 entire rounds. Tenshin was almost dropped early in round 6 and that led to Moloney jumping on him. Tenshin seemed to have a point to prove and instead of boxing he began to fight back, giving us a thrilling couple of rounds of action up close. Moloney would connect up top, regularly, whilst Tenshin mixed his offense up more, going to the body as well as head.

Round 8 saw Tenshin getting back to his boxing, using the ring and countering Moloney’s aggression, as he looked to prove he still had plenty in his legs. Moloney, knowing he was down, deep, came out for round 9 and 10 with more aggression, trying to walk Tenshin down. That lead to thrilling action in the final round as Tenshin essentially chose to fight toe-to-toe again, hurting Moloney with a body shot, after taking some huge head shots through the ring.

At the bell it seemed clear Tenshin had had a real test, but one that he passed, and that was confirmed by the scorecards of 97-93, twice, and 98-92.

After the bout Tenshin was joined in the ring by WBO champion Yoshiki Takei (10-0, 8) [武居由樹], who will be defending his title in the summer. Whilst it seemed like they were set to announce they’d fight, the two men, who were incredibly polite, instead hinted that they would only fight when both were world champions, fighting in a unification bout, rather than just for the WBO title.

The third notably bout saw WBC Bantamweight champion Junto Nakatani (30-0, 23) [中谷潤人] successfully retain his title with a 3rd round TKO of Mexican challenger David Cuellar Contreras (28-1, 18). Cuellar came out unlike almost any Nakatani opponent, showing the champion almost no respect, whether it was from ignorance or self belief is open to debate, but it made for some great action as he took risks from the opening bell. Cuellar was caught by a left hand late in the opening round, which should have served as a warning of Nakatani’s power, but it didn’t. Round 2 saw Cuellar again being very aggressive, pressing the action and looking to make the bout into a real fight.

In round 3 Cuellar continued to be aggressive, and looked to get Nakatani up close, smothering Nakatani’s power. It had some success, with Cuellar landing a good shot with Nakatani on the ropes, but it was relatively short lived success with Cuellar unable to really hurt or phase Nakatani who remained composed. Later in the round we finally saw Nakatani opening up, after landing a right hand and Cuellar suffered a knockdown following a very fluid combination, punctuated with a straight left. He beat the count but was still hurt when the fight resumed, and was dropped for a second time just moments later, with the referee waving the contest off.

After the bout Nakatani was joined in the ring by IBF champion Ryosuke Nishida (10-0, 2) [西田凌佑], with the two men saying that they will be facing each other next, in what is a highly anticipated unification bout!

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Takei Vs Tongdee has new date set!

2/1/2025

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Late last year we were supposed to see WBO Bantamweight champion Yoshiki Takei (10-0, 8) [武居由樹], make his second defense as he was scheduled to faced unbeaten Thai challenger Yuttapong Tongdee (15-0, 9), with the bout being set for December 24th. The date was then pushed back when Sam Goodman (19-0, 8) suffered an injury, forcing his bout with Undisputed Super Bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue (29-0, 26) to be delayed, and subsequently cancelled.

Sadly Goodman wasn’t the only fighter who was injured for the planned December 2th date, with Takei himself being injured just days after Goodman, with his injury ruling him out of the rescheduled January date, a date that ultimately saw Goodman being injured again and being replaced by South Korean Ye Joon Kim (21-3-2, 13) [김예준].

It’s now emerged that a new date has been set for Takei to face Tongdee, as reported by Wasim Mather, as seen in his tweet below

Just in: Yuthapong Tongdee will face Yoshiki Takei for the WBO bantamweight title on May 28 in Osaka, following a previous delay due to Takei's injury. #boxing #WBO #bantamweight #Osaka.
— WMboxingmedia (@WMboxingmedia) January 31, 2025

Rather interestingly Ohashi, who promotes Takei, hasn’t run an Osaka show, that we can recall, so the fight being held in the region would be something of a surprise, though could well see Ohashi serving as a co-promoter, along with an Osaka based promoter.

For Takei the bout will serve as he second defense of the title he won last year, when he came through some serious scares late on against Jason Moloney, and see him try to build on a very close win over Daigo Higa (21-3-1, 19) [比嘉大吾]. As for Tongdee the bout will be his first world title bout and see him fight outside of Thailand for the first time as a professional, though he has fought abroad before and scored a notable win in Cuba against Robeisy Ramirez in a 2017 amateur bout.

Edit -
Wasim has now clarified the fight will be in Yokohama, and not Osaka, something that makes a lot more sense given Ohashi's links to the area and recent promise to bring a big fight to Yokohama.

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Inoue, Kim and undercard fighters make weight

1/23/2025

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On Friday we’ll see Undisputed Super Bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue (28-0, 25) defending his world titles against South Korean challenger Ye Joon Kim (21-2-2, 13) [김예준]. The fight, which is widely regarded as a mismatch though came about at short notice due to IBF Mandatory challenger Sam Goodman (19-0, 8) suffering an injury in training, saw the two men take part in their weigh in on Thursday and both men looked in great condition whilst make the Super Bantamweight limit with no issues.

On the scales both men were 121.75lbs (55.2KG) which is under the limit with some wiggle room.

After making weight Inoue told reporters that he was looking forward to the fight, and that his recovery is different to what he had planned for Goodman. He was also complimentary of Kim, explaining "He's coming at this fight without fear. He has a strong will and he's coming at it." He also spoke about signing with Riyadh Season, and explaining "Just because I've signed doesn't mean big changes, but it's a match I can't afford to lose. It would be great if I can do both Las Vegas and Saudi Arabia.

Notably Inoue's promoter, Hideyuki Ohashi, has worked hard with rebuilding Korean boxing, working with local promoters to put on shows on the Korean peninsula. He has a long history, as both a fighter facing top Korean fighters and as a promoter working with Koreans. Talking about Kim’s role as challenger, he stated "I hope this will be a catalyst for Korean boxing."

Thankfully, given how cursed this show has been with Goodman twice being injured for it, a notable delay and WBO Bantamweight champion Yoshiki Takei (10-0, 8) [武居由樹] needing to be pulled from the show due to injury, all the other fighters involved also made weight. That included Welterweight regional double champion Jin Sasaki (18-1-1, 17) [佐々木尽], who was bang on 147lbs for his bout with Shoki Sakai (29-14-3, 15) [坂井祥紀], who was 146.25lbs.

Japanese Super Bantamweight champion Toshiki Shimomachi (19-1-3, 12) [下町俊貴] was 121.5lbs, as was his challenger Misaki Hirano (11-1, 4) [平野岬], whilst WBO Asia Pacific Minimumweight champion Goki Kobayashi (8-1, 5) [小林豪己] was on the limit, at 105lbs, as he takes on former Japanese national champion Yuni Takada (15-8-3, 6) [高田勇仁], 104.75lbs.

In a mouth watering non title bout between Japanese Super Featherweight champion Tsubasa Narai (14-2, 10) [奈良井翼] and WBO Asia Pacific Super Featherweight champion Kai Watanabe (13-1-1, 7) [渡邊海], who are fighting at 60KG’s (around 132.3lbs), Narai came in bang on the limit, whilst Watanabe was 100g’s under the contracted weight.

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Yoshiki Takei suffers injury, world title bout delayed; Ohashi says all Inoue's future bouts will have a reserve opponent

12/18/2024

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This past weekend the unfortunate news that the planned contest between Undisputed Super Bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue (28-0, 25) and unbeaten Australian challenger Sam Goodman (19-0, 8) had had to be delayed, due to Goodman suffering an injury in sparring. The delay for the injury saw the show being pushed from December 24th to January 24th. And now the card has appeared cursed, with another injury affecting the plans.

That injury is a torn labrum suffered by WBO Bantamweight champion Yoshiki Takei (10-0, 8) [武居由樹], who was set to defend his title against unbeaten Thai challenger Yuttapong Tongdee (15-0, 9) in the chief support bout. The injury is expected to take around 4 weeks to heal, ruling him out of a January date, with Spring looking more likely for the bout, which sounds like it will be rescheduled with the rest of the show taking place on the January date.

Takei, along with trainer Akira Yaegashi and promoter Hideyuki Ohashi, announced the delay at a press conference today, with Ohashi also explaining that "in preparation for any unforeseen circumstances (in the main event)," the card will feature another bout featuring a world ranked Super Bantamweight, essentially a replacement if Goodman gets injured close to fight time and has to pull out, rather than having Inoue wasting more time. This is not the first time Ohashi has done this, with TJ Doheny being on the under-card of Inoue’s bout with Luis Nery for the same reason.

At the same event Ohashi also spoke about the delay to the December 24th card. He explained that within 3.5 hours of Goodman’s injury he and his team had rebooked the venue, contacted everyone on the card and explained the situation, essentially letting everyone know that the entire card was being pushed back. He did that whilst also getting a contingency in place, and revealed that they had a deal in place with a replacement fighter, for the December date, and also that Goodman himself wanted to fight, despite the injury, but was talked out of it by his team.

Speaking about Inoue’s reaction to hearing about Goodman’s injury, the Monster is said to have told Ohashi “It's totally OK. I'm open to anything."

Interesting Ohashi added that the idea to have world ranked Super Bantamweights on the undercard will be an idea that he’s going to go with longer term, stating "create reserve fighters for all of Inoue's bouts from now on."

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Takei to defend WBO Bantamweight May 28th; Rikiishi and Nunez to clash for IBF Super Featherweight title

Tsutsumi and Nakatani retain Bantamweight titles, Tenshin overcomes Moloney

Takei Vs Tongdee has new date set!

Inoue, Kim and undercard fighters make weight

Yoshiki Takei suffers injury, world title bout delayed; Ohashi says all Inoue's future bouts will have a reserve opponent

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