This coming Friday we'll see an interesting rematch as WBO Atomweight champion Mika Iwakawa (10-5-1, 3) makes her second defense, and takes on Nanae Suzuki (10-4-1, 1), the woman she retained the title against in a brilliantly contested bout in 2020. It's due to how good their first bout was, and how hotly contested it was, that we now see the two facing off again.
 
For those that missed the first bout between these two, which took place in Kobe on a show promoted by Shinsei Promotions, that bout was a really great one. Through out the bout Suzuki made the fight, pressing the action from the first round and setting a high tempo with a very impressive work rate. She came forward constantly whilst Iwakawa was forced to box and move, and use her feet, looking to create space and work at range. As the bout went on however Iwakawa was forced to fight Suzuki's fight as her legs and movement began to fade and she was forced to hold, wrestle,  survive and even run away, making things very close on the cards. After 10 rounds the scores were 97-93 Iwakawa, 97-93 Suzuki and 96-94 to Iwakawa, who took a questionable split decision win.
 
Sadly the rematch between the women, which really should have taken place in 2021, is taking place almost 18 months after their first bout, and neither fighter has fought since their first clash. Which is genuinely disappointing, but a sign of what 2021 did to the careers of a number of Japanese fighters, who were unable to stay busy.
 
At her best Iwakawa is a talented technical boxer. She likes using range and distance, countering, and has sharp movement. She's a really solid technical fighter in a division where output, work rate and energy are typically more important than boxing skills. Sadly though she's now 38 and given she's never been the most active fighter in the ring, and does depend on timing and reactions, we do worry about her here. Her inactivity and age will not be doing her favours here, especially given she seemed to run out of steam in the later rounds last time she faced Suzuki.
 
As for Suzuki she it very much a fighter who's technically limited, she lacks power, and her defense is questionable, but she's a little bundle of energy, who comes forward, lets her hands go, a lot, and looks to make fights into a war. She can be out boxed, as she was against Eri Matsuda in 2019, but few will beat her in a tear up, especially over the longer distances as her aggression, work rate and stamina grinds opponents down and makes her a very tough woman to beat.
 
Given how the first bout between these two ended, and how long it's been since that bout, we can't help but feel a determined, hungry Suzuki will out work, out fight, out battle and grind out a victory against Iwakawa. Early on Iwakawa will have real success, but by rounds 4 and 5 Suzuki will be coming on hard, and will for Iwakawa into survival mode. This time around we suspect a judge will take a point from Iwakawa as she grapples to survive, and that will seal her fate.
 
Prediction - UD10 Suzuki

This coming Thursday fight fans at Korakuen Hall will get the chance to see OPBF female Flyweight champion Chaoz Minowa (6-3, 5) make her first defense, as she takes on Yumemi Ikemoto (7-1) in an interesting looking 8 rounder.
 
Sadly whilst this will be Minowa's first defense it's not like her reign has just begun, in fact she won the title way back in 2016, in just her third professional bout. Back then she was regarded as one of the hottest prospects in female boing, and there was talk about her going up and down the weights and winning world titles in a huge number of weights. Sadly however things haven't worked out for her, and now, some 5 years later, this OPBF title is still the only one she has held. Despite that she has been busy and she's gone 3-3  (3) since her OPBF title win, and challenged for world titles on a number of occasions. Sadly she's fallen short at world level, but it does seems like she could have success by dropping back to Oriental level.
 
The problem for Minowa is that, despite being a good amateur, he style as a professional is rough and raw. She's more focused on her power and aggression rather than her boxing skills. It's made her fun to watch, but it's also come at an expensive of her stamina and her results and there's been times where a more conservative approach in the ring could have yielded better results, such as her bout with Tenkai Tsunami in 2018. She has also been plagued with inactivity and fought has fought just 6 times since winning the title back on December 13th 2016! From those 6 bouts, 4 took place in 2018.
 
Sadly coming in to this one it's not just Minowa who has lacked activity, but also the challenger. Ikemoto began her professional in 2016 and was 6-1 by the end of 2018, but has only fought once since then, with that being a decision win over limited Filipino fighter Gretel de Paz. To date her most notable result came in 2018, when she beat Yuki Koseki for the Japanese female Flyweight title, but sadly she never defended that title. Rather than building on that win she has been inactive, and comes into this bout after having been out of the ring for well over 2 years, and close to 3 years!
 
In the ring Ikemoto is an aggressive, fun fighter to watch. She comes forward and applies pressure, has under-rated power and lets her shots go up close. She's not particularly polished, but she is exciting, comes to fight, and puts a lot into her shots. She also gives opponents chances to catch her, and she's quite basic in a lot of things she does. She comes forward in straight lines, she throws wide shots and she can be very open to counter shots. So far she has, on the whole, gotten away with her flaws, but this is a step up in class for her.
 
Given the styles of the two women it's hard to imagine this being anything other than a fun, brutal action bout. Sadly for Ikemoto her lack of power will be an issue here, and we suspect that Minowa's extra pop will be the difference maker in a very exciting action bout. We expect to see the two women spending a lot of time toe to toe and unloading, making for an eye catching and thrilling contest, with Minowa doing enough to take a close win.
 
Prediction - UD8 Minowa ​

On august 11th we'll see a new OPBF female Light Flyweight champion being crowned as Yumi Narita (5-4-3, 1) and Kaoru Iga (4-1-1) battle for the currently vacant title in Osaka. On paper this doesn't look like the most competitive of bouts, given the respective records of the two women, but in reality it should be a much more compelling bout that the records suggest.
 
Of the two fighters the more well known is Narita, who debuted in 2016 and has 12 professional bouts to her name, including 4 Japanese title level. Notably she is 2-1-1 at Japanese title level, having won and defended the Japanese female Minimumweight title in 2020. Although she lacks in terms of notable wins, she has held Chie Higano to a draw and did beat Mont Blanc Miki last time out, in her sole Japanese title defense.
 
In the ring Narita isn't a particularly tidy fighter, her defense is open, she can be hit and does get hit. She is however the sort of fighter who looks have her say in every exchange, and if you hit her you better be expecting to take one back in exchange. Sadly for her however her lack of power, her only stoppage came in 2016 in her first professional win, does mean that having exchanges doesn't result in getting respect from her opponents.
 
Iga on the other hand has only been a professional since 2019, and she actually failed to win either of her first two bouts, drawing on debut and losing in her second bout. After that disappointing start she's gone on to win her last 4 bouts, though has yet to beat a fighter with more wins than losses. She was last seen out in April, beating Sachiko Kondo in a 6 rounder and that bout will serve her well here, but she is still stepping up significantly from that win, and her competition really has been poor so far.
 
In the ring Iga is certainly inexperienced, and light punching, but is aggressive, comes out to fight, launches a lot of shots and and seems to enjoy an actual fight. Sadly for her she's not very polished, and is really reliant on her hunger and stamina rather than her skills, but it does make for fun to watch action fights.
 
Watching the two women in action one this is clear, there is more to Narita's game than there is to Iga. Iga is very much aggression, and throwing a lot, whilst Narita does know her way around the ring a bit, she can box or move, and whilst both are crude there is a clear difference in skill set between the two women. We suspect that, and the experience edge of Narita, will be the difference maker here, with Narita doing enough to earn a very close and competitive decision, and claim the OPBF title.
 
Prediction - SD8 Narita ​

Over the years we have had some legendary Japanese female fighters but it's fair to say that none quite compare to current WBA female Flyweight champion Naoko Fujioka (18-2-1, 7) who has become the bar by which all other Japanese female fighters are compared. The talented Fujioka is the only Japanese fighter, male of female, to have won world titles in 5 weight classes, she has chased her legacy around the globe and won world titles from Minimumweight to Bantamweight. Not only has she done great things in terms of winning titles but she has also beaten a who's who along the way, with wins against Naoko Shibata, Anabel Ortiz, Naoko Yamguchi, Mariana Juarez, Shindo Go, Yokasta Valle and Irma Sanchez. In just 21 professional bouts she has done almost everything she could ever have dreamed of doing in the sport.
 
Almost everything.
 
The one thing missing from Fujioka's resume is scoring a win in the US, something she gets the chance to do this weekend when she takes on the once beaten Sulem Urbina (12-1-0-1, 2) in Los Angeles. A win for Fujioka would add another cherry on to one of the best careers of a female fighter in the sport, whilst a loss would be a farewell to the 45 year old boxing legend, who must know retirement is looming around the corner.
 
For those who haven't followed Fujioka's career, and we genuinely can't blame you given how low profile female boxing was until very recently, she was a former amateur standout before turning professional in 2009 aged 34. An ancient age for a fighter, especially a lower weight fighter. She quickly raced through the ranks, winning an OPBF title just over a year after making her debut and stopping Anabel Ortiz for the WBA Minimumweight title within 2 years of her debut. She then pursued greatness, jumping from Minimumweight to Super Flyweight and dethroning Naoko Yamaguchi before bouncing up and down the weights picking up titles at Bantamweight, Flyweight and Light Flyweight whilst etching her name in the Japanese boxing history books.
 
In the ring a prime Fujioka could do it all. She could box, she could fight, she could brawl, she had a good work rate, solid engine, a real will to win, and a desire to be the best. She was technically not the most perfect. There was a clumsiness to her style, but one that she generally got away with due to her strength and physicality. At times it could look like she was being dirty, sneaky even, but on the whole it was aggressive clumsiness, something often seen in female boxing, especially when fights are close and hotly contested. She was a born fighter, who became a good boxer, but was still a fighter at heart. Sadly however at the age of 45 she's also now a true veteran and she's not been seen in the ring since a draw with Tenkai Tsunami back in July 2019, around 2 years ago! She has also only fought twice since the start of 2018, leaving us with questions as to what is really left in the tank.
 
The challenger on the other hand is a 30 year old Mexican born American based fighter who really hasn't done a great deal as a professional, since debuting in 2016. As an amateur Urbina competed at a high level, with some very mixed success, before beginning her professional career in Mexico in 2016. She began her professional career with a string of wins against some very low level competition, and was tested in some of those bouts, before making her US debut last year with a win over Noemi Bosques. To be honest her wins, so far, have come against very, very weak opposition, with her most notable victory coming against the limited Judith Rodriguez. Her competition isn't fitting of a world title challenger, despite her pretty looking record.
 
The only real stand out name on Urbina's record is Marlen Esparza, who beat Urbina in October 2020, with a very clear decision. Sadly that was her most recent bout.
 
Despite her competition being limited Urbina is genuine a very solid fighter. She gets in the ring and comes to fight, she lets good body shots go, she looks to set a high pace, puts forward a lot of pressure and comes to let shots go straight away. Her shots are thrown with bad intentions, she keeps pressing, and she has very, very busy hands. Although not the most polished, or smooth boxer, she makes for good TV friendly fights and at the end of the day the sport needs more fighters like that!
 
Give the styles of the two women we expect to see them both get close early on, and really unleashing shots in high volume at close range. Fujioka could make this easy by boxing and moving, but we're not sure the 45 year old legs of Fujioka would be able to stay on the move 10 rounds, like Esparza did against Urbina, and instead we expect to see her holding her ground and really beign happy to have a war with Urbina.
 
It's a real shame we're not seeing the prime version of Fujioka here. There's a chance that Urbina will be in the right place at the right time to take advantage of a faced legend. But in reality that should be considered an upset. Even with this version of Fujioka. Instead we suspect the clean punching, and the heavier shots of Fujioka will be the difference maker and will be enough for her to take home the victory here.
 
Prediction - UD10 Fujioka ​