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Over the last few months the WBA have been to their old tricks of handing out “interim” world titles, after announcing that they had planned to have a single title per division. Multiple times. In fact WBA President Gilberto Mendoza Jr famously held a meeting in Japan at the JBC head office in Tokyo, with the then JBC Chairman Hiroshi Akiyama and Hitoshi Watanabe, the then chairman of the East Japan Boxing Association and stated "We will narrow down the number of WBA champions to one." That was in 2017.
Despite that claim from Mendoza, we should have known better, and between December 7th and December 15th 2024, more than 7 years after that meeting in Japan, we had 3 separate bouts for WBA “secondary” titles. On December 7th we saw Kubrat Pulev (32-3, 14) beat Manuel Charr (34-5, 20) for the WBA "world title", with Charr losing the title he hadn't defended in close to 2 years, just weeks before “Super” champion Oleksandr Usyk (22-0, 14) faces Tyson Fury (34-1-1, 24) in a highly anticipated rematch. On December 13th we saw Antonio Vargas (19-1, 11) claim the WBA “interim” Bantamweight title, just weeks after Seiya Tsutsumi (12-0-2, 8) [堤聖也] won the title in a mandatory title shot against Takuma Inoue (20-2, 5) [井上拓真], and on December 14th we saw Murodjon Akhmadaliev (13-1, 10) [Ахмадалиев, Муроджон Кахарович] claim the WBA “interim” Super Bantamweight title, as he stopped Mexican fighter Ricardo Espinoza Franco (30-5-0-1, 25), just 10 days before Naoya Inoue (28-0, 25) [井上尚弥] was scheduled to defend the Super title against Sam Goodman (19-0, 8). Amazingly just days after Vargas’ title win, which saw him beat Winston Guerrero (22-1, 13), the WBA have decided that Vargas is the new mandatory for Tsutsumi, a man who, again, won the title in a mandatory in October. By itself a Tsutsumi Vs Vargas fight would be a lot of fun, with Tsutsumi’s all out, hyper aggressive style coming up against the good boxing but questionable chin of Vargas. However the WBA having an interim title fight, and then announcing the next mandatory is an odd decision, especially as the “real” title hasn’t been sat on the sideline, with it having been fought for 3 times this year, including just 2 months before their interim title fight. In recent days there has been articles about the WBA having been “shaken down” by Boxrec, whilst there may or may not be something to that story, it’s hard not to see the WBA’s recent expansion of multiple “world” titles, as something more sinister for the sport. It is as if the WBA, who are still led by the same Mendoza who spoke about only having a single champion in a division, have had serious memory losses, forgetting just how devalued they made their own titles, with every division having multiple champions. They appear to be on the road to replicating that, and perhaps are now heading to the point of no return. The point where they go the way of the WBU or the WBF and become a joke. There is talk that Boxrec removing the WBA titles from records has tarnished the history of the sport. The reality is the WBA are tarnishing their own reputation, the sport and the status of being a world champion. Something they did in the past, and are now doing once again. Whilst talk about a single champion in a division is never going to happen, we at least assumed we’d have a single WBA champion, something that had been looking likely in the last few years. Now however it’s clear that the sport will once again go back to having multiple people calling themselves the WBA “world” champion. Whilst interim titles do have a purpose in the sport, and the WBC, IBF and WBO have all used them correctly, the 2 examples of the WBA from recent weeks have not made any sense. The champions haven’t been injured, they haven’t been out of the ring for a prolonged period, or are expecting to be and both titles have been fought for 3 times in the last 12 months. The moves from the WBA really aren’t about using “interim” titles, but more about confusing the fans and delegitimizing what it really means to be a world champion. (A side note - All 3 of the recent WBA “secondary” bouts have aired on DAZN, whilst that’s likely just a coincidence, it is something worthy of noting at this point, another thing to note is that two of the bouts have lead to mandatory title fights for Japanese fighters, both coming after the JBC refused to allow the WBA "interim" title at 140lbs to be on the for the October bout between Ismael Barroso and Andy Hiraoka [平岡アンディ], again likely just a mere coincidence].
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 Back on February 4th we saw Japanese sensation Junto Nakatani (27-0, 20) become a 3-weight world champion, with a sensational performance against Alexandro Santiago, who was stopped in 6 rounds, to claim the WBC Bantamweight title. The performance was a real eye opening, and showed that not only was Nakatani a brilliant boxer, something we’d known for years, but that he was getting better, and that his power had easily carried up from Flyweight, to Super Flyweight to Bantamweight. In fact if anything he was becoming a heavier puncher as matured and grew into his body. In fact it may well be fair to say he’s more suited to fighting at Bantamweight today, than he was at the lower weights when he was younger.
With the win over Santiago talk immediately went on to what could be next for the 26 year old southpaw. The immediate talk was unification bouts with WBO champion Jason Moloney (27-2, 27), WBA champion Takuma Inoue (19-1, 5) or IBF champion Emmanuel Rodriguez (22-2-0-1, 13). Sadly that talk needs to be put on ice for now, with all 3 champions set to defend their titles in May against Japanese challengers, with Inoue facing Moloney facing Yoshiki Takei (8-0, 8), Inoue facing Sho Ishida (34-3, 17) and Rodriguez facing Ryosuke Nishida (8-0, 1). Not only do those bouts take all 3 champions out of the mix for now, but also 3 top Japanese contenders, leaving Nakatani looking for a new dance partner. Despite 6 notable names in the division competing in title fights in May, there are still a lot of interesting potential options out there for Nakatani. Here we’ll take a look at 5 potential foes for the talented Japanese sensation. 1-Vincent Astrolabio (19-4, 14) The obvious choice, for now, is Filipino fighter Vincent Astrolabio, who won a WBC eliminator last summer when he beat Navapon Khaikanha in Thailand and is the top available contender. The Filipino isn’t a big name, though did run Moloney razor thin in a WBO title bout last May, and has scored a number of notable wins in the last few years, stopping Navapon and Nikolai Potapov, and also beating Guillermo Rigondeaux. The bout would serve as a measuring stick of sorts against Moloney, who was taken to the wire by the Filipino, would deal with the WBC mandatory situation, give Nakatani a bout to fill the short term, and potentially also get him a bout in the States, where 2 of Astrolabio’s last 3 bouts have been. The bout is a dangerous one, with the Filipino being high-risk, low reward, but also being the sort of fighter that Nakatani should deal with, if he’s nearly as good as he seems. 2-Paul Butler (36-3, 17) We mentioned Astrolabio being a chance for Nakatani to measure himself against Jason Moloney, but Nakatani is possibly wanting to compare himself against someone else, Naoya “Monster” Inoue. One way to do that is to face a former foe of Inoue’s and one such fighter is Britain’s Paul Butler, the former 2-time world champion who survived into round 11 with Inoue in 2022, when the men met in a bout for all the marbles. Butler’s performance that day was all about surviving, and he put up no real offensive effort, but it still took Inoue 11 rounds to stop him. If Nakatani faced him, he would be looking to take out Butler quicker than that and make a real statement. Butler, aged 35, would likely jump at the opportunity to return to Japan and have a chance to show what he can do when not facing someone as amazing Inoue, and is highly ranked by the WBC making this a potential bout that makes sense. The fight would also help improve Nakatani’s profile in the UK, and potentially help sell his future bouts to a British audience. 3-Seiya Tsutsumi (10-0-2, 7) With Inoue, Takei, Ishida and Nishida all scheduled to fight in May, looking for a domestic opponent doesn’t give us many choices for a domestic showdown. One of the few exceptions to that is Japanese Bantamweight champion Seiya Tsutsumi, who has plenty of momentum of his own, and also created a lot of buzz last year, with his tragic win over Kazuki Anaguchi on December 26th. The unbeaten, heavy handed, determined and gutsy Tsutusmi won fans over with his win over Anaguchi, and proved what he was capable of whilst also generating a lot of buzz for himself, and he would certainly make for a fan friendly opponent for Nakatani. The bout would be regarded as something of a mismatch in favour of Nakatani, but it would be easy to make, it would be fun to watch, and give Nakatani a bout against someone who still has some buzz, not just in Japan but also in the West, with ESPN having shown both men’s most recent bout. 4-Roman Gonzalez (51-4, 41) It’s well known that Nicaraguan legend Roman Gonzalez wants to become a 5 weight world champion and to do that he’ll be looking at Bantamweight for his 5th divisional title. With all the other champions fighting in May the only real option for him, unless he wants to wait until the end of the year, is Nakatani. It would be hard to see Gonzalez winning against someone as big, as sharp, as powerful and good as Nakatani, but it would pretty much be his only chance to get a shot at a title anytime soon. The Nicaraguan legend is well known, and even loved, in Japan where he fought much of his career, and ending his career against an emerging Japanese star would be a fitting way to end his career, win or lose. For Nakatani it would be a rare chance to share a ring with a living legend, and a win over Gonzalez, even this faded version of Gonzalez, would enhance his resume. Notably this bout could sell in either the US or Japan, with Gonzalez being well known on both sides of the Pacific, and would, in some ways, act as a potential passing of the torch from one legend of the sport, to someone some are suggesting will be a future legend. 5-Kazuto Ioka (31-2-1, 16) Talking about Nakatani facing a legend, one other potential legend that he could face is Kazuto Ioka, who like Gonzalez would be looking to become a world champion in a 5th weight class something no Japanese man has ever done. The bout, like the Gonzalez one, would see Nakatani trying to rip the proverbial torch from an older, more established fighter and use the bout to further cement himself as one of the elite lower weight fighters, Ioka might not be the legend that Gonzalez is, but is still a very accomplished fighter, who has long been one of the main faces of Japanese boxing. At 34 years old time is ticking on his career and if he can claim a fifth divisional world title and end his career as a Bantamweight world champion it would be huge for his already incredibly legacy. Sadly this bout, despite being a really interesting one which would see Nakatani taking on one of the most rounded fighters in the lower weights, is one that could see broadcast contracts prevent the bout from taking place, and could be a very hard one to make from a contractual perspective. Despite that it’s certainly one we would love to see, and one that would give both men a big fight, something they both want, with a lot to gain from a victory. Man what a crazy week we've had. We were expecting the WBSS semi finals to be announced, and although that hasn't happened, we have had some notable news across various part of Asian boxing from contract signings to announcements about up coming bouts, to a pretty notable legal case. Unlike last we've we've tried to break our stories in subsections this week, grouping similar stories together.
Signings Srisaket inks deal with DAZN! Details of Feb 8th ring appearance confirmed! During the week we saw Eddie Hearn announce that he, and Matchroom USA, had inked a deal with WBC and Ring Magazine Super Flyweight champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (47-4-1, 41) [ศรีสะเกษ นครหลวงโปรโมชั่น], making the Thai a DAZN exclusive fighter. This is a huge coup for DAZN who will be showing his rematch with Juan Francisco Estrada, with that bout being eyed for an early April date. Before Srisaket fights his first bout on DAZN however he will be "fighting" in Thailand in an exhibition bout as part of a stacked February 8th card to raise money for a local hospital. The line up for that card was also announced this week, and more details on that show can be read here: Muhammad Waseem signs with MTK Global, said to be targeting an April ring return Another notable fighter signing a contract with a new team was Pakistani Flyweight Muhammad Waseem (8-1, 6) [محمد وسیم] who has now signed with MTK Global ahead of the next chapter of his career. He is best known for his 2018 bout with Moruti Mthalane, and his work with Korean promoter Andy Kim, but it seems like he is needing a promoter with big pockets, and that is what he has got here with MTK Global. Whilst this doesn't explicitly tie Waseem to a particular channel it does seem like it will land him some big fights in the UK, and we're really looking forward to seeing what he can do with MTK Global now guiding his career. Bout announcements Ryosuke Iwasa to face Cesar Juarez in February! Former IBF Super Bantamweight champion Ryosuke Iwasa (25-3, 16) [岩佐 亮佑] will be returning to the ring on February 16th to take on exciting Mexican Cesar Juarez (23-6, 17). This is a bout that was rumoured late last year, but was announced until this week, when Juarez let the cat out of the bag. It was later confirmed by the Iwasa team. The contest will be an IBF world title eliminator, and will also be Iwasa's US debut. The match up was announced at short notice, less than 4 weeks before taking place, but with both men being aware of the bout it's hard to imagine either man being ill prepared for what could be a sleeper FOTY contender. Eri Matsuda and Nanae Suzuki to battle in unification bout! We all want to see Champion Vs Champion bouts, fighters unifying titles and looking to prove who is the best. This week we saw the announcement that OPBF Atomweight champion Eri Matsuda (2-0) [松田恵里] would be facing Japanese female champion Nanae Suzuki (8-2-1, 1) [鈴木 菜々江], in a mouth watering unification bout. Matsuda looks to be one of the hottest prospects in female boxing, but will need to show what she can do against a more experienced and equally hungry opponent. This is likely to push the winner on to a world title fight, and should be seen as a very significant match up, at least for the fighters involved. Musashi Mori Vs Richard Pumicpic II set for April 14th, Tsutsumi, Shigeoka and Takeda on undercard! Last year we saw Musashi Mori (8-0, 5) [森 武蔵] defeat Filipino Richard Pumicpic (21-9-2, 6) to claim the WBO Asia Pacific Featherweight title, in what is clearly his best win to date.The first bout was curtailed due to a headclash, but the fact we're getting a rematch in mid April is certainly not a bad thing. Not only was the rematch announced here but the under-card was also a lovely bonus, with Ginjiro Shigeoka (1-0, 1) [重岡銀次朗], Seiya Tsutsumi (4-0, 3) [堤聖也] and Rookie of the Year winner Sora Takeda (4-1) [竹田宙] all announced for the show. Sadly none of them have their opponents announced, but we would be very surprised if at least one of them does face a Japanese ranked opponent. A great main event with a potentially solid under-card. Yuko Kuroki to face Nao Ikeyama in April! On the same day as the previously mentioned Mori Vs Pumicpic rematch we'll get a mos win female bout, as WBO Atomweight champion Nao Ikeyama (18-5-3, 5) [森脇恵子], who is edging towards her 50th birthday, take on former WBC female Minimumweight champion Yuko Kuroki (17-6-1, 8) [黒木優子]. Female boxing might not be huge but that doesn't stop the sport giving us some huge female bouts, and a contest between Ikeyama, a legend who has competed with the best despite being well beyond the retirement age of most fighters, and Kuroki should be sensational. The loser really has no where to go, but the winner will be on the verge of another world title fight. A high risk, high reward bout between two recent world champions. Kasumi Saeki to fight for a world title in April! Staying with female boxing, unbeaten prospect Kasumi Saeki (3-0, 2) [佐伯霞] got informed, live at an event she was speaking at, that her team were pencilling her in for a world title fight on April 27th. The details are lacking, but the WBO Asia Pacific female Minimumweight champion, looks set for a huge step up in class as her team look to make her into a star. We're expecting more details to be announced in the coming weeks, but it's clear that w could see Saeki announce herself on the world stage in just a few weeks. Notable the April 27th date is also being rumoured as the date for Reiya Konishi's bout with IBF Light Flyweight champion Felix Alvarado. Licenses Suzumi Takayama passes B license test, set for debut on February 26th! Former amateur standout Suzumi Takayama [高山 涼深] is pencilled in to fight on February 26, he has been for quite some time, but he didn't actually take his B license test until this past week. He has, as expected, passed all the tests and there isn't any issue with him being licensed, and joining the strong stable of hopefuls at the Watanabe Gym. Shokichi Iwata takes part in B class pro-test Japanese youngster Shokichi Iwata (1-0, 1) [岩田翔吉] may have made his professional debut last year, but he wasn't allowed to fight under a JBC license until this week, when he claimed a B class licensed and linked up with Teiken. It doesn't seem totally clear on what direction Iwata's career is going to take, but he has opened up doors to fight in Japan, as well as the USA. Legal: Golovkin suing former managers On a really serious issue, former unified Middleweight king Gennady Golovkin (38-1-1, 34) has began court action as he looks to sue former managers Maximilian and Oleg Hermann, who he claims owe him $3.5 million. The legal action has been filed with claims the Hermann's had their contract ended in 2017 but continued to make money off their relationship with Golovkin. It's going to be very interesting to see how this story develops in the coming months. The final part of our 19 for 19 series focuses on 3 more prospects, all of whom are exciting and aggressive fighters with fantastic power and eye catching skills. If you missed the first 4 parts of this series you catch up here: 19 for 19: Part 1 - The Teenage Prospects, 19 for 19: Part 2 - A Rookie, an Uzbek puncher, a Pinoy Prodigy and an Olympic champion 19 for 19: Part 3 - Unbeaten novices from China, Uzbekistan, Thailand and Japan! 19 for 19: Part 4 - Heavy handed fighters from Uzbekistan, Indonesia and Japan! Sadriddin Akhmedov (6-0, 6) Rising Kazakh prospect Sadriddin Akhmedov is one of the best pure prospects in the sport, with great amateur pedigree, an exciting and aggressive style, serious power, a good promotional back, in Eye of the Tiger Management, and a great level of activity. He also has the advantage of fighting in a heavier weight than some other prospects on this list, as he's fighting between Light Middleweight and Middleweight. So far he has scored 6 wins since April this year, and looks likely to be kept active against in 2019, with a bout already pencilled in for January. It's clear his team are wanting to keep him busy and develop him with activity, though we really are hoping to see him take a step up in the new year. Shawn Oda (10-0, 8) Japanese Lightweight Shawn Oda has been a professional for just over 2 and a half years but has already accomplished a lot. He came to our attention in 2017, when he claimed the Rookie of the Year and has since gone on to claim the Japanese Youth Lightweight title. At the age of 20 his future is incredibly bright, and he has already shown the ability to box, brawl and bang. For a Japanese fighter at 135lbs he is someone to make a note of, though is still rough around the edges, and perhaps still depends on athleticism when he could be using his skills. Still he should be seen as a genuine top prospect. Seiya Tsutsumi (4-0, 3) Someone who really caught our eye in 2018 has bene Seiya Tsutsumi, an aggressive, pressure fighter who fights out of the Watanabe gym and won a B Class tournament this year. The hard hitting youngster had been a very impressive amateur on the Japanese domestic scene before turning professional and at just 22 years old he looks like being one of the most exciting Japanese prospects, in terms of both in ring style and long term potential. Sadly Tsutsumi did have to pull out of a bout earlier in December, though we are hoping to see him make a return in early 2019. As well as the 19 fighters featured over the 5 parts we've also included a small list below of extra prospects to make a note of. For many of these they were missing from the main series due to a lack of available footage to share, but are all worth adding on to any sort of a prospect list.
Kudura Kaneko (9-0, 6) Taku Kuwahara (3-0, 2) Ginjiro Tsutsumimoto (2-0, 2) Kanan Huseyinaliyev (4-0, 4) Sultan Zaurbek (3-0, 2) Makhmud Gaipov (2-0, 1) Ryusei Kawaura (5-0, 4) Andika D'Golden Boy (15-0, 8) Sanjar Tursunov (1-0, 1) Tran Van Thao (11-0, 8)  Over the last few years Japan has gained a reputation for ending the boxing year in style, with major shows in the final few days of the year. Typically those bouts get announced through November, as promoters officially announce the bouts and put their shows together along with major domestic television companies. As we enter November we thought it would be fun to look at some of those rumours for the month, and some of the confirmed bouts, as well as those that have been mentioned as possible, and those on the verge of being officially announced. We'll start by looking at what we know, with the confirmed notable bouts from the month. December 1st is set to be a crazy day with several major shows. In Tokyo we'll get a card televised by G+ which will be headlined by Valentine Hosokawa (23-6-3, 10) defending his Japanese Light Welterweight title against Takashi Inagaki (20-17-2, 9). The card will also feature a brilliant match up between Seiya Tsutsumi (4-0, 3) and Matcha Nakagawa (13-1-1, 5) as well as the ring return of former IBF Super Bantamweight champion Yukinori Oguni (19-2-1, 7) On the same day in Osaka we get two Shinsei Gym cards, featuring a combined 6 title bouts. The shows will be Real Spirits vol 60 and Real Spirits vol 61, with the first card featuring 4 female title bouts, including a WBO female Minimumweight title bout between Kayoko Ebata (12-7, 6) and Etsuko Tada (17-3-2, 5) and an OPBF Atomweight title bout between Eri Matsuda (1-0) and Minayo Kei (6-3, 1). The second card will see former world title challenger Reiya Konishi (16-1, 6) defending the WBO Asia Pacific Light Flyweight title against Richard Rosales (13-7-2, 7) and a potentially thrilling contest between Masao Nakamura (24-3, 23) and Carlo Magali (23-10-3, 12) for the WBO Asia Pacific Super Featherweight title. December 3rd will give us a single big show, headlined by OPBF Featherweight champion Satoshi Shimizu (7-0, 7) and Takuya Uehara (16-0, 10), with a brilliant supporting bout between Hinata Maruta (7-1-1, 6) and Tsuyoshi Tameda (18-3-2, 16), which is one of the bouts we're most looking forward to! On December 9th things get a bit crazy again. We will get a Japanese Welterweight title fight, as Ryota Yada (17-4, 14) defends his belt against Shusaku Fujinaka (16-9-2, 10), and a Japanese Super Flyweight title bout, with Takayuki Okumoto (21-8-3, 10) making his first defense against Masayoshi Hashizume (16-0-1, 10). These bouts have been officially announced and confirmed. The same day we're set to see to see Shohei Omori (19-2, 14) taking on Takahiro Yamamoto (21-5, 17) and Sho Ishida (26-1, 15) taking on Warlito Parrenas (26-8-1, 23). These bouts haven't been formally announced, though teams from both have confirmed they are taking place, and will be at the EDION Arena Osaka. It's unclear if they will share the same card as the other bouts or if the EDION will host another double dose of boxing with two shows. There is also some speculation that if this is a second show there will be one more big bout to add to the card. On December 13th we'll see Japanese Lightweight champion Shuichiro Yoshino (8-0, 6) defending his belt against Kazumasa Kobayashi (10-7-1, 6) at the Korakuen Hall and a week later we'll see Nobuyuki Shindo (20-4-1, 8) and Akinori Watanabe (37-7, 31) fight to unify the Japanese Light Middleweight title. The only other show of real significant that has been confirmed is the Japanese Rookie of the Year final on December 23rd. Nothing after Christmas, but before the start of 2019, has really been announced. But we have had a lot of rumours, speculation for December!  One bout that is supposed to be, finally, made is the long awaited IBF Light Middleweight world title eliminator between Takeshi Inoue (13-0-1, 7) and Julian Williams (25-1-1-1, 15), a bout that has seemingly been delayed, rescheduled and redelayed several times already this year. Fingers crossed this is actually made before the year is over, as it seems both fighters have wasted a lot of this year waiting for this bout to take place. Interestingly this could be the only bout to actually take place outside of Japan.
Another IBF eliminator which is rumoured to take place in December is a Super Bantamweight title eliminator between Ryosuke Iwasa (25-3, 16) and Cesar Juarez (23-6, 17). This bout is supposedly set to take place in Tokyo, though no date has been made public. If this is confirmed then we are in for a treat as these two, together, should be an amazing contest, with both being heavy handed and flawed. Fingers crossed we get this one announced shortly! Staying on the subject of IBF title fights there has been speculation in Japan that Masayuki Kuroda (30-7-3, 16) may get an unexpected shot at Flyweight champion Moruti Mthalane (36-2, 24). This rumour has come about after a scheduled eliminator with Kuroda and Eaktwan BTU Ruaviking fell through after the Thai suffered an injury. Kuroda's seemed to suggest this would be a long shot, but they are chasing the bout and it could, potentially, be on. The first of the rumoured big cards to end the year is expected to be on December 30th and is expected to be the Fuji TV card. The strongest rumour for this show is a WBO Super Featherweight title defense for Masayuki Ito (24-1-1, 12), with the named linked to him being Evgeny Chuprakov (20-0, 10). This bout is expected to be confirmed in the coming days, or at the very least Ito's part of it is, with Chuprakov perhaps not being the opponent. The same date is also pencilled in as a potential date for Kenshiro (14-0, 8) to make his next defense of the WBC Light Flyweight title, though no opponent has been linked to him. The December 30th Fuji card has also been set as the potential date for a WBC Bantamweight title bout between Petch Sor Chitpattana (48-0, 33) and Takuma Inoue (12-0, 3). This bout depends on another bout not taking place, as per an order at the WBC convention in early October, so we should see this bout being either confirmed or not very quickly. There is also a rumour that Takuma's stable mate at the Ohashi gym, Akira Yaegashi (27-6, 15) may also be involved on the same show. If the rumours for December 30th are a bit of an exciting mess things get even crazier for New Year's Eve. For weeks we've been hearing that WBC Minimumweight champion Wanheng Menayothin (51-0, 18) would be defending his title against Shin Ono (23-9-3, 6). This was rumoured to be part of a triple header, which has changed a few times but new seems most likely to feature a rematch between Ryoichi Taguchi (27-3-2, 12) and Hekkie Budler (32-3, 10), with Taguchi looking to reclaim the WBA Light Flyweight title from the South African. Along with that rematch is rumoured WBO Light Flyweight title bout between Angel Acosta (19-1, 19) and Hiroto Kyoguchi (11-0, 8). If this triple header is done, then TBS would be expected to show at least 2 bouts live on their Kyoguken show. Things get more complicated when we consider the other rumours, which include a potential WBO Flyweight world title defense by Kosei Tanaka (12-0, 7). His could be squeezed on TBS as an early bout, or could be used to stack the show to a quadruple header or could end up being only CBC live, with TBS showing it on tape delay. It's really unclear how he fits in, but he will almost certainly be wanting to fight on a year ending show, after missing out on the chance last year due to injury. Last, but certainly not least, is the rumoured WBO Super Flyweight title bout between Kazuto Ioka (23-1, 13) and Donnie Nietes (41-1-5, 23), a bout so big that TBS have seemingly given Ioka the option to take the date and broadcast if he wants it. This was rumoured strongly in September, and Japanese sources were suggesting that it could take place in the Philippines with TBS still airing it live, however the rumours did quieten quickly. It should be noted that Ioka's not been one for leaking news in the past, this could be well in the works. Given how silent things have gone however we may well see this bout being delayed into 2019, potentially as part of the next Superfly card. (Bottom image courtesy of boxmob.jp) |
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