May 20th-A trio of former world champions in action at Korakuen Hall

5/16/2025

Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
This coming Tuesday Masayuki Ito’s “Treasure Boxing” will be putting on a card that really beggars belief in some ways, with 3 former world champions on it, with a combined age of 109, all competing in really interesting bouts, with a good chance that all 3 could end up picking up losses.

The main event will see one of those former world champions in action, as WBO Asia Pacific Super Bantamweight champion Subaru Murata (9-0, 9) takes on former IBF Super Bantamweight champion Yukinori Oguni (22-3-3, 9), in what is probably the most likely of the bouts to see a former world champion come up short. The hard hitting Murata is seen as part of the new wave of Japanese fighters at 122lbs and his 9 career bouts have consisted of just 36 rounds, as he's won and defended his regional title and taken the 0's of 3 fighters, including Kaito Yamasaki who he beat in a thriller last year. He looks to be a star in the making, and a win here would boost his profile and standing. As for Oguni, the 36 year old former champion retired in 2017, after losing to Ryosuke Iwasa, but since then has fought on and odd, ending his retirement and going a very mixed 3-1-2. On paper that looks good, especially when you consider he has draws against Keita Kurihara and Johnriel Casimero, but in all honesty the real result of note was an opening round blow out loss to Fillipus Nghitumbwa last year, a loss that doesn’t bode well ahead of a fight with Murata. At his best Oguni was a skilled fighter, with good ring craft, IQ and the ability to use his feet. In recent years he has looked a slower version of himself, and against someone like Murata this could be a very painful day for the popular former champion.

A second former world champion in action here is Masataka Taniguchi (19-5, 13), a former WBO Minimumweight champion who has failed to have the same impact at 108lbs. For this bout the 31 year old will be up against Condor Inaba (9-6-2, 5), in what looks like a mismatch. Notably however Taniguchi will be moving up from Light Flyweight to a contracted 51.5KG (113.5lbs) to take on a fully fledged Flyweight, who has nothing to lose and everything to gain. At his best Taniguchi is a very good boxer-puncher, who can get dragged into wars Kai Ishizawa, Wilfredo Mendez, Kenichi Horikawa and Phai Pharob are the standout ones on his record. Notably however he has had losses through his career, and lost last time out, to Thanongsak Simsri in December. As for Inaba this is a massive step up for him, and the 30 year will be the clear under-dog, but given his size advantage he will look to make the most of a career defining opportunity. Notably Ianaba’s record does show him losing 6 of 17, however his is something a little bit different and he is 5-1-2 since 2018, after a 4-4-1 start to his career.

The oldest, and most respected and accomplished, of the former world champions is 42 year old Filipino legend Donnie Nietes (44-2-6, 23), who returns to Japan to take on Jun Ikegawa (7-1-2, 2) at Super Bantamweight. Nietes, a genuine legend and a 4 weight world champion who claimed world titles at 105, 108, 112 and 115, has etched his legacy over the last 22 years but is looking to add one final successful chapter to his career. His only other bout in Japan was his 2022 loss to Kazuto Ioka, a bout that seemed like his final career bout until earlier this year, when he beat Miller Alapormina and began an unexpected comeback, with this being the second bout of that comeback. At his best Nietes was an elite technical boxer, but at 42 and with just 6 rounds in over 2 years, it’s hard to know what he has to offer. Ikegawa on the other hand is a 27 year old Southpaw who made his debut in 2021 and has really put his name in the mix at the top end of the domestic scene, with wins over Issei Ochiai, Ryo Hino, and Tomoya Kishine, and draw against Shigetoshi Kotari and Toshiya Ishii, along with a loss last year to Ishii in a second meeting between the two. Given his size, age and activity, Ikegawa has a genuine chance to score a genuinely career defining win, even if the bout in question is a 6 rounder against a 42 year old, who made his name way lower down the weights.

In other bouts on this card former amateur standout Ryusei Baba (3-2-1, 1) will face off with Yuya Kumagai (6-3, 4) and the once beaten puncher Kenshin Hosokawa (8-1-1, 6) will battle against American Adrian Alvarado (12-2-1, 6), who takes part in his second US bout following a win over Adrian Lerasan last October, in two very good supporting bouts.

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