An extravaganza of seven title fights in two days is coming to Tokyo’s Ariake Arena Oct. 13-14 in Japan, with action that includes unbeaten WBC bantamweight titleholder Junto Nakatani, WBA bantamweight titlist Takuma Inoue and WBO junior bantamweight belt holder Kosei Tanaka.
The carnival of fights, promoted by Japan’s Teiken Promotions and streamed to the U.S. by ESPN+, is a testament to the deep pool of talent offered by the nation.
The first day’s action will be headlined by Inoue (20-1, 5 KOs), the younger brother of pound-for-pound elite and four-division champion Naoya Inoue. Takuma Inoue will meet the third-ranked Seiya Tsutsumi (11-0-2, 8 KOs).
Other bouts on the Oct. 13 card include Kensiro Teraji (23-1, 14 KOs) vs. Christopher Rosales (37-6, 22 KOs) for the vacant WBC flyweight belt; WBA flyweight titleholder Seigo Yuri Akui (20-2-1, 11 KOs) vs. Thailand’s Thananchai Charunphak (25-1, 15 KOs); and Tokyo’s Shokichi Iwata (13-1, 10 KOs) vs. Spain’s Jairo Noriega (14-0, 3 KOs) for the vacant WBO junior flyweight belt.
Nakatani (28-0, 21 KOs) has designs on a possible 2025 showdown with Naoya Inoue.
In his Oct. 14 headliner, he will meet Thailand’s Petch Sor Chitpattana (76-1, 53 KOs), who has also fought at Petch CP Freshmart.
The only non-title fight is former kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa (4-0, 2 KOs) meeting Gerwin Asilo (9-0, 4 KOs) in a bantamweight bout.
Nasukawa is best known for fighting and losing to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a 2019 exhibition, then crying in defeat.
His fight will be preceded by Tanaka (20-1, 11 KOs) defending his WBO junior bantamweight belt against Phumelele Cafu (10-0-3, 8 KOs) in a bout that could lead Tanaka toward a 2025 unification against gifted Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, the unbeaten WBC titleholder from Texas.
Los Angeles’ WBO flyweight titlist Anthony Olascuaga (7-1, 5 KOs) will open the Oct. 14 card by defending his WBO flyweight belt against Puerto Rico’s Jonathan Gonzalez (28-3-1, 14 KOs).
Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.
Read the full article here
