Japan world title double-header set for March

Koki Kameda, for Kameda Promotions, has officially announced the next installment of his 3150Fight x LushBomu series – which sees events with a mixture of live musical performances and world-class boxing – for March 29 and 30 March at the Aichi Sky Expo, Aichi, Japan

The boxing side of the event will likely feature two world championship fights. The first will see Koki’s younger brother and former WBO bantamweight ruler Tomoki Kameda challenging IBF featherweight champion Angelo Leo.

Leo won the title in August last year with a stunning 10th round KO over Luis Alberto Lopez.

Having previously held the WBO belt at 122lbs Leo’s career nearly unraveled after defeat to Stephen Fulton in 2021, with just one bout in the following 34 months. However, with the help of ProBoxTV, Leo rebuilt his career at 126lbs, with three wins over ranked opposition between November 2023 and April 2024.

Kameda made the move to 126lbs in 2022 after a failed bid at Rey Vargas’ WBC junior featherweight title in 2019. He rattled off two impressive stoppage victories before facing Lerato Dlamini in an IBF eliminator for the No. 2 spot in October 2023. Dlamini defeated the hometown fighter via split decision.

After a comeback fight, Kameda got another chance to defeat the South African when Arnold Khegai pulled out of an ordered IBF eliminator against Dlamini. This time Kameda dropped and defeated the South African via split decision.

With a potential all-Japanese mega-fight against Naoya Inoue on the line for the 33-year-old Tomoki, a win is crucial if he wants to continue at the top level of the sport.

Another rumoured matchup for the card is a WBC minimumweight title rematch between Melvin Jerusalem and Yudai Shigeoka

Jerusalem dropped Shigeoka twice on the way to a split decision win last March, before a very impressive points win over unbeaten Mexican Luis Castillo in September.

Jerusalem previously held the WBO title at 105lbs, having scored a stunning second-round TKO win to upset Masataka Taniguchi in Osaka in January 2023.

Jerusalem lost his WBO title in his first defense against the now unified WBA and WBO champion Oscar Collazo

Shigeoka ran through domestic level in Japan, winning the WBO Asia Pacific and Japanese titles inside five bouts before challenging former world champion Wilfredo Mendez for the interim WBC belt in April 2023.

Shigeoka dominated Mendez, stopping him in round seven. He then challenged Panya Pradabsri for the full title in October 2023 and scored a wide decision victory over the Thai, sweeping rounds five to 12 on all three scorecards.

Since losing to Jerusalem in his first defense, Shigeoka has had a lacklustre points win over former title challenger Samuel Salva and is now rated the No. 1 contender in the WBC ratings.