The two huge doubleheaders taking place at Ariake Arena in Tokyo this coming Sunday and Monday morning (U.S. and U.K. times) will occur before our usual weekly TV picks article comes out – so let’s give these cards, which feature seven title fights, their own special edition.
Sunday, Oct. 13 at 4 a.m. ET (9 a.m. BST) on ESPN+
This show is headlined by Takuma Inoue defending his WBA bantamweight belt against Seiya Tsutsumi and is supported by three additional title fights.
Inoue vs. Tsutsumi: Takuma, a 28-year-old from Yokohama, is the younger brother of pound-for-pound king Naoya. Takuma turned pro in 2013 and fell short in his first title shot, losing a decision to WBC belt holder Nordine Oubaali in 2018.
Takuma has won seven in a row since, including a few fights in the 122-pound weight class. He dropped back to 118 in April 2023 and outpointed Liborio Solis to pick up the WBA title, one of four that had been left vacant after undisputed champ Naoya left for junior featherweight. Both of Takuma’s defenses have come this year: a ninth-round knockout of former 115-pound titleholder Jerwin Ancajas and a unanimous decision over Sho Ishida. He is now 20-1 (5 KOs).
Tsutsumi, a 28-year-old from Tokyo, is 11-0-2 (8 KOs). Both draws came in 2020 against Kazuki Nakajima and Daigo Higa. In his past three appearances, Tsutsumi outpointed unbeaten prospects Riku Masuda and Kazuki Anaguchi, then stopped the 4-1 Weerawat Noolae.
Kenshiro Teraji vs. Cristofer Rosales: Teraji is making his flyweight debut after a successful run in the 108-pound weight class. He will face Rosales for the WBC belt left vacant when Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez moved up to 115.
Teraji, a 32-year-old from outside of the city of Kyoto, won the WBC title at junior flyweight in 2017 with a majority decision over Ganigan Lopez. He made eight successful defenses, including a majority decision over Pedro Guevara, a second-round knockout of Lopez in their rematch and a seventh-round stoppage of former titleholder Milan Melindo.
That title run came to a surprising halt in September 2021, when Teraji suffered a 10th-round TKO loss to Masamichi Yabuki. They had an immediate rematch in March 2022, and Teraji regained his title via third-round knockout.
Then, in his next outing, Teraji added the WBA title and Ring championship with a seventh-round TKO of Hiroto Kyoguchi in November 2022. Since then, he has added victories over Anthony Olascuaga (more on him later), Hekkie Budler and Carlos Canizales.
It has been a great stretch. Can it continue in a new division? Rosales stands in the way.
Rosales, a 30-year-old from Managua, Nicaragua, is 37-6 (22 KOs). He is a former flyweight titleholder who won the vacant WBC title in April 2018 with a ninth-round TKO of the aforementioned Higa. Eight months later, Rosales lost the title in his second defense, dropping a decision to Charlie Edwards.
Rosales then lost another title shot in December 2019, fighting for the same belt Edwards had vacated, only to be stopped in nine by Julio Cesar Martinez. He has gone 8-1 since, losing a decision in 2022 to Angel Ayala Lardizabal, who himself has gone on to win a title at flyweight.
Seigo Yuri Akui vs. Thananchai Charunphak: Speaking of flyweight titles: Akui will be making the second defense of his WBA belt. The 29-year-old from Kurashiki defeated longtime titleholder Artem Dalakian in January – at least one observer felt the decision was controversial – and defended it in May with a wide win over Taku Kuwahara. He is 20-2-1 (11 KOs). Those losses came against Junto Nakatani in 2017 (TKO6) and a surprising loss to the 17-8 Jaysever Abcede in 2018 (TKO6). In between those defeats, Akui took out Yabuki in just 92 seconds.
Charunphak, a 24-year-old from Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand, is 25-1 (15 KOs). That loss came in just his second pro fight, back in 2018. There isn’t much of note on Charunphak’s record, but he did notch a ninth-round TKO over former 108-pound titleholder Kompayak Porpramook back in 2020. And just two months ago, Charunphak fought outside of Thailand for his first time as a pro, traveling to Japan and winning a majority decision over the 15-0 Kento Hatanaka.
Shokichi Iwata vs. Jairo Noriega: This fight is for the WBO junior flyweight title left vacant when Jonathan Gonzalez (more on him later) left for the flyweight division.
Iwata, a 28-year-old from Tokyo, is 13-1 (10 KOs), with that loss coming to Gonzalez via unanimous decision in 2022. He has since bounced back with four victories, including a sixth-round TKO of the 11-0 Jahzeel Trinidad in July.
Noriega, a 31-year-old from Villarreal, Spain, is 14-0 (3 KOs). In his most recent fight, Noriega outpointed the 20-2-4 Azael Villar in March.
Monday, Oct. 14 at 4 a.m. ET (9 a.m. BST) on ESPN+
This show is headlined by Junto Nakatani defending his WBC bantamweight title against Petch Sor Chitpattana, also known as Petch CP Freshmart. The undercard includes two title fights and one other intriguing support bout.
Nakatani vs. Sor Chitpattana: People outside of Japan are at last beginning to catch on to just how good Nakatani is.
His early days brought victories over future titleholders Masamichi Yabuki and Seigo Yuri Akui. In 2020, Nakatani knocked out Giemel Magramo to win a vacant flyweight world title, which he then went on to defend twice. Nakatani soon moved up to junior bantamweight and, in 2023, dominated Andrew Moloney and scored a highlight-reel 12th-round knockout to capture another vacant belt. Again, his reign was brief. After one defense, Nakatani jumped up to bantamweight this February and seized the WBC title from Alexandro Santiago via sixth-round TKO. Nakatani then dispatched Vincent Astrolabio in one round in July.
He’s now 28-0 (21 KOs), and the 26-year-old from Sagamihara is in a division where all of his fellow titleholders are also from Japan. But it looks like unification, not becoming undisputed, is in the cards. Well, at least not at 118. That’s because Nakatani has expressed interest in facing Takuma Inoue and then potentially moving up in weight once again, this time to challenge the undisputed king of 122, Naoya Inoue.
Sor Chitpattana, a 30-year-old from Roi-Et, Thailand, comes in with an eye-popping record of 76-1 (53 KOs). Almost all of those wins have come against low-level opposition. He did step up against Takuma Inoue at the end of 2018, losing a unanimous decision in what was, until now, his only fight outside of Thailand. Sor Chitpattana has fought 28 times since then.
Kosei Tanaka vs. Phumelele Cafu: Tanaka (20-1, 11 KOs) is a four-division titleholder who will be making the first defense of his WBO junior bantamweight belt, which was vacant when he won it with a unanimous decision over Christian Bacasegua Rangel in February.
A 29-year-old from Nagoya, Japan, Tanaka reigned at 105 in 2015; held a world title at 108 from 2016-2017; and was a titleholder at 112 from 2018-2019. He stepped up to 115 in 2020 and unsuccessfully challenged Kazuto Ioka, suffering an eighth-round technical knockout.
Cafu, a 30-year-old from Duncan Village, South Africa, is 10-0-3 (8 KOs). He will be fighting outside of his home country for the first time as a pro. In his past few outings, Cafu has taken a split decision in a rematch with the 22-1-2 Jackson Chauke (they fought to a draw in their first meeting), outpointed the 20-2 Genisis Libranza and made short work of the 6-4 Enathi Stelle.
Will the victor go on to face the other titleholders at junior bantamweight: the winners of Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez (WBC) vs. Pedro Guevara (WBC) and the Fernando Daniel Martinez (IBF, WBA) vs. Ioka rematch?
Anthony Olascuaga vs. Jonathan Gonzalez: Olascuaga, a 25-year-old from Los Angeles, has moved with the speed befitting these lower weight classes, though not seen too often among fighters from the United States. He was 5-0 and two and a half years into his career when he challenged Kenshiro Teraji in April 2023, losing a ninth-round technical knockout.
Olascuaga then moved up to flyweight, dispatching former titleholder Giemel Magramo in seven rounds and knocking out Riku Kano in three rounds for the WBO belt left vacant by Bam Rodriguez. Olascuaga is now 7-1 (5 KOs).
Gonzalez, a 33-year-old from Caguas, Puerto Rico, is 28-3-1 (14 KOs). He was ahead on the scorecards against flyweight titleholder Kosei Tanaka in their 2019 fight when Tanaka stopped Gonzalez in the seventh round. A message sent, Gonzalez dropped down to 108 and, in 2021, took a split decision over Elwin Soto for a world title. Gonzalez’s three defenses brought decision victories over Mark Anthony Barriga, Shokichi Iwata and Rene Santiago. Now he returns to 112. Will the outcome be different this time?
Tenshin Nasukawa vs. Gerwin Asilo: While this fight is not for a world title, eyes are on Nasukawa, a former kickboxing star who did not fare well in a boxing exhibition against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2018. Nasukawa turned pro in earnest in 2023 and has gone 4-0 (2 KOs) so far. In July, the 26-year-old from Tokyo stopped the 17-2-1 Jonathan Rodriguez in three rounds.
This fight will be at bantamweight. Nasukawa will face Asilo, a 23-year-old from Ubay in the Philippines. He is 9-0 (4 KOs) and coming off a second-round knockout in July of the 19-5-1 Surat Eaim Ong.
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2 and @UnitedBoxingPod. He is the co-host of the United Boxing Podcast. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
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