Multiple Title Event Previews in Japan » October 13, 2024

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Let's get back to our preview of the second day of Monday's numerous title events.

Day two (Monday, our sports day)

WBC bantamweight title fight

Undefeated three-division champion Junto Nakatani (28-0, 21 KOs), Japan, will put his title on the line against WBC#1 Petch Sor Chitpattana (AKA Petch CP Freshmart or Tasana Salapat; 76-1, 53 KOs) of Thailand set the main event. After capturing the WBC bantam belt from Alejandro Santiago with a spectacular sixth-round TKO in February, the lanky southpaw Junto made his mandatory defense back in July with a first-round knockout of Vincent Astrolavio. His only southpaw to the left of the belly was the haymaker in the demolition that lasted just 157 seconds. Petch, also a big southpaw, suffered just one loss to Takuma Inoue in a unanimous decision (117-111) in the WBC interim 118-pound title fight in December 2018. Nakatani will be a prohibitive favorite thanks to his recent improvement under his US handler Rudy Hernandez.

WBO junior bantamweight title fight

WBO 115-pound ruler Kosei Tanaka (20-1, 11 KOs) faces undefeated No. 5 Phumelele Cafu (10-0-3, 8 KOs) of South Africa with his belt on the line. It was a shame that Tanaka, who was scheduled to defend his newly acquired belt against Mexico's Jonathan Rodiriguez this July, had to abruptly abandon his initial defense due to the challenger's terrible weight. Eager to showcase his good form and nice win, Tanaka will put in an aggressive performance, but the undefeated South African should do so given his unbeaten record and a career that has seen him win both the IBF international belt and national title has, should not be underestimated.

WBO flyweight title fight

Anthony Olascuaga (7-1, 5 KOs) of California, newly crowned just a few months ago, is said to be in top shape ahead of his first defense against the more experienced former WBO 108-pound champion Jonathan “Bomba” Gonzalez (28 -3-1-1NC, 14 KOs) from Puerto Rico. Bomba recently relinquished his WBO 108-pound belt because he was having difficulty making weight and is now competing in a mandatory throw in Olascuaga. Although Olascuaga is a harder hitter than Bomba and is also a pre-fight favorite, it is true that the Puerto Rican has excellent footwork that can frustrate and confuse the new champion like Ivan Calderon.

WBO Asia-Pacific bantamweight bout for the vacant title

In addition, the future and extremely popular, undefeated Tenshin Nasukawa (4:0, 2 KOs), former kickboxing champion, will meet the also undefeated Filipino Gerwin Asilo (9:0, 4 KOs) for the vacant WBO Asia – Pacific place to grab the bantamweight belt. Tenshin is expected to pull off a spectacular victory that will certainly pave the way for his imminent challenge at one of the 118-pound world championships, all of which are now dominated by his compatriots.

Organizer: Teiken Promotions by Akihiko Honda.