The undercard for Naoya Inoue’s all Japanese mega fight with Junto Nakatani has been established, according to an article by Brunch Boxing.
The all-Japanese undisputed super bantamweight clash is to be officially announced at a press conference on March, with the 55,000 capacity Tokyo Dome set to play host to the spectacle on May 2.
In the co-main event, Inoue’s younger brother Takuma Inoue will defend his WBC title against multiple-weight world champion Kazuto Ioka. Inoue (21-2, 5 KOs) secured the green and gold belt with a unanimous-decision victory against Seiya Tsutsumi last November to become a two-time world champion. Ioka (32-4-1, 17 KOs) was relieved of his WBA super flyweight title in a doubleheader with Fernando Martinez, losing both bouts on the scorecards. The 36-year-old made his bantamweight debut with a fourth-round knockout against Maikel Ordosgoitti on New Year’s Eve.
It has also been reported that bantamweight Reiya Abe will square off with Toshiki Shimomachi at featherweight. Abe (28-4-2, 10 KOs) lost in an IBF world title challenge to Luis Alberto Lopez two years ago. He has since won and defended the Japanese title. Shimomachi (22-1-3, 12 KOs) is yet to challenge at world level, Abe being his toughest fight to date. He comes off a five-fight winning streak in his homeland.
Jin Sasaki will meet Sora Tanaka at welterweight. Although both are 24 years old, the gulf in professional experience is wide. Sasaki (20-2-1, 18 KOs) fell to a fifth-round stoppage against WBO champion Brian Norman Jr last June. He has since rebounded with a knockout victory in a routine eight-rounder against Marlon Pagalpalan. Tanaka (5-0, 5 KOs) is in the infancy of his career, but his progression is being quickly accelerated.
The all-Japanese card complements one of the most anticipated fights in the country’s deep boxing history.
