The light flyweight division takes center stage on Tuesday, November 1, when two championship fights with three world titles on the line headline a packed card from Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
WBC champion Kenshiro Teraji attempts to unify titles against WBA king Hiroto Kyoguchi in the main event. In the co-main event, Puerto Rico’s WBO champion, Jonathan “Bomba” González, will defend his belt against Japanese contender Shokichi Iwata.
Teraji-Kyoguchi, Gonzalez-Iwata and the undercard action will air live exclusively in the US on ESPN+ beginning at 4:30 am ET/1:30 am PT.
“The Amazing Boy” Teraji (19-1, 11 KOs) is an eight-year pro who won the WBC world title in May 2017. He made eight defenses of that crown until a shocking 10th-round knockout loss to Masamichi. Yabuki last September. . Less than six months later, Teraji got revenge with a third-round knockout of Yabuki to regain the title from him. Kyoguchi (16-0, 11 KOs) is a two-weight champion who was the IBF’s 105-pound ruler until he vacated that belt to move up to light flyweight. Since he won the WBA light flyweight crown on New Year’s Eve 2018 against Hekkie Budler, he has defended four titles. He is coming off of June’s eighth-round knockout of Esteban Bermudez, which ranks among the best title fights of the year.
Gonzalez (26-3-1, 14 KOs) fell short in his first attempt at a world title in 2019 against Kosei Tanaka. He fulfilled his championship destiny last October when he outpointed Elwin Soto via split decision. Gonzalez defended his WBO title in June with a unanimous decision against Filipino upstart Mark Anthony Barriga. Iwata (9-0, 6 KOs), from Tokyo, won the Japan Boxing Commission, OPBF and WBO Asia Pacific titles en route to earning his first world title shot.
In other action scheduled on the ESPN+ broadcast:
Together Nakatani (23-0, 18 KOs) vs. Francisco Rodriguez (36-5-1, 25 KOs), 10 rounds, junior bantamweight — WBO flyweight champion Nakatani tests the waters of junior bantamweight against Mexican action star Rodriguez, a former unified 105 -pound world champion.
Shuichiro Yoshino (15-0, 11 KOs) vs. Masayoshi Nakatani (20-2, 14 KOs), 12 Rounds, WBO Asia Pacific Lightweight Title: Yoshino is coming off a technical decision over former world champion Masayuki Ito. Nakatani rebounded from last year’s knockout loss to Vasiliy Lomachenko with a first-round blowout of Harmonito Dela Torre in June.
