Fighters make weight for Lightweight tournament final, and Bantamweight title fights
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Tomorrow at Korakuen Hall we get a mouth watering card thanks to Ohashi Gym, who put on the semi-final bouts of their Lightweight tournament, along with a Japanese youth title fight and a much anticipated rematch for the Japanese Bantamweight title.
Today, ahead of that show, the men involved took part in their weigh in.
Two of the main bouts on the card are the semi-finals of the “Asia’s Strongest Lightweight tournament”. One of those will see Yoji Saito (7-3-2, 7) [齊藤陽ニ] take on Chinese fighter Hanyun Wu (4-1-0-1, 1). On the scales Saito was just under the limit, at 134.7lbs, whilst Wu was comfortably under the limit, at 134.25lbs. After the weigh in Saito stated that he was looking forward to this fight, as he’s seen footage of Wu, showing him to be an inside fighter, something that Saito stated he hadn’t faced yet, though it’s a style that should suit him well. His exuded confidence here, stating that he wouldn’t stop Wu inside the opening round, as that would be bad for fans, so will instead take him out in round 2 or 3.
The other bout will see Taiga Imanaga (5-0, 4) [今永虎雅], who was widely seen as the pre-tournament favourite and the man the tournament was created to give a huge boost to, facing Filipino fighter Marvin Esquierdo (17-3-1, 11). On the scales Imanaga was 134.5lbs, and looked in tremendous shape, whilst Esquierdo originally failed to come in under the limit, instead coming in at 136.5lbs. He took 2 hours, and came back to re-weigh, and made the limit. Despite the issues at the scales Imanaga didn’t seem bothered, explaining he was in great shape and just wanted to fight, promising a KO to secure his place in the final.
The Youth title fight on this show will see Daichi Hirai (8-4, 1) [平井乃智] take on Shunpei Kaneshiro (2-0, 1) [金城隼平] in a really interesting match up that is expected to continue Kaneshiro’s rapid rise up the rankings. On the scales Hirai was 117.5lbs and sporting newly dyed red and blue hair, and promised to have a wild fight. Kanehsiro was 117.7lbs, and looked incredibly serious at the weigh in. Interestingly it was noted that he had been preparing for this bout by sparring with Vincent Astrolabio (19-4, 14), who was himself preparing for for his upcoming bout against WBC Bantamweight champion Junto Nakatani (27-0, 20) [中谷 潤人].
The other title bout on the show is also at Bantamweight, as Japanese Bantamweight champion Fumiya Fuse (14-3, 3) [富施 郁哉] takes on Riku Masuda (4-1, 4) [増田 陸], with Fuse looking to avenge his 2023 loss to Masuda. On the scales Fuse has a similar problem to Esquierdo, coming in well over the weight at 119.1lbs, though returned to the scales and made the limit dead on, explaining that it would have been disrespectful to miss weight and skipped rope to work up a sweat to lose the extra lb. As for Masuda he was 117.7lbs, and looked in great condition whilst commenting that Fuse looked nervous. Masuda came across as super confident and explained that he is planning on winning the Japanese title, then move onto bigger and better things, eyeing up a future world title fight.
The planned Japanese Super Flyweight title bout, between champion Suzumi Takayama (8-0, 7) [高山 涼深] and Isao Aoyama (14-12-1, 4) [青山 功], which was scheduled for this bout was canceled on short notice due to Takayama suffering from acute gastroenteritis and dehydration.
Today, ahead of that show, the men involved took part in their weigh in.
Two of the main bouts on the card are the semi-finals of the “Asia’s Strongest Lightweight tournament”. One of those will see Yoji Saito (7-3-2, 7) [齊藤陽ニ] take on Chinese fighter Hanyun Wu (4-1-0-1, 1). On the scales Saito was just under the limit, at 134.7lbs, whilst Wu was comfortably under the limit, at 134.25lbs. After the weigh in Saito stated that he was looking forward to this fight, as he’s seen footage of Wu, showing him to be an inside fighter, something that Saito stated he hadn’t faced yet, though it’s a style that should suit him well. His exuded confidence here, stating that he wouldn’t stop Wu inside the opening round, as that would be bad for fans, so will instead take him out in round 2 or 3.
The other bout will see Taiga Imanaga (5-0, 4) [今永虎雅], who was widely seen as the pre-tournament favourite and the man the tournament was created to give a huge boost to, facing Filipino fighter Marvin Esquierdo (17-3-1, 11). On the scales Imanaga was 134.5lbs, and looked in tremendous shape, whilst Esquierdo originally failed to come in under the limit, instead coming in at 136.5lbs. He took 2 hours, and came back to re-weigh, and made the limit. Despite the issues at the scales Imanaga didn’t seem bothered, explaining he was in great shape and just wanted to fight, promising a KO to secure his place in the final.
The Youth title fight on this show will see Daichi Hirai (8-4, 1) [平井乃智] take on Shunpei Kaneshiro (2-0, 1) [金城隼平] in a really interesting match up that is expected to continue Kaneshiro’s rapid rise up the rankings. On the scales Hirai was 117.5lbs and sporting newly dyed red and blue hair, and promised to have a wild fight. Kanehsiro was 117.7lbs, and looked incredibly serious at the weigh in. Interestingly it was noted that he had been preparing for this bout by sparring with Vincent Astrolabio (19-4, 14), who was himself preparing for for his upcoming bout against WBC Bantamweight champion Junto Nakatani (27-0, 20) [中谷 潤人].
The other title bout on the show is also at Bantamweight, as Japanese Bantamweight champion Fumiya Fuse (14-3, 3) [富施 郁哉] takes on Riku Masuda (4-1, 4) [増田 陸], with Fuse looking to avenge his 2023 loss to Masuda. On the scales Fuse has a similar problem to Esquierdo, coming in well over the weight at 119.1lbs, though returned to the scales and made the limit dead on, explaining that it would have been disrespectful to miss weight and skipped rope to work up a sweat to lose the extra lb. As for Masuda he was 117.7lbs, and looked in great condition whilst commenting that Fuse looked nervous. Masuda came across as super confident and explained that he is planning on winning the Japanese title, then move onto bigger and better things, eyeing up a future world title fight.
The planned Japanese Super Flyweight title bout, between champion Suzumi Takayama (8-0, 7) [高山 涼深] and Isao Aoyama (14-12-1, 4) [青山 功], which was scheduled for this bout was canceled on short notice due to Takayama suffering from acute gastroenteritis and dehydration.