Kurihara and Llover make weight for OPBF unification
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On Monday fight fans at Korakuen Hall will see two men enter the ring with OPBF Bantamweight titles, but only one man will walk out of the ring with a title, as OPBF Bantamweight champion Keita Kurihara (19-8-1, 16) [栗原慶太] takes on interim champion Kenneth Llover (13-0, 8) in a mouth watering bout.
Today, ahead of their bout, the two men took part in their weigh-in for the contest, with both making the 118lb Bantamweight limit with no issues.
On the scales Llover came in very light, at 116.6lbs, and looked in great shape. He was notably shorter than Kurihara, but oozed confidence and stated "I've prepared to win, whether by decision or KO. I can beat my opponent in any round."
Kurihara on the other hand was much closer to the limit, at 117.7lbs. He seemed confident to begin with, explaining that he was "I think I'm in perfect condition,", but did accept that Llover is dangerous after being shown footage of Llover's last bout, which saw him stopping Tulio Dekanarudo in Osaka in December.
Notably Kurihara seemed to suggest his experience and maturity was going to be a key asset here, explaining "It's my first time fighting an opponent 10 years younger than me, so he's young and still has a bit of a childish side.", with Llover being 23 and Kurihara being 32.
Despite an underwhelming performance last time out, when Kurihara narrowly and controversially beat Renan Portes, the Japanese fighter was confident and spoke about how he has been preparing for this bout and seems to have accepted he needed to work on the mental side of things. He explained "I have prepared words to tell myself during the fight so that I can keep the emotions that tend to arise during the fight under control even in sparring," he then went on to add "I can handle any opponent during the fight. I think we will be able to match up well tomorrow, so if I have the chance, I will go for it from the first round."
Today, ahead of their bout, the two men took part in their weigh-in for the contest, with both making the 118lb Bantamweight limit with no issues.
On the scales Llover came in very light, at 116.6lbs, and looked in great shape. He was notably shorter than Kurihara, but oozed confidence and stated "I've prepared to win, whether by decision or KO. I can beat my opponent in any round."
Kurihara on the other hand was much closer to the limit, at 117.7lbs. He seemed confident to begin with, explaining that he was "I think I'm in perfect condition,", but did accept that Llover is dangerous after being shown footage of Llover's last bout, which saw him stopping Tulio Dekanarudo in Osaka in December.
Notably Kurihara seemed to suggest his experience and maturity was going to be a key asset here, explaining "It's my first time fighting an opponent 10 years younger than me, so he's young and still has a bit of a childish side.", with Llover being 23 and Kurihara being 32.
Despite an underwhelming performance last time out, when Kurihara narrowly and controversially beat Renan Portes, the Japanese fighter was confident and spoke about how he has been preparing for this bout and seems to have accepted he needed to work on the mental side of things. He explained "I have prepared words to tell myself during the fight so that I can keep the emotions that tend to arise during the fight under control even in sparring," he then went on to add "I can handle any opponent during the fight. I think we will be able to match up well tomorrow, so if I have the chance, I will go for it from the first round."