WBO champion Hiruta to face Ramirez in May
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Back in January we saw WBO female Super Flyweight champion Mizuki Hiruta (7-0, 2) [晝田瑞希] make a successful US debut, retaining her title with a dominant technical decision win over Mexican veteran Maribel Ramirez (15-11-4, 3). Today it was announced that the champion would be returning to the US for her next defense, as she faces Argentinian challenger Carla Ayelen Merino (16-2, 4) on May 17th at the Commerce Casino, in Commerce California on a show broadcast on UFC Fight Pass.
Hiruta, seeking her 4th defense, gave comments to the media, stating "Thanks to my strong team and many friends in the U.S., I'm able to practice well. I'm grateful to 360 Promotion, my team, my friends, and the fans, and I'm sure I'll win. Please support me from Japan too."
The talented, pink haired, Japanese fighter was fast tracked to titles, winning a Japanese title in her third bout and a world title in her 4th professional bout. Since winning the WBO title she has gone 3-0 (2) blasting out Casey Croft (nee Morton) inside a round and stopping Ji Hyun Park, in 6, and then taking the win over Ramirez via 8th round technical decision. Although she lacks a huge profile, she is rapidly building her name in the sport, and fighting in the US will certainly help her move towards huge fights, including unification bouts.
As for Merino, she is a 25 year old who enters as the #1 ranked challenger and will be making her US debut. She started her career in 2019 and had mixed success, going 3-2 in her first 5, but since then has been on a roll winning 11 straight. Notably her competition has been pretty poor during that run overall, but she does hold solid wins over Leiryn Flores and Micaela Milagros Lujan. This is, by far, the biggest fight of her career, and she will clearly enter as the under-dog for her first world title fight
Hiruta, seeking her 4th defense, gave comments to the media, stating "Thanks to my strong team and many friends in the U.S., I'm able to practice well. I'm grateful to 360 Promotion, my team, my friends, and the fans, and I'm sure I'll win. Please support me from Japan too."
The talented, pink haired, Japanese fighter was fast tracked to titles, winning a Japanese title in her third bout and a world title in her 4th professional bout. Since winning the WBO title she has gone 3-0 (2) blasting out Casey Croft (nee Morton) inside a round and stopping Ji Hyun Park, in 6, and then taking the win over Ramirez via 8th round technical decision. Although she lacks a huge profile, she is rapidly building her name in the sport, and fighting in the US will certainly help her move towards huge fights, including unification bouts.
As for Merino, she is a 25 year old who enters as the #1 ranked challenger and will be making her US debut. She started her career in 2019 and had mixed success, going 3-2 in her first 5, but since then has been on a roll winning 11 straight. Notably her competition has been pretty poor during that run overall, but she does hold solid wins over Leiryn Flores and Micaela Milagros Lujan. This is, by far, the biggest fight of her career, and she will clearly enter as the under-dog for her first world title fight