Jin Sasaki to face WBO Welterweight champion Brian Norman in June!
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Earlier today Japanese streaming service Lemino held a press conference to announce the next big show on their service, and it’s a monster with two world title fights, a regional title fight and a Japanese title fight on the show. Notably one of the world title fights will be up at Welterweight, the first time Japan has hosted a world title fight at 147lbs in years, with the card benign held at the Ota-City General Gymnasium on June 19th
That Welterweight title fight is the long spoken about and much anticipated WBO Welterweight title fight between unbeaten champion Brian Norman Jr (27-0, 21) and unbeaten Japanese puncher Jin Sasaki (19-1-1, 17) [佐々木尽]. The bout will see Norman, aged 24, look to build on a brilliant year or so, which saw him upset Giovani Santillan, back in May 2024, to claim the WBO "interim" title, and then beat Derrieck Cuevas back in March to defend the WBO world title. Although not one of the big names that we’ve seen at Welterweight over the years, he is a heavy handed fighter, with good ring craft, an exciting style, and someone looking to build his name, before ultimately looking for a unification bout in the not too distant future.
As for Sasaki, the Japanese enigma is one of the sport’s most fun to watch fighters, but also a very flawed fighter. The 23 year old is a hyper aggressive puncher who throws every shot with bad intentions. He can be out boxed, as we saw in his loss against Andy Hiraoka and in moments of various bouts, but he backs himself in any fire fight and has had to come off the canvas to win in the past, most notably in his 2021 thriller with Kaiki Yuba which is a genuine must war firefight and his 2023 win over Keita Obara. He has matured as a boxer in recent years, but is a defensively flawed fighter who still believes his best defense is his offensive, which could be a major issue against someone as skilled under pressure as Norman.
The second world title fight on the card will see Cristian Araneta (25-2, 20) and Thanongsak Simsri (38-1, 34) battle for the vacant IBF Flyweight title, in what looks set to be a highly skilled shoot out between two talented boxers with serious power. The title, which was recently vacated by another heavy handed fighter in the form of Masamichi Yabuki who left the division after recently winning the IBF Flyweight title.
For Araneta, this will be his first world title fight, though he has twice fought in, and lost in, world title eliminators losing to Daniel Valladares and Sivenathi Nontshinga. Since the loss to Nontshinga, in 2021, he has gone on a roll going 6-0 (5) and has got momentum coming into this one. Interestingly he is 0-2 outside of the Philippines, though plenty did feel he did enough to beat Nontshinga when the two clashed in South Africa. As for Simsri, he is a regular to Japanese rings, thanks to a long connection with Green Tsuda. The 24 year old Thai made his Japanese debut in 2019, was lined up for a world title fight in Japan during covid, which was cancelled when Hiroto Kyoguchi contracted the illness, and is now 7-1 in Japan with notable wins over Miel Fajardo and Masataka Taniguchi in the country. He is 14-0 (12) since his one loss, which came against the aforementioned Yabuki.
The world title bout isn’t the only Welterweight title bout on the show, as rising Ohashi prospect Sora Tanaka (3-0, 3) [田中空] takes a leap up in class and takes on Takeru Kobata (14-7-1, 6) [小畑武尊] for the vacant OPBF Welterweight title. Tanaka, dubbed the Tyson of Yokohama due to his style, is a short, aggressive fighter who loves getting on the inside of taller men and going to work, much like the legendary Mike Tyson. He was a solid amateur on the domestic scene and was always going to be fast tracked though few expected him to be fighting for a regional title quite this quickly. As for Kobata is a 26 year old who has won the Japanese Youth Welterweight title and twice challenged for the Japanese Welterweight. Whilst his record might not be the best he has gone 6-2 since the start of 2021, losing only in Japanese title bouts, and scored notable domestic wins against the likes of Rikuto Adachi and Yuki Nagano, with that win netting him the "interim" Japanese title.
The national title fight on this show will be at Featherweight, as rising youngster Yuya Oku (8-0-2, 5) [大久祐哉] faces former world title challenger Reiya Abe (26-4-2, 10) [阿部麗也] for the title recently vacated by Keisuke Matsumoto. Originally both of these were men were scheduled for the same show earlier in the year, with Oku planned to face Matsumoto, however the bout was pulled at short notice with Matsumoto being deemed unfit to fight. Abe managed to fight on the show, earning a draw with Satoshi Shimizu in March, whilst Oku sat by biding his time, knowing a bout with Abe was likely down the line, and has now been delivered for him. This should be a highly skilled fight, with Abe being a talented but light punching fighter and Oku being a technically solid fighter who is getting the biggest fight of his career.
Other bouts of note on this card include the debut of former amateur stand out Yuto Moriwaki (0-0) [森脇 唯人] taking on Korean based Mongolian born fighter Ha So Baek (3-1, 2) and a bout featuring the hotly tipped Ren Ohashi (3-0, 3) [大橋蓮].
That Welterweight title fight is the long spoken about and much anticipated WBO Welterweight title fight between unbeaten champion Brian Norman Jr (27-0, 21) and unbeaten Japanese puncher Jin Sasaki (19-1-1, 17) [佐々木尽]. The bout will see Norman, aged 24, look to build on a brilliant year or so, which saw him upset Giovani Santillan, back in May 2024, to claim the WBO "interim" title, and then beat Derrieck Cuevas back in March to defend the WBO world title. Although not one of the big names that we’ve seen at Welterweight over the years, he is a heavy handed fighter, with good ring craft, an exciting style, and someone looking to build his name, before ultimately looking for a unification bout in the not too distant future.
As for Sasaki, the Japanese enigma is one of the sport’s most fun to watch fighters, but also a very flawed fighter. The 23 year old is a hyper aggressive puncher who throws every shot with bad intentions. He can be out boxed, as we saw in his loss against Andy Hiraoka and in moments of various bouts, but he backs himself in any fire fight and has had to come off the canvas to win in the past, most notably in his 2021 thriller with Kaiki Yuba which is a genuine must war firefight and his 2023 win over Keita Obara. He has matured as a boxer in recent years, but is a defensively flawed fighter who still believes his best defense is his offensive, which could be a major issue against someone as skilled under pressure as Norman.
The second world title fight on the card will see Cristian Araneta (25-2, 20) and Thanongsak Simsri (38-1, 34) battle for the vacant IBF Flyweight title, in what looks set to be a highly skilled shoot out between two talented boxers with serious power. The title, which was recently vacated by another heavy handed fighter in the form of Masamichi Yabuki who left the division after recently winning the IBF Flyweight title.
For Araneta, this will be his first world title fight, though he has twice fought in, and lost in, world title eliminators losing to Daniel Valladares and Sivenathi Nontshinga. Since the loss to Nontshinga, in 2021, he has gone on a roll going 6-0 (5) and has got momentum coming into this one. Interestingly he is 0-2 outside of the Philippines, though plenty did feel he did enough to beat Nontshinga when the two clashed in South Africa. As for Simsri, he is a regular to Japanese rings, thanks to a long connection with Green Tsuda. The 24 year old Thai made his Japanese debut in 2019, was lined up for a world title fight in Japan during covid, which was cancelled when Hiroto Kyoguchi contracted the illness, and is now 7-1 in Japan with notable wins over Miel Fajardo and Masataka Taniguchi in the country. He is 14-0 (12) since his one loss, which came against the aforementioned Yabuki.
The world title bout isn’t the only Welterweight title bout on the show, as rising Ohashi prospect Sora Tanaka (3-0, 3) [田中空] takes a leap up in class and takes on Takeru Kobata (14-7-1, 6) [小畑武尊] for the vacant OPBF Welterweight title. Tanaka, dubbed the Tyson of Yokohama due to his style, is a short, aggressive fighter who loves getting on the inside of taller men and going to work, much like the legendary Mike Tyson. He was a solid amateur on the domestic scene and was always going to be fast tracked though few expected him to be fighting for a regional title quite this quickly. As for Kobata is a 26 year old who has won the Japanese Youth Welterweight title and twice challenged for the Japanese Welterweight. Whilst his record might not be the best he has gone 6-2 since the start of 2021, losing only in Japanese title bouts, and scored notable domestic wins against the likes of Rikuto Adachi and Yuki Nagano, with that win netting him the "interim" Japanese title.
The national title fight on this show will be at Featherweight, as rising youngster Yuya Oku (8-0-2, 5) [大久祐哉] faces former world title challenger Reiya Abe (26-4-2, 10) [阿部麗也] for the title recently vacated by Keisuke Matsumoto. Originally both of these were men were scheduled for the same show earlier in the year, with Oku planned to face Matsumoto, however the bout was pulled at short notice with Matsumoto being deemed unfit to fight. Abe managed to fight on the show, earning a draw with Satoshi Shimizu in March, whilst Oku sat by biding his time, knowing a bout with Abe was likely down the line, and has now been delivered for him. This should be a highly skilled fight, with Abe being a talented but light punching fighter and Oku being a technically solid fighter who is getting the biggest fight of his career.
Other bouts of note on this card include the debut of former amateur stand out Yuto Moriwaki (0-0) [森脇 唯人] taking on Korean based Mongolian born fighter Ha So Baek (3-1, 2) and a bout featuring the hotly tipped Ren Ohashi (3-0, 3) [大橋蓮].