Back at the end of April we reported that the WBO had given their Flyweight champion Kosei Tanaka (13-0, 7) [田中恒成] and 28 year old Puerto Rican Jonathan Gonzalez (22-2-1, 13) 30 days to negotiate a deal for a mandatory world title fight.

That 30 day period was expected to result in a deal being made, with the teams though to have been close to securing a deal before the order was even made.

Today a deal for the bout has been announced!

The Hanatanaka gym, lead by former world champion Kiyoshi Hatanaka, held a press conference earlier today to announce that the Tanaka Vs Gonzalez bout was a done deal for August 24th at the Takeda Teva Ocean Arena in Nagoya, the same venue that Tanaka won the title last September with a win over Sho Kimura.

For Tanaka, a 3-weight world champion, the bout serves as his second defense of the title, following the previous mentioned win in September, and comes on the back of a commanding win over Ryoichi Taguchi in March. As for Gonzalez this will be his first world title fight, and his first bout in Asia, following bouts in a number of American countries.

​It’s worth noting that the challenger will be one of the first southpaws that Tanaka has faced during his professional career, though his team and especially his father, showed no worries given that Tanaka faced a number of southpaws in the amateur ranks.

The bout will air on CBC, but specifics in regards to time haven’t yet been confirmed. We’re hoping that we’ll be able to continue our working relationship with the channel to be able to bring you a live, legal stream to the bout in August.

Photo 暁 Honma 暁 www.bbm-japan.com
via http://www.asianboxing.info/asian-news/kosei-tanaka-to-defend-wbo-title-on-august-24th

Officials for Nietes-Ioka WBO Title Fight

The World Boxing Organization (WBO) headquartered in the Island of Enchantment, Puerto Rico, has assigned Las Vegas Hall of Fame referee Robert Byrd, 75, as the third man in the coming clash for the vacant WBO Jr. Bantamweight title between world-class Filipino fighter Donnie ” AHAS ” Nietes, 36, and Japanese star Kazuto Ioka, 29, an intriguing battle between two 3-division world champions set for New Year’s Eve at the plush Wynn Palace Cotai in the startling “Las Vegas of Asia,” Macao.

Inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 2006, Robert Byrd was the third man in last year’s blockbuster tiff between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor.

Incidentally, on fight day, December 31, the experienced Robert Byrd will be celebrating his 76th birthday. Advance Happy Birthday, Sir.

It will be the fourth time that the WBO assigns Byrd as a referee in a Donnie Nietes (41-1-5, 23 KO’s) world title fight. In 2011, he was the third man in Nietes-Garcia Hirales in Bacolod; and in 2014, Byrd worked again as the referee in Nietes-Fuentes II and also in the Nietes-Velarde rumble.

However, it will be the first time that the well-known Byrd works in a fight of Kazuto Ioka (23-1, 13 KO’s), one of the most popular boxers in Japan today.

In addition to being the third man for the Donnie Nietes-Kazuto Ioka clash, Robert Byrd will also work as the referee in the fight of Hong Kong rising-star Raymond Poon Kai Ching (6-1, 3 KO’s) as the hard-hitting 22 year-old 108-pounder battle for the vacant WBC ABCO Light Flyweight title.

Finally, the fight supervisor for the Donnie Nietes vs Kazuto Ioka rumble will be WBO Vice President Leon P. Panoncillo Jr., of Hawaii; while the ringside judges will be: Levi Martinez of New Mexico, Patricia Morse Jarman of Las Vegas and Samuel Nieto of Panama.

By Carlos Costa / PhilBoxing.com

Panamá – Como parte de la Trigésima-Primera Convención de la Organización Mundial de Boxeo (OMB), hoy se estuvo celebrando en el Hotel El Panamá, la reunion del ‘Comité de Campeonato y Clasificaciones’ del organismo mundial.

Puntos destacados:

El campeón mundial peso Mini Mosca (105 libras) Vic Saludar (18-3, 10 KOs) de las Filipinas, pronto sabrá contra quién defenderá su título mundial.

Para el viernes, 7 de diciembre en Puerto Rico, el campeón de la NABO, Wilfredo ‘Bimbito’ Méndez (11-1, 4 KOs) de Puerto Rico y clasificado #7 por la OMB, regresará al cuadrilátero contra el clasificado número 1 de la OMB, Robert Paradero (17-0, 11 KOs), de Filipinas en un combate que la OMB acaba de anunciar para establecer al retador mandatorio de Saludar.

El clasificado #1 por la OMB en el peso junior mediano Dennis Hogan (27-1-1, 7 KOs), ha sido aprobado por unanimidad para ser nombrado el retador mandatorio del invicto campeón de la OMB Jaime Munguia, de México. Primero Hogan tendrá que ganar su próxima pelea que será el 15 de diciembre en Australia. Su oponente lo será Jaime Weetch (12-2, 5 KOs).

El invicto campeón mundial de la OMB en las 122 libras Isaac Dogboe defenderá su cetro ante el clasificado #2 Emanuel Navarette para el sábado, 8 de diciembre.

Dicho combate fue declarado como defensa mandatoria. Un movimiento que le da a Dogboe más flexibilidad con respecto a la defensa del título, suponiendo que le gane a Navarette.

Con la pelea declarada como defensa mandatoria, Dogboe tendrá nueve meses después de la pelea contra Navarette antes de que la OMB le solicite que haga una defensa mandatoria. Esto abre el posible escenario para que Dogboe pueda defender su título en Ghana para el año 2019, escenario que su equipo de trabajo ha comentado por mucho tiempo.

En las 115 libras, los filipinos Aston Palicte (24-2-1, 20 KOs) y Donnie Nietes (41-1-5, 23 KOs) pelearon el mes pasado en una pelea por el título mundial vacante de la OMB, pero el duelo terminó en empate.

La OMB aprobó que Nietes se enfrentará al clasificado #3 Kazuto Ioka (23-1, 13 KOs) de Japón, por el título mundial vacante de la OMB y Palicte se medirá al cuarto clasificado José ‘Chiquiro’ Martínez (20-0-2, 13 KOs) de Puerto Rico, en una pelea eliminatoria donde el ganador obtendrá la posición obligatoria por el título mundial.

Otro pleito que fue aprobado es en los pesos cruceros entre Maksim Vlasov (42-2, 25 KOs) de Russia y Krzysztof Glowacki (30-1, 19 KOs) de Polonia, por el título interino de la OMB, esto como parte de la ‘World Boxing Super Series’, a celebrarse el 10 de noviembre en Chicago.

Por otro lado, el representante de la Comisión de Boxeo de Japón Tsuyoshi Yasukochi, le pidió a la OMB que la próxima Convención sea celebrada en Tokyo, Japón. El pedido fue aprobado por la OMB mediante los miembros del Comité Ejecutivo y escogieron a Puerto Rico como segunda opción en caso de que se cancele.

The next world boxing championship fight in Japan will take place on Monday, September 24 at Takeda Teva Ocean Arena in the city of Nagoya, the capital of the province of Aichi, where the Japanese Flyweight world champion of the World Boxing Organization (WBO), the visitor from Tokyo, Sho Kimura (17-1-2 / 10KOs) is going to face the unbeaten Japan’s world # 1 ranked contender and former WBO 105 and 108 pounds world champion Kosei Tanaka (11-0 / 7KOs).

For Sho Kimura, it will be his third title defense, which he conquered in July of 2017 in Shanghai, China, when he defeated by tko in the eleventh round Chinese Shiming Zou, who is a former two-time Olympic champion, and also beat former WBC world champion, and former Olympian Toshiyuki Igarashi through TKO in the ninth round and in his last fight in July 2018 in China, precisely in Qingdao city of Shandong Province, Kimura scored a KO victory in the sixth round over Filipino Froilán Saludar.

Sho Kimura managed to ascend the world throne as the Flyweight king of the WBO in surprise form thanks to his brave and dynamic boxing endowed with endless stamina and durability. It dropped bomb of surprise in world boxing when Sho Kimura ended the reign of Chinese Shiming Zou in China against all expectations. The sports hero of the Chinese people Shimig Zou was victimized by Sho Kimura’s furious attacks.

This occasion, based on his chanting bravery, Sho Kimura is going to defend his title against undefeated local rising double world champion in different divisions Kosei Tanaka, who now calls the powerful intention of Japanese sports journalism to see if this ex-amateur boxer from the city of Nagoya is able to conquer his third world title in his twelfth professional fight to be the world record holder of boxing in order to get faster with less number of fights to become triple world champion in different categories by matching the great Vasyl Lomachenko.

Sho Kimura declares that he will have to finish the fight in high fashion with the attempt of Kosei Tanaka, who is going to throw himself with all surrender to battle with Sho Kimura to defeat him at all costs for the sake of becoming a three-division world champion.

When he was WBO Jr. Flyweight world champion, Kosei Tanaka was able to defend his crown for the first time by defeating by unanimous decision (117-110, 117-110, 116-111) the Puerto Rican Angel “Tito” Acosta, who lost his undefeated, but, now Acosta is the current WBO Jr. Flyweight Champion.

Kosei Tanaka started learning Karate from her childhood as a kinder. When he was the fifth year of elementary school, he started practicing boxing and was a Japanese high school champion.

In 2013, he made the leap to professionalism as a representative of Hatanaka Boxing Gym of Nagoya. His manager-promoter is former world super bantamweight champion Kiyoshi Hatanaka, who was proclaimed super bantam king of the WBC in February 1991 in Nagoya by knocking out in the eighth round the Argentine Pedro Decima and after four months, lost the crown to Mexican Daniel Zaragoza in Nagoya.

Kosei Tanaka was crowned the WBO Mini-Flyweight world champion by winning the Mexican Julián “El Artillero” Yedras by decision in 2015 in the city of Komaki in the province of Aichi for vacant title. Kosei Tanaka won the world crown in his fifth professional fight, which is the mark of Japanese boxing history in terms of the fastest conquest of a world title with less number of matches.

He resigned from the WBO Mini-Flyweight (105lbs) World title to then won the WBO Jr. Flyweight (108lbs) world title in 2016 when he triumphantly came out victorious by TKO in the fifth round over Mexican Moisés Fuentes in the city of Gifu for vacant crown. It was his eighth professional fight with which entered the history of Japanese boxing as a record for becoming fastest two-division champion with less number of fights.

In November 2017, Kosei Tanaka opted to leave the WBO Jr. Flyweight world title after two full defenses with his sights set on conquering the Flyweight (112lbs) world title.

Last March in the city of Nagoya, Kosei Tanaka made his first fight as a flyweight boxer and liquidated by TKO in the ninth round Filipino Ronnie Baldonado.

Photo by BoxingBeat
Source: http://notifight.com/sho-kimura-expondra-corona-mosca-omb-ante-kosei-tanaka-el-249/

The World Boxing Organization (WBO) announced the officials for two WBO World title bouts to be held this Saturday, August 25th in Arizona.

In the main event, WBO Lightweight (135 lbs) World Champion Raymundo Beltrán, from México, will face WBO ranked number two José Pedraza, from Puerto Rico.

For this bout, which will headline the card presented by Top Rank from the Gila River Arena in Glendale, the referee will be Tony Weeks, from the United States.

Arizona’s Rubin Taylor, as well as Lisa Giampa and Robert Hoyle, both from Nevada, were appointed judges for the bout. The WBO Supervisor will be WBO President Francisco “Paco” Valcárcel, Esq.

For Beltrán (35-7-1, 21 KOs), it will be his first defense of the title he won by beating WBO Africa Lightweight titlist Paulus Moses via unanimous decision. On his part, Pedraza (24-1, 12 KOs) is looking to be crowned a two division World Champion with a victory over Beltrán. He previously held a title as a Junior Lightweight (130 lbs).

In the co-main event of the evening, WBO Junior Featherweight World Champion Isaac Dogboe, from Ghana, will battle WBO ranked number six Hidenori Otake (31-2-3, 14 KOs), from Japan.

For this bout, the referee will be Chris Flores, from the United States.

Illinois’s Patrick Morley, Texas’s Javier Álvarez and Connecticut’s Glenn Feldman were appointed judges for the bout. The WBO Supervisor will be WBO Vice-President North America/Chairman of North American Boxing Organization Richard de Cuir.

For Dogboe (19-0, 13 KOs), it will be his first defense of the title he won by defeating former WBO World Champion Jessie Magdaleno by 11-round knockout.

Beltrán-Pedraza and Dogboe-Otake will air live on ESPN and ESPN Deportes at 10:30 p.m. ET, with undercard action streaming live beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET. on ESPN+ — the recently-launched multi-sport, direct-to-consumer subscription streaming service from The Walt Disney Company’s Direct-to-Consumer & International segment in conjunction with ESPN.

Photo by Mikey Williams

This past weekend we saw Masayuki Ito (24-1-1, 12) [伊藤 雅雪] score a major win and over-come Puerto Rican Christopher Diaz (23-2, 15) to claim the WBO Jr. Lightweight title. The Japanese fighter hasn’t rushed home but has enjoyed a few days in the US, only getting back to Japan earlier today, after doing some sight seeing and enjoying himself after a career defining performance.

Speaking to the press at Narita Airport today Ito stated that he was happy to win the belt, but that wasn’t going to be enough and he wanted to challenge himself as a champion, fighting both at home and overseas.

Before returning to the UK Ito revealed that he hired a 15 seating bus to do some sight seeing with friends and family in the US and certainly seemed happy to have had some time Stateside to enjoy him, though stated he was happy to be back in Japan.

It was revealed that the ring for the Diaz fight was smaller than Ito had expected, likely to try and favour Diaz who went into the bout as the fighter with the reputation of being a puncher. The small ring however never seemed to be an issue with Ito controlling the range through out the bout.

Ito’s next bout is yet to be decided though sources have reported that he’s been approached by Fuji TV, so could be featured on their cards in the future, and he also revealed that he wants to fight on an end of year show, which seems to be one of the big dreams he shared today.

http://www.asianboxing.info/asian-news/masayuki-ito-returns-to-japan
​(Image courtesy of boxmob.jp)

In another historic first for Philippine boxing, two brothers will fight for world title belts on the same month against Japanese champions.

Vic Saludar (17-3,10KO’s) will challenge WBO minimumweight champion Ryuya Yamanaka ( 16-2,5KO’s) on July 13 in Kobe, Japan. Then on July 27, Froilan Saludar (28-2-1,19KO’s) will go for the WBO flyweight title against reigning champion Sho Kimura (16-1-2,9KO’s) in Xiamen, China.

Yamanaka won the title last year by unanimous decision against countryman Tatsuya Fukuhara. This will be the second defense for Yamanaka, having stopped Mexican Moises Calleros in eight rounds last March.

Vic Saludar challenged Japanese Kosei Tanaka for the WBO world minimumweight title on New Year’s Eve 2015 and was leading on the scorecards and even knocked down the Japanese in round five before he succumbed to a hard body shot in the subsequent round. Vic has since gone 6W-1L since the Tanaka fight and is currently ranked number three in the June 2018 ratings of the WBO.

Froilan Saludar has scored five straight wins by KO/TKO since the loss to Japanese Takuma Inoue in a non-title bout two years ago. The June 2018 rankings of the WBO has him at number four.

Kimura is well known in China, having dethroned Chinese boxing hero Zou Shiming last year by 11th round TKO. He defended his title once against countryman Toshiyuki Igarashi last December by 9th round TKO.

This historic Japan vs Philippines match-up in July has been given the green light by the World Boxing Organization (WBO).

The Saludar brothers are managed by Kathy Rosillo and promoted by Kenneth Rontal. They are training in Gen.Santos City with coaches Michael John Palacio, Boy Donaire and Ariel Saludar. The China bout is promoted by Top King Promotions’ Wang Fei and Liu Gang.

By Rene Bonsubre, Jr.
http://philboxing.com/news/story-137438.htmlgoo

Photo by powcastsports.com

SAN JUAN, P.R. (June 21, 2018) — Total focus. Undefeated Puerto Rican contender Christopher “Pitufo” Diaz has only one goal on his mind: become a world champion. During a press conference held on Thursday afternoon at ‘The Island of Enchantment’, Díaz guaranteed that on July 28 he will leave the Kissimmee Civic Center as world champion.

On that night, in front of the fans of the city called “Little Puerto Rico” in the state of Florida, Díaz will compete for the vacant World Boxing Organization (WBO) Junior Lightweight title against Japan’s Masayuki Ito. In the co-feature, undefeated Dominican welterweight Carlos “Caballo Bronco” Adames will face Artemio Reyes of San Bernardino, California.

Diaz-Ito and Adames-Reyes will stream live and exclusively in the United States at 9:30 ET on ESPN+ — the recently-launched multi-sport, direct-to-consumer subscription streaming service from The Walt Disney Company’s Direct-to-Consumer & International segment in conjunction with ESPN. Undercard bouts will stream live on ESPN+ beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET. ESPN+ is available to all fans on the ESPN App and ESPN.com.

This is what Diaz and his trainer Raul ‘Chino’ Rivas had to say during the press conference.

CHRISTOPHER ‘PITUFO’ DÍAZ

On his World Title Opportunity

“We are only one step away, there are only five weeks left. I have worked for 15 years of my life for this moment. I have a lot of focus, a lot of discipline and I have an immense desire to be someone in life.”

“In this fight, there are no excuses, this is win or win fight for me. I have prepared myself throughout my career for this moment, the time has come and now it is a matter of performing and knowing how to do things inside the ring. If I make a mistake in the ring, my family will pay for it and I will not let that happen.”

“Puerto Rico will have a new world champion on July 28. And I will not only be the best 130 pounds fighter of Puerto Rico, I will be the best 130 pounds fighter in the world.”

On the Motivation to Become a World Champion

“I have the motivation of my daughter, my twins who are on their way, my wife, my mother, my brothers, I have a family that follows me wherever I go, I leave it all in the ring for them. Everything I do is for them.”

RAÚL ‘CHINO’ RIVAS

On Training Camp

“The training camp has been excellent, the sparring sessions are very important for this fight and we have the sparring partners that are perfect for Christopher. On July 28 we will be ready and in excellent condition.”

Diaz (23-0, 15 KOs), from Barranquitas, Puerto Rico, is entering his first world title match riding a four-bout knockout streak. The WBO’s No. 1 junior lightweight contender, Diazwon the vacant NABO junior lightweight title last December with a third-round knockout of Bryant Cruz, knocking Cruz down five times en route to the stoppage. In his last bout,March 17 on the Jose Ramirez-Amir Imam undercard at The Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, Diaz defeated Braulio Rodriguez via fourth-round TKO to earn the shot at the world title. For Diaz, this world title opportunity is beacon of hope, as his home and most of his possessions were destroyed when Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico last year.

Ito (23-1-1, 12 KOs), from Tokyo, is the WBO’s No. 2 junior lightweight contender. He has won seven consecutive bouts since the lone defeat of his career, a 10-round majority decision to then-undefeated Rikki Naito in February 2015. Ito, who has fought all of his professional bouts in Japan, has won four of his past five bouts via knockout, including a ninth-round stoppage of Lorenzo Villanueva in April of last year. In his last bout, on March 3 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Ito stopped Vergil Puton in the ninth round.

Promoted by Top Rank, in association with All Star Boxing and Teiken Promotions, tickets to this world championship are now on sale. Priced at $100 (red carpet ringside), $50 (lower bowl), and $30 (general admission), tickets may be purchased at the Kissimmee Civic Center box office, online at ticketerapr.com, or charge by phone at (787) 305-3600.

For more information visit: www.toprank.com, www.espn.com/boxing; Facebook:facebook.com/trboxing, facebook.com/trboxeo, facebook.com/espndeportes; Twitter:twitter.com/trboxing, twitter.com/trboxeo, @ESPN @ESPNBoxeo,@ESPNDeportes. Use the hashtag #DiazIto to join the conversation on social media.

About ESPN+

ESPN+ is the first-ever multi-sport, direct-to-consumer subscription streaming service from The Walt Disney Company’s Direct-to-Consumer & International segment in conjunction with ESPN. ESPN+ offers fans two exclusive, original boxing programs The Boxing Beat with Dan Rafael (Tuesdays, weekly) and In This Corner (twice monthly). In addition to boxing content, fans can watch thousands of additional live events, on-demand content and original programming not available on ESPN’s linear TV or digital networks. This includes hundreds of MLB, NHL and MLS games, Grand Slam tennis, Top Rank boxing, PGA Tour golf, college sports, international rugby, cricket, the full library of ESPN Films (including 30 for 30) and more. Fans can subscribe to ESPN+ for just $4.99 a month (or $49.99 per year) and cancel at any time.

PHOTO BY PETER AMADOR / TOP RANK

The World Boxing Organization (WBO) will oversee four major fights this week around the world, including a world championship bout.

Starting on Thursday, June 14 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan, seventh ranked Hiroaki Teshigawara (16-2-2, 9 KOs), of Tokyo, will defend his WBO Asia-Pacific Bantamweight title against the two-time world title challenger Teiru Kinoshita (26-2-1, 9 KOs), of Kobe.

In the same card, 12th ranked Ryuichi Funai (29-7, 20 KOs), from Tokyo, will face former world champion Warlito Parrenas (26-7-1, 23 KOs), from Philippines, for the vacant WBO Asia-Pacific Jr. Bantamweight belt. Both fights are scheduled for 12 round as part of a event promoted by Dangan Boxing.

Also on Thursday, but in Indio, California, Filipino Mercedito Gesta (31-2-2, 17 KOs) will battle Robert Manzanarez (36-1, 29 KOs), of Arizona, for the vacant WBO NABO Lightweight title, in a 10 round clash.

The event, which will take place at Fantasy Springs Casino, is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, and will feature a live broadcast on ESPN, starting at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time (5:30 p.m. Pacific time).

Meanwhile, on Saturday, June 16 at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan, WBO Jr. Flyweight Champion, Ángel ‘Tito’ Acosta (17-1, 17 KOs), from Puerto Rico, will be making his first title defense, against 10th ranked, and former WBO Youth and Latino champion, Carlos Buitrago (30-3-1, 17 KOs), of Nicaragua, in a schedule 12 round fight. Nitro Casino https://kasynopl.com/nitrocasino/

In Puerto Rico, DIRECTV subscribers will be able to see the event through channel 161, OnDIRECTV, starting at 9 p.m, Eastern time (6:00 p.m. Pacific time). Integrated Sports Media is distributing the card in the United States on cable, satellite and digital pay-per-view via iN Demand, Vubiquity, DIRECTV, DISH and live-streamed worldwide (excluding Puerto Rico) on the FITE.TV app and website (www.fite.tv), for a suggested retail price of $34.95.

The event is promoted by Cotto Promotions, in association with H2 Entertainment.

Earlier today Japanese fight fans at the Korakuen Hall saw OPBF and WBO Asia Pacific unified Heavyweight champion Kyotaro Fujimoto (19-1, 11) [藤本 京太郎] successfully retain his titles and stop Australian challenger Aaron Russell (11-5, 4) in what was a rather one sided contest.

The challenger looked determined and confident to begin with, as he tried to fight behind his jab and straight right hand. Despite that confidence it was Fujimoto who took the opening round with his power, speed and variety out shining the simple work of the challenger. The work rateof Fujimoto picked up round by round and after 4 rounds, when the score cards were announced, he was leading 40-36 on all 3 cards.

Fujimoto began to up his output again in the middle rounds, and forced Russell on on to the back foot more and morem forcing him to shell up more. With his pounches flowing at the start of round 7 Kyotaro forced Russell’s corner to throw in the towel and save their man from taking further punishment.

http://www.asianboxing.info/asian-news/fujimoto-stops-russell-to-retain-regional-heavyweight-titles

by Ronnie Nathanielsz

20130220124012514_0001World Boxing Organization president Francisco “Paco” Valcarcel has credited Filipino world champions for helping get the WBO to be finally recognized in Japan.

In an overseas telephone conversation with the BoxingScene.com/Manila Standard, Valcarcel said “that with all the Filipinos fighting around the world it helped a lot because it wasn’t easy to enter Japan.”

Valcarcel cited Manny Pacquiao and WBO champions  Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire, Donnie Nietes and Brian Viloria as well as “the support in Asia.”

He extended the WBO’s gratitude to businessman-sportsman and boxing promoter Akihiko Honda and Mexican promoter Felix “Tito “ Zabala for their help and disclosed that “they are very close to us and we worked like undercover” for the past five years.

He said now that the WBO can have world title fights in Japan there will be more opportunities for Japan to finally have WBO world champions because “its not easy for them in Mexico and the Philippines but now they can promote fighters like Nietes, (bantamweighty champion) Pyungluang Sor Singyu who will defend his title in Namibia and all the other big names.”

Valcarcel who will be in Macau for the blockbuster Top Rank promotion on April 6 said his first big plan is “to  work to have some Japanese fighters in Macao” and that he would meet with Japanese promoters today because they want to participate and can make good offers for champions to come here (to Japan) and fight.”

He also commended WBO Asia Pacific vice president Leon Panoncillo for his work in the region and revealed he was “shocked because everybody, especially the promoters, knew and liked Leon.”

http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&opt=printable&id=62495#ixzz2LTWyRkpZ

Former WBA interim-junior middleweight champion Nobuhiro Ishida (29-7-2, 9KOs) has issued a warning to WBO middleweight king Dmitry Pirog (19-0, 15KOs), advising the Russian star to expect a very difficult fight on May 1st at the Sport Complex Krylatskoe in Moscow, Russia. In his last bout, in February, Ishida lost a twelve round decision to former champion Paul Williams.

“I want to thank Dmitry Pirog and his promoters for the opportunity to compete for the world championship of the WBO. I know that Pirog is a very good boxer. He has good skills and punching power, but I’m going to Russia for the win. I am ready to fight, confident in my abilities, and I’m sure that I will win. I will train very hard. I believe in myself and my team. I guarantee that you will see a great fight on May 1,” Ishida said.

 

By Gregory Stangrit, Allboxing.ru

http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&opt=printable&id=51967