The UK and Latin America have easy access, while American viewers will need to pay a few bucks extra.

2020’s last big fight also figures to be one of its best. This Thursday morning at 4:00 AM Eastern, 25-year-old Kosei Tanaka attempts to become a WBO four-division champion against countryman and current WBO Jr. Bantamweight World Champion Kazuto Ioka, who became the first male Japanese boxer to achieve the feat last year. The bout airs live on Japanese channel TBS, but luckily for us gaijin, there are a few ways to tune in.

USA: Unfortunately, no American network or streaming service has acquired broadcast rights at the time of writing. That doesn’t mean piracy is the only option, though: Asian Boxing has a guide on how to subscribe to iSakura, which allows access to TBS and other local channels. Conveniently, iSakura offers a three-day trial, which you don’t have to manually cancel afterwards, for $2.50. Just be sure to order by the end of the day; going by the website, it can take a while to process your payment.

UK: BoxNation has you covered.

Latin America: ESPN KnockOut provided a handy country-by-country breakdown.

By Patrick L. Stumberg / BadLeftHook.com

One of the best fights on the schedule is now official. Four-division champion Kazuto Ioka will defend his WBO Jr. Bantamweight World title on New Year’s Eve against unbeaten three-division WBO champion Kosei Tanaka.

The 31-year-old Ioka (25-2, 14 KO) has been excelling at the world level for nearly a decade, having claimed his first title in 2011 as a minimumweight. He enjoyed strong reigns at 105, 108, and 112 pounds, losing only to Amnat Ruenroeng by split decision along the way, and smashed Aston Palicte to become Japan’s first male four-division champion last year.

He made his first title defense last NYE against Jeyvier Cintron.

Tanaka (15-0, 9 KO) has pushed a breakneck pace in his rise through the lower weights, winning a WBO minimumweight belt of his own in 2015 at the age of 19. He defended that title once, the light flyweight title twice, and the flyweight title three times before moving to 115, where he became Ioka’s mandatory challenger per WBO policy.

He’s unquestionably among the most exciting fighters in the sport, and I can’t imagine this matchup being anything other than fireworks. Tanaka is in search of his fourth division and if he does so, he will be the first boxer who has done it in fewest fights. The current record is held by Oscar de la Hoya who did it in 24 bouts.

Via badlefthook.com

The World Boxing Organization (WBO) will hold its thirty-second annual convention in the city of Tokyo, Japan from December 2 to 5, 2019 at the Tokyo Dome Hotel.

WBO President Francisco Valcarcel Mulero, Esq, stated:

“The WBO has been in Japan for about 7 years. We have Tomoki Kameda, who was crowned the first WBO World champion in 2013. We are doing great in Japan and as a tribute to Japan, we decided to come here to have a great convention where will discuss boxers’ safety as the main issue.”

“We have been collecting data from different sources. We want to establish a research program, perhaps donating funds to a Med School so that they can work on the issue from a scientific point of view and recommend to us the steps one should follow, the protocol needed to make boxing a safer sport. We have other issues concerning safety, like the referees have to be better prepared in case of any emergency. We will work on seminars with the officials in this matter. We need better judging, better doctors, ringside physicians. We have to train the supervisors, the local commissions. We will touch all these issues during the convention.”

“Japan is a boxing nation, great fighters, great history in the sport. Everybody recognize Japan as a main point of boxing for the sports in all Asia. They have champions like Naoya Inoue, Kosei Tanaka, Kasumi Saeki, Kazuto Ioka, Miyo Yoshida, Tenkai Tsunami, Mika Iwakawa, Ryota Murata.”

“Having our convention here in Japan allows the participation of more fighters from Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Korea, China, among others, and give them the opportunity to fight for WBO titles.”

The convention will be broadcast live on the official WBO Facebook page www.facebook.com/WorldBoxingOrg

The agenda of the convention is available at the following link: www.wboboxing.com/news/wbo-news/wbo-tokyo-convention-2019-agenda/

MIERCOLES 10 DE MAYO
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Contactos:
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