Fighters make weight for title fights in Japan
This coming weekend is a pretty big one for the Japanese scene, with a huge show on Monday, a national holiday in Japan, and two noteworthy cards on Saturday. Today, ahead of those Saturday shows, we had the fighters take part in their weigh ins, for both a world title fight in Osaka and two Japanese title fights in Tokyo.
The world title bout will see IBF Bantamweight champion Emmanuel Rodriguez (22-2-0-1, 13) defending his title against mandatory challenger Ryosuke Nishida (8-0, 1) [西田凌佑] in an excellent match. On the scales in Osaka Rodriguez was 117.75lbs whilst Nishida was a little heavier, coming in on the 118lb Bantamweight limit.
After making weight Rodriguez gifted Nishida with some work out clothes, explaining it was to show his gratitude for what will be his first fight in Japan. He also consumed water and pizza after making weight, to recover some strength and get some carbohydrates into his body. He also predicted that the bout wouldn't go the distance. As for Nishida, he came across as ulta calm and confident in what is, by far, the biggest fight of his career, and had some local cuisine made by his wife to help regain his strength. Notably if Nishida does win he'll be the first world champion from the Muto gym in 18 years, with the last being Nobuo Nashiro, the former WBA Super Flyweight champion who won the title in his 8th professional bout. It was also confirmed that both men will wear Winning gloves, with Rodriguez set to wear red and Nishida to wear black.
Over in Tokyo we get two Japanese title bouts, both of which are rematches.
One of those will see Japanese Welterweight champion Shoki Sakai (29-13-3, 15) [坂井祥紀] take on Ryota Toyoshima (18-3-1, 11) [豊嶋亮太]. On the scales both Sakai and Toyoshima were comfortably under the divisional limit, coming in a little around 146.5lb for the bout. Notably when the two men met for the first time it was Toyoshima who came out on top, when he was holding regional honours, but since then he has looked like a man who’s maybe started to slide, whilst Sakai, who originally based himself in Mexico, looks to have grown in confidence and looks to be a man in the form of his career.
The other title bout in Tokyo will see Japanese Light Flyweight champion Toshiki Kawamitsu (9-1, 5) [川満俊輝] make his first defense, as he battles against mandatory challenger Kosuke Ando (13-4, 6) [安藤教祐], in a repeat of a match up that Kawamitsu won by opening round TKO in 2021. On the scales Kawamitsu was comfortably under the limit, at 107.6lbs whilst Ando was slightly heavier, but still under the 108lb limit.
Notably both the bouts in Tokyo are part of the Champion Carnival and can be streamed on U-Next whilst the show in Osaka is streamed on Abema.
The world title bout will see IBF Bantamweight champion Emmanuel Rodriguez (22-2-0-1, 13) defending his title against mandatory challenger Ryosuke Nishida (8-0, 1) [西田凌佑] in an excellent match. On the scales in Osaka Rodriguez was 117.75lbs whilst Nishida was a little heavier, coming in on the 118lb Bantamweight limit.
After making weight Rodriguez gifted Nishida with some work out clothes, explaining it was to show his gratitude for what will be his first fight in Japan. He also consumed water and pizza after making weight, to recover some strength and get some carbohydrates into his body. He also predicted that the bout wouldn't go the distance. As for Nishida, he came across as ulta calm and confident in what is, by far, the biggest fight of his career, and had some local cuisine made by his wife to help regain his strength. Notably if Nishida does win he'll be the first world champion from the Muto gym in 18 years, with the last being Nobuo Nashiro, the former WBA Super Flyweight champion who won the title in his 8th professional bout. It was also confirmed that both men will wear Winning gloves, with Rodriguez set to wear red and Nishida to wear black.
Over in Tokyo we get two Japanese title bouts, both of which are rematches.
One of those will see Japanese Welterweight champion Shoki Sakai (29-13-3, 15) [坂井祥紀] take on Ryota Toyoshima (18-3-1, 11) [豊嶋亮太]. On the scales both Sakai and Toyoshima were comfortably under the divisional limit, coming in a little around 146.5lb for the bout. Notably when the two men met for the first time it was Toyoshima who came out on top, when he was holding regional honours, but since then he has looked like a man who’s maybe started to slide, whilst Sakai, who originally based himself in Mexico, looks to have grown in confidence and looks to be a man in the form of his career.
The other title bout in Tokyo will see Japanese Light Flyweight champion Toshiki Kawamitsu (9-1, 5) [川満俊輝] make his first defense, as he battles against mandatory challenger Kosuke Ando (13-4, 6) [安藤教祐], in a repeat of a match up that Kawamitsu won by opening round TKO in 2021. On the scales Kawamitsu was comfortably under the limit, at 107.6lbs whilst Ando was slightly heavier, but still under the 108lb limit.
Notably both the bouts in Tokyo are part of the Champion Carnival and can be streamed on U-Next whilst the show in Osaka is streamed on Abema.