Masuda to defend Japanese title against Utsumi
Earlier today Teiken announced that Japanese Bantamweight champion Riku Masuda (5-1, 5) [増田 陸] will make his first defense on November 2nd at Korakuen Hall on a "WHO'S NEXT DYNAMIC GLOVE on U-NEXT" show. The flawed, but hard hitting, champion won the title in July, when he beat Fumiya Fuse (14-4, 3) [富施 郁哉], to continue to climb the rankings and enhance his reputation as one of the most dangerous Bantamweights emerging through the ranks.
Sadly he’s not set to take on one of the top domestic contenders, in a division that really is packed by great Japanese fighters, but instead 40 year old veteran Yoshihiro Utsumi (17-11-6, 10) [宇津見義広], who seems to be getting a shot at a belt as something of a reward for having a career full of determination rather than earning it on the back of good results and solid domestic wins.
Masuda, who is world ranked and expected to move well beyond domestic level, has looked like a destructive force since beginning his professional career in 2022. His 6 combined fights have lasted a combined 24 rounds, with 10 of those coming in a hotly contested 2023 loss to upcoming world title challenger Seiya Tsutsumi (11-0-2, 8) [堤聖也]. His 5 wins have come over 14 rounds, and include two wins over Fuse and an opening round win over former world title challenger Jonas Sultan, in what was Masuda's 3rd opening round win in just his 6th professional bout.
As for Utsumi the 40 year old has been a stalwart for Japanese boxing, wth 34 fights in a career spanning 20 years. Utsumi debuted in September 2004 and has fought a pretty interesting set of names during his time in the ring, including bouts with Yasutaka Ishimoto, Ye Joon Kim, Hiroaki Teshigawara and Kazuki Nakajima. Sadly though he lacks a signature win, and in recent years wins have been rare for him to come by. His only win since 2020 came against Norris Yano, in 2022, and he has only scored 2 wins since the summer of 2018, the other being a narrow win over Hironori Miyake. That's a stretch which has seen him going 2-3-3, over 8 years.
It’s hard to begrudge Utsumi a big farewell fight, but it does look like an underwhelming challenger for Masuda. Thankfully Utsumi has proven his toughness, only being stopped twice, an he should take Masuda some rounds, but it’s hard to imagine this being even close to being competitive.
Sadly he’s not set to take on one of the top domestic contenders, in a division that really is packed by great Japanese fighters, but instead 40 year old veteran Yoshihiro Utsumi (17-11-6, 10) [宇津見義広], who seems to be getting a shot at a belt as something of a reward for having a career full of determination rather than earning it on the back of good results and solid domestic wins.
Masuda, who is world ranked and expected to move well beyond domestic level, has looked like a destructive force since beginning his professional career in 2022. His 6 combined fights have lasted a combined 24 rounds, with 10 of those coming in a hotly contested 2023 loss to upcoming world title challenger Seiya Tsutsumi (11-0-2, 8) [堤聖也]. His 5 wins have come over 14 rounds, and include two wins over Fuse and an opening round win over former world title challenger Jonas Sultan, in what was Masuda's 3rd opening round win in just his 6th professional bout.
As for Utsumi the 40 year old has been a stalwart for Japanese boxing, wth 34 fights in a career spanning 20 years. Utsumi debuted in September 2004 and has fought a pretty interesting set of names during his time in the ring, including bouts with Yasutaka Ishimoto, Ye Joon Kim, Hiroaki Teshigawara and Kazuki Nakajima. Sadly though he lacks a signature win, and in recent years wins have been rare for him to come by. His only win since 2020 came against Norris Yano, in 2022, and he has only scored 2 wins since the summer of 2018, the other being a narrow win over Hironori Miyake. That's a stretch which has seen him going 2-3-3, over 8 years.
It’s hard to begrudge Utsumi a big farewell fight, but it does look like an underwhelming challenger for Masuda. Thankfully Utsumi has proven his toughness, only being stopped twice, an he should take Masuda some rounds, but it’s hard to imagine this being even close to being competitive.