Saka to defend Japanese title in April!
Earlier today it was announced that Japanese Super Featherweight champion Kosuke Saka (21-6, 18) [坂晃典] would be returning to the ring on April 23rd to defend his title against #1 ranked challenger Kanehiro Nakagawa (11-6, 5) [中川兼玄], in what is set to be a very interesting match up.
Of the two men Saka is the much more well known, and is a 2-weight Japanese champion, having previously held the Japanese Featherweight title before winning the Super Featherweight title in 2019. Sadly since winning the title he has only defended it once, scoring an eye catching TKO win over Takuya Watanabe, and was really made to look second rate last time out, losing in 3 rounds in an OPBF title fight against Yoshimitsu Kimura.
In the ring the champion is a huge puncher, but a flawed fighter, who has been stopped 3 times in his last 8 bouts, and 4 times in total. Whilst he's not a glass cannon as such, he is very much a fighter who appears to be a front runner, and someone who loves to give, but not receive.
As for Nakagawa this will be his first title fight, but one he has earned the hard way. He started his career 4-5 (3) and has gone 7-1 (2) since then, with notable wins over the likes of Seiichi Okada, Taiki Minamoto and Shinnosuke Hasegawa, with those wins boosting his Japanese ranking and earning him this fight. Notably he has been stopped twice, which is a worry against a fighter like Saka, but those were in his first and 7th bout, and he has shown a good chin since then, most notably in his war with Minamoto.
At the time of writing no other bouts have been announced for this show, which will take place at the EDION Arena Osaka.
Of the two men Saka is the much more well known, and is a 2-weight Japanese champion, having previously held the Japanese Featherweight title before winning the Super Featherweight title in 2019. Sadly since winning the title he has only defended it once, scoring an eye catching TKO win over Takuya Watanabe, and was really made to look second rate last time out, losing in 3 rounds in an OPBF title fight against Yoshimitsu Kimura.
In the ring the champion is a huge puncher, but a flawed fighter, who has been stopped 3 times in his last 8 bouts, and 4 times in total. Whilst he's not a glass cannon as such, he is very much a fighter who appears to be a front runner, and someone who loves to give, but not receive.
As for Nakagawa this will be his first title fight, but one he has earned the hard way. He started his career 4-5 (3) and has gone 7-1 (2) since then, with notable wins over the likes of Seiichi Okada, Taiki Minamoto and Shinnosuke Hasegawa, with those wins boosting his Japanese ranking and earning him this fight. Notably he has been stopped twice, which is a worry against a fighter like Saka, but those were in his first and 7th bout, and he has shown a good chin since then, most notably in his war with Minamoto.
At the time of writing no other bouts have been announced for this show, which will take place at the EDION Arena Osaka.