Obara and Kobata make weight
Tomorrow at Korakuen Hall we'll see regular Japanese Welterweight Keita Obara (25-4-1, 22) [小原 佳太] battle against interim champion Takeru Kobata (12-5-1, 5) [小畑 武尊]. Today, ahead of that bout, the two men took part in their weigh in, and both men made the 147lb limit without any real issues.
Obara, who weight in first, came in bang on the limit for what will be his first bout in 10 months. He was scheduled to fight back in April, against Yuki Nagano, but was forced to pull out of that bout due to an injury to his right leg. Notably he stated that he hasn't really used his legs to train, and instead rested them as much as he could. Despite that he did say training had gone well, but was a "little worried psychologically". He also admitted that Kobata was taller than expected but that his own experience was going to be key here. If he wins he intends to move onwards and upwards and fight world ranked opponents from overseas next.
As for Kobata he was well under the limit, at 146.5lbs. He explained that he had sparred a lot, and that he was relying on scoring a stoppage here, admitted "so I can't see a vision of winning by decision. I'm aiming for KO."
Related - Obara and Kobata battle for unified Japanese crown
Obara, who weight in first, came in bang on the limit for what will be his first bout in 10 months. He was scheduled to fight back in April, against Yuki Nagano, but was forced to pull out of that bout due to an injury to his right leg. Notably he stated that he hasn't really used his legs to train, and instead rested them as much as he could. Despite that he did say training had gone well, but was a "little worried psychologically". He also admitted that Kobata was taller than expected but that his own experience was going to be key here. If he wins he intends to move onwards and upwards and fight world ranked opponents from overseas next.
As for Kobata he was well under the limit, at 146.5lbs. He explained that he had sparred a lot, and that he was relying on scoring a stoppage here, admitted "so I can't see a vision of winning by decision. I'm aiming for KO."
Related - Obara and Kobata battle for unified Japanese crown