Yura and Kira make weight for highly anticipated debuts

Tomorrow at Korakuen Hall we’ll see the debuts of two former amateur standouts, a card promoted by Kazutaka Yoshino, of Shisei Promotions.

One of the two debutants is Kenshin Yura (0-0) [由良謙神], a former High School champion who will be debuting against Thai visitor Manachai Phiasui (4-4, 2). On the scales Yura, who is unsure which weight he will be settling at, came in at the Light Welterweight limit, weighing 140lbs. Phiasui, on the other hand, was a little bit lighter coming in at 138.7lbs for the bout. Speaking about the bout Yura stated that he wasn’t going to hunt a stoppage from the off, and explained "I'll stay calm at the start, and if I get the chance, I'll go for the finish.” As for Phiasui, this will be his first bout outside of Thailand.

The other debutant is the very highly regarded Daiya Kira (0-0) [吉良大弥], who will face off with Khomsan Kaewruean (5-2, 3). On the scales Kira was 114.2lbs and looked in great shape, whilst Kaewruean was marginally lighter at 114lbs. Kira, who had been training in the US along with stablemate Kazuto Ioka (31-2-1, 16) [井岡一翔], explained that the training had helped him and he explained "I realized once again how important the basics are." Notably this is Kaewruean's third bout in Japan, having been stopped in his last 2 visits and will be hoping for a better outcome this time.