Tokyo's Ariake Arena will host two consecutive days of championship action — eight fights and seven world title showdowns — streaming live and exclusively in the U.S. on ESPN+ during the early morning hours. The action kicks off Sunday, Oct. 13th, as Takuma Inoue defends his WBA bantamweight title against Seiya Tsutsumi. In the co-feature, Kenshiro Teraji aims to conquer a second weight class by facing former champion Cristofer Rosales for the vacant WBC flyweight title. In additional title action on Sunday, Seigo Yuri Akui (20-2-1, 11 KOs) defends his WBA flyweight title against Thailand's Thananchai Charunphak (25-1, 15 KOs) and Shokichi Iwata (13-1, 10 KOs) is matched against Jairo Noriega (14-0, 3 KOs) for the vacant WBO light flyweight title. The action continues Monday, Oct. 14th, as three-division king Junto Nakatani defends his WBC bantamweight title against Petch Sor Chitpattana, Kosei Tanaka (20-1, 11 KOs) defends the WBO super flyweight title against Phumelele Cafu (10-0-3, 8 KOs) and the United States' Anthony Olascuaga (7-1, 5 KOs) travels to defend the WBO flyweight title on neutral ground against Jonathan Gonzalez (28-3-1, 14 KOs).

 

Inoue (20-1, 5 KOs), the younger brother of pound-for-pound mainstay Naoya Inoue, captured the vacant belt with a points win over Liborio Solis in April 2023. He defended it with a ninth-round stoppage versus former world champion Jerwin Ancajas in February and a unanimous decision over Sho Ishida in May. Tsutsumi (11-0-2, 8 KOs) makes his first world title appearance following a fourth-round TKO against Weerawat Noolae in July.

 

Teraji (22-1, 14 KOs), moving up in weight to 112 pounds, made three defenses of his WBC/WBA unified light flyweight crown, including a majority decision win over Carlos Cañizales in January. He is 14-1 in light flyweight world title contests dating back to May 2017. Rosales (37-6, 22 KOs) is on a five-fight winning streak following an April 2022 decision loss to eventual IBF champ Angel Ayala. He won the WBC flyweight world title in 2018 in Japan, stopping local favorite Daigo Higa in nine rounds.

 

Also on October 13th, former kickboxing world champion Tenshin Nasukawa (4-0, 2 KOs) faces Filipino contender Gerwin Asilo (9-0, 4 KOs) in a bantamweight contest.

 

Nakatani (28-0, 21 KOs) captured the WBC strap in February with a sixth-round TKO against Alexandro Santiago. The 26-year-old southpaw authored a devastating encore in July, knocking out Vincent Astrolabio in the opening round. Sor Chitpattana (76-1, 53 KOs) returns to Japan for the first time since his 2018 interim title bout loss to Takuma Inoue. Since that setback, he has an impressive 28-0 record with 20 knockouts.

In additional fight action on Sunday, Oct. 13: 

• Seigo Yuri Akui (20-2-1, 11 KOs) vs. Thananchai Charunphak (25-1, 15 KOs), 12 Rounds, Akui’s WBA Flyweight World Title

 

• Shokichi Iwata (13-1, 10 KOs) vs. Jairo Noriega (14-0, 3 KOs), 12 Rounds, Vacant WBO Light Flyweight World Title

The action continues Monday, Oct. 14, as three-division king Junto Nakatani defends his WBC bantamweight world title against Petch Sor Chitpattana.