By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Boxing Beat

Unbeaten Japanese southpaw, OPBF titlist Shun Kubo (11-0, 8 KOs) will have an ambitious crack at the WBA super-bantamweight belt against Venezuelan veteran Nehomar Cermeno (26-5-1, 15 KOs) in Osaka, Japan, on April 9. It was announced by Masto Yamashita of Shinsei Promotions in Kobe.

The 37-year-old Venezuelan seized the vacant WBA belt by stopping XiaoJun Qiu in Beijing last June, and kept it twice in China by defeating Anurak Thisa (KO3) and Qiu again (W12) thereafter. Kubo, 26, formerly an amateur speedster, acquired the OPBF 122-pound belt by finishing Filipino Lloyd Jardeliza in five and retained his regional belt twice. Cermeno is too experienced and ringwise for the still developing youngster, being a prohibitive favorite.

IBF female 108lb champ Shibata to face Alondra Garcia in Mexico

Don’t say all Japanese champions stay home under protectionism. Every rule has its exceptions. IBF female 108-pound champ Naoko Shibata (16-3-1, 5 KOs), a busy-punching Japanese speedster, will make her sixth defense against Alondra Garcia (16-3-1, only one KO) in Guadalajara, Mexico, on March 4. It was announced by World Sports Promotions in Tokyo, and it will be staged by Canelo Promotions. Naoko once faced Alondra with the vacant IBF title at stake with the former winning a unanimous decision in Tokyo in 2013.

Fujioka to pursue her fourth world belt

Japanese veteran female campaigner Naoko Fujioka (15-2, 6 KOs), just two years younger than 43-year-old still active baseball player Ichiro Suzuki, will square off against Mexican Isabel Millan (18-2-1, 8 KOs) with the vacant WBA flyweight belt on the line in Tokyo, Japan, on March 13. It was publicly announced by former WBA middleweight champ and Fujioka’s promoter/manager Shinji Takehara last week. Fujioka already gained the world belts in the categories of 105, 115 and 118 pounds, but she says, “My best weight is between 108 and 112.” She recently failed to win the WBC 112-pound belt, losing a close but unanimous decision to Jessica Chavez in Mexico last October. Millan, 32, currently WBF flyweight ruler, has been unbeaten since 2015, scoring eight victories in a row. It will be a highly competitive bout to take place at the Korakuen Hall.

Odaira to meet WBA 105lb champ Freshmart in Thailand

Ex-Japanese champ Go Odaira (13-5-3, only one KO) will go and fight unbeaten WBA 105-pound champ Knockout CP Freshmart (14-0, 6 KOs) in Chonburi, Thailand, on March 1. For the ambitious Odaira, it will be his third attempt to compete for the world championship as he previously failed to win the vacant IBF/WBO belt via seventh round stoppage by Katsunari Takayama in Osaka in 2014 and the WBC throne via fifth round TKO by Wanheng Menayothin in Thailand in the previous year. Odaira, 32, handled by former world flyweight champ Susumu Hanagata, will make a go-for-broke attack to the 26-year-old Thailander. Odaira has an advantage of height by two inches against the champ’s local advantage. It’s true our Japanese challengers very seldom won in world title bouts in Thailand under hot temperature and horrible humidity. Probably Thailand is located in an unlucky direction to Japan.

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