Daigo Higa, Ken Shiro to make title defenses on April 15

Daigo Higa and Ken Shiro will make defenses of their world titles on April 15 in Yokohama, Japan, on the same card where Ryota Murata returns in the main event to defend his WBA “world” middleweight belt against Emanuele Blandamura.

Higa (15-0, 15 KO) is coming off of a first round wipeout of Moises Fuentes on February 4, and is making a quick turnaround. He’ll defend his WBC flyweight title against Cristofer Rosales (26-3, 17 KO) of Nicaragua. Rosales is probably best known for a pair of trips to the UK, both resulting in losses. He was beaten by Kal Yafai in 2015 and by Andrew Selby in 2017.

Ken Shiro (12-0, 6 KO) will defend his WBC junior flyweight title against the man he beat to win the belt in 2017, Mexican veteran Ganigan Lopez (28-7, 17 KO). Shiro beat Lopez by majority decision, and Lopez hasn’t fought since. Ken Shiro has defended the belt twice, beating Pedro Guevara in October and Gilberto Pedroza in December.