Two More World Title Fights In Japan Official For May
Japanese boxing fans are in for a treat come late May with the announcement of another card featuring world title fights.
One day after Tokyo hosts a tripleheader of world championship fights, the city will have a couple of more world title fights headlined by some of the country's best boxers. WBO Super Flyweight Champion Naoya Inoue will face #2 contender Ricardo Rodriguez, while IBF Light Flyweight Champion Akira Yaegashi squares off with interim champ Milan Melindo on May 21.
Inoue has held the title since the end of 2014 and is undefeated in 12 fights as a professional boxer and has defended the belt four times, three of which ended via knockout. Rodriguez, the current WBO Latino super flyweight titleholder, is on a four-fight win streak.
Yaegashi will be making his third defense of the belt. After a two-fight losing streak, which included being stopped in the ninth-round against Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez in 2014, Yaegashi won his last five fights. Yaegashi won the title against Javier Mendoza back in 2015. This is Melindo's third attempt at winning a non-inteirm world title and his only two losses came in those fights: against Mendoza and Juan Francisco Estrada.
The card will take place in Tokyo's Ariake Coliseum. The card will also feature 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Satoshi Shimizu’s third pro fight.
