May twenty-eighth at Yokohama Buntai, headlining a card on DAZN. At stake will be the vacant IBF super featherweight world title. Nuñez and Satō are currently the highest pair of rated contenders at #1 and #3 respectively, with the number two slot presently unoccupied. Each man carries in just a single pro loss - and in either case, it was to countrymen early in their careers. Núñez dropped a UD6 to Hiram "Mexicanito" Gallardo Atexcatenco in June of 2018. Two months before that, Satō fell via TKO2 against Akinori "Kosuke" Saka. It's been all successes ever since - virtually all on their respective domestic scenes but each does have a big victory on international soil. Núñez beat aging Colombian puncher Miguel Ángel Tehran Marriaga in his most recent outing last year in California. Five months earlier, Satō stopped Michael Magnesi in Italy in the twelfth round of their WBC super feather Silver title contest.
Satō vs. Magnesi: This content is protected Núñez vs. Shavkatdzhon Shokirovich Rakhimov a few months ago in IBA Pro: This content is protected
I am backing Nunez to stop Rikiishi but I’ll wait to see his condition at the weigh-in. The only time I remember him making championship weight recently is against Rakhimov. Hearn said he will be travelling over to Japan to support Nunez which tells me he’s very confident that Nunez will beat Rikiishi.
