Sho Kimura Vs Kosei Tanaka set for September 24th!

New from Japan this morning -

Last Friday WBO Flyweight champion Sho Kimura (17-1-2, 10) [木村翔] scored his second defense of the WBO title as he stopped Filipino challenger Froilan Saludar (28-3-1, 19) in China. Yesterday Kimura returned to Japan and today he's in the news again, with his next bout already being announced!

The bout in question is anticipated mandatory defense of his title, as he faces off with former WBO Minimumweight and Light Flyweight champion Kosei Tanaka (11-0, 7) [田中恒成], who looks to set the record for the fewest fights for a Japanese fighter to become a 3 weight champion. And to tie the 12 fight world record to that feat, a record currently held by Vasyl Lomachenko.

The bout was announced at a press conference earlier today, held by Tanaka's promoter Kiyoshi Hatanaka, who revealed that the bout will take place on September 24th at the Takeda Teva Ocean Arena in Aichi. The bout has also been assured a televised slot on CBC, with CBC's affiliates, such as TBS, also expected to pic k it up.

At today's press conference Kimura seemed to accept that this would be a tough bout, and would be a very mental one, with Kimura building his momentum thanks to his recent wins, including the one over Zou Shiming. He also seemed to be fully aware that his movement and stamina would be key to over-coming the pressure and relentlessness of Kimura, who has looked very aggressive and solid in his last few fights.

Sadly Kimura wasn't at today's press conference, but we would suspect Aoki gym will hold their own in the coming days.​

http://www.asianboxing.info/asian-n...-title-against-kosei-tanaka-on-september-24th

 

Can only assume they have something big lined up for the winner on NYE

 

Would make sense, all 3 of them are with TBS, Kuroda is also sniffing a world title fight, unification with Rosales perhaps