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Junto Nakatani vs Tasana Salapat – massive fight preview and predictions

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Salapat fell short in his one previous step up to world level (Photo Credit: Tapology)

Nakatani will defend his crown on Monday (Poster source: top position)
Nakatani will defend his crown on Monday (Poster source: top position)

This Monday, a triple world title fight will take place at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan, and in the main event Junto Nakatani will defend his WBC bantamweight title for the second time against Tasana Salapat from Thailand.

Top Rank is promoting the Nakatani vs Salapat fight and Sky Sports television in the UK.

Nakatani (28-0, 21 KO) won the vacant WBO flyweight title in November 2020, defeating Giemel Magramo in eight rounds, and traveled outside Japan for the first time to make his first defense, defeating Angel Acosta in the fourth round months later in Tucson.

After winning the super flyweight division, he then captured the vacant WBO super flyweight crown with a dominant last-round knockout of Andrew Moloney, defeating the Australian more than three times in a brutal fight.

After that crushing first defense, he rose to the top again, this time winning the WBC bantamweight title with a sixth-round victory over Alexandro Santiago. Nakatani was last sidelined in July due to needs in the round to knock out Vincent Astrolabio.

Now he will face Salapat (76-1, 53 KO), a man with a record in which it seems that not all is well. The 30-year-old from Roi-Et challenged for world titles in December 2018, but was badly defeated on the cards by Takuma Inoue in a fight for the interim WBC super bantamweight title.

Salapat failed to make the step to world level (Photo: Tapology)
Salapat failed to make the step to world level (Photo: Tapology)

He has since won 28 straight fights, but against a terrible list of opponents, most of whom were losing records or fighting on their debut. In his last fight, he defended his WBC Asian belt for the fourth time, scoring in ten rounds over GuiMing Li 6-5-1 at Rangsit in July.

Many believe Nakatani is the best 118-pound fighter in the world (Photo: Mikey Williams, top position)
Many believe Nakatani is the best 118-pound fighter in the world (Photo: Mikey Williams, top position)
Tanaka defends his title against Cafu

Kosei Tanaka won the vacant WBO super flyweight title in his last fight and makes his first defense against Phumelele Cafu.

Tanaka (20-1, 11 KO) won the belt in February on clear points against Christian Rangel and previously reigned as the WBO minimum-to-super flyweight champion.

After three draws early in his career, Cafu (10-0-3, 8 KO) is on a six-fight winning streak, with the South African winning the IBF International belt in August and then knocking out Enathi Stelle in just 26 seconds in the last contest in December 2023 at getting a free South African bauble.

Tanaka is a true rising star. Photo: badlefthook.com
Tanaka is a true rising star. Photo: badlefthook.com

The WBO flyweight title is also at stake here, and champion Anthony Olascuaga will defend himself against Jonathan Gonzalez.

Olascuaga (7-1, 5 KO) won the vacant title in July, knocking out Riku Kano in three rounds after being stopped in nine by Kenshiro Teraji for the WBC lithe heavyweight championship last April.

Gonzalez (28-3-1, 14 KO) comes from lithe flyweight, where he defended his WBO title three times, most recently a points win over Rene Santiago in his native Puerto Rico in March.

Undercard remaining

Elsewhere, Tenshin Nasukawa (4-0, 2 KO) could win the vacant WBO Asia-Pacific bantamweight title after scoring points with Gerwin Asilo (9-0, 4 KO) and super lightweight hope Ayato Kobayashi (1-0, 0 KO ) ) can defeat Excell James Junior (2-1, 0 KO) in four rounds.

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UK Boxing

A huge mistake on the Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury rematch poster, quickly corrected by the promoters

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The organizers of Tyson Fury’s rematch with Oleksandr Usyk were forced to change the fight poster published this week.

Fans were confused when the left side of the poster depicted Fury as the A-side, despite losing the first fight by split decision. Most felt Usyk was more deserving of it as an undefeated fighter and current four-division heavyweight world champion.

Their concerns appear to have been heard, as a revised poster was released shortly afterwards showing Usyk on the A side and Fury mirrored on the right.

Usyk is the main draw in the heavyweight division after narrowly overtaking Fury on the scorecards in May. Their second battle in Saudi Arabia is set for December 21, and Gypsy King promoter Frank Warren believes the 6-foot-9-inch slugger will enter the fight with modern prospects.

“His mentality is that to win he has to knock him out,” he said Heavenly sports. “So it’s going to be electrifying. He knows what he did wrong. It was a fight of two halves and at one point in the seventh round I really thought he was going to stop him in the next round.

“[Usyk] he staggered back to the corner, came out and caught him with a shot to the nose that seemed to take away all of Tyson’s momentum and concentration.

“[Fury] he believes he knows what to do. He has a great boxing mind and I truly believe he will come out of this as a winner. It was a fierce fight after a split decision by the judges. Many people had different views on who would win, so it will be intriguing to see who learned the most.

The rematch poster also includes details of the highly anticipated Riyad event, which includes a mouthwatering co-main event segment between Ukraine’s Serhiy Bohachuk, who has scored 23 knockouts in 24 wins, and Uzbek fighter Israil Madrimov.

Fans will also have the opportunity to check out the 11th fight of 19-year-old British prodigy Moses Ituama. The heavyweight fighter has won all 10 of his professional fights and will face Demsey McKean, who represents a huge qualitative improvement.

In another heavyweight fight against British interests, “Romford’s Bull” Johnny Fisher will face Dave Allen, who has fought the likes of Dillian Whyte, Luis Ortiz and David Price.

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UK Boxing

Jake Paul places a £3.8 million bet on Mike Tyson and his four-word tattoo is lost

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Jake Paul bravely offered boxing icon Mike Tyson a $5 million (£3.8 million) bet, challenging him to survive until the fourth round of his upcoming fight. The two fighters will fight on November 15 at the AT&T Arena in Arlington, Texas, in a heavyweight bout that is considered a professional fight by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.

Tyson’s last fight was an exhibition match against Roy Jones Jr in 2020, which ended in a draw. Meanwhile, 27-year-old Paul last triumphed over former UFC fighter Mike Perry in July this year.

The fight was originally scheduled for July, but “Iron Mike,” who will be 58 at the time of the fight, had to withdraw due to an inflamed ulcer. The fresh fight will consist of eight two-minute rounds, and Paul bet his opponent Tyson that he won’t even make it to the fourth round, it says. Mirror.

Despite criticism and concerns about Tyson’s health, the controversial fight is still planned. Paul seems confident about this event and recently offered a sizeable bet a few weeks before the showdown.

In a video posted to the TikTok page of his Betr gambling site, Paul can be seen shirtless, lounging on a sofa, stacking money on his counterfeit fat belly. “Mikey, Mikey, if you can stay with me more than four rounds, I’ll give you an extra $5 million,” Paul said. However, there was a catch in the American’s offer.

‘The Problem Child’ revealed that if Tyson doesn’t last more than four rounds, the boxing icon will have to constantly remind the youngster of his defeat. He added: “But if you don’t, you need to get a tattoo that says I love Jake Paul. Deal or no deal?”

Tyson’s team has yet to respond to the bold bet, and some fans are wondering whether the veteran is even taking this fight seriously. In a recent interview with Jimmy Kimmel, “Iron Mike” stated that he trains six hours a day.

“I train extremely difficult, I practice six hours a day. I start at 11 a.m. and leave the gym at 5 p.m.,” he said. Kimmel seemed shocked and asked, “Oh no. 11:00? So it’s six hours straight, is there a break for lunch?”

The former heavyweight champion admitted there was a bit of a break, leaving Kimmel in disbelief as he said, “Oh no.”

In the same interview, when Tyson was asked if he planned to be high for the fight with Paul, he replied, “I’ll be high in my life, yes.” Kimmel then asked, “Are you going to be high on marijuana too?”

Tyson replied: “That’s possible too.” And looking rather defeated, the host said, “Oh no, my bet is getting smaller as we talk.”

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UK Boxing

Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua will “succeed” thanks to Turki Alalshikh’s grand plans

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Barry Hearn is convinced that a blockbuster fight between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury is on the horizon. The two British heavyweight titans, who have dominated the boxing scene with impressive careers, are yet to clash in the ring.

The “Gypsy King” won the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO and WBC titles, defeating such notable opponents as Wladimir Klitschko, Deontay Wilder and Tom Schwarz. Joshua, on the other hand, won every major heavyweight title except the WBC, defeating Alexander Povetkin, Joseph Parker and Andy Ruiz Jr.

Despite their status as two of the most notable heavyweights of their era, a fight between Fury and Joshua remains elusive. But speaking further Thursday’s episode of The Barry Hearn ShowMatchroom founder Hearn expressed confidence that the long-awaited showdown is getting closer.

He shared: “Each fight has to be judged individually. AJ and Fury will fight because His Excellency Turki Alalshikh is involved in their fight.

“By the way, this man is a boxing fanatic. The guy who’s pumping all those hundreds of millions into boxing in the Middle East – the Saudi in particular – has plans to go bigger and further beyond Arabia. This will be an intriguing development. because he brings with him the one thing fighters love more than anything else – huge purses, and he’s the one who will insist this fight happens.”

Hearn also noted similarities between the eagerly anticipated clash and the legendary fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., which kept fans on the edge of their seats for quite some time.

He explained, “Let me take you. So the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight was the fight 10, 15 years ago that everyone was talking about. And there was a similar situation – everyone asked: ‘When will this happen? When will this happen? ». This hasn’t happened for years and years and years.

“And everyone said, ‘well, they’re both over it,’ cynics. This fight grossed over $500 million. Why? Because all those years of waiting actually raised the level of fighting to the point that the sight; Yes, people were frustrated, yes, they were a little bored with it, but when it happened it was huge. But will this fight take place?

In May 2015, Mayweather triumphed in a 12-round unanimous decision against the seemingly undefeated Pacquiao, improving his record to 48-0 and winning the WBO welterweight title.

There has been a lot of speculation online about AJ and Fury entering the ring together, which would be a monumental fight for boxing enthusiasts around the world. Perhaps the dream match will come true in 2025, depending on the result of Fury’s rematch with Oleksandr Usyk scheduled for December.

The undefeated Ukrainian was crowned the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world in May after defeating Fury in a 12-round split decision. If he triumphs for a second time this winter, a fight with AJ seems to be the most logical next step.

Last month, Joshua lost to Daniel Dubois at Wembley, failing to secure the IBF title when he was knocked out by a powerful right hand in the fifth round. While he may decide to invoke his rematch clause with DDD next year, he could be persuaded to finally face the ‘Gypsy King’ if he falls into Usyk’s hands in two months.

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