Brian Norman Jr travels from his native USA to Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan this Thursday, as he defends his WBO welterweight title for the first time against local challenger Jin Sasaki.
Bob Arum’s Top Rank promote Norman Jr vs Sasaki and ESPN+ televise live in the USA.
Norman Jr (27-0, 21 KOs) climbed the WBO rankings, and then won the interim version of their world title last May, knocking out Giovani Santillan in the tenth round of their contest, and after Terence Crawford moved up to 154 pounds, the title was vacated.
The Georgian was declared full champion and confirmed that coronation in some style in March, as he stopped Derrieck Cuevas in three rounds in his first defence in Las Vegas.
Now comes the challenge of Sasaki (19-1-1, 17 KOs), who is only 23, and takes part in his seventh 12-rounder in a row.
The Tokyo native lost in 11 rounds to the talented Andy Hiraoka in October 2021, but is unbeaten in nine since.
He has held the WBO Asia Pacific title since January 2023, making five defences, and in his last outing he went the championship distance for the first time, clearly outscoring Shoki Sakai in Japan in January.
Prediction: Norman looks like a solid talent, and can mature into a dominant champion. I think he can show his power and class here, and stop Sasaki in the later rounds of this one.
Araneta meets Simsri for world title
The vacant IBF light flyweight title is up for grabs, as Cristian Araneta of the Philippines meets Thailand’s Thanongsak Simsri.
Araneta (25-2, 20 KOs) is on a run of six wins on the spin, while Simsri (38-1, 34 KOs) has won 14 straight contests since losing in Japan in September 2022.
Prediction: Araneta is the pick to take the vacant belt on points.
Remaining Undercard
The vacant OPBF welterweight title is at stake on the bill and Sora Tanaka (3-0, 3 KOs) can become the new champion with a stoppage win in his scheduled 12-rounder with Takeru Kobata (14-7-1, 6 KOs).
Another vacant title is the Japanese featherweight strap, and Yuya Oku (8-0-2, 5 KOs) may need all 10 rounds for the first time to take a points win over former world title challenger, Reiya Abe (26-4-2, 10 KOs).
In eight-rounders, Ren Ohashi (3-0, 3 KOs) can bank a points win at featherweight against Guangheng Luan (13-8-2, 9 KOs), who has only been stopped once, and super middleweight debutant Yuito Moriwaki can also win on the cards against Ha So Baek (3-1, 2 KOs).
In the sole four-rounder at lightweight, Seiya Yamaguchi (3-1, 2 KOs) can halt Ryosuke Kiuchi (3-3-1, 2 KOs).
