Boxing Odds From Japan – On Friday, March 4th the Shimazu Arena in Kyoto, Japan hosts promoter Akihiko Honda and his Teiken Promotions as they put on a seven fight boxing card topped by two WBC World Title fights.
The main event sees WBC Bantamweight champion Shinsuke Yamanaka making the 10th defense of his title as he faces the challenge of Venezuela’s Liborio Solis. Yamanaka is the big star here. He is undefeated at 24-0-2 and he is ranked #1 in the world at bantamweight by the prestigious TBRB.org Boxing Rankings. Yamanaka will be a big favorite heading into this fight.
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Solis is a solid little fighter who has compiled a strong 23-3-1 career mark. This includes his current fourteen fight winning streak. Solis is a former world champion in the Super Flyweight weight class, and his resume includes going 2-0 in world title fights in Japan. In those bouts he beat both Kohei Kono (28-7) and Daiki Kameda (29-3) back in 2013. Solis however, will be giving up a lot of height and reach to the rangy Yamanaka.
Yamanaka is now 33 years old, and is coming off a tough outing back in September, 2015 when he won a split decision over Panama’s “Chemito” Moreno where one of the judges had Moreno winning the fight 115-113. Despite his #1 ranking and longtime grip on the WBC belt, Yamanaka is criticized in international circles for never fighting outside of his native Japan.
In the Light Flyweight division newly minted EBC Champion Yu Kimura (18-2-1) defends his belt against Ganigan Lopez of Mexico (26-6). Kimura is ranked #3 in the Light Flyweight division by the TBRB.org, and he will walk into this fight a favorite. Lopez is a much closer underdog than Solis, as Kimura does not have anywhere near the respect than Yamanaka does in Japan. In addition, unlike Solis, he is not fighting a weight class up.
Lopez fought for the WBC World title previously, dropping a close UD to Pedro Guevara by scores of 116-112,116-112, 117-111. In his next defense Guevara dropped the title to Kimura by split decision. Kimura is 32 years old, and he is going to be defending his title against a man who lost to the man he beat. Of course, those comparisons don’t always work, and the line being offered is much more competitive than in the Yamanaka-Solis main event, but this match has the makings of the start of padding Kimura’s record.
The fact is that the rivalry between Japanese fighters in the lighter weight classes and fighters from Latin countries, especially Mexico, is one of the hottest and most hard-fought rivalries in the sport today. Several Japanese fighters have tested themselves by fighting in Mexico, but the travel is usually in the other direction as Japanese promoters bring in talent from overseas to face their fighters. With the travel, time shift and general culture shock, fighters heading to Japan to fight typically experience more stress than usual.
One x-factor may be the experience of Solis and Lopez as the pair both have fought in Japan and walked away with victories.
The rest of the card features local talent and is unlikely that there will be more Boxing Odds From Japan. Check out our latest Talk ‘n’ Shoot Video Blog where we review the odds for this Friday’s fights in Japan.
Boxing Odds From Japan
Bantamweight 12 rounds –
Liborio Solis +1100
Shinsuke Yamanaka -2000
Light Flyweight 12 rounds –
Ganigan Lopez +310
Yu Kimura -400
