Nakajima to defend OPBF title against Wake
Earlier today saw the announcement of “Lemino Boxing Phoenix Battle 120", set to take place at Korakuen Hall on August 27th. The card had 4 bouts announced for it, with 2 title bouts, and 2 solid supporting bouts.
One of the supporting bouts will see former Japanese Super Bantamweight champion Ryoichi Tamura (15-8-2, 7) [田村亮一] take on Taichi Sugimoto (10-2-3, 1) [杉本太一] in a bout that neither can really afford to lose. The 37 year old Tamura is winless since September 2022, and is 0-2-1 in his last 3, and has very much looked like a fighter who is coming to the end of his career. Sugimoto on the other hand is moving up in weight, coming into this on the back of a TKO loss in a bout for the Japanese Bantamweight title, back in April.
The other supporting bout will see the once touted Rikuto Adachi (18-4, 13) [安達陸仁], who looks for a third straight win as he takes on Masaki Kobayashi (9-3, 4) [小林柾貴]. Adachi was once seen as a genuinely promising youngster, but is 6-3 in his last 9, and has been stopped in 3 bouts, suggesting that whilst he is talented, he lacks the durability to reach the heights once expected of him. As for Kobayashi, this will be his first fight since losing a split decision to Yuichi Ideta in February, in a bout for the Japanese title at 154lbs, and he'll be desperate to pick up a win here and get his career back on track after that setback.
The first of the two title fights on this show, will see Japanese Super Featherweight champion Tsubasa Narai (13-2, 10) [奈良井翼] make his first defense, defending the title he won in April when he stopped Yuna Hara, as he takes on fellow puncher Kanta Fukui (12-5-1, 8) [福井貫太], who's being given this show whilst riding a 4 fight winning streak including a come from behind 8th round TKO win over former Japanese national champion Ryo Sagawa last October. Given the styles of these two, and the heavy hands of both men, this could be something of a shoot out, and both will believe they have the power needed to take home the W.
The main event is a compelling match up as OPBF Super Bantamweight champion Kazuki Nakajima (15-2-1, 12) [中嶋一輝] defends his title against veteran Shingo Wake (31-8-2, 22) [和氣慎吾], in what will be Nakajima's first defense of his second reign. Nakajima's, now enjoying his third reign as a champion having also won the WBO Asia Pacific title, has been stopped in the first defense of his previous championship runs, and he will be desperate to avoid the same fate here as he suffered vs Keita Kurihara in 2021 and TJ Doheny in 2023. As for Wake the bout will see him attempt to become a a 2-time OPBF champion, reclaiming the title he held from 2013 to 2015, when he gave it up to pursue a world title fight. This should be a really interesting bout between a spiteful boxer-puncher and a smart sharp shooting boxer, with both of them having their eyes on a potential world title fight in the future.
One of the supporting bouts will see former Japanese Super Bantamweight champion Ryoichi Tamura (15-8-2, 7) [田村亮一] take on Taichi Sugimoto (10-2-3, 1) [杉本太一] in a bout that neither can really afford to lose. The 37 year old Tamura is winless since September 2022, and is 0-2-1 in his last 3, and has very much looked like a fighter who is coming to the end of his career. Sugimoto on the other hand is moving up in weight, coming into this on the back of a TKO loss in a bout for the Japanese Bantamweight title, back in April.
The other supporting bout will see the once touted Rikuto Adachi (18-4, 13) [安達陸仁], who looks for a third straight win as he takes on Masaki Kobayashi (9-3, 4) [小林柾貴]. Adachi was once seen as a genuinely promising youngster, but is 6-3 in his last 9, and has been stopped in 3 bouts, suggesting that whilst he is talented, he lacks the durability to reach the heights once expected of him. As for Kobayashi, this will be his first fight since losing a split decision to Yuichi Ideta in February, in a bout for the Japanese title at 154lbs, and he'll be desperate to pick up a win here and get his career back on track after that setback.
The first of the two title fights on this show, will see Japanese Super Featherweight champion Tsubasa Narai (13-2, 10) [奈良井翼] make his first defense, defending the title he won in April when he stopped Yuna Hara, as he takes on fellow puncher Kanta Fukui (12-5-1, 8) [福井貫太], who's being given this show whilst riding a 4 fight winning streak including a come from behind 8th round TKO win over former Japanese national champion Ryo Sagawa last October. Given the styles of these two, and the heavy hands of both men, this could be something of a shoot out, and both will believe they have the power needed to take home the W.
The main event is a compelling match up as OPBF Super Bantamweight champion Kazuki Nakajima (15-2-1, 12) [中嶋一輝] defends his title against veteran Shingo Wake (31-8-2, 22) [和氣慎吾], in what will be Nakajima's first defense of his second reign. Nakajima's, now enjoying his third reign as a champion having also won the WBO Asia Pacific title, has been stopped in the first defense of his previous championship runs, and he will be desperate to avoid the same fate here as he suffered vs Keita Kurihara in 2021 and TJ Doheny in 2023. As for Wake the bout will see him attempt to become a a 2-time OPBF champion, reclaiming the title he held from 2013 to 2015, when he gave it up to pursue a world title fight. This should be a really interesting bout between a spiteful boxer-puncher and a smart sharp shooting boxer, with both of them having their eyes on a potential world title fight in the future.