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To begin the card fans saw Australian fighter TJ Doheny (26-4, 19) continue his great form in Japan, as he scored a 4th round TKO win over the previously unbeaten Bryl Bayogos (7-1-1, 2). Doheny, who was added to the card at short notice, as an insurance policy for Luis Nery potentially missing weight, made sure to make the most of his opportunity to score a third straight TKO win in Japan, building on victories over Kazuki Nakajima and Japhetlee Llamido last year, and his career defining 2018 win over Ryosuke Iwasa for the IBF Super Bantamweight title. With the win he remains in the mix for a potential world title fight, whilst Bayogos got the chance to fight on a major card, get some international experience and fight on an historic event.
The first of the 4 world title bouts saw WBA Flyweight champion Seigo Yuri Akui (20-2-1, 11) [阿久井政悟] retain his title with a unanimous decision over Taku Kuwahara (13-2, 8) [桑原拓] in what was a rematch of a 2021 Japanese title bout, won in 10 rounds . From the off Akui was the man pressing and pressuring, whilst Kuwahara used his footwork and speed, using the outside of the ring and picking his moments as Akui came to him. The first round was a good one for Kuwahara, but he was being forced to use a lot of energy and by round two it did seem like Akui was starting to land the much heavier, more telling blows and timed Kuwahara numerous times. Round 3 was a really interesting round, where Kuwahara seemed to win the first 2 minutes, creating space well and landed a really good body shot, but Akui landed some monstrous headshots late on, in a round that could have gone either way. Kuwahara again started well in round 4, managing to create the space he needed to work early on, but once again as the round went on Akui managed to find his range, and again landed the heavier, more hurtful, single shots. Round 5 was a much better round for Kuwahara, who seemed to find his distance more easily, and landed the better shots, limiting the success of Akui well though the round. The 6th round was very much a round that was dictated by body shots, as both went to the midsection on a regular basis. The body work of Akui seemed to be the more effective, slowing Kuwahara down for much of the round, until the final 20 seconds of the round as Kuwahara ended the round with a big flurry, making it a really tough round to score. In round 7 we saw a lot of action up close, with Kuwahara looking to have slowed, and less able to create the space he wanted to work, this massively favoured Akui, who had the much slower feet, and forced Kuwahara to fight fire with fire. The challenger had success when the two were trading, but it wasn’t the style of fight he wanted and this showed even more in round 8 as Akui began to relentless walk down Kuwahara, who tried to slow Akui with body shots, but couldn’t make Akui back off. The relentlessness of Akui continued in round 9, with Kuwahara doing what he could to slow the pursuit of the champion, but being unable to get Akui’s respect, whilst also dropping his left hand as he moved, giving Akui an invitation to for his right hands. In round 10 things continued to get worse for Kuwahara as Akui’s relentless pressure had more and more success, including a huge right hand 2 minutes into the round. To his credit Kuwahara refused to give in and had moments in round 11, though was again on the receiving end for much of the round, despite a great burst of shots late on. Kuwahara came out fast in the final round, knowing he was well down, and letting it all go for the first 40 or so seconds. Sadly for him Akui saw out the storm and then returned with interest as he went out looking for a stoppage. To his credit Kuwahara dug deep and managed to see out the final round, but it wasn’t enough with scores of 117-111, twice and 118-110. The second bout on the show also an all-Japanese affair as WBA Bantamweight champion Takuma Inoue (20-1, 5) [井上拓真] got off the canvas to retain his title, with a wide decision against Sho Ishida (34-4, 17) [石田匠]. Ishida started the bout by trying to get behind his long, sharp, crisp jab and pressure behind it, coming forward behind the jab and looking to control range. Inoue, struggled to have much success due to the height and reach of Ishida, who managed to land one of the best punches of his career as he dropped Inoue with a perfectly placed counter jab, in what was a flash knockdown. Knowing he was down Inoue looked to up the tempo in round 2 though was quickly forced onto the ropes where he took a good straight right hand. As the round went on Inoue managed to land some solid shots of his own, particularly up close with the uppercut, but continued to struggle with the reach and jab of Ishida. The consistent jab of Ishida was the key to the round, but it did seem, as the round went on, that Inoue was starting to find his own timing and left Ishida with a bloodied nose. By round 3 Inoue was starting to land some nice combinations, and had began to get a read on the Ishida jab and managed to get inside going to both the head and body. He had also been able to consistently land his own jab, which was pretty much taking away the key weapon in Ishida’s arsenal. Round 4 followed on from round 3, with Inoue getting more success, more control and standing in the pocket regularly, landing some spiteful right hand around the guard of Ishida and his very stiff, hurtful, jab. By the end of the round it seemed like Ishida could no longer establish his jab like he had in the first 2 rounds as Inoue seemed to be smiling through his gum shield, enjoying the action. In round 5 Inoue continued to build on his success, with Ishida really struggling to keep up the output needed to keep Inoue at bay and instead allowing Inoue to pick and choose when to engage and when to be out of range. Notably when they were up close Ishida did manage to connect with some good body blows, but was caught by some good 1-2’s earlier in the round and was certainly not having the style of fight he wanted. From the off in round 6 the two men were close, where Inoue was having much the better of things, with his crisp work up close, especially his uppercut, really catching the eye as blood began to pour from Ishida’s nose. With Ishida’s nose proving to be a target for Inoue, the champion saw a bullseye for more uppercuts as he started to bully Ishida up close and refuse to give Ishida the space to establish his jab. We saw Ishida continue to build any real momentum in round 7, as Inoue again took the jab away, got close, and landed some spiteful jabs, uppercuts and right hands of his own, breaking down the challenger. Sadly for Ishida he looked very predictable, one paced and lacked creativity in his offense. In round 8 we saw Inoue choose to back on to the ropes, almost trying to draw Ishida in, the tactic was short lived but did show that Inoue was willing to try something new, whilst Ishida again showed no real ability to mix up what he was doing. Knowing he was behind Ishida finally showed something knew as he began to let fly with some body shots as Inoue was on the ropes in round 9. It was a much better round for Ishida, but Inoue still had the more eye catching shots, including a number of great uppercuts up close, and a clean right hand. To start round 10 Inoue began throwing with bad intention, continuing to have real success with the uppercut up close. Although being up close did leave Inoue open to some body shots from Ishida they weren’t nearly enough to give Ishida the round as he continued to be popped hard, especially up top. Round 11 saw Ishida start wall with his jab, but it wasn’t long until Inoue got inside again and started to really punish Ishida, landing a great body shot along with a number of spiteful head shots. The final 20 seconds of the round was sensation as the two stood and traded bombs, with both men forced to take some big head shots in the highlight of the fight. Going into round 12 it seemed clear Ishida would need a KO to win, but it wasn’t happening, his lack of power was showing through. He had moments, but it was too little, loo late. The final moments of the round were something of a mess, with the final bell going as Ishida was the canvas, being unceremoniously dumped there by Inoue, who got revenge for being pushed over a few rounds earlier. The scores were comfortably in favour of Inoue, with scores of 118-109, twice, and 116-111. The chief support bout on the card saw was also for a Bantamweight title, as WBO champion Jason Moloney (27-3, 19) face the hard hitting southpaw Yoshiki Takei (9-0, 8) [武居由樹] In the opening round we saw both men looking to establish their jabs, and get their lead foot on the outside. The two both struggled to get their range, through Takei did out land Moloney. Notably though the main talking point was Takei getting warned for going low, several times, with hurtful but accidental low blows. In round 2 things seemed to settle down a bit, with Takei showing some smart boxing and moving. A body shot midway through the round was judged to be low and saw Takei being deducted a point, in what appeared to be a very harsh call from Steve Willis. With the point deduction it seemed clear that Takei was going to have to avoid going to the body of Moloney and in round 3 Takei stuck to mostly working up top, whilst Moloney began to quickly run out of ideas, standing at range and struggling to get much going at all and struggling to get past the jab of Takei. In round 4 we again saw Moloney struggle to close the distance, and land anything of note. Interestingly both men hit the canvas this round, with Takei being pushed down and Moloney. Late in the round Moloney did land a great shot, but was quickly punished as Takei responded with interest as he continued to notch the rounds, moving 4-0 up. Round 5 saw Takei continue to control the action and he seemed to hurt Moloney as the two stood in the pocket. The toughness of Moloney allowed him to see out the storm, but it was clear that Takei had stung him and it wasn’t the first time he had felt the power of Takei. Despite recovering Moloney really didn’t change things after being hurt, coming forward behind a high guard but having little success with his shots. Takei continued to control in round 6, using the jab really well early in the round to not just control Moloney, but to also set up his hurtful left hand and his right hooks, as he began to mark the face of Moloney. The final 30 seconds of the round was Moloney’s best part of the fight, as he managed to have some success of his own, but it wasn’t enough to take the round, and he was tagged hard just moments before the bell. In round 7 we saw Takei visibly slow down, pick his moments more carefully, likely realising how tough Moloney was. Despite slowing down Takei still did enough to take the round, with Moloney unable to cut the distance and get his own shots off with any consistency. In round 8 Moloney had easily his best moment as he landed a combination, with a shot right on the chin and Takei was forced to hold on for the first time. Midway through the round the action was stopped for Takei to get his gumshield put in his mouth, which hadn’t been in for the first 80 seconds of the round. Takei also then slipped in Moloney’s corner, where Moloney had slipped earlier in the fight. Despite the two breaks in action, the round was easily the best for Moloney, as Takei continued to slow down, and began to look like he was feeling the tempo of the action. Despite visibly tiring, which took a very clear effect on Takei’s footwork, Takei managed to land some good shots early in round 9 as he looked to slow Moloney’s growing momentum. A clash of heads saw the action break again and after that Takei did land a couple of very solid left hands, though Moloney did connect with some solid of his own. There was another pause at the very start of round 10 as something had to be removed from Moloney’s corner. Despite looking tired for several rounds Takei looked again to reestablish himself in round 10, in what was his best round for quite a while. He controlled the action landing some solid jabs, several eye catching combinations, and more pressure than we’d seen from him earlier in the fight. The shots took their toll on Moloney, who himself began to slow down just as Takei seemed to be getting his second wind. That second wind continued into round 11 as Takei again got the better of things as Moloney again struggled to have any sustained success or even dictate the distance of the action. As Takei created space, forcing Moloney to come in he then picked him off with stiff jabs and hurtful left hands. Going into the final round it seemed like Moloney needed a KO to retain his title, and Takei could, and perhaps should, have got on his feet and ran. Instead Takei continued to fight, landing heavy leather, pretty much letting Moloney walk into his shots as he himself looked for a knock out in the first 90 seconds of the round. Takei then looked at the clock, and after a good start to the round for Takei it seemed he had given everything in his tank. From there on we then then saw Moloney put his foot on the gas, letting everything go as Takei began to look absolutely shattered and unable to keep his guard up. Takei was standing up right on just his fighting heart and spirit, and had nothing left to give. Had the fight been just a minute longer Moloney would have finished him off. As it was however Takei had done enough early on, and that was confirmed on the cards, with scores of 117-110 and 116-111, twice, in favour of Takei. With the win Takei becomes the 100th Japanese world champion* and sees Japanese fighters holding all 4 of the Bantamweight world titles, once vacated by Naoya Inoue. In the main event we saw Unified Super Bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue (27-0, 24) [井上尚弥] take on Mexican challenger Luis Nery (35-2, 27), and despite a scare early on, did what was expected and stopped the Mexican. At the start Inoue took center ring and came close with a sweeping right hand after just 15 seconds, moments later he managed to land one, which Nery took well. Nery tried to respond but fell short with his shots. Soon afterwards Inoue landed with a hook and a right hand. A counter just moments later dropped Inoue with a huge sweep left hand, who like his brother earlier on the show didn’t look hurt and was clear eyed when the count was given. It was the first time he had been down, as either an amateur or a professional, but he showed a good understanding of the situation, taking his time and getting to his feet when he was ready. The knockdown gave Nery confidence with the Mexican going hunting, and Inoue managed to land several good clean counters on the ropes, but it was a clear 10-8 to Nery. Early in round 2 Inoue landed a good 1-2, and started to rely on his sharp jab more. As the round went on both men became ultra-patient, waiting for the other to make a mistake, with it being Nery who made the first mistake as he over-committed and was dropped himself by a counter left hook. In round 3 we saw a more aggressive Inoue as he tagged Nery on the ropes, and let several hard combinations go through the round. As the round went on it seemed like Nery was too slow and that Inoue was reading everything he was doing in advance of Nery actually doing it. Not only was Inoue reading Nery but he was also landing some very powerful right hands, some going right through the Nery guard. Nery came out more aggressively in round 4, knowing he had to change things up after a poor round 3. The more aggressive Nery was however, the more holes he was leaving defensively and it even lead to Inoue taunting and daring Nery to hit him. As the round went on it was starting to look like a showcase for Inoue, who was pulling exhibition stuff whilst Making Nery look like something of an amateur. To his credit, Nery was taking the shots well, but it seemed like Inoue was chipping away at him, mentally and physically, whilst also leaving Nery’s face looking swollen. In round 5 Inoue continued to tag Nery at will as Nery began to try and come forward and risk it all. As Nery came in he got tagged by two huge left hands with Inoue on the ropes, being dropped a second time. With Nery clearly hurt Inoue went for the finish at the end of the round, but Nery managed to see out the round. To start round 6 Inoue was again chipping away at Nery, almost wanting Nery to fire at him so he could counter. As the round went on Nery was dropped again, this time from a round hand, with the referee waving off the bout as Nery was still plonked on the canvas. Despite being dropped for the first time in his career, a flash knockdown, Inoue managed to do what he had to here. Not only beating Nery into submission with 3 knockdowns, but also putting on a show for fans around the globe, as well as the 55,000 in the Tokyo Dome, becoming the first Japanese fighter to headline at the Big Egg. (*The count for Japanese world champions include non-Japanese born, Japanese based fighters, who were fighting out of Japanese gyms, such as Takeshi Fuji, Yuri Arbashakov, Orzbek Nazarov, Eagle Den Junlaphan and Jorge Linares; Shingaki isn't included in some counts, such as the JBC count, as the IBF weren't recognised by the JBC at the time of his title win).
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Earlier today in Japan we got the long awaited announcement of the worst kept secret in Boxing, Naoya Inoue's (26-0, 23) [井上尚弥] much anticipated bout with Mexican puncher Luis Nery (35-1, 27), with a huge press conference to not only announce the bout but also the show. And what made the announcement a little bit special however, wasn’t just the bout we knew about, but just how incredibly stacked the card for is, with a staggering 4 world title fights, all of which have some genuine intrigue, in one of the best cards of 2024.
The main bout will be the Inoue Vs Nery contest, which will see Inoue defending his Undisputed Super Bantamweight crown for the first time, as he takes on a fighter who was once “indefinitely” banned from Japan, and has long been public enemy #1 in Japanese boxing circles. The controversial Nery famously dethroned the then long reigning WBC Bantamweight champion Shinsuke Yamanaka, whilst failing a drug test, and then beat Yamanaka in a rematch, whilst missing weight and was seen enjoying some less than healthy food at the time, with reports that he had been eating Ice cream in Japan, rather than actively concentrating on making weight. For Inoue the bout will see him look to build on other Super Bantamweight wins, following victories over Unified champions Stephen Fulton and Marlon Taples, to unify all 4 titles at the weight. A win here is expected to be followed by a bout in Autumn and one in Winter with Inoue looking to fit 3 fights into the year. As for Nery the bout follows a July win over Froilan Saludar and comes 15 months after a barn burning 11 round war with Azat Hovhannisyan, a bout that really showed him prove his toughness, which he’ll need to do to beat the “Monster” here. Inoue’s younger brother Takuma Inoue (19-1, 5) [井上拓真] will also be on the card, defending the WBA Bantamweight title in an all-Japanese clash with veteran Sho Ishida (34-3, 17) [石田匠]. Coming in to this one Inoue will be seeking his second defense of the WBA title, which he won in April 2023, and looking to build on an excellent February win, which saw him become the first man to stop tough Filipino former world champion Jerwin Ancajas. The talented Inoue, who is often overshadowed by his older brother, is a talented fighter who has a strong, and often overlooked, resume including wins over Ancajas, Liborio Solis, Shingo Wake, Froilan Saludar and Tatsuya Fukuhara, among others, and although not the freakish talent Naoya is, is a very solid world class fighter who often gets overlooked. Interestingly Ishida has also long been overlooked, and for much of his career was a stablemate of Kazuto Ioka's. He is best known internationally for losing in a WBA Super Flyweight title bout against Kal Yafai in 2017. Since hat loss he has rebuilt, and competed at a high level, but has suffered split decision losses to Israel Gonzalez and Kosei Tanaka, and was fortunate against the hard hitting Toshiya Ishii in 2020. He will go in as the clear under-dog, but is a tall, talented fighter, with a brilliant jab which will ask questions of Inoue. Staying at Bantamweight we’ll also see we'll see WBO champion Jason Moloney (27-2, 19) defending his title against against Yoshiki Takei (8-0, 8) [武居由樹]. For Moloney, a former KO victim of Naoya Inoue, this will be his second defense of the title, and see him returning to the ring following a thrilling bout with Saul Sanchez in his first defense. The talented Australian is a real great fighter, but someone who, in recent fights, has been dragged into the wrong type of fight at times and if he does that against the dangerous Takei he could well be in serious trouble. Despite only being 8-0 as a professional Takei was a top kick boxer before being put on the boxing fast track and in just 8 fights he has already answered a lot of questions. He has done 11 rounds, he has claimed the OPBF Super Bantamweight title, and he has shown frighteningly heavy hands, an explosive and aggressive style and he carries real danger with him. Of all world title bouts announced for this show, this is probably the hardest one to call, and the one that sees the local taking the biggest step up, but also one where a case can be made for either guy. The other world title bout announced for the card will actually be a rematch and another all-Japan affair, as WBA Flyweight champion Seigo Yuri Akui (19-2-1, 11) [阿久井政悟] takes on Taku Kuwahara (13-1, 8) [桑原拓]. For Akui this will be his first defense of the title, which he won in January when he dethrones the awkward Artem Dalakian, and he will be seeking a repeat performance against Kuwahara, who he beat in a Japanese title fight in 2021, with Akui scoring a 10th round TKO with 11 seconds left. Since that win Akui has gone 3-0, and notched really good rounds against Takuya Kogawa, Jayson Vayson and the aforementioned Dalakian. As for Kuwhara he has rebuilt since that first bout, going 5-0 (4), claiming and defending the OPBF Flyweight title and beating former world title challengers Giemel Magramo and Wulan Tuolehazi. On paper it’s hard to go against the champion here, but Kuwhara will have learned from his loss and will be hungry for revenge. Notably 4 of the men in the world title fights, the Inoue brothers, Takei and Kuwahara are all from the same gym, the Ohashi Gym, with their promoter Hideyuki Ohahi being the lead promoter of the event along with Top Rank and Teiken. As for the event, it will take place on May 6th at the Tokyo Dome, the huge venue that hasn’t held boxing in over 30 years, and has only ever been used for boxing twice, both in events headlined by Mike Tyson. The fact the venue is so huge, between 42,000-55,000 depending on configuration, likely explains why the card is as stacked as it is. Despite that it’s hard to imagine their being many seats left given the profile of just the main event, with the Japanese megastar defending in his home country against a man who was, for years, the man Japanese fans hated. The fans will likely be desperate to see a Japanese fighter get revenge for what Nery did to Yamanaka, and will feel confident the “Monster” will give Nery the beating they feel he deserves. To his credit at the press conference today Neri did apologise for what he’d done and did seem to make amends with Yamanaka, with the two men seen shaking hands and smiling together. Neri also accepted that he’d let people down, and there seems to be a real focus on making weight and showing a sense of professionalism here. The show is set to be aired on Amazon Prime in Japan, seeing Inoue return to the service after fighting several fights on Lemino, and ESPN+ in the US. Although not confirmed it’s also likely that the broadcast will be picked up in the UK, though no broadcaster has yet been confirmed for the show, among other territories. Back on January 13th Sponichi Annex reported that Bob Arum was in talks for his Japanese Middleweight star Ryota Murata (16-2, 13) [村田 諒太] was in talks to face off with Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (53-1-2, 36) in May for a bout at the Tokyo dome. The report suggested that Arum has stated "If it does take place, it will take place on Sunday afternoon in Japan time and will be broadcast during prime time in the United States." At the time the story seemed to fall apart when looking at the schedule for the Tokyo Dome, which is packed every Sunday through May. The first 2 weekends in May are booked with baseball games featuring Yomiuri Giants, on both Saturdays and Sundays. To put it into some context the Yomiuri Giants are Japan's version of the New York Yankees. The following weekends are then booked up with concerts from RADWIMPS and GLAY, with concerts on both Saturday and Sunday. This seemed to completely rule out the Sponichi article about the fight taking place in Japan in May...that was until today when Chris Mannix reported that a Canelo Vs Murata fight in Japan, in the Spring was in serious talks. But the Tokyo dome is booked right? Looking through the Tokyo Dome schedule the venue is busy most weekends, though it would be available the first weekend in March or either of the first 2 weekends in June. It's unlikely these dates would work for the fight but they are there. Of course the Tokyo Dome isn't the only venue that would be suitable. An alternative dome would be the 36,000 seating Kyocera Dome in Osaka, that also appears to be booked every Sunday in May. Outside of the two domes there are, obviously, other massive venues that could, potentially, host the fight, such as the Shin kokuritsu kyōgijō, which held the 2019 Emperor's Cup final earlier this month. This venue will be used for the Olympics, and is much bigger than the two domes, The Nissan Stadium would also be potentially suitable as would the Saitama Stadium 2002. Those 3 are however soccer stadiums, and none of that trio have ever held boxing before. Interesting there is a potential dome date available for May 3rd, albeit in the Nagoya Dome, which is booked for the Saturday but RADWIMP and on the Monday, for baseball, is available on the Sunday. In fact the Nagoya dome is available on May 3rd, 10th and 17th and is similar in size to both the Kyocera Dome and the Tokyo dome and is only 2 hours from Tokyo. Broadcasting could be tricky right? Broadcasting could get very complicated here, but they wouldn't need to be. Firstly, as mentioned above, the plan would be for "Sunday afternoon in Japan time and will be broadcast during prime time in the United States." This would suit a solid viewing figure in Japan, though not a prime time one, however it would be suitable for the US and Mexico, making it suitable for Canelo's fans. Fuji TV have backed Murata and have a contract with him, to broadcast his fights in Japan. Fuji TV are backed by the extremely powerful Fuji News Network, and in theory give a nationwide audience base for any fight in Japan, if they broadcast it across their entire network. In Tokyo alone the they have a a regular audience in the multi-million figure for Murata fights. It is however, worth noting that the last Murata fight wasn't exclusive to Fuji in Japan, with it being shown on NHK-8BS, in glorious 8K. In fact that was only the second time, in history, a bout had ever been broadcast in 8K anywhere in the world. NHK have made it known they are looking to get back into the boxing after years away and their 8K coverage gives them a USP no one else can match, and allows them to work along with Fuji to bring fights out in 8K, something they also did for the Naoya Inoue Vs Nonito Donaire bout. Of course Canelo has a contract with DAZN, which has heavily bankrolled his fights in the US in recent years. The DAZN rights are thought to be global and would, in theory, extend to this bout being aired to the 2,000,000 or so Japanese subscribers to DAZN. A decent number if they could get them all, though the reality is that boxing on DAZN in Japan is pretty niche, and most big bouts are on terrestrial TV where viewing numbers are much bigger. DAZN have yet to actually broadcast a Japanese boxing show of any kind, and their boxing content, so far, has been entirely imported. For them to have a fight of this magnitude might help them boost their numbers, but would be unlikely to get anywhere near the figures of a Fuji broadcast. Also DAZN JP will likely have their two biggest sports on during the proposed dates for these, with NPB (Japanese Baseball) and J League (Japanese soccer) series both running through May. If You're a DAZN subscriber odds are these are what you have the service for and adding boxing wouldn't actually help their viewership, especially not by taking it off free TV to do so. In principle there is actually NO REASON why these contracts can't actually run in agreement with each other. There are other events in Japan which are shown on both terrestrial TV, such as Fuji TV, and another service. For example RIZIN is broadcast on both Fuji TV and GYAO, whilst fights on TBS are also occasionally shown on Paravi. In theory DAZN would be able to keep the global streaming rights, Fuji the terrestrial TV rights and BS8 would be able to have their slice of the pie with an 8K broadcast. It would, incidentally, be the same 3 companies that worked on the Inoue Vs Donaire bout, and each would have their own selling point. For DAZN they would be able to showcase the full under-card, something Fuji won't do, for Fuji the terrestrial coverage would be huge, whilst BS8 will only show to a small number of people who have already adopted 8K technology. One other thing to note is that in Japanese reports the suggestion was that Fuji TV would potentially be getting the rights to essentially cover DAZN financially. Several reports from Japan stated that both Canelo, and Gennady Golovkin (40-1-1, 35), were costing too much. Hence the service showing a willingness to send fighters off abroad, with both men being linked to Murata, where purses could essentially be funded in part by Fuji TV. So could this really take place in Japan in Spring? YES! This has long been in the works as a possibility, with Bob Arum talking about the bout way back on December 23rd, the day that Murata beat Steven Butler. (Murata targets Canelo and Golovkin at the Tokyo Dome in 2020!) With GGG now looking set to make a mandatory defense of his title it leaves Canelo as the only target for Arum and Co that is worth paying the big money for. Finding the right venue in time would be a key issue that needs solving, but as we've seen there are dates available for the Domes, but maybe not the dates they want. Something you'd like to add? Well, yes! Whilst Bob Arum did suggest a Sunday it is worth noting that the the first week of May falls in what is termed the "Golden Week" in Japan, where there's a bundle of holidays that all take place together. These include April 29th, May 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th. The big day for Mexican fans in May 5th. A wild card suggesting is that the bout actually takes place in Japan on Wednesday May 6th in the early afternoon, or Tuesday May 5th, in the early afternoon. This would make the most of the Japanese holidays and potentially work for a Mexican viewing fan base, with public schools in Mexico closed on May 5th. May 5th is also celebrated, as Cinco de Mayo, in Japan. Another possibility is that it takes place on a Monday afternoon in Japan. This is notable as May 4th is a Japanese holiday, and it would work for a large American audience on a Sunday night, especially given that there appears to be no major US sporting event on May 4th with NBA taking a break, no WWE and no NFL. This would be an interesting work around but brings the Tokyo Dome into the fold once again. Of course this isn't the first name we've seen linked to Canelo for a May 2020 date, and there's a chance we'll see another name linked to him soon as well. It is however interesting to see how long this has been in the works for, if we're to trust Bob Arum, and why the Tokyo Dome is maybe not the most likely venue....unless the bout comes on a weekday. (Images courtesy of Boxmob, Fuji TV, Tokyo-Dome.co.jp, Boxingnews.jp) |
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