Thanongsak Simsri def. Cristian Araneta
Kicking off the televised portion of the card from Japan was Thanongsak Simsri, taking on Filipino contender Cristian Araneta for the vacant IBF Light Flyweight title. The Thai Simsri has made several trips to Japan already, having tons of success on the road, barring a knockout loss to two-time world champion Masamuchi Yabuki.
Araneta, for his part, has twice fought in world title eliminators, though he was unsuccessful in those tries. Despite being the smaller of the two, Simsri established his range from the very beginning, outworking Araneta in the early rounds. The Filipino found his moment to take advantage of some overconfidence from Simsri; however, at the end of the third round, a massive counter left from Araneta floored the Thai.
Araneta closed out the round strong, pinning Simsri against the ropes and landing several clean blows. Now with Simsri having been dropped and both men sporting deep cuts over their eyes, the fight fell into a definite rhythm.
Araneta imposed himself physically as the bigger man, picking his shots and landing hard southpaw lefts on Simsri. But for the majority of most rounds, Simsri landed significantly more volume, cutting angles on Araneta and staying busy on the outside.
The scorecards reflected the competitive nature of the fight as Simsri just narrowly took a split decision to become a world champion and notch the biggest victory of his career. For Araneta, it must be a very frustrating result; he’s now lost to the three best fighters on his resume, and this result was seemingly avoidable if he could’ve only found a bit more pace down the stretch.
Reiya Abe def. Yuya Oku
Next on the card was a classic veteran versus prospect match for the Japanese Featherweight title, seeing the very experienced southpaw Reiya Abe square off against unbeaten prospect Yuya Oku.
Abe displayed exceptional footwork from the very start, sliding in and out of range to slot in shots at will, usually avoiding any counter from Oku. Oku found a few more reads as the fight wore on, occasionally timing the veteran’s head movement, but Oku’s pressure was largely dissuaded by Abe’s slick movement and stinging lefts.
His work rate stayed consistent both in terms of his movement and his combinations. Oku did his best to will himself into the fight, but by the time the ten rounds had ended, the damage had clearly accumulated on him.
It was a truly impressive, cagey, veteran performance by Abe, who continues on the comeback trail after suffering a brutal knockout to Luis Alberto Lopez back in 2024. As for Yuya Oku, this was a great learning fight for a fighter early in his career. He improved immensely as the fight went on, and I’m sure he’ll continue to get better at the Japanese domestic level.
Sora Tanaka def. Takeru Kobata
In the co-main event, Japanese amateur champion Sora Tanaka continued his campaign in the professional ranks against domestic talent Takeru Kobata. Tanaka is an all-pressure, all-violence fighter, marching down his foe and throwing power shots with little concern for defence.
Despite being the shorter boxer, Tanaka had Kobata on the ropes from the very start. Every power shot he landed shook Kobata to his core, but Kobata had no problem finding his chances to crack the prospect Tanaka either.
The fight only lasted four rounds, but to be honest, Kobata did well to survive that long, as he absorbed an insane amount of damage throughout the contest. There was hardly a dull moment as both stood in the pocket and exchanged bell to bell.
When the stoppage did come, it was a little disappointing as Kobata remained on his feet and he had just rocked Tanaka, but the fight was pure action and one of my favorites of the year thus far. I don’t know how far Tanaka will move up the ranks with his all-offense style, but I’ll be there to see every step he takes.
Brian Norman Jr. def. Jin Sasaki
Finally, in the main event, another Japanese offensive dynamo in Jin Sasaki challenged the supremely skilled Brian Norman Jr. for his WBO Welterweight title. Norman made it clear that there was a gap in levels between the two almost immediately by dropping the hometown hero twice in the first round.
Sasaki was hardly deterred and pressured Norman regardless, but his signature power had very little effect on the champ. Sasaki still did very well to force his sort of fight, staying in Norman’s face despite constantly taking damage.
Many would have wilted, but Sasaki never did. Norman stayed consistently great throughout the fight, never getting seemingly rocked and jumping on opportunities to land whenever Sasaki presented them.
It all came crashing down for the challenger in the fifth round. As Sasaki retreated after landing a jab to the body, Norman landed a clean left hook, putting the Japanese fighter out cold in an instant knockout of the year contender. It was an emphatic second defense of his title for the young champion in Norman.
The scenes were pretty worrying for Sasaki, who needed to be stretchered out. He showed immense fighting spirit, but his corner probably should have pulled him out with the amount of damage Norman was putting on him. Regardless of that, this fight was an incredible capstone on a very entertaining midweek card.
Last Updated on 06/19/2025
Read the full article here