Ryo Sagawa to face Shun Kubo
Earlier today saw the announcement of a brilliant looking Japanese Featherweight bout as former Japanese Featherweight champion Ryo Sagawa (11-2, 6) [佐川遼] is set to clash with former WBA Super Bantamweight world champion Shun Kubo (15-2, 10) [久保隼], with the bout set to take place on April 12th at Korakuen Hall.
For Sagawa this will be his second bout since losing the Japanese Featherweight title in 2021 to the wonderfully gifted Hinata Maruta, in what was a break out win for Maruta. Since that loss he has avenged his only other loss, stopping Retsu Kosaka in 8 rounds back in October. At his best he is a very good technical boxer, with good hand speed, movement and a brilliant boxing brain, but with two stoppage losses to his name there is the suggestion that he's not the toughest fighter out there.
As for Kubo, who will be making his Korakuen Hall debut, this will be his fifth bout since losing the WBA Super Bantamweight title to Daniel Roman in 2017. Sadly since that loss he hasn't been hugely active, and was, rather notably, stopped in 2019 by Can Xu in a bout for the WBA Featherweight title. Although a talented and intelligent fighter there are real worries about his durability, especially at the top of the domestic and above.
The bout will be on the same card as Keita Obara's (25-4-1, 22) [小原 佳太] upcoming Japanese Welterweight title fight against Yuki Nagano (19-3, 15) [永野祐樹], which makes for an excellent Japanese domestic card.
For Sagawa this will be his second bout since losing the Japanese Featherweight title in 2021 to the wonderfully gifted Hinata Maruta, in what was a break out win for Maruta. Since that loss he has avenged his only other loss, stopping Retsu Kosaka in 8 rounds back in October. At his best he is a very good technical boxer, with good hand speed, movement and a brilliant boxing brain, but with two stoppage losses to his name there is the suggestion that he's not the toughest fighter out there.
As for Kubo, who will be making his Korakuen Hall debut, this will be his fifth bout since losing the WBA Super Bantamweight title to Daniel Roman in 2017. Sadly since that loss he hasn't been hugely active, and was, rather notably, stopped in 2019 by Can Xu in a bout for the WBA Featherweight title. Although a talented and intelligent fighter there are real worries about his durability, especially at the top of the domestic and above.
The bout will be on the same card as Keita Obara's (25-4-1, 22) [小原 佳太] upcoming Japanese Welterweight title fight against Yuki Nagano (19-3, 15) [永野祐樹], which makes for an excellent Japanese domestic card.