WBO World Champion Yamanaka to defend against Saludar; Konishi fighting for WBO Asia Pacific title

Monday, May 21, 2018

Earlier today in Kobe the Shinsei gym held a press conference to announce their next big show, set for July 13th at the Central Gym in Kobe. The card is set to be a title double header and feature the two brightest youngsters at the gym, with one man defending a world title and the other hunting a regional title bout.

The world champion in question is highly skilled Ryuya Yamanaka (16-2, 5) [山中竜也] who will be making his second defense of the WBO Minimumweight title, as he takes on hard hitting Filipino Vic Saludar (17-3, 10). For the champion the bout comes in the wake of his most impressive performance, an 8th round retirement of Moises Calleros, in what was an unexpectedly 1-sided contest.

As for Saludar, this will be his second world title challenge, having previously come up short against Kosei Tanaka, in a bout for this very same title. Since losing to Tanaka in 2015, Saludar has gone 6-1 (1) and shown there is more to him than just power.

The other title bout will see Reiya Konishi (15-1, 5) [小西伶弥] return to the ring following his loss to Carlos Canizales. The former WBA Light Flyweight title challenger will battle against 24 year old Filipino Orlie Silvestre (11-3-1, 7) in a contest for the WBO Asia Pacific title, with the winner likely to find themselves in the mix for a WBO Light Flyweight world title fight down the line.

Notably this card has been confirmed to have some TV coverage, with Fuji 1 showing at least the main event from 7PM local time.

http://www.asianboxing.info/asian-news/yamanaka-to-defend-title-against-saludar-on-july-13th-konishi-to-return
(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)