The Ota City Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan will host a WBC World Super Featherweight title defense for champion Takashi Uchiyama, who fights Israel Hector Enrique Perez over 12 rounds. Uchiyama, a long-time favorite of the Japanese boxing scene who has fought in a showcase fight for four New Year’s Eves in a row, is a massive (-3000) favorite over Perez, who is returning at (+1500). Right now, no over/under line is posted. Uchiyama is an undefeated (21-0-1) and he has made fighting on New Year’s eve a tradition. In 2011, he defeated Mexico’s Jorge Solis in what was then the fourth defense of his WBA belt. In 2012, he was back earning a TKO stop over Costa Rica’s Bryan Vasquez, and last year he decisioned Daiki Kaneko. This will now be the ninth time that Uchiyama is defending the world title, and there has been a lot of speculation about him moving up to the Lightweight class and vacating the title. Win or lose in this fight, Uchiyama will likely make an announcement about his future weight class plans afterwards. Argentina’s Perez is a fine (27-2-1) overall, and though he fights sporadically, he has not lost a fight since 2003. His record is largely built on local competition in Argentina and Uruguay. In 2002-2003 an attempt to take his career to a new level by fighting in the United States ended with an unimpressive (2-2) mark in four fights. Both men are thirty five years old, so it is a situation that the time is now for both men. Perez is making his first trip toJapan for this fight, and the line is as wide as it is because Uchiyama is seen as being on a different level skill-wise. The card also features World title bouts in the Super Flyweight and Light Flyweight weight classes, so check back for more lines from this show in the coming days. At Light Flyweight, WBA World Champion Alberto Rossel of Peru takes on Ryoichi Taguchi. Taguchi is eight years younger than Rossel, who is captured the interim version of the belt in Peru in April of 2012 and is a long time veteran who has seen a lot in his career. Despite that, look for Taguchi to be favored if a line hits the books. And in the Super Flyweight division, champion Kohei Kono defends the WBA World belt he captured last March for the first time as he takes on the Dominican Republic’s Norberto Jimenez. Jiminez is a tough veteran who started his career (2-8-1) before going (17-0-2) to earn this shot at the title. he has never ventured out of his home island for a fight before, and he is expected to also come in the underdog if a line is floated. The day before sees the Metropolitan Gym in Tokyo host a card with a scheduled three world title bouts, including the title defense of WBO World Super Flyweight champion Omar Narvaez (43-1-2 overall record) as he faces Naoya Inoue. Then sharing the stage on the 31st there is also Super Bantamweight action from Osaka, Japan as Hisashi Amagasa takes on Guillermo Rigondeaux. So check back frequently for more lines and over/under lines to be posted as we get closer to fight time, as there is plenty of action heading to us from Japan.
