Prizefighter Japan has a new date!
Earlier today Matchroom announced the re-scheduled return of their Prizefighter tournament, which will take place in Japan, and begin on July 15th, in Osaka.
Originally the first round of the tournament was scheduled for March 31st in Nagoya, but it was pulled from the show without Matchroom acknowledging it was postponed or canceled, instead becoming boxing’s version of vaporware.Back in March co-promotional partners, lead by Koki Kameda, was asked about about the matches being pulled from the show, but seemed to suggest it was out of their hands, and an issue for Matchroom to resolve, which again didn’t clear up the situation in the slightest and left what had looked a solid card looking a little underwhelming.
For the new show, which is set to take place at the Yamato Arena, Osaka, won’t be identical to the originally planned 4 tournaments bouts, though some will be the same as previously announced
Going ahead as originally announced are bouts between Ireland’s Aaron McKenna (18-0, 9) and American-Puerto Rican Jeovanny Estela (14-0, 5), and England's Kieron Conway (20-3-1, 5) facing Chinese slugger Ainiwaer Yilixiati (19-1, 14 KOs).
We will also see a rematch between Japanese Middleweight champion Riku Kunimoto (11-1, 5) and Eiki Kani (8-4-3, 4). These two were penciled in for the first show, and actually had their bout on the March show as planned, with Kunimoto stopping Kani to retain the Japanese title. Notably, these are the only two men from the original show to have fought since March.
The bout with the real change is a bout between Mark Dickinson (6-0, 2) and Japan’s heavy handed Kazuto Takesako (16-2-1, 15) [竹迫司登], who replaces French 2016 Olympian Anauel Ngamissengue (13-0, 8). This gives Takesako a great chance to bounce back from a recent loss to Tej Pratap Singh in South Korea, earlier this month.
Originally the first round of the tournament was scheduled for March 31st in Nagoya, but it was pulled from the show without Matchroom acknowledging it was postponed or canceled, instead becoming boxing’s version of vaporware.Back in March co-promotional partners, lead by Koki Kameda, was asked about about the matches being pulled from the show, but seemed to suggest it was out of their hands, and an issue for Matchroom to resolve, which again didn’t clear up the situation in the slightest and left what had looked a solid card looking a little underwhelming.
For the new show, which is set to take place at the Yamato Arena, Osaka, won’t be identical to the originally planned 4 tournaments bouts, though some will be the same as previously announced
Going ahead as originally announced are bouts between Ireland’s Aaron McKenna (18-0, 9) and American-Puerto Rican Jeovanny Estela (14-0, 5), and England's Kieron Conway (20-3-1, 5) facing Chinese slugger Ainiwaer Yilixiati (19-1, 14 KOs).
We will also see a rematch between Japanese Middleweight champion Riku Kunimoto (11-1, 5) and Eiki Kani (8-4-3, 4). These two were penciled in for the first show, and actually had their bout on the March show as planned, with Kunimoto stopping Kani to retain the Japanese title. Notably, these are the only two men from the original show to have fought since March.
The bout with the real change is a bout between Mark Dickinson (6-0, 2) and Japan’s heavy handed Kazuto Takesako (16-2-1, 15) [竹迫司登], who replaces French 2016 Olympian Anauel Ngamissengue (13-0, 8). This gives Takesako a great chance to bounce back from a recent loss to Tej Pratap Singh in South Korea, earlier this month.