Satoshi Shimizu vacates regional title
Earlier today we were informed by sources in Japan that hard hitting Japanese Featherweight Satoshi Shimizu (10-1, 9) [清水 聡] was no longer the unified OPBF and WBO Asia Pacific Featherweight champion, with "Diamond Fist" having now vacated his WBO regional title.
At the moment there hasn't been any word as to why Shimizu has made this decision. It is a notable move however as he only unified the regional titles earlier this year, when he beat Musashi Mori (12-1, 7) [森 武蔵] in a hotly contested bout back in May. One thing that is known is that Shimizu has long been wanting a world title fight and that's likely what he and his team are going to be looking at in 2022. At the time of writing he is ranked by both the WBO and the WBC.
The 35 year old Shimizu, who won a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics in London, is still holding the OPBF title, and it's likely that if he can't land a world title fight, or world title eliminator next, he'll defend his Oriental title.
Interestingly Japanese Featherweight champion Hinata Maruta (11-1-1, 9) [丸田陽七太] is the #1 ranked contender for the now vacant title, whilst Reiya Abe (21-3-1, 9) [阿部麗也] is ranked #3. Both of these men fight tomorrow at Korakuen Hall, and if they both win they would likely be meeting early next year, now potentially in a double title bout.
At the moment there hasn't been any word as to why Shimizu has made this decision. It is a notable move however as he only unified the regional titles earlier this year, when he beat Musashi Mori (12-1, 7) [森 武蔵] in a hotly contested bout back in May. One thing that is known is that Shimizu has long been wanting a world title fight and that's likely what he and his team are going to be looking at in 2022. At the time of writing he is ranked by both the WBO and the WBC.
The 35 year old Shimizu, who won a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics in London, is still holding the OPBF title, and it's likely that if he can't land a world title fight, or world title eliminator next, he'll defend his Oriental title.
Interestingly Japanese Featherweight champion Hinata Maruta (11-1-1, 9) [丸田陽七太] is the #1 ranked contender for the now vacant title, whilst Reiya Abe (21-3-1, 9) [阿部麗也] is ranked #3. Both of these men fight tomorrow at Korakuen Hall, and if they both win they would likely be meeting early next year, now potentially in a double title bout.