Fighters make weight for Korakuen Hall show

Tomorrow at Korakuen Hall we’ll see unified OPBF and WBO Asia Pacific champion at 154lbs, Takeshi Inoue (20-2-2, 12) [井上岳志], defending his title against upset minded Australian Wade Ryan (22-11, 8) at Korakuen Hall.

Today, ahead of their bout, the two men took part in their weigh in for the bout, with both making weight.

Inoue weighed in first and was 153.75lbs, and looked in great shape for the bout. He spoke about how the winner of the bout will be able to move on to bigger and better things, though it did seem like he knew a loss here would be very, very hard to bounce back from. He also explained that Ryan was a good fighter, with sharp movement, and that he was hard to land on, though Inoue did say he'd like to knock him out. Notably he was been training in Australia for this bout, spending 10 days in February training with Australian fighters, and he'll be hoping that that that training will help him here.

Ryan was comfortably under the limit, at around 153.25lbs. Like Inoue he looked in great shape. He explained that he knew this would be a tough fight, but he seemed confident of picking up the win here and making a mark for himself.

Also set for this card is a Japanese Youth Flyweight title bout as Kosuke Tomioka (7-3, 6) [富岡浩介] faces off with Sho Nogami (2-0, 2) [野上翔]. These two men also made weight without issue.

Tomioka was 111.25lbs, and explained that his professional experience will be the difference maker here. He seemed full of confidence, and will know that a win here will get him back on the right track, after losing 3 of his last 6. Nogami, a former amateur standout, was 111.75lbs, and explained that he feels great, and that he lost weight gradually, suggesting he's very strong at the weight. Nogami also explained that he saw this bout as a passing point, and a bout he needed to win to move on to bigger and better things.