In a card packed full of championship bouts, Kosei Tanaka will defend his WBO world junior bantamweight championship against Mexico's Jonathan Rodriguez.
Tanaka comes into the fight having defeated Christian Eduardo Bacasegua in February via unanimous decision and is Japan’s third-ever four-division world champion. He'll be the favourite when he steps into the ring with challenger Rodriguez.
Here's everything you need to know about Kosei Tanaka vs. Jonathan "Titan" Rodriguez.
- Date: Saturday, July 20
- Start time: 10 a.m. UK / 5 a.m. ET
- Main event : 1 p.m. UK / 8 a.m. ET
The event is due to begin at around 10 a.m. UK time / 5 a.m. ET, with the main event ringwalks due to begin at approximately 1 p.m. UK time / 8 a.m. ET. This could change depending on the length of fights on the undercard.
“It has always been my dream to fight in America,”
"He has a beautiful left hand, that's the one we've been careful of and have been preparing and training for."
“His left hand is faster than his feet. He’s not very fast with his leg movement. He sometimes stays stationary.
“One of the reasons was I suffered a knee injury on my left knee, we had to go to therapy, we had to treat it, we have to give it a good time to heal,”
He intends to fight with an emphasis on attracting. Rather than focusing on how to balance his defense & attacking, he will be focusing purely on his attack.
“Now we are perfectly healthy, we are working very hard and now I am 100 percent.”
"Besides the knee injury, it's unfortunate that some companies in Mexico didn't support us. Few promoters with TV deals take advantage of fighters, knowing it's them or no one."
“We are very grateful we met Paco, we know he always finds opportunities for the fighters and that’s exactly what he did, we are very happy we signed with him.”
“No, I’m very motivated, I don’t see it as something against me,”
“I feel smart in the ring, I’m going to put [on] a lot of pressure and this is not going to be a distraction or something I think is against me. I’m going to prepare very well, I’m very motivated and I’m going there to win.”
“It was a tough fight against a fighter that had a lot of experience, quite a few title defenses,”
“I take that as an experience that is not going to happen this time against Tanaka. I feel I have the qualities now to do very well against him in Japan.”
‘’He may have strong arms but there is no speed to his boxing.’’
‘’I am highly motivated as I am in good condition. I’ve got a hard punch and will aim at knocking him out from the first round.’’
‘’Tanaka will have to backpedal when I put a pressure on him.’’
‘’Unlike Bacasegua, who is a good boxer but lacked experience, this is my second time to challenge a world title. I also think I have physical strength.’’
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