Two junior lightweight contenders will enter and – barring a draw or some other unsatisfactorily inconclusive conclusion – one man will leave as the newest IBF titleholder in a wide-open weight class.
When is Eduardo Nunez vs. Masanori Rikiishi?
Eduardo Nunez vs. Masanori Rikiishi is on Wednesday, May 28. The broadcast will begin at 5:15 a.m. Eastern Time (10:15 a.m. BST).
What channel is Eduardo Nunez vs. Masanori Rikiishi on?
Eduardo Nunez vs. Masanori Rikiishi will stream on DAZN.
Where is Eduardo Nunez vs. Masanori Rikiishi?
The fight is taking place at Yokohama Buntai in Yokohama, Japan.
Who is Eduardo Nunez?
Nunez, 27-1 (27 KOs), suffered his lone loss in 2018 in his 11th pro fight, losing by one point on all three scorecards against the 9-2-2 Hiram Gallardo. Since then, Nunez ran up 17 consecutive victories, culminating in a second-round knockout of the 18-0 Jesus Martin Ceyca, a two-round stoppage of faded former featherweight title challenger Oscar Escandon, and, most recently, finishing Miguel Marriaga – another former title challenger on his last legs – after six rounds last August.
Nunez, a 27-year-old from Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico, had been in position to challenge Anthony Cacace for the IBF title. But Cacace opted to vacate the belt in favor of more lucrative fights rather than satisfy his mandatory obligation. It was an understandable decision for Cacace and an unfortunate one from Nunez’s perspective. Nunez presents plenty of risk and not nearly as much reward as Cacace received for beating Leigh Wood in Wood’s hometown earlier this month.
This is Nunez’s opportunity to test his power and skills against a live opponent. And there’s the extra motivation of winning a world title and the accompanying prestige and drawing power. In other words, he’d finally represent enough reward for potential foes to take a risk on him..
Nunez himself is taking a calculated risk by heading to Yokohama, where Rikiishi is from. Until the Marriaga bout, which took place in California, Nunez had never fought professionally outside of Mexico.
Who is Masanori Rikiishi?
The 30-year-old Rikiishi, 16-1 (11 KOs), is the younger brother of two-division titleholder Masamichi Yabuki, who currently wears the IBF flyweight belt. Their real surname is Sato; they took their noms de guerre from characters in “Ashita no Joe,” a Japanese manga and anime series about boxing.
Like Nunez, Rikiishi tasted defeat early in his career. It was his third fight, back in April 2018 – about two months before Nunez’s loss.
Rikiishi has notched 14 wins since then. There was a third-round knockout in June 2023 of the 23-5 Ricardo Nunez, whose previous losses included a TKO2 against Gervonta Davis. And there was a come-from-behind 12th-round stoppage of the 23-1 Michael Magnesi in March 2024, a triumph in Magnesi’s home country of Italy in what was Rikiishi’s only fight so far outside of Japan. Rikiishi’s last performance was a keep-busy bout in October, in which he made short work of the 17-8 Arnel Baconaje.
What awaits the winner of Eduardo Nunez vs. Masanori Rikiishi?
The other world titles at 130lbs belong to Lamont Roach Jnr (WBA), O’Shaquie Foster (WBC) and Emanuel Navarrete (WBO). Roach has a rematch with lightweight titleholder Gervonta Davis this summer and also is due a mandatory obligation at 130lbs against Albert Batyrgaziev, though it’s uncertain if that fight will ever happen. Navarrete will likely have a rematch with Charly Suarez next given the controversial ending to their recent bout.
The junior lightweight division also includes additional contenders and up-and-comers, such as former featherweight titleholder Raymond Ford and the unbeaten Sultan Zaurbek, among others.
What other fights are on the undercard of Eduardo Nunez vs. Masanori Rikiishi?
In the co-feature, Yoshiki Takei, 10-0 (8 KOs), will put his WBO bantamweight belt on the line against Yuttapong Tongdee, who is ranked No. 7 by the sanctioning body.
Takei outpointed Jason Moloney in May 2024 to take the title and successfully defended it in September with a competitive decision victory over former flyweight titleholder Daigo Higa.
More attention in Japan – and among boxing fans overall – is understandably going to be on the unification bout at 118lbs between Junto Nakatani and Ryosuke Nishida on June 8, and a possible fight in the not-too-distant future between Nakatani and undisputed junior featherweight champion Naoya Inoue. Takei, a 28-year-old from Yokohama, wants to position himself for big fights of his own.
Tongdee, 15-0 (9 KOs), is a 31-year-old from Bangkok, Thailand. As with many boxers from his country, Tongdee has a background in Muay Thai. He entered the pro boxing ranks in 2020, will be taking a huge step up in level of opposition, and is returning from nearly a year away.
The full list of undercard fights can be seen on BoxRec.
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.