Masamichi Yabuki and Felix Alvarado came in lighter for their head-on collision than was the case for their previous bouts.
Their IBF 112lbs title fight moves forward after both boxers easily made weight. Yabuki was 111.6lbs, while Nicaragua’s Alvarado arrived at a fit and trim 111.3lbs for their scheduled ABEMA-TV pay-per-view headliner Saturday from Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname, Japan.
Yabuki, 18-4 (17KOs) attempts the first defense of the IBF 112lbs belt he claimed in a 12th round knockout of unbeaten titlist Angel Ayala on March 29 at this very venue. He entered the fight as the IBF 108lbs titleholder but came in right at the flyweight limit – matching his career heaviest - for his successful challenge of Ayala.
The 33-year-old, three-time titleholder over two divisions hails from nearby Nagoya, roughly 40 minutes from fight headquarters this weekend.
Alvarado, 42-4 (35 KOs) has not fought since his win over Tobias Reyes last December 27 in his hometown of Managua, Nicaragua, for which he came in right at the 112lbs limit. The bout was a sanctioned IBF title eliminator, which provided Alvarado with a path to a second shot at the title on the line this weekend.
The previous bid ended in a competitive but clear defeat to then-unbeaten Sunny Edwards in November 2022 on the road in Sheffield, England.
Alvarado has since won four of his past five starts. The lone setback over that stretch was a highly questionable points loss to Ayala in their October 2023 IBF title eliminator. Worse, he was originally declared the winner before the ring announcer realized the faux pas and corrected the scoring error on the spot.
Saturday will mark Alvarado’s sixth career title fight, all of which will have taken place on the road. He traveled to the Philippines to claim the IBF 108lbs title with a 7th round knockout of Randy Petalcorin in October 2018. His first defense took place in Japan, fittingly enough, when he outpointed Reiya Konishi in a May 2019 win in Kobe.
His second and final title defense saw Alvarado tear through DeeJay Kriel in a January 2021 10th round stoppage in Dallas, Texas.
Alvarado will now fight for the third time in Japan. Well prior to his abovementioned May 2019 win over Konishi, Alvarado fell short to then-unbeaten Kazuto Ioka in their December 2013 WBA 108lbs title fight.
Interestingly, this bout began with Yabuki having to hit the road when MP Promotions – representing Alvarado - won the rights to the fight with a purse bid submission of just $30,000. Even with the favorable end of a 65-35 split, Yabuki stood to make just $19,500 for his first career fight outside of Asia as the plans called for the fight to take place in Mexico.
A decision was made somewhere along the way to relocate the event to Yabuki’s home region.
The fight will mark his fifth straight in Aichi, and his third straight specifically in this venue. Yabuki became a two-time 108lbs titlist when he knocked out Sivenathi Nontshinga to claim the IBF 108lbs strap last October 12 in front of his adoring fans here. He held the belt through his abovementioned victory over Ayala, after which he abandoned his 108lbs reign to instead remain at 112lbs and honor an existing agreement to defend against Alvarado.
Yabuki enters the clash riding a five-fight win streak following his March 2022 knockout defeat to Kenshiro Teraji. The setback ended Yabuki’s brief stay as WBC 108lbs champ, an honor he claimed in a massive upset knockout win over Teraji in their September 2021 thriller. Sivenathi Nontshinga to claim the IBF 108lbs strap last October 12.
