Anthony Olascuaga and Nonito Donaire will once again appear on the same show.
BoxingScene has confirmed that the pair are set to anchor a March 15 show from Yokohama Buntai in Yokohama, Japan. Donaire, 43-9 (28 KOs) will take on Riku Masuda, 9-1 (8 KOs) in a scheduled 10-round, WBA bantamweight title eliminator, while Olascuaga, 11-1 (8 KOs) will risk his WBO flyweight title against Jukiya Iimura, 9-1 (2 KOs).
Both bouts were confirmed atop a quadrupleheader that will stream live on U-Next in Japan. Accompanying the abovementioned matchups are:
- Two-division and current WBC junior flyweight titlist Thammanoon Niyomtrong, 29-1 (11 KOs) – better known at fight parties as Knockout CP Freshmart – versus former WBO titleholder Shokichi Iwata, 15-2 (12 KOs)
- Secondary WBA strawweight beltholder Ryusei Matsumoto, 7-0 (4 KOs) in his first defense versus Yuni Takada, 16-9-3 (6 KOs), in a rematch to their September 14 meeting, won by Matsumoto via technical decision.
Olascuaga and Donaire were recently paired on a December 17 card in Tokyo, headlined by Donaire, who dropped a narrow decision to Seiya Tsutsumi in their WBA bantamweight title fight thriller.
The announced date continues Olascuaga’s brilliant run as the U.S.’s most active major titleholder, although all but one of his career title fights have taken place in Japan. The 27-year-old Los Angeleno is co-promoted by All-Star Boxing, Inc. and Teiken Promotions. He turned pro under the former and saw his first five fights take place in North America.
Through Teiken, he will now head to Japan for the seventh time in his past eight fights. The upcoming show will mark Olascuaga’s first career appearance in Yokohama – his previous six trips to Japan were all to Tokyo. With this fight, Olascuaga will attempt the fifth defense of the WBO title he’s held since a third-round knockout of Riku Kano in July 2024 .
In his most recent start, Olascuaga earned a fourth-round knockout of Taku Kuwahara in Tokyo.
Olascuaga was originally due to face Iimura on that card. However, the Tokyo native withdrew from the offered title fight on the eve of the press conference to announce the card. The 28-year-old Iimura has not fought since May 3, when he claimed a 12-round unanimous decision over Esneth Domingo. It marked his second straight 12-round fight, and he also avenged his lone career defeat in the process, as he was stopped by the Filipino in the sixth round of their October 2022 meeting.
The clash with Olascuaga will mark Iimura’s first major title fight.
Olascuaga’s most recent win opened the December 17 title fight tripleheader that saw Donaire fall just short in a bid to become a four-time bantamweight titlist.
Immediately after his narrow defeat to Tsutsumi, Donaire – through his wife and manager, Rachel Donaire – petitioned all four sanctioning bodies for a ranking high enough to position himself for at least an eliminator.
The hope here was for a secondary title fight, given the uncertainty of Tsutsumi’s physical ability to honor an existing order to next face former titlist Antonio Vargas by mid-April.
Instead, Donaire – who has already opened camp in Cebu, Philippines – moves forward with a fight to position himself for one more crack at the crown.
Tokyo’s Masuda has won six in a row since his own defeat to Tsutsumi before the latter’s major title run. The two met in August 2023, where Masuda dropped a competitive but clear 10-round decision to his countryman.
Donaire, 43, enters his third fight in just a nine-month span. He ended a lengthy hiatus with a technical decision win over Andres Campos to claim the WBA interim 118lbs title last June in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Olascuaga will now fight for the fourth time in a span of 367 days, dating back to his points win over former two-division titlist Hiroto Kyoguchi last March 13 in Tokyo.
The bout marked his only title fight to go to the scorecards. Among his four knockout wins with the WBO title at stake was his only title fight to take place in the U.S. – a second-round knockout of Juan Carlos Camacho last September 11 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Overall, Olascuaga has won six straight since an April 2023 knockout loss to then lineal, RING, WBA and WBC junior flyweight champ Kenshiro Teraji, a fight he took on less than two weeks’ notice.
