By Jake Donovan
With a shot at unbeaten junior featherweight titlist Carl Frampton on the line, Shinto Wake and Mike Tawatchai both made weight for their 12-round elimination bout Wednesday evening at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.
Wake came in right at the divisional limit of 122 lbs. Tawatchai tipped the scales at a fight-ready 121.25 lbs. The bout will on TBS-Japan via next day tape-delay.
Wednesday’s showdown puts Wake one fight away from where he was believed to be a year ago. The resurgent contender was rumored to face another unbeaten 122 lb. titlist in Scott Quigg, only for the bout to be scrapped when it was announced by event handlers that the 27-year old suffered an injury during training camp.
Those claims were disputed, but Wake never received a makeup date. Instead, he settled for a stay-busy fight, stopping Jimmy Paypa inside of a round this past February for his eighth straight win, with his last six coming by way of knockout.
One day after his 1st round knockout win, Wake moved towards an eliminator after mandatory challenger Chris Avalos was knocked out in five rounds by Frampton.
Awaiting the southpaw is Thailand’s Tawatchai (35-7-1, 21KOs), who has won 20 of his past 21 starts, including nine straight. His lone loss over that stretch also coincides with his last trip to Japan, dropping a 10-roind decision to Daiki Kameda in Aug. ’12.
Both fighters enter their first scheduled eliminator in Wednesday’s headliner.
On the undercard, Hisashi Amagasa fights for the first time since his failed title bid versus World junior featherweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux last New Year’s Eve. The rail-thin contender had Rigondeaux down twice before ultimately wilting in the 11th round of an entertaining affair.
The bout was the first title fight for Amagasa, and also his first official fight at the junior featherweight limit. The 5’10” boxer returns back to his natural habitat, with Wednesday’s showdown versus Thailand’s Patomsith Pathompothong taking place at featherweight.
Amagasa (28-5-2, 19KOs) weighed in at 126 lbs., while Pathompothong (12-3, 5KOs)–making his first appearance in Japan and fighting outside of Thailand for just the third time in his career–was slightly lighter at 125.5 lbs.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox